{"id":4344,"date":"2009-09-04T04:00:28","date_gmt":"2009-09-04T08:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ourgrandmotherskitchens.com\/?p=4344"},"modified":"2010-11-14T15:30:27","modified_gmt":"2010-11-14T20:30:27","slug":"catching-some-zs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourgrandmotherskitchens.com\/?p=4344","title":{"rendered":"Catching Some Zs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"zucchini<\/p>\n

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How do I love zucchini? Let me count the ways\u2026.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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I know zucchini don\u2019t always come in for a lot of praise. In fact, I tend to think of them as the fruitcake of summer.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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At Christmas the fruitcake bashers jest that fruitcake is so heavy it can be used as a doorstop. In early September the jokesters snicker that country dwellers are so frustrated with their bumper crops of zucchini that as soon as the sun sets they tiptoe around and leave the things on their neighbors\u2019 doorsteps.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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It\u2019s true that even one little zucchini vine can go crazy if left untended. Gardeners who forget to check their patch for a couple of days end up with vegetables the size of baseball bats instead of the tender little green gourds that inspired the Italian name \u201czucchini,\u201d which means \u201dlittle squash.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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(Actually, in Italian the word would be \u201czucchine.\u201d I hate to be overly pedantic, but I was an editor for years so I\u2019m prone to linguistic nitpicking.)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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If you remember to check your zucchini patch frequently, however, you\u2019ll be rewarded with small, curvy cylinders that are highly versatile.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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They cook quickly, especially if you just fry slices in a little butter and olive oil and toss in a few herbs and a little salt and pepper.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Grated zucchini can lend vitamin A and moisture to soups, sauces, breads, brownies, cakes, and casseroles.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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You may also use zucchini to make pickles or relish and stretch summer\u2019s bounty throughout the year.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Zucchini are cheap, and they\u2019re good for you. As my grandmother used to say, \u201cWhat\u2019s not to like?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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So–if any of my neighbors would like to leave a few zucchini on my doorstep, I say, \u201cBring \u2018em on!\u201d I didn\u2019t grow any myself this year, and I have several zucchini recipes to share with readers. Here is the first.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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I learned to make these zucchini pancakes last year when I was working as a demo chef at Bloomingdale\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0in Tysons Corner, Virginia. Pat Money, the Calphalon<\/a> cookware representative, suggested that they would show off her pans nicely. They certainly did! I have changed the recipe a little from Pat’s version (a characteristic failing of mine), but I’ve kept the essence of the pancakes intact. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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As you can see, they\u2019re on the fattening side–so make them when you have a crowd coming over. They\u2019ll disappear.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Zucchini Pancakes<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Ingredients:<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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2 large eggs, lightly beaten
\n1 tablespoon canola oil
\n1 small onion, finely minced
\n1 clove garlic, finely minced
\n1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (add a little more if you like)
\n1-1\/2 teaspoons baking powder
\n1\/2 teaspoon salt
\nlots of freshly ground pepper
\n2 medium zucchini, grated and squeezed dry in a dish towel (about 4 cups)
\n1 cup flour
\nextra-virgin olive oil as needed for frying<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Instructions:<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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In a bowl, combine the eggs, canola oil, onion, garlic, cheese, baking powder, salt, and pepper.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Stir in the zucchini, followed by the flour.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Pour enough olive oil into the bottom of a nonstick frying pan to coat the bottom of the pan. Heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat until it shimmers.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Place heaping soup spoons full of the zucchini batter into the pan, about 4 to 5 at a time. Flatten them slightly and fry them until they are golden around the edges and can be turned, about 3 minutes. Turn them over and fry them until they are golden on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes longer. If you need to add a bit more oil during this process, do so.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Drain the pancakes on paper towels and serve them warm. Makes 25 to 30 small pancakes.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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\"zucchini<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 How do I love zucchini? Let me count the ways\u2026. \u00a0 I know zucchini don\u2019t always come in for a lot of praise. In fact, I tend to think of them as the fruitcake of summer. \u00a0 At Christmas the fruitcake bashers jest that fruitcake is so heavy it can be used as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3,33,42],"tags":[739,738,736,741,740,737],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourgrandmotherskitchens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4344"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourgrandmotherskitchens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourgrandmotherskitchens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourgrandmotherskitchens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourgrandmotherskitchens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4344"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/ourgrandmotherskitchens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4361,"href":"https:\/\/ourgrandmotherskitchens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4344\/revisions\/4361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourgrandmotherskitchens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourgrandmotherskitchens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourgrandmotherskitchens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}