I have chosen to close this little book with my all time favourite recipe. I still make this at least once a week - more often twice or three times - when courgettes and garden mint are in season. Born in the summer, I have them every birthday for breakfast with poached eggs.
Oh by the way, there are no creatures involved here; when I was little I struggled to pronounce the letter ‘F’, so courgette fritters became ‘critters’ and the name stuck, being used by my family ever since.
2 portions
The grated courgettes contain a lot of moisture, most of which needs removing which is why you’ve grated them onto tea towels. First sprinkle the salt over the courgettes and toss them to mix in the salt as evenly as possible. Spread the grated courgette evenly over the tea towels. and leave to stand for 30 minutes. The tea towels will then be quite soggy and the courgettes can be squeezed to expel excess moisture. You need them as dry as possible.
Move the grated courgettes to the centre of the tea towels, gather the corners together in one hand like a Christmas pudding parcel, take to the sink or a bowl and ring them out by holding the courgette end and twisting it. Moisture will drip from the tea towels. When the moisture has been pretty much drained (you are looking for pretty dried out courgettes at this stage), open the tea towels and carefully tip the courgettes into a bowl, scraping the final gratings from the tea towel.
Add the flour, mint and pepper and mix well. At this point, BEFORE adding the egg, the critter mixture can be frozen if you like. This is better than freezing the finished, pre cooked, critters. When you’re ready to use the frozen mix, defrost naturally before adding the egg and carry on as below.
Add the egg and mix well. Now form the mixture by hand into the sizes and shapes of critter you want to appear when cooked, around 15mm (a bit less than ¾”) thick. I like them around 100mm (4”) in diameter. Then put them on a plate and leave in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. A bit more won’t harm them.
Heat a frying pan over medium heat and when hot add the vegetable oil then the butter. When melted swirl butter round to cover base of pan and gently, using a slice or similar, place the critters in the pan. Cook for around 5 – 7 minutes then gently turn them. The cooked side should be a lovely golden brown. Cook the other side for 5 -7 minutes.
Now simply place them onto a baking sheet and into a warm oven (Fan 160°C, gas mark 4) for 15 minutes or so until the remainder of your meal is ready to serve. This will ensure the centres are cooked through properly as well as keeping them warm.