Eggplant Fritters with Honey

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My boat! 

We found this cutie resting near the shores of Lake Superior in Bayfield, Wisconsin.

 

There is not much downtime in the summer for Scott and me but we did manage a quick trip to hang out on Lake Superior, our midwestern ocean.  We stayed at a sweet little 50’s era place in Ashland called the Bayview Motel, right on the shores of big lake.  No online reservations—you’ll have to call or email to contact them, but they’ll give you a warm welcome and a cozy room.

One highlight of the trip was finding out about two scrumptious food spots in the area: Cafe Coco in Washburn, WI features local fare and amazing baked goods—even for us gluten free peeps—and the Duluth Grill that’s thriving in its unusual location in a former Embers and growing much of their produce in the parking lot gardens.  They served us both super duper big-flavor bowls of Yum.

The other highlight was picking 25 pounds of Bayfield blueberries…not counting the ones in our bellies.

 

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I’ve been looking at a number of different eggplant fritter recipes and apparently they are common as a tapas throughout southern Spain.  The recipes are all fairly simple and I’m not sure who to credit since many of them were similar so I suppose we could credit the Andalusians for creativity with their local foods.

 

Most recipes dredge the eggplant slices in flour or maybe a flour and egg batter before frying, but I stumbled across the idea of mashing the eggplant on a Cajun recipe site.  I was already going to soak the eggplant in saltwater to reduce the internal moisture, but this site suggested using sugar water for soaking then cooking the eggplant in a covered pan with no added water—just letting it steam itself without absorbing any cooking water.  It worked pretty well and may be my new stovetop method for cooking eggplant.

 

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As I’ve said before, you can fritter almost anything.  I challenge you to wander through your garden or farmers market and look at some of those veggies in a new light….mashed, mixed with a few amenders then fried in a tasty oil!  The eggplant gives these a creamy chewy texture that holds together well but doesn’t set off the ‘yuck’ alarm by which some anti-eggplant-ites are deterred.  I’m finding it difficult not to eat the whole batch.

 

 

Eggplant Fritters with Honey

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes, plus 15 minutes to fry

 

Stir until dissolved in a bowl:

1 1/2 cups water

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

Peel and rough dice:

1 medium sized Eggplant

Place the eggplant in the bowl and add more water as needed until submerged.

Cover with a plate to keep the eggplant under the water and let soak for 20 minutes.

Drain, then transfer the eggplant to a saucepan and cover. Cook on low heat for 15-20 minutes, letting the internal moisture steam the eggplant until soft and mashable.

Return the eggplant to the bowl and mash with a fork.  Add:

1/2 cup Gluten Free Flour Mix

1/4 cup Half & Half (or milk alternative)

3/4 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

Dash of Nutmeg

Mix together well.

Heat a frying pan with a generous amount of:

Coconut Oil

Drop small dollops of the batter into the oil, fry until golden brown on both sides.

Serve warm topped with:

Honey, drizzled

Fresh Mint, finely chopped

Or other garnishes you think are tasty!

 

 

Another Duluth treasure, the Vikre Distillery and their fabulous aquavit.

 

 

 



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