This recipe, a basic sweet potato fritter from The New Moosewood Cookbook, is a breeze to throw together, especially if you are comfortable making fritters of any kind. A food processor fitted with the shredder attachment makes for light work of the sweet potato-and-onion grating process, though a box grater works just as well, too. Topped with caviar and crème fraîche as featured here, these crispy bites make a festive hors d’oeuvre, but larger fritters on their own or topped with a fried egg are equally delicious. The batter can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. Before I fry all of the fritters, I like to test one for seasoning in a small skillet, then make adjustments accordingly.
Makes 25 to 30 hors d’ouevre-size fritters
- 4 cups coarsely grated sweet potatoes
- 1/2 cup grated onion
- 3 to 4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1/3 cup flour
- Neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed, for frying
- Crème fraîche, sour cream, yogurt, or apple sauce for serving
- Caviar for serving (optional)
- Fresh chives, minced, for sprinkling
- Combine sweet potatoes, onion, lemon, salt, pepper, eggs, and flour.
- Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. (See note above re: making a test fritter before frying up the entire batch.) Add enough oil to coat the bottom surface. Using a tablespoon, scoop out mounded spoonfuls of the batter and drop into the pan. The batter should sizzle upon contact. Cook until golden and crisp, flip — I use a fork — and cook until the second size is golden and crisp. For me, it often takes one round to get the timing and temperature right. Transfer fritters to a baking sheet or cooling rack and repeat with remaining batter. Add more oil as needed.
- Let cool briefly before adding crème fraîche (it will melt!) and caviar. Arrange on platter sprinkle and sprinkle with chives.