Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini Fritters

It's still Spring and already zucchini is growing like crazy in our garden!!!  This was quick and easy (becoming my new middle name) and DELICIOUS!!  Something special happens when you can grow your own totally organic vegetables and prepare them in your kitchen!!

Zucchini Fritters
The Chef In My Head adapted from Simply Recipes

Yield: About 8 2-1/2 inch fritters

1 pound (about 2 medium) zucchini
1 teaspoon coarse or Kosher salt, plus extra to taste
1 small bunch fresh chives, diced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp Tony Chachere Seasoning
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Coconut Oil, Olive Oil or another oil of your choice

To serve (optional)
1 cup plain, full-fat yogurt
1 to 2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest

Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinches of salt
1 small minced or crushed clove of garlic

Trim ends off zucchini and grate them using the shredding blade of a food processor, or you can use a box grater. 

In a large bowl, toss zucchini with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and set aside for 10 minutes. Wring out the zucchini in one of the following ways: pressing it against the holes of a colander with a wooden spoon to extract the water, squeezing out small handfuls at a time, or wrapping it up in a clean dishtowel or piece of cheese cloth and wringing away. This will save the fritters from being soggy!

Return zucchini shreds to bowl. Taste and if you think it could benefit from more salt Stir in chives, egg, some freshly ground black pepper and Tony's. In another small bowl, stir together flour and baking powder, then stir the mixture into the zucchini batter.

In a large heavy skillet — cast iron is perfect! — heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Drop small bunches of the zucchini mixture onto the skillet only a few at a time so they don’t become crowded and lightly nudge them flatter with the back of your spatula. Cook the fritters over moderately high heat until the edges underneath are golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. If you find this happening too quickly, reduce the heat to medium. Flip the fritters and fry them on the other side until browned underneath again, about 2 to 3 minutes more. Drain briefly on paper towels then transfer to baking sheet and then into the warm oven until needed. Repeat process, keeping the pan well-oiled, with remaining batter.

For the topping, if using, stir together the sour cream, lemon juice, zest, salt, cayenne pepper and garlic and adjust the flavors to your taste. Dollop on each fritter before serving. These fritters are also amazing with a poached egg on top!!

Confession:  We ate them before I could finish the topping!  Just as good without it!

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Greek Stuffed Peppers with Orzo, Roasted Caponata and Baklava "Purses"

Since I admit to being the junkie I am, I sat and watched the Food Network most of the day(in the background, while I was working, Jess).  Just looking for inspiration, while I wound up watching my "kitchen porn" buddy Giada.  Giada, I mean this in the most complimentary way of course, but seriously, the cleavage Honey.  Anyway, I found her stuffed peppers and Caponata and the baklava.  I do not claim to be better than her by any means (but my cleavage is not bad for 45), I simply am not capable of following a recipe, and I know what I and my family like.  One of my other downfalls is I ALWAYS cook too much.  I will hightlight my changes so you can see what I've done and notes about changes I made.  So my sweet neighbors are having dinner delivered to them tonight.  Here's what's for Dinner Tonight, Sonya! 

Greek Orzo Stuffed Peppers

1 (28 oz) can Fire Roasted Italian tomatoes, drained
2 Zucchini, grated
1/2 C Percorino Romano, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 C extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly gound black pepper
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3/4 tsp dried oregano
4 C chicken stock (I'm not a huge fan of broth)
1 1/2 C tri-colored orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
6 sweet bell peppers (red, yellow & orange)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Break up tomatoes in a large bowl.  Add zucchini, cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and oregano.  Stir to combine.

Meanwhile, bring chicken stock to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat.  Add the orzo and cook for 4 minutes.  Orzo should only be partially cooked.  Using a fine mesh sieve, transfer the orzo to the large bowl with the rest of the ingredients.  Spray your baking dish with our buddy Pamela and transfer the warm chicken broth to the baking dish.

Slice the tops off of the peppers and remove the seeds and ribs.  If necessary, cut a thin clice off the bottom so peppers will sit upright.

Fill the peppers with the orzo mixture and place side by side in baking dish.  Cover dish tightly with foil and bake for  45 minutes.  Remove the foil, sprinkle the tops of the peppers with the remaining cheese and continue baking for about 15 minutes until the cheese is golden.
Enjoy, serves 6.

Roasted Caponata

1 (14 oz) can diced Fire Roasted tomatoes with juice
2 Zucchini, cut into 1-inch rounds
2 Summer Squash, cut into 1-inch rounds
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 large eggplant, cut in half lengthwise, and cut into1-inch, half moons
1 red onion, cut into 1-inch wedges
1 Youkon Gold potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 C extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp Grey salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
4 to 6 slices sourdough bread, brushed with olive oil and toasted on grill

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Pour canned tomatoes into 3 1/2 quart baking dish that has been sprayed with our buddy Pamela and spread to cover the bottom.  In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients except the bread.  Toss to coat.  Pour the vegetables over the canned tomatoes in an even layer.  Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake until the edges of the vegetables are golden, for about 30 to 40 minutes.
Serve alone as a side, or over toasted sourdough bread.  Served over bread, it can be a great vegetarian main course.  Enjoy, Serves 6 to 8.

Baklava "Purses"

1/2 C almonds, toasted
1/2 C walnuts, toasted
1/4 C chopped dried apricots
1/4 C plain bread crumbs
2 Tbls sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pinch of kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted, divided
3 Tbls honey
12 sheets phyllo dough

Special equipment: 2 mini-muffin tins + I used a small tamper (my finger doesn't fit so well in that tiny tin)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the almonds, walnuts, apricots, bread crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves and salt in your awesome, probably Cuisinart Food Processor (I had to use my crappy one).  Run machine until the mixture is very finely chopped.  It smells amazing! Transfer the mixture to a small bowl, add 2 Tbls of the melted butter and all of the honey, stir to combine. 

On a dry work surface place 1 sheet of phyllo (keep the rest covered so it doesn't dry out).  Brush lightly with melted butter.  Cover the first sheet with the second, repeating the process until you have used 6 of the sheets.  Cut the stacked phyllo rectangle into 12 equal pieces (cut lengthwise into 3 pieces and widthwise into 4 pieces).
Gently press each piece into the mini-muffin tin cups. Press 1 Tbls of the nut mixture into each of the phyllo cups.  Gather ends and twist to make a purse.  Continue with the rest and begin with the second set for your second muffin tin.  Bake until the edges are golden for about 20 to 25 minutes.  When cool enough to handle, remove from tins and transfer to a serving plate.  Do not leave unattended or your husband will a mysterious tummy ache.  Makes 24 "purses"

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Roasted Salmon and Roasted Garlic, Zucchini and Tomatoes

I was raised in Houston, Texas and spent each summer on the on or near the Gulf of Mexico either from my Aunt and Uncle's home in Corpus Christi or fishing with my dad.  I love salt water and living in South Texas near the Hill Country and it is beautiful but I feel rather land locked sometimes.  When everything is just out of sorts for me, I need my salt water fix.  It has never failed me.  It always works.  As a result, I love seafood!  Oysters, shrimp, crab and all kinds of fish...Grouper is probably my favorite(we refer to that as a "Top of the menu" fish).  Following grouper, it's snapper, red fish, speckled trout, flounder(not in that order) and the list goes on and on with the seemingly endless numbers of tasty fish the beautiful Gulf of Mexico provides.  I love it and it is not fishy.  And that, brings me to this.  I would like to take a moment to address something I hear all the time from people, that say they don't like fish, "it's fishy".  FRESH fish is NOT fishy.  If it is get rid of it!!  If you find yourself in a situation like I am now, having to buy it from a grocery store, then ask lots of questions.  Where did it come from, what is the texture like when it's cooks, and ask to smell it.  Don't be shy.  It's not cheap and it's worth it to get the freshest seafood you can.  I got lucky enough to find a business in San Antonio that supplies seafood to restaurants and they will sell it to the public.  Believe me, it's fresh and it's not fishy!

Having said all of that, I struggle with salmon.  It doesn't come from the Gulf of Mexico, so I have trouble with creating recipes for it.  I love it raw, as sushi and I love it smoke with all of the usual suspects, purple onion, capers, egg etc.  But cooking it, is a real challenge for me.  I have tried Asian methods, I have tried cream dill sauces,etc. nothing really taste right to me.  So I decided to go back to basics after I had salmon at a dear friend's house for her birthday, and I loved it!  I was given some fresh salmon that another friend caught in Alaska.  So here's the method I learned from the birthday girl and we had it for dinner tonight.  I sprayed a cooking sheet with my buddy Pamela.  Placed the steaks on the pan, sprinkled them with some flaked lemon salt I had and fresh ground pepper.  Tossed it the oven at 350 degrees.  After about 15 minutes, I turned off the oven, cracked the door and let it sit there while I finished preparing the rest of dinner.  After I pulled it out of the oven, I drizzled it with really good olive oil and transferred it to our plates.  Really yummy!  Maybe there is hope for me afterall.  I just got off the phone with another friend that suggested I take the leftover cooked salmon, shred it with forks, place a little of it on a small square of puff pastry.  Top it with a dab of cream cheese and capers.  Fold over the top with the pastry, brush it with egg whites and bake.  That may be our late night snack.

The zucchini was super simple!  I diced a couple of fresh zucchini, tossed in some cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced onion, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, fresh ground pepper and salt.  Poured about a 1/4 Cup olive oil and tossed it all together.  Baked, uncovered, at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes.  After removing it from the oven I sprinkled about 1/2 Cup freshly grated parmesan cheese and served.

Daddy, you asked me to let you know what I came up with for the salmon, here it is!

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