Late Summer Bounty

Hot weather.  Backyard grilling.  Overflowing vegetable gardens.  Late summer at it's best!  Two of my favorite summer veggies are at their peak right now, tomatoes and corn.  I especially love the sweet and crunchy kick that fresh corn adds to recipes and we use it in a lot of different ways.  If you simply roast your ears of corn over the grill and then cut the corn from the cob, you've got a great base for lots of tasty treats.  Try adding fresh corn and roasted chiles to quesadillas for a surprisingly yummy combination. Make a salsa of corn, jalapeno, red onion and basil to top grilled fish or a burger.  Another of our favorites is corn souffle but, last night, we whipped up some fantastic corn fritters.  The beauty of this recipe is that you can make the fritters ahead of time and quickly reheat them in the oven or toaster oven when ready to serve.  Last night we stacked them with roasted roma tomatoes, leaf lettuce, parsley and drizzled with a lime aioli.  Oh yeah, seriously good.  Then I got to thinking...these would be great as a base for a twist on eggs benedict used instead of the muffin and maybe prosciutto or regluar bacon instead of canadian bacon...good test for this weekend!   

That leads me to the topic of late summer tomatoes.  We all know they're full of flavor and terrific when simply sliced in salads, sandwiches, bruschetta, etc.  But I have become obsessed with roasting tomatoes.  Little grape tomatoes, romas, it doesn't matter.  The flavor concentration that occurs with roasting and the change in texture is worth every minute of oven time.  Last night was a perfect example.  I sliced the romas in half lengthwise and pushed out the seeds with my thumb leaving the main structure in tact.  Then put the tomatoes cut side up on a baking sheet, drizzled them with olive oil (which I then rubbed in and all around with my hands), sprinkled with kosher salt, black pepper and thyme.  Popped them in a 375 degree oven for about an hour until a little golden, a little shrunken and had lost a lot of their natural moisture.  Voila!  Now you can arrange a roasted caprese salad, add them to a panini sandwich, cut them and toss with pasta...the options are endless.  Try it.

Simple Corn Fritters

1/2 c  all-purpose flour

1 tsp  baking powder

1/3 c  milk

1 egg, beaten

3 ears fresh corn, cut off the cob

3-4 finely chopped green onions

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Olive oil for sautéing

Combine flour and baking powder in a medium bowl.  Add milk and egg; stirring until smooth.  Stir in corn, green onions, salt and pepper.  Heat approximately one tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick skillet.  Drop batter into pan and cook until tops are bubbling (like pancakes) and edges are golden.  Flip, cook other side, remove, repeat.  You should get 10 to 12 fritters from this recipe depending on the size of your drops.  You could also make them much smaller and use as the base for an hors d'oeuvre size bite.  Bon Appetit!