This recipe from the New Orleans-based restaurant pairs crisp, lemony Swiss chard fritters with creamy feta and a radish-fennel salad.
From the Wall Street Journal.
There’s no way to lose with these ingredients, especially when you deep fry the fritters in ghee. You probably don’t need three inches of oil either. That sounds like something a pro would do.
With a Summer veggie garden largess, swiss chard, radishes and fennel are always more abundant than we can eat. We saw this recipe and decided to take a page from the best of our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) organizations and share recipes for the goodies being distributed to the community. Feel free to play around with the ingredients and experiment with what’s growing in your garden.
ZING BEARERS | Dill, mint and lemon zest mixed into the batter brighten the earthy flavor of the Swiss chard. Christopher Testani for The Wall Street Journal, Food Styling by Heather Meldrom, Prop Styling by Stephanie Hanes
The Chef: Susan Spicer
Her Restaurants: Bayona and Mondo, both in New Orleans
What She’s Known For: Bringing easygoing grace to fine dining in the Crescent City. Delivering global flavors with classical-French finesse.
SUSAN SPICER RUNS a democratic kitchen. “It’s the stone soup approach,” she said. “Everyone has something to add. I want cooks to feel invested.” She credits Amarys Herndon, her sous-chef at Bayona, for this dish of chard fritters with whipped feta and a fennel-radish salad. “Amarys made this for a special one night, and I was like, ‘That is the best thing I have ever tasted with chard,’ ” she said. “Though I like greens, chard is probably my least favorite; it can taste too earthy. But these fritters were lighter than I expected. They really elevated the chard experience.” The batter, made of shredded chard, beaten egg and chickpea flour, quickly fries up into airy puffs, crisp on the outside and creamy within. Finding the right way to complete the plate was largely intuitive. “The fritters felt Greek to me,” Ms. Spicer explained. “That’s why we used feta and lemon in the sauce.” The shaved radish and fennel provide needed contrast: “If we do something fried, we like to put a nice, fresh element in there too
Ingredients
Swiss Chard Fritters With Feta, Fennel and Radish
Total Time: 35 minutes Serves: 4
2 bunches Swiss chard, stems removed and leaves roughly chopped
1 cup chickpea flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
½ cup soda water
1 tablespoon lemon zest, plus juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon finely grated garlic
2 tablespoons finely chopped dill, plus sprigs for garnish
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil, for frying and drizzling
1 cup feta cheese, at room temperature
½ cup cream cheese, at room temperature
6 radishes, thinly sliced
2 small fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
Directions
1. In a food processor, pulse chard until finely shredded. Remove ⅔ of chard and set aside in a large bowl.
2. Add chickpea flour, baking powder, baking soda, eggs and soda water to chard remaining in food processor. Process until evenly mixed, about 1 minute.
3. Scrape chard purée into large bowl with shredded chard. Add lemon zest, garlic, dill, mint, cinnamon, Aleppo pepper and nutmeg to bowl and fold everything together. Season with salt and pepper. Set batter aside.
4. In a medium pot over medium-high heat, bring 3 inches oil to 350 degrees. Use a deep-fat or candy thermometer to monitor temperature and keep it steady throughout cooking.
5. Meanwhile, clean bowl of food processor. Add feta and cream cheese and process until fluffy. Season with lemon juice and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, toss radishes and fennel slices with a squeeze of lemon juice, a light drizzle of olive oil and salt to taste. Set aside.
6. Use a ladle to add 3 tablespoons batter to oil. Working in batches, fry 4 fritters at a time until crisp and puffy, about 2 minutes per side. Use a slotted spoon to transfer fritters to a paper-towel-lined plate and season with salt.
7. To serve: Smear feta spread onto each plate. Place 2-3 fritters and some fennel-radish salad alongside. Garnish with dill sprigs.
