Angela Casley shares her recipes for a versatile party favourite and wonderfully salty, crisp-edged purple-crimson fritters.
PHOTOS: BABICHE MARTENS
Smoked mackerel pate
Use this pate as a base for a sandwich with crunchy cos lettuce, try it in a roulade or add a bowl of it to a cheese platter. The key is fresh, moist smoked fish. Keep it simple, as I have done here, or add capers, dill or even a few chopped green olives to change it up.
Makes 1 cup
150g flakes fresh smoked mackerel, bones removed
100g cream cheese
zest and juice of ½ lemon
salt and pepper, to taste
toasted ciabatta
To serve
chopped parsley
sliced mixed cherry tomatoes
lemon wedges
Method
1. Place the mackerel, cream cheese and lemon in a food processor and blitz until almost smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
2. To serve, spread generously on toasted ciabatta and top with a sprinkle of parsley, sliced tomatoes, and lemon wedges.
Beetroot fritters with halloumi
To make these ahead of time, place the fritters in a single layer on a baking tray. Top with the cooked halloumi and place in the oven for a few minutes before serving. The ginger adds a hint of spice to the beetroot — a perfect match.
Makes 16
3 cups grated beetroot
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp grated ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup fresh corn
½ cup chopped coriander, plus leaves to garnish
¼ cup flour
2 eggs
pinch chilli flakes
oil, for frying
150g sliced halloumi
Method
1. Combine the beetroot, salt, ginger, garlic, corn, coriander and flour in a large bowl. Stir through the eggs and chilli flakes, mixing well.
2. Heat a medium-sized pan and drizzle a little oil. Place in a heaped tablespoon of mixture, cooking for 3 or 4 minutes, then flip and cook for a further 2 or 3 minutes. Remove and continue to cook the remaining mixture.
3. In the same pan, turn up the heat a little. Fry the halloumi on each side for 20 seconds until lightly browned.
4. To serve, cut the halloumi while warm into pieces that fit nicely on to the fritters. Top with coriander leaves. — viva.co.nz
