More cooking

[lizwilliams]

We seem to have a lot of courgettes (zucchinis to some of you), which are bland on their own, so I have been looking up zucchini recipes and ended up making fritters. Claudia Roden has a recipe and so does Nigel Slater, and on reflection I think Nigel's might have come via Claudia (although it is a Turkish thing, so he might have met them there). You grate the courgette, fry it lightly with onion, then add 3 tablespoons of flour and three eggs, and fry them in dollops. Both cookbooks suggested using feta and dill, but we were dill-less and the remaining feta has grown Old, so they had to go in without either. But they turned out okay. We had them with rice, garlic mushrooms and the kind of green cauliflower which looks like a fractal alien head.

Comments

[desperance.livejournal.com]

If you have a glut of courgettes, try a tortilla: slice 'em to the thickness of a pound coin, give or take (say a silver dollar, if you say zucchini), heat olive oil in a well-seasoned or non-stick frying pan, and heap it high with the courgettes. It will look like too much; if they're not spilling over the edge as you stir 'em about a bit, you haven't got enough (I told you, it's really good when you have a glut). Fry until soft, at which point they will have reduced and compacted somewhat (I nearly typed 'bulked down' there - aaargh!). Beat a couple of eggs in a big bowl, add salt & pepper and some diced cheese - manchego is really good, but experiment wildly - and stir in the courgettes. Wipe out the pan if you want to, add a little more oil, and when that's hot pour the whole lot back in. Fry the tortilla until it's golden-brown beneath and almost set on top; slide it onto a plate, invert the pan over the plate and then turn 'em both the other way, so that the uncooked side of the tortilla is face-down in the pan. Cook it a couple of minutes, till it's browned up. Serve hot or lukewarm or cold, depending; I think it gets better for about the first hour after cooking.

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Thank you - I will give this a shot. I like tortillas.

[ianmcdonald.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall method: slice, ciook for about an hour in a generous glug of olive oil with lots of garlic and some salt. When they are practically melting, mash, add a tablespoon or so of thick cream and stir into tube pasta --not spaghetti. With parmesan, it's positively unctuous. The same process can also be used to make a souffle.

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

Right, I'm trying this one as well. Sounds great! Anything with pasta is a friend of mine.

[ianmcdonald.livejournal.com]

I should add, cook very very gently for an hour, but you probably worked that one out.

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

Yes. A number of charred saucepans have finally produced learning....sigh.

[ramblin-phyl.livejournal.com]

We've been doing zuccini "pancakes" this way for years. We sprinkle the top with parmaeson and garlic salt.

I also do a kind of saute. slice the squash lengthwise into 3 inch spears. Saute diced sweet onion and minced garlic until translucent. Throw in the zuchini spears and some chopped up green pepper, mushrooms, celerey, whatever looks good. Cook quick in a little oil with onion Add a touch of pimento. When squash is still firm but tender add a spalsh of wine. Let it cook down. Serve. Cand add some shredded cheese if you have to.

Courgette/Zuccini-tastic

[cleopand.livejournal.com]

I'm into eating them cubed and fried in olive oil with some chunks of mushroom and a sprig of thyme. Drain off the surplus oil, add them to some cooked pasta twirls or penne, season and then add some grated cheese (gruyere is good - I stole this idea from a recipe in the Observer food magazine recently). Ten-minute food for hungry gardeners! It's that magical time of year where I leave the garden at 0630 and the courgettes are finger-sized and return home at 1700 and they're 4 times the size! Magic!

Coming soon - aubergine/egplant harvest.....