Mussel Fritters

December 31. 2002

In these parts we are swinging back into the barbecue season. On New Year’s Eve we visited some friends and had a veritable feast. For the second time in a week we fell about a platter of crayfish – lovely fresh stuff that had been swimming not long since. Oh, so sweet and tender.

Then the host whipped up some tender lamb, cooked in a piece on the barbecue and slenderly carved after sitting to regain its juices.

Some other guests had brought along delicious marinated venison, already sliced and spiced and ready for a quick touch of the grill.

Some tasty side salads accompanied, along with some fine wines and we could certainly say we saw the New Year in in style.

Now that summer has arrived (though who can speculate for how long!) then thoughts turn to things that can cooked on the barbeque.

I sampled some delicious mussel fritters at a wine tasting evening at a local restaurant a while back. I whipped up a batch myself more recently. I like to have a couple of such dishes in the repertoire so The Spouse can do his thing on the barbie. He likes to take the kudos, though he would be hard-pushed to provide the recipe!

You can get fresh mussels and steam them open in the usual way. I was a bit short on time so just bought ready-cooked fresh mussels from a reputable fishmonger.

Mussel fritters

300g cooked mussel meat, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
a large handful of dill, chopped
2 eggs
1⁄4 cup milk
1 teaspoon oil
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
125g flour

Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Crack in one egg. Separate the other egg and reserve the white in a bowl. Add the yolk to the flour, along with the salt and whisk in the oil and milk, gradually combining all the ingredients.

Set the batter aside until required.

Chop the mussels and place in a bowl (1) with the onion and a generous quantity of chopped dill.When ready to cook, whip the eggwhite until stiff and fold into the batter. Then add the batter to the mussel mixture.

Heat some oil in a frypan or use a flat griddle. Turn the heat back a little and spoon out the fritter mix (2). Allow each fritter to cook to a golden brown on the underside then turn and complete the cooking (3). If you don’t have a large griddle, place the cooked fritters on a dish in a hot oven until all are cooked.

This recipe will make about eight fritters. Serve with lemon wedges and salad.

Happy New Year!

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