Niamh Shields burst onto the blogging scene in 2007 and has since snapped up countless accolades for her food writing by The Times, The Telegraph and The Stylist, to name a few. Niamh is passionate about cooking, and when she's not travelling the world collecting culinary tips, she's at home concocting new and interesting meals for friends and family, including her foody fledgling niece. Here, Niamh shares all her know-how for delicious and easy home-cooking.
Fritoles from Istria, Croatia
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Hello readers! This week I am in Croatia - Istria in the North of Croatia to be precise. I am here for a week, eating too much, looking for truffles, sampling the (delicious) local wine, and cooking with some of the locals. I am quite lucky as I have some friends with an apartment here who have put me in touch with some local people who are very passionate about their food culture.
I had been to Dalmatia, further South (I am sure you will have heard of Dubrovnik) so had some expectations which were not realistic. Istria is more like Italy (not surprising as it used to be part of it) and so there is lots of homemade pasta and risotto. There is also a huge Hungarian influence, so you see lots of goulash too.
One of the first things that I ate here, and still my favourite, is little sweet apple doughnuts called fritole. They are served cold, although I would quite like to try them warm too. Most recipes are handed down through families, and not actually written anywhere. I did manage to track down a chef - Anna from a terrific family restaurant run by a hunting family, the Morgans, high on a hill surrounded by Vineyards in Brtonigla - who was willing to describe her recipe for me patiently, and here it is.
I think this is a perfect little snack, and would be lovely with a mulled wine or spiced cider. Perfect for winter, or to rustle up quickly when people nip by for a visit.
Enjoy!
Prep time: 2 hours max but not difficult
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves as many as you like, lots of little fritters
Ingredients
2 eggs
200ml natural yogurt
1 big apple, peeled & grated
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g sugar
1 tbsp dried yeast
a splash of grappa (or rum)
200g white flour
pinch of salt
icing sugar
light oil for frying (sunflower, groundnut or similar, and enough to fill your pan by a couple of inches) or a deep fat fryer
Method
- Combine the eggs, natural yogurt, vanilla, sugar, yeast, apple and grappa. Mix thoroughly.
- Sieve the flour into the mixture, mix thoroughly, and add your salt.
- Cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm part of your kitchen for an hour or two, until it has doubled in size.
- Heat the oil until a drop of batter immediately fizzles, Shape the batter into balls with a teaspoon and fry in batches until golden, ensuring they don’t touch as they will stick to each other.
- Drain on kitchen paper, dust with icing sugar and serve.
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