Sweetcorn season is one of my favorite times of the year. It truly is my number one food. The best way to cook sweet corn is to fill a huge pot with water and place the corn in the pot with several tablespoons of sugar. I usually put a plate over the ears to keep them submerged. Bring the pot to a boil and then cover and remove from the heat. Let sit for 20 minutes and you will have perfect sweetcorn every single time.  Put several ears of corn on a plate, slather with butter and sprinkle with salt. Take the plate outdoors, relax in the summer heat, grab a cob and start gnawing away. Let the butter stream down your arms to your elbows. It is life at its best.

Now last week I read yet another article about grilling corn. I have experimented with this over and over. It is fine, but, not great. I grilled this guy’s “tried and true” recipe for the best corn EVAH and it was okay. My way is the best. Period.

But, on occasion I do like to try different ways of preparing corn, especially when we have an abundance. Since my sweetcorn is not ripe yet, we have been buying it at our local farm stand. It has been an exceptional year for sweetcorn. Now our lovely neighbors have a huge garden at a different location and they have been bringing us dozens and dozens of cukes. Don’t get me wrong I love a crisp cucumber, but, after awhile, if they are not pickling cukes, there is not much you can do with them. Well, that sounds stupid, because there are dozens of things you can do with cukes, but, after a bit I tire of them. Never sweet corn. So lo and behold, what did we find on our front stoop yesterday??? SWEET CORN! YAAAAY.

Now I mentioned Happy Bill on my post about sandwiches. This guy is just a treasure. I find myself smiling all through his program. If I could have him as my dad and Ina as my mom, well, that would be paradise. Anyway, Bill made corn fritters with an avocado salsa that piqued my interest. I hated to “waste” sweet corn, but it was Bill’s recipe and I love me some Bill. I gave the recipe a go.

The Recipe:

Sweetcorn Fritters with Avocado Salsa adapted from Bill Granger’s program: Bill’s Food

3 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels cut from 5-6 large corn cobs

1 small red onion chopped

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped cilantro (I used basil)

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

vegetable oil for frying

avocado salsa to serve (see below)

Preheat the oven to 250°

Place 2 cups of the corn kernels and the onion, eggs, cilantro, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a food processor and process until combined.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium to high heat.

When the oil is hot, drop 2 heaped tablespoons of mixture per sweetcorn cake into the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes per side.

Drain on paper towels and keep warm in the oven while you are making the rest of the cakes. Serve with the avocado salsa.

Avocado salsa

2 ripe avocados stones removed and diced

1/2 cup cilantro (I left it out)

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onions scallions

1 tomato quartered, seeded and finely sliced

1 dash tabasco sauce, optional

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and stir very gently to combine.

Final Thoughts:

Hmmmmm. What to say here? While I love sunny Bill, I am not so sure about these fritters. They were more like pancakes, which is not a bad thing, if you were expecting pancakes.  Don’t get me wrong, these were good, but, I actually think if I had poured maple syrup over them, it would have been better.

Having said that, how bad can avocado salsa, aka guacamole, and sweetcorn fritters be? Not bad at all. Still, if I had my choice I would make corn pudding over this with guacamole on the side. Or best of all, I would have sweet corn with butter oozing down to my elbows...