Garden Bounty, Summer 2012

Zucchini cakes (Photo credit: foodiesathome.com)

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything on my blog, over a year!  I guess that's what happens when life gets in the way ...


We've been quite busy in the garden this summer, all of our plants seem to be growing like crazy.  We have the biggest potato plants I've ever seen, and our cucumbers just keep coming.  I've already given a bunch away and still have plenty in the fridge, along with a couple of jars of pickles. 


One thing I've made a couple of times this year are Zucchini Cakes, which is a recipe I found on the Food Network by Sandra Lee: Zucchini Cakes Recipe . The recipe calls for a cup of "baking mix" which she gives the recipe for at the bottom, but I substitute Biscuik and it works just fine.  I've found that the 1/4 cup of oil called for in the recipe is a little excessive in my nonstick pan; just use enough to coat the bottom of the pan, they actually brown better when not swimming in oil.  


Tonight, Michael and I had a delicious vegetarian meal of new potatoes, Italian green beans, leftover squash casserole and zucchini cakes - all from the garden.  It was outstanding and light, perfect for a no-fuss weeknight meal.  We even topped it off with some fresh watermelon (from the Ingles garden!).


I made Zucchini Bread again (you can find it under "zucchini" on the right-hand side).  I always love this recipe, the taste is just a little different than your run-of-the-mill zucchini bread because of the lemon zest, poppy seeds, crystallized ginger and curry.  You can leave all those "optional" ingredients out of the recipe but it just wouldn't be the same.

Fried Squash Blossoms

Image by docman via Flickr

Well I finally was able to pick enough squash flowers so that I could make one of my favorite dishes, Squash Blossoms (or as my mother used to call them, Coogoots Flowers - Coogoots is the Italians' word for zucchini). I was able to get some beautiful open blooms from the yellow squash, zucchini and pumpkin plants; I had about a dozen blossoms in all, which made a perfect lunch for me and Michael.

Only pick the male blossoms (the ones without the fruit attached). Cut a bit of the stem as well so you have something to hold. Once you pick them they need to be used pretty quickly -- you will want to rinse them well to make sure there are no bugs, and remove the stamen from the centers. The flowers are quite fragile so be careful handling them. Lightly dry them, then dust with some flour. They then go into a batter made with the following ingredients:

4 eggs
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. finely grated parmesan or romano cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Beat the eggs well with a whisk; whisk in the flour and the cheese, the salt and pepper and mix well so that there are very few lumps. Drop the squash flowers into the batter and coat well. Heat about 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat, and drop the squash flowers in; fry until golden brown and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and ENJOY!

This makes a great lunch, along with a green salad (of course with fresh ingredients from your garden!)

If you want to get really adventurous, try stuffing the blossoms with some cheese, or try some of the recipes in the following link. Mangia, y'all!

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• Five Ways to Eat Squash Blossoms (thekitchn.com)

More Garden Bounty

Image by bourgeoisbee via Flickr

The garden is in full swing these days. We picked our first squash and zucchini this weekend, the herbs are very plentiful, the chard and kale are continuing to come up (as is the lettuce), the tomatoes and cucumbers are on the vines. Soon we will have a refrigerator full of fresh vegetables.

Since I now have fresh onions, zucchini and yellow squash, I will fire up the grill this week to make my grilled vegetables. My peppers aren't ready yet and I don't have mushrooms, so I'll have to take a trip to the local produce stand to pick those up. Grilled vegetables are probably one of my favorite dishes -- lots of fresh chunks of fresh veggies, simply garnished with olive oil, salt & pepper and a little garlic powder. I always make sure to cut my vegetables up in nice-sized chunks so they don't fall apart on the grill. I use a grill pan so nothing falls into the fire. Here's my recipe:

• Fresh vegetables such as zucchini, yellow squash, onions, green and red peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, fennel
• Olive oil (just enough to coat all the vegetables)
• Salt, pepper and garlic powder

Wash and cut up the vegetables into good-sized chunks. Put the vegetable chunks into a large bowl and add olive oil to coat -- don't add so much that the veggies are dripping with oil. Transfer the vegetables to the grill pan and sprinkle with the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook over a hot grill, turning frequently to avoid burning the vegetables. Don't crowd the vegetables on the grill pan - they will come out much better if they are cooked in batches.

This recipe can also be done in the oven; again, make sure the vegetables are not crowded in the pan, and roast in a 425-degree oven. Turn after about 10 minutes and then cook about 10-15 minutes more until done.

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• Recipes for Health: Kale: The Winter Green (nytimes.com)
• How to grow: summer vegetables (telegraph.co.uk)
• Zucchini Pesto (rawlivingfoods.typepad.com)