Puff pastry filled with basil pesto in the base, orange heirloom tomatoes (blanched, peeled, macerated in olive oil, prosecco vinegar, sea salt and basil leaves), capriccio fresco, which is a soft cow’s milk cheese, and green and purple basil. Around the outside is a basil vinaigrette and a drizzle of very nice extra virgin olive oil.

Spicy Corn Fritters

½ cup semolina
½ cup besan (chickpea flour)
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ cup buttermilk
1 red bird chili, minced
1″ ginger, peeled, grated
small red onion, diced
2 cups corn kernels
handful cilantro stems, chopped
1 tsp fennel seed, ground
1/8 tsp white pepper
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

Sieve the semolina, flours, salt, spices and baking powder making sure there are no lumps. Chop the chili and cilantro very finely and mix in the grated ginger. Use a microplane if you have one to basically get a ginger puree. Mince the red onion. Mix all the ingredients together except the water. Then add enough water to make a thin batter. I’ve indicated ½ cup but it may require more. Let this mixture rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Pour about ½ inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan. Turn heat to medium. When the oil is shimmering pour small ladles of the batter into the hot oil. When one side is golden flip the fritter and cook the other side. They’ll cook pretty quickly. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Stack a couple of these fritters filled with smoked salmon, slices of avocado, baby arugula and drizzled with chive aioli. You could put a poached egg on top and have a very satisfying brunch.

The heirloom tomatoes are from the Riverdale Farmer’s Market. My understanding is that the summer was so wet that a lot of the tomatoes were splitting on the vine. It was great to get some nice ones before the autumn starts up.

Goat’s Cheese Sformatino

olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
150 g goat’s cheese
3 T flour
some gratings of nutmeg
salt
pepper

Line some small ramekins with a little of the olive oil. Sweat the onion and garlic in some more olive oil. Beat the eggs and milk. Add the flour. Incorporate the cheese completely trying to avoid lumps. (Bringing the cheese to room temperature will help here.) Add the onion and garlic and seasonings. Pour the mixture into the prepared ramekins. Bake in a bain marie at 350°F for about 30 minutes (until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the sformatino comes out cleanly.)

For a stronger cheese flavour you can add more goat’s cheese or some finely grated parmigiano-reggiano. Some finely minced herbs like chives would also be a good addition.