How NOT to cook Zucchini

So, since I was doing so well in the Zucchini arena - thought I'd try an internet recipe. It was a 1 step dredge and pan fry.

Just shake the zucchini slices in flour and spices and sort-of saute.

UKKKK!

It brought out all the Badness in Zucchini.

(quote from a tester after 1 bite, "I just don't feel like anymore zucchini mom.")

I lost that round.

Good to be Spoiled by Summer

A quick side note - one reason living in Seattle IS SO AWESOME is that Summer is a Food Bonanza. The farmers market within walking distance of my house (Lake Forest Park Farmer's Market) is now capable of providing a ridiculous, amazing, totally American, totally local, scrumptiously awesome summer feast.

And thus we had picked this morning yellow & white corn, swiss chard, smashed potatoes (some heirloom variety!) and grass-fed beef from Covington, WA.

I had butter, shallots, onions, salt, pepper, oil & vinegar at home along with my ever-growing herb supply (literally these days). But I could have gotten butter, shallots, herbs and even vinegar from the local folks!

I'm glad all these people are doing well at the farmer's market... because I DO LOVE this Fresh Food.

One for the road...

Tarragon-Chive Butter to go with your Steak:

Soften 4 Tbs unsalted butter.

Chop up too much tarragon and chives.

Add this, with some salt to your taste.

Use the left over herbs in your pan sauce and sprinkle willy-nilly over vegetables and potatoes.

I have Zucchini in the freezer... Now What?!

Ever had Huevos Rancheros? Know how the gummy tortilla always kills the love?

For this - and for so many other reasons, it is time to embark on the Zucchini-Potato Pancake.

Much like the traditional potato pancake it has the crispy edges, the soft inside, but the zucchini works it's magic and makes it something entirely new. Suddenly zucchini under everything is a great, GREAT idea. And the subtle sweetness of the zucchini means you can monkey with the spices and make it sweet or savory. Breakfast through Dinner! (I concede... dessert might be pushing it. Wait for the Mexican Chocolate Zucchini bread.)

In fact this is the Very First original zucchini recipe that made my husband dive in head first.

So get out the salad spinner, the food processor and a cast iron skillet (or other heavy bottomed 8" - 12" pan that is NOT non-stick. Browning is IMPORTANT here).

Ingredients: (for the very BASIC version)

1C Grated Zucchini (thawed and spun/drained if coming from the freezer)

1 C Grated Potato (Waxy or Medium... NOT FLOURY. This means little yellow or red Thin Skinned potatoes. Russets will make something different) Drain this by giving it a spin too.

1/2 Grated Yellow Onion - you guessed it... spin it too!

about 1/4 cup flour or other granulated starch (potato flour, arrowroot starch etc. for my NO GLUTEN friends)

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg beaten

1 Tbs oil for your skillet

***See bottom of Post for variations***

How To:

Get everything grated and spun. Mix together all the vegetable matter. Mix together the flour (or other starch) and the salt. Sprinkle on the veg. mixture. Toss it around gently with your hands, making sure the flour(etc.) gets everywhere.

Heat up the skillet - about 3 min - over med-high heat. Then add the oil and heat 1 more min - until oil gets hot enough to sizzle a shred of something.

While the pan is heating, break the egg in a small bowl, lightly beat it - just to get it all stirred up - pour over the zucchini & etc. Stir in gently, but quickly with a fork or your hands.

As soon as the pan is ready, make pancakes the size you want - from silver-dollar-sized to the whole pan. Just make sure they are no more than 1/4" thick.

Keep an eye on it (you can even peek underneath). When the bottom begins to get golden brown - FLIP! When they are golden brown in crispy on the bottom too... they are done!

Eat some as soon as they are cool with black pepper.

Eat the rest however you want. I would suggest with Garlic & Mint Yogurt Cheese, or Basil Vinaigrette, or w/ Green Tomatillo Salsa, or under Huevos Rancheros, or as a side to Fajitas....

OK, stopping now.

This recipe can be doubled, tripled and so on... just so long as you do the flour and egg adding in batches. Also, when you run low on oil, add some more to the pan so you keep getting that nice browning. Then when you have made as many as you can stand...

These can be cooled and frozen, stored in a nice airtight container, then toasted in your toaster. You look like a genius.

Next Time... time out for Yogurt Cheese (AT LAST!)

***Variations***

Add sweet onion instead of yellow onion, nutmeg and cardamom (about 1/4 tsp each) for a breakfast version.

Grate some jalapeno in with the onion, and top with lime juice for pairing with Mexican dishes.

Grate in some cornichons - or even good ol' dill pickles and top with tuna salad.

Sprinkle some smoked paprika, cumin and tumeric into the flour mixture and serve w/ Spanish or North African dishes.

And on & on & on!

Zucchini Therapy

Or... learning to love the zucchini. Even the monster ones.

Yes, this year, in the face of Rising Zucchini Tide '09, if I was going to claim to be a cookbook writer I HAD to come up with some, "I never knew Zucchini could be so Good!" recipes.

How to go about this?

Work with what is good about zucchini: a) there is always a lot of it. b) it has a starchy (but not gluey - like potatoes), mildly sweet flesh. c) once it is cut or grated or cooked it freezes well.

And leave behind what is not good about zucchini: a) if not dealt with correctly big ones can be woody. b) zucchini in it's natural state has too much liquid to be truly tasty c)there is SO MUCH of it.

So... don't leave them sitting around to long. The BIG Zucchini are intimidating, sitting there, staring at you. Process them. And thanks to freezers - freedom from the big green monster on your counter is near.

Option A) Grate & Freeze. Haul out the food processor and go for it. Have a (or some) big bowl(s) ready. Chop into feed-tube size pieces - SCOOP OUT THE SEEDS (this is where much of the bitterness lies), and start grating. When you are all done, take the shreds for a spin (in batches) in the salad spinner. Measure out into a freezer container in your choice (I like bags). I find 1 and 3 cup measurements are the most useful. If you freeze it all in one big lump... it is just as intimidating as the monster veg. in the first place! When you thaw it for cooking later, it'll need another turn in the salad spinner.

"What to do with all this Frozen Zucchini"

in the Next Installment.

P.S. I know technically it IS a fruit... seeds inside and all that. But we use it as a veg.

Cumber and Summer Squash Salad

I had this BRILLIANT idea to make lamb sausage wontons. I started with Lamb Sausage from my butcher (Double D Meats, 5602 232nd St SW # 104, Mountlake Terrace, WA (425) 778-7363) that already had garlic and mint. Not to be out done I added mint & yogurt cheese (will discuss soon - a treasure at our disposal). I folded about a teaspoon into a wonton skin and froze on the spot.

I only had ONE package of wontons. Apparently you need about 4 (or 5!) packages to use the whole 2 pounds. Now that I had used slightly less than 1/2 of the mixture, for some reason I felt adding par-cooked potatoes (cubed) and browned onions would be a good idea. I know not why, for it brought the volume of stuff back almost the the original amount. Maybe the lamby & starchy & with the spicy, minty, sweet & oniony are just So I made Lamb Sausage Rolls (in frozen puff pastry). I made pastry dough and created empanadas... and in desperation, little mini burgers. There's no doubt it's all tasty (I checked by cooking a teaspoon in a fry pan), but so much lamb burger STUFF!

OK so now... lamb something from the freezer for the next 6 weeks!

But what to eat with that?

Summer squash and Cucumbers... thats what!

The Easy Part: Slice a medium sized cucumber in half and then into very thin slices.

then a small yellow or green summer squash (zucchini count) also in thin slices. Thinly slice in a mixture of herbs (any and all you have on hand... chives, basil, oregano, cilantro, mint (only a little), sage (also only a little)... etc.

The Hard Part (well the slightly harder part): Dressing. Vigorously stir together 2 Tbs Apple cider vineger 1 Tbs white wine vinegar (champagne, rice... whatever you have). 1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard, a good squeeze of honey, 1 large garlic clove crushed and salt to taste. A few (well, many) dashes of Green Tabasco sauce gives it that something... extra.

Then, stirring hard with a fork or whisk... time to gently pour in some sort of olive oil. Keep stirring and make an emulsion. When you have enough dressing to generously to cover the cukes, squash & herbs, taste JUST TO MAKE SURE IT is tasty... but a little too strong. (or dump everything into a tightly lidded container and shake-a shake-a)

Pour over your pile of thinly sliced herbs, cucumbers and raw squash. Stir REALLY well. Hear your son say it is better than plain, raw cucumbers (high praise in my world).

My Taxi Driver's Views on Chicken

On my way to the airport in San Diego, I started to talk to my Taxi Driver (from near Nairobi, Kenya) about food.

"What," I asked, "is your favorite food?"

"Not this," he said, pointing at a soft drink cup from KFC (until recently known as Kentucky Fried Chicken). "I like fresh food, that sort of thing. What do you do to your chickens here?"

me..."Huh?"

"The chickens, they are injected, they are flabby, they have no taste."

me..."well, just like many Americans who don't get any exercise, we don't let our chickens exercise either."

"Huh!?"

me..."we keep them in little boxes and houses."

"So you make your animals lazy and fat. I guess that is what make Americans fat. I ate tasty, but scrawny chickens as a boy. Look at me. Not fat."

me..."Nope. I think you have a point. Our cows don't get any exercise either."

How to make your Mom Happy... and clean out the Fridge.

Whenever I go visit my mom and vice-mom, I head straight for the fridge. They buy all sorts of GREAT groceries, but only use about half of each item. I combine the orphans. They always invite me back.

The inventions from the start of this trip:

Tapas Salads - I served these on tiny plates with sesame crisps. I also pulled out a dry white wine.

*Asian Cukes*

2 mini cucumbers cut on the bias - about 1/4 in. thick

Dressing:

2:2 soy sauce and balsamic vinegar

1:1 sesame oil and chili oil

sesame seeds

crushed red pepper

Mix together, let sit in the fridge for a few hours - or eat right NOW

(the proportions are approx. - adjust to taste. I've given ratios, so if your amount is Tbs, then this means 2 Tbs soy, 1Tbs oil and so on.)

*Simplest Pea Salad*

Any amount or mixture of peas you eat with the pod (snow, sugar etc.)

Cut them on the diagonal about the width of your thumb.

Dressing Per large handful of peas:

1 garlic clove chopped fine and smashed with

1/4 - 1/2 tsp coarse salt (kosher, sea, whatever)

1+ tsp olive oil (really tasty)

Shake these together with the peas until mixed really well.

Grind on pepper until it has a sneaky little kick.

Add anything red from your vegetable drawer that needs to get used

(suggestions - tomatoes, red peppers, red onions, radishes, raddichio)

Also let sit or Eat Right NOW!