Caribbean Conch Fritters with Island Hot Sauce

I love Conch Fritters. Back in the days before conch harvesting was made illegal in Florida, I spent many summer days collecting conch and many summer nights cooking conch fritters. If you make them remember not to skimp on the conch in each fritter or else you might as well be eating hush puppies. I would suggest running your conch through a meat grinder or food processor, finely ground, for this recipe.

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:
Canola oil 
1/4 pound conch meat, cleaned, cooked, and small diced 
1/2 cup diced onion 
1 tablespoon garlic 
3 eggs 
1 1/2 cups milk 
2 tablespoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon salt 
3 1/4 cups flour 
Hot red pepper sauce 
Worcestershire Sauce 
1 tablespoon chopped parsley 
1 quart vegetable oil, for frying.

Essence, recipe follows 
Island Hot Sauce, recipe follows

In a saute pan, add canola oil and heat. Add the conch, onion, and garlic and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. p Make the batter by combining the eggs, milk, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, beating and incorporating until all is used and the batter is smooth. Season with hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Stir in the parsley and the cooled conch mixture.

Heat the oil to 360 degrees F. Drop the batter, a heaping tablespoon at a time, into the oil. When the fritters pop to the surface, roll them around in the oil to brown them evenly. Remove and drain on paper towels. Season immediately with Essence. Serve with Island Hot Sauce.

Essence (Emeril’s Creole Seasoning): 
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika 
2 tablespoons salt 
2 tablespoons garlic powder 
1 tablespoon black pepper 
1 tablespoon onion powder 
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper 
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano 
1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container. Yield: about 2/3 cup

Island Hot Sauce: 
1 onion, chopped 
2 carrots, chopped 
3 Scotch bonnet peppers, halved and seeds and stems removed 
Vegetable oil 
Water, to cover 
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, add more or less, to taste 
Kosher salt

Sweat the onion, carrots and peppers in vegetable oil until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Cover with water and add vinegar. Simmer until the carrots are very tender. Puree in a blender and season, to taste, with vinegar, and salt. Thin, as necessary, with more water.