Let's Talk with Nancy J. Cohen
Let’s Talk with Nancy J Cohen
July 16, 2020
Are You a Corn Fritter Fan?
By Nancy J. Cohen
Today is National Corn Fritter Day. This brings back memories of summer dinners on our screened-in back porch at our house in New Jersey where I grew up. Corn fritters were part of my mother’s cooking repertoire. My father used to grow vegetables in our yard. We had tall stalks of fresh corn, juicy red tomatoes, zucchini and rhubarb. It was only natural for my mother to use these in her cooking. The only one I never liked was her rhubarb pie. Too tart for my taste.
However, her corn fritters were crispy and lip-smacking good. She served them with maple syrup. They made a great side dish as accompaniment for any type of protein. They’re fried in oil same as my other two favorite patties, potato pancakes and salmon croquettes.
After my mother died, when I was going through her things I discovered a folder full of recipes. This was one of the best treasures from her legacy. Many of my memories were wrapped into those culinary delights. To honor my mother and to preserve her heritage, I made this “book” with her handwritten recipes and a few others she liked to make. I could remember eating many of them at our kitchen table.
The one I’ll share with you today is her recipe for corn fritters, since that’s the subject of this discussion. I miss the New Jersey corn and fresh tomatoes in the summer and the pumpkin patches in the fall. But at least I can recreate some of my childhood tastes through these recipes.
Corn Fritters
Ingredients
1 cup flour
¾ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup milk or water
8 oz. can yellow corn, drained
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Directions
Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk eggs with milk to blend and add to dry ingredients. Stir in corn and melted butter. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet or electric frypan. Drop batter by the tablespoonful into heated oil. Cook and turn until well browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm with maple syrup. Makes 8 fritters.
Do you remember any foods from home when you were growing up?
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Posted in Let's Talk, with Nancy J. Cohen • Tags: Are you a corn fritter fan, Bad Hair Day Cookbook, BLB Discussion, Let's Talk, Nancy J Cohen | 24 Comments
When I was growing up we ate out a lot, so I remember the recipes from Ming’s Chinese, Harry’s Deli, and the Weequaic Diner, but this one sounds like an easy one to try at home. I’ve found the ones in your cookbook fun to try.
Thanks, Debra, I am glad you are liking my recipes. We rarely ate out when I grew up. Mostly my parents got babysitters and went out without us kids. The one place I remember was the Claremont (sp?) Diner. Very popular.
I remember my mom making corn fritters once when we were kids and I was NOT a fan, LOL. She was great at desserts but truthfully was only a moderately good cook. Of course, she was brilliant in many other areas. What I remember most were her annual attempts at a recipe to submit to the Betty Crocker Cook-Off using us poor children as her guinea pigs. Needless to say, Mom never won (love you, Mom — I’m only a moderately good cook, too!).
It must have been fun, and certainly memorable, watching your mom make recipes for the contest. Good for her to keep trying!
She was nothing if not persistent. 🙂 And now I remember, it was “Bake-Off”.
I was just thinking, I needed to get a copy of your cookbook! And I hate rhubarb pie. I ate a bunch of raw rhubarb as a stupid kid and got the worse stomach ache.
I am with you on the rhubarb pie. And yes, you definitely need a copy of my cookbook!
I learned to cook from my mother and grandmother. The recipe I’m working on right now is my grandmother’s buttermilk fried chicken. Nothing is written down so I’m listening to Mom tell me how it goes and scribbling it down as best as I can. The trials start next week. I’m a good cook, but my sons are even better. Last weekend, we admitted my grandson to the great cook category for his tasty 4th of July hamburgers. It was a distanced backyard picnic, of course, but so delicious!
Yes, now is the time to record your mom’s recipes…and your own. It’ll be a wonderful legacy especially with your kids & grandson liking to cook.
My mom made them when my dad had this huge garden and she was always looking for new recipes to use all the veggies. I loved her fritters. My mom was a good cook, so was my dad. I wish I could find their recipes but we are learning that most of them must have been in their heads. Thank you for this chance. pgenest57(at)aol(dot)com
We don’t appreciate these things until later. Your parents must have been good cooks to keep the recipes in their heads!
Hi, Nancy. We never had the corn fritters but we had the potato pancakes (the easy version with mashed, not shredded potatoes) and the salmon patties. These 3 items could make a good dinner for my family tonight since I already have leftover salmon. My mother and grandmother used to take a can of tomatoes (not sure if they were called stewed tomatoes then or not) and add a slice of white bread and a sprinkle of sugar. Seemed perfectly normal to us although I didn’t think anyone anywhere would ever have had them that way until a co-worker also from Indiana mentioned them. I have several of my mother’s handwritten recipe books and piles of index cards and clipped recipes. It’s obviously an inherited trait. No need to enter me in the giveaway. I already have and use my e-copy of The Bad Hair Day Cookbook. Stay safe.
Hey, Sally! How wonderful that you have your mom’s recipes. They’re special, aren’t they? I have to admit that these days I cheat when making potato pancakes and buy the pre-made mix.
I’m going to have to try this recipe. My husband loves corn fritters. Never thought to serve them with maple syrup.
They’re also good with honey.
Sounds like a wonderful recipe! I’ve never had a problem with any food name that ended with “fritter.” Just realized your Mom’s recipe book has the name “Minnie” on the cover. If memory serves, the gal that made one of our region’s landmark restaurants thrive was a woman named Minnie Lou. Man oh man, could that lady cook! So I’m predisposed to like anything cooked by a Minnie.
And then there’s Minnie Mouse, of course. She’s always a role model.
I’d love to win this! legallyblonde1961@yahoo.com
Thanks for stopping by, Kara!
I would love to win this book!!!
Glad you could stop by, Phyllis!
This is a really fun way to put all those recipes! Thanks for the opportunity!
Cheers-
Kelly Braun
Gaelicark(at)yahoo(dot)com
Thanks, Kelly. I loved compiling my favorite recipes into a cookbook for others to enjoy.
The winner of my cookbook is Kelly Braun. Thanks to all the commenters for reading my post!