Midsummer Zucchini Latkes, or Zuchini Pancakes (gluten free! or not)

Zucchini isn't exactly the most glamorous of vegetables, is it? And these? Well, these are not the most fancy of foods, but you know what? Darn tootin, they're good! Pretty or not, they taste great and are a good way to use up the bounty of summer squash flooding the markets this time of year. Usually we make latkes (potato cakes) with just potatoes, but these work ridiculously well with zucchini.

True fact: I am married to a man who absolutely HATES zucchini. HATES. And you know what? I don't blame him. If there is one vegetable that is easy to grow at home, it's zucchini. And it's so prolific! A single plant seems to produce more summer squash than you can use in a year! Around this time each summer, you can't even give it away it's so prolific. Can you guess which vegetable was grated into little boy Nate's cookies, and spaghetti, and mac n' cheese, and scrambled eggs, and pancakes, and blah, blah, blah, ad infinitum? I know, it's so tough sneaking nutrition into kids. The unfortunate result being that Nate now hates zucchini on principle. HATES.

I don't claim that this recipe changed the way Nate feels about zucchini. I don't even claim that he likes zucchini now. All I can say about this recipe is that when I make it, Nate will eat it. The man will eat what he considers to be the most loathsome vegetable on earth (in principle). I think that's a pretty powerful argument in favor of this recipe, because if a confirmed zucchini hater find it palatable, can you imagine what a mere mortal like you or me would think of it? That it's totally delicious? To die for? The best way to eat zucchini ever?

Oh, of course you can decide for yourself. But if you've run out of zucchini ideas, if you have a plant intent upon producing enough fruit for a whole village, or if you just want to try something new, this is a winner.






Midsummer Zucchini Latkes
Feeds 2 - 3 adults

Typically, latkes are a type of passover food (I think... me being 100% butter-loving, big boobs having, square-handed, red-headed German and not a drop of Jewish, I could be wrong), and they are made with matzo meal. Obviously, I can't eat that because I can't eat wheat, so we've been fine tuning gluten-free latkes for years now.

This recipe calls for a couple of gluten-free flours, but if gluten is not an issue regular all-purpose flour should work beautifully when substituted cup for cup. I also call for masa, a type of finely ground pre-cooked Mexican corn flour used for tomales. I LOVE this flour! It's so easy to work with and it has a really wonderful, robust flavor. If you can get ahold of some, I totally recommend using it (gluten free or not). Also, it's crazy cheap - I need to figure out more things to do with it. If you can't get ahold of masa, you can use some finely ground corn meal.

Also, I totally can't even imagine grating all this by hand, when it's just so easy to do with a food processor. Oh, ok, you could do it by hand, but it would take like, a whole 10 minutes instead of 5 seconds. I don't know about you, but I find 5 seconds of prep to be irresistible!


Ingredients
4 medium zucchinis
3 small - medium russet potatoes
1 small - medium yellow onion
2 eggs
1/3 cup quinoa flour (or all-purpose flour)
1/3 cup sweet rice flour (or all-purpose flour)
1/3 cup masa (or corn meal)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

tzatziki sauce or sour cream for topping (essential! Do not skip!)

Method


Cut the tops and bottoms off of 4 zucchinis. Using the grater attachment, run the zucchinis through a food processor (or grate by hand).




Peel and grate 3 russet potatoes...




...and 1 yellow onion.




Remove zucchinis, potatoes, and onion from processor, and squeeze well before placing in a large bowl. You want to get as much water out as you can so your batter isn't soupy.




To the zucchini/potato/onion mixture, add 2 eggs, 1/3 cup quinoa flour, 1/3 cup sweet rice flour, masa, salt, and pepper.




Mix together thoroughly (I use my hands).




Heat oil in a heavy bottomed skillet on medium-high heat (about 1 cup of oil). Take about 1/3 - 1/2 a cup of dough in your hand and shape into a flat disk.




Working in batches, fry latkes on one side until edges begin to turn brown, and cakes are cooked halfway through, 5-10 minutes.




Flip cakes and fry another 3-5 minutes, until bottom is browned. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Repeat until all the dough is used up. While you make the other batches, you can keep already made latkes warm by placing them on a cookie sheet in a warm oven (about 200 degrees).



Top with tzatsiki or sour cream. Enjoy!

Cherry, Cherry, Quite Contrary

It may be that while at the farmer's market last week, I bought a pound of the season's first cherries. And it might be that I had all sorts of wild plans for what to do with those cherries. Clafoutis. Cherry Pie. Cherry Preserves. Sweet cherry icecream. Something tasty to share with you.

Well it might have happened that I may have had a little sample of those cherries. And it's entirely possible that those cherries were absolutely delicious.



There may have been a little snacking here and there while I tried to figure out what to do with them. I may have required a few extra samples as to ascertain the best flavor pairings. It was purely scienific. Honest.

I was really careful not to eat too many. Yes somehow they all disappeared! Only the ugly ones were left. I have no idea how. It's a mystery. Probably some cherry bandit sneaking in and gobbling up all the cherries while I wasn't looking. Yep. That's probably it. So you see, it's the bandit's fault I don't have a cherry recipe for you.



Lucky thing the Farmer's Market is tomorrow. I think I'll get 2 lbs this time. Cause, you know, that pesky, cherry-eating bandit might be back.

Roasted Golden Beet and Asparagus Salad with Baby Spinach

In the spirit of trying new things and getting out of the ol' recipe rut, I bring you golden beets.

Wait, BEETS? Seriously?

I have a sort of embarrassing confession to make relating to beets: I have never tried them. Not even once. Beets have just never been very far up on my "must-try-before-I-die" list. All of experiences with beets has been limited to the mushy, limp variety which comes in a can, and I'm sorry but I am NOT about to put flaccid purple mystery-vegetable into my mouth. I can think of approximately 500 other things on my "must-try" list I would like to have before canned beets.



Leave it to Alice Waters, she of Chez Panisse fame, the godmother of Californian cuisine and the slow-food movement, to change my mind. It seems that President Obama does not care for beets either. But Alice, well, she would like to change that. She said, and I quote, "I would like to serve him some golden beets sometime that were roasted in the oven, that were not overcooked, that were dressed with a lovely little vinaigrette, maybe even diced in a salad. Squeeze 'em with a little lime. It's fantastically nutritious."

Um, that sounds kind of good. Maybe I have written off a vegetable as bland and mushy when it is, in fact, delicious and flavorful in its fresh, uncanned, unprocessed state?




We picked these beauties up at the farmer's market last Friday. They are so PRETTY! But did they taste good? Well, when we got home, we trolled the internet to figure out how to prepare them (apparently, they taste best roasted). I was going to make a salad out of Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food, but it seems I left 1/2 my order at the farmer's market and didn't have enough. So I made this recipe up. And you know what? It was REALLY good. We were both surprised by how much we like beets. They have an earthy flavor that paired really well with asparagus, spinach, feta cheese, and a tangy cumin-yogurt sauce. I totally recommend you try them. You know, just in case you have never tried beets either and want to give them a chance.








Roasted Golden beet and Asparagus Salad with Baby Spinach, Feta, and Cumin-Yogurt Dressing

This is great "spring" food - all of these vegetables should be (theoretically) available at your farmer's market. I used rice noodles (making the dish gluten free), but if you want to use regular noodles I'm sure it will taste great too.

Ingredients
5 small - medium sized golden beets
1 large bunch asparagus
2 handfuls of baby spinach (about 1/2 a pound, or 1/2 a bag pre-packed)
1 lb rice pasta in a small shape (not spaghetti)
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup Greek or European style whole milk yogurt, plain
2 tbs white balsamic vinegar or other tasty vinegar
1 tbs cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 glug olive oil



FIRST - preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bring water to boil in a large pot, and cook your noodles. If you are making rice noodles, be sure to rinse thoroughly, they are hella starchy.



thoroughly scrub the beets, and cut off the green tops (supposedly these are edible too, but the top of my beets didn't look too pretty, and I was being daring enough for one day). Place cut side down on a baking sheet and roast about 45 minutes, until beets can be easily pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and let cool.



Cut the ends off the asparagus and cut into 1" sections. Toss asparagus with olive oil and salt and pepper on a large rimmed baking tray. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 15 minutes until tender and bright green. Remove from oven and let cool.




Slip the skins off of the beets. They should tear away easily.




Slice into thin wedges.




In a small bowl, mix together yogurt, vinegar, cumin, and cayenne pepper. In a larger bowl, combine this dressing with noodles, beets, asparagus, fresh spinach, feta cheese, and dressing. Toss liberally to coat.




Enjoy!

Homemade Fresh Strawberry Jam

C

Internet, I am tired. Really, really tired. Wait, just a second - my grumpy 5 week old baby who has been fussing for 2 hours seems to have spit his pacifier out again. Be right back.

...

ok. So? Where were we? Oh, right. I'm so tired. ... Wait. OMG. He spit it out again. Be right back.

...

So. Babies? SO MUCH WORK. I think that if I can make my own strawberry jam in the middle of all this, you surely can too.




This week we finally made it to the farmer's market in our town. We had previously gone in January (hahah! Because there is SO much produce in season cum January) and were less than impressed. But THIS week! This glorious week! The booths were overflowing with the freshest, ripest, most beautiful strawberries I have ever seen. Strawberries that were just picked, this morning. If you have been buying strawberries at the grocery store, STOP. Just stop. Because the strawberries at the farmers market were sweeter, riper, softer, AND cheaper. They literally melted in our mouths. I paid 2$ a pint for freshly picked, local, certified organic strawberries, the best strawberries I have ever had. The grocery store charges $2.75 a pint for hard, sour, unripe, pesticide coated strawberries that have been shipped half-way across the country. You do the math on this one, but I think the farmer's market strawberries are going to come out ahead. Plus, more of my $ went into the farmer's pockets and back into my community to support MY neighbors, instead of going to support the huge agribusinesses.


Nate and I made strawberry jam for the first time last September. I had bought a flat of late summer berries at a discount, and they had to be used RIGHT AWAY. Jam was really the only thing I could think of that would require so many berries, so, we made some.

OMG.

Once you have had homemade jam, there is NO going back. It is just SO much better than grocery store jam. And you know what? It's really, ridiculously easy. You don't even need to can it (which, I understand, can be scary and intimidating). You can freeze it, or you can make a small batch and stick it right into your fridge. I mean, if I can do it while caring for my grumpy, feed-me, hold-me, burp-me, change-me, comfort-me newborn baby, I think you can too.






Homemade, Fresh Strawberry Jam

One of the great things about strawberry jam is that you don't need much more than strawberries and a few things you have around the house. Do you have white sugar? Do you have lemons? Do you have some strawberries? Then you are good to go! You don't even need anything fancy like canning jars or pectin.

This recipe is really just a formula - for 1 pint strawberries / 3/4 cup sugar / half a lemon. It's that simple. For the rest of this post, I am going to just tell you what I made, but if you have more or less strawberries, just adjust your recipe accordingly.





Start with 4 pints strawberries. Make sure they are fresh, ripe, and luscious. They should be ripe all the way up, with no white at the tops. It's ok if they are a little bruised here and there (strawberries are so delicate), but cut out any rotten bits, and definitely throw away any that have mold.




Wash, hull, and halve berries. Place them in a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan.




Add 3 cups white sugar.




Then add the juice of 2 lemons.




Mash it all up with a potato masher over high heat.




Bring it to a boil. If it gets foamy on top... You have FAILED. No, no, JUST KIDDING! Foaming is normal. Keep at a low boil for 20-40 minutes. You know it's done when the jam gels up on a cold surface. Put a droplet on a pint of icecream. Does it gel? It's done! (What? I don't exactly keep a cold plate in my freezer at all times).




Let jam cool. The foam will dissolve, and you can stir it in.




You can jar it, tupperware it, freeze it, you eat it right out of the pot. Whatever you do with it, I promise it will be delicious.