Herb and Mussel Fritters

I’ve added a few bits and pieces to rev up the fritters. These are good any time of the day, be it for breakfast, for lunch between two slices of buttered white bread or made small to serve with drinks.

When preparing mussels, get the largest pot you have, and place in the mussels (noting 1½ kilograms of mussels yields about 250 grams of mussel meat). Add about 1 cup of water, and place the lid on and bring to the boil, steaming the mussel shells open; this should take about 10 minutes. When the shells are just starting to open, carefully drain the mussels and let them sit until the shells are cool enough for you to handle. Open the shells and remove the mussel meat. Discard any mussels whose shells didn’t open.

If you’re collecting your own mussels, make sure you wash and wash to get out all the sand – nothing worse than a gritty fritter. Commercially farmed mussels are free of sand.

INGREDIENTS & METHOD

For the fritters

1 cup self-raising flour
1 egg
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
250 grams mussel meat, diced into small pieces
2 spring onions, finely sliced
½ cup soft herbs, finely sliced (parsley, chives, coriander, oregano, marjoram)
1 firm tomato, seeds removed and finely diced
½ red chilli, finely chopped (optional)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil for cooking

In a bowl, mix flour, egg, milk, salt and pepper to a smooth batter. Add mussel meat, spring onions, herbs, tomato and chilli (if using). Mix to combine. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Cook spoonfuls of mixture in batches, flipping halfway through, until golden brown on both sides. Keep warm and serve with some lime mayo.

For the lime mayonnaise

½ cup good quality mayonnaise
juice and zest of 1 lime

Combine the mayonnaise, lime juice and zest till smooth.