Corn fritters, that's where is started. This week while idly gawking at all the food pictures on foodgawker, my heart stopped. Corn fritters! I love corn! Fritters! I've had them before, but it had been a while and I couldn't for the life of me understand why I have not been making them all this time. So I bookmarked the blog that had these little bites of corn wonder and decided that we should have corn fritters for dinner one night.

Ben was not as enthusiastic. So I proposed corn fritters and a really nice salad. "Okay...", he said. I sensed that he did not feel the same joy at the idea of corn fritters as I did. Hmph.

The corn fritters stayed on my mind. Then... ding! (That's the sound of my mental light bulb) I could make the corn fritters, but just serve them as a small side to a spinach salad topped with pan seared scallops. Oooh, that could be good. Scallops make everything better! I proposed this to Ben and his eyes lit up, "Scallops! I love scallops!" Excellent.

And it was excellent until I went to cut the corn of the cob.

Why am I lying on the floor of the bathroom?

And what is Ben doing with that first aid kit?

That's right, folks, Ellen has still not mastered the art of sharp objects. I'm lying on the floor because while Ben was trying to bandage me, I got a little woozy. It was no good. Luckily no corn was injured. Just my finger. Sigh.

Back in the kitchen, Ben took over the chopping and I got to crack the egg and put everything in the bowl.


And against our better judgment, I went on to actually cook the fritters. In oil, no less! And I am pleased to report there were no more injuries, to myself or the food.

For me, the corn was the main focus, but I know I'm probably alone in that, so for the rest of our meal I put together a salad of spinach, arugula (Ben's suggested addition, caramelized shallots, and roasted red peppers (from a jar! The shame!). I then seared a few scallops and added them on top. The corn fritters went around the edge of the plate with some chili sour cream.



Ben loved the scallops, and surprisingly enjoyed the corn fritters immensely too. He gave them a big thumbs up, so we'll have them again. Maybe next time I can convince him to just have a big plate of fritters for dinner. Or maybe not.

Corn Fritters from I Found Happy

(I made half the recipe and we had a few extra to snack on while assembling dinner)

Corn Fritters (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)
Makes 24 fritters
Ingredients:
16 oz. frozen corn, thawed and drained (I used corn on the cob. It's what I had. I learned my lesson. Frozen corn requires no knives.)
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup chopped chives or green onions
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
2 egg whites
2 tbsp oil

Directions:

Combine first 8 ingredients in large mixing bowl and mix well. Gently mash corn a little with a fork until it's a little pulpy. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until peaks form. Gently fold into corn mixture and be careful not to over mix it.

Heat oil in large skillet over med-high heat and drop in corn mixture by the heaping tablespoon. Cook 2 minutes on the first side or until nice and golden brown, then flip and cook until browned on the other side.