There is a farmer we work with named Greg – he’s one of our key suppliers at Yellow. One of his main crops is corn, so we love to come up with interesting and delicious dishes using sweetcorn. Over the years we have done quite a variety of sweetcorn dishes – including a dessert – and this year we decided it would make a fantastic snack to kick off our 6 course tasting menu.

Sweetcorn pairs very well with any Mexican flavour. The first iteration of this dish was made with a tomatillo salsa these are now out of season and we have replaced the tomatillo with avocado and coriander stems. We usually have coriander stems lying around from other projects, but if you don’t you can use coriander leaves as well. The flavour of the leaves is more potent though, so use them sparingly. Pick slightly firm Shepard avocados so you can make a nice, sharp-looking salsa. A great reason to use those avocados that can take eons to ripen!

Tip: Steps 1-6 can be done the day before to save time on busy days or when hosting.

Ingredients

200g polenta (plus more to crumb)

5 corn cobs

20g nutritional yeast flakes

12g sea salt

1 Shepard avocado

Chives

Coriander stems

Lime

Method

Step 1: Find a tray that will hold the polenta as it cools down. Ideally about 30 x 25 centimetres.

Step 2: Take the corn kernels off the cob before pan frying them until they just start to colour. Set aside.

Step 3: Make a stock with the cobs (simply boil the cobs in 1L water for an hour – you can add garlic, peppercorns, parsley for added flavour). If you don’t have the time, or want to skip ahead, you can use water or some veg stock powder (like Vegeta) for some extra flavour.

Step 4: Bring the 1L of stock to a boil and add in the salt and nutritional yeast flakes.

Step 5: With the stock at a boil, sprinkle in the polenta while stirring with a whisk. Cook the polenta on low heat while you keep stirring until cooked, about 5 minutes. (Be careful - it bubbles up and can cause some nasty burns so turn the heat down if required).

Step 6: Stir the pan fried corn kernels through and pour the mixture in a tray and allow to cool in the refrigerator.

Step 7: Once cooled, cut the polenta into rectangles. Keep them small if you have many snacks going around or a little bigger if you want a larger snack.

Step 8: Crumb the rectangles by tossing them in some spare dry polenta.

Step 9: Remove the avocado’s skin and cut the flesh into small cubes.

Step 10: Cut the chives into very small rings and chop the coriander stems very finely.

Step 11: Mix the avocado, chives and coriander stems. Then season the mixture with lime juice and salt.

Step 12: Heat a deep fryer to 180c and fry the crumbed polenta rectangles until golden and crisp (about 3 minutes).

Step 13: Cover with a good spoonful of avocado salsa and serve.