Oats and vegetables fritters (or patties)

Beignets de flocons d'avoine (oats and vegetables fritters)

As far as I can remember, it was a dish we were looking forward to eating when we were kids, first at my grandmother's Ida, then prepared by my mother. Easy to prepare, cheap, fulfilling. Ingredients could be added the most common being bits of lamb brain...😱 We loved that!

Here is the original recipe from my grandmother (in French). I tweaked it a little... 😉

Ingredients

• 1 leek chopped finely
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 medium size carrot grated
• 1 medium size round courgette grated
• 250g of oats
• 3 eggs
• 500ml milk
• 2 spoonfuls of flour
• 1 bag of dry baker's yeast or better, fresh one 
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 litres of frying oil (I used peanut oil)
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed 
• the leaves, shredded of ½ a bunch of parsley, one bunch of chives, thinly sliced
• one teaspoon of paprika
• ground black pepper
• salt to taste

Preparation

Fry the onions and the leek with olive oil in a pan, 3 minutes at medium heat, 10 minutes on low heat, covered. Let them cool down.

In a bowl or using a spatula or a food processor, mix the oats, the flour, the yeast, the eggs, the olive oil. Add the milk until you obtain a soft  but not too liquid texture.

Let the dough raise for an hour.

Add all the other ingredients and mix well.

Grated cheese can be added. I did both versions.

Heat the oil to 160°C

Pour one spoonful after another of the mix using a big spoon with the help of a small spoon to push the mix into the oil. Let them fry for 5 minutes before turning them and let them fry for 3 minutes or until light brown.

Remove them from the pan and let them drain of the oil on absorbent paper towel.

A option would be to have them baked in the oven on a tray with baking paper at 160°C for 30 minutes (or until brown). Less fat and just as delicious.

Serve with a salad. Also perfect for a picnic...