Zucchini

Honor the Green Garden Goddess of Mid-Summer
Graceful, long, slender
Ripening into curvaceous.
Full and sometimes boldly striped.


Celebrate zucchini. Celebrate the abundance. There is no escaping it. In fact, in some parts of America I’ve read that August plays host to a “Sneak Some Zucchini on Your Neighbor’s Porch Night.”

Zucchini is a truly good sport and will play along with you in the kitchen with whatever you have in mind. Some of the best apple pie I ever ate was not (don’t tell the kids) apple. The important thing to remember is that for as long as zucchini has been growing, people of all cultures have also endured weeks of zucchini abundance, so take heart! If you are running low on ideas Wikipedia breaks down zucchini and culture thusly:

In Italy, zucchini are served in a variety of ways, especially breaded and pan-fried. Some restaurants in Rome specialize in deep-frying the flowers, known as fiori di zucca.

In France zucchini is a key ingredient in ratatouille, a stew of summer vegetables prepared in olive oil and cooked for an extended time over low heat. The dish, originating near present-day Nice, is served as a side dish or on its own at lunch with bread.

In Turkish cuisine, zucchini is the main ingredient in the popular dish mücver , or "zucchini pancakes", made from shredded zucchini, flour and eggs, lightly fried in olive oil and eaten with yogurt.

In Lebanon, zucchini is stuffed with minced meat and rice plus herbs and spices and steamed. It is also used in various kinds of stew.

In Greece, zucchini is usually fried or boiled with other vegetables. It is served as an hors d'œuvre. During fasting seasons it may be served as a main dish. In several parts of Greece, the flowers of the plant are stuffed with white cheese, usually feta or mizithra cheese, or with a mixture of rice and herbs. Then they are deep-fried or, less often, baked with tomato sauce in the oven.

In Bulgaria, zucchini are fried and then served with a dip, made from yoghurt, garlic and dill. Another popular dish is oven-baked zucchini—sliced or grated—covered with a mixture of eggs, yoghurt, flour and dill.

In Egypt, zucchini are cooked with tomato sauce, garlic & onions.



What do they do in Columbus, Ohio?




Quesadillas De Flor De Calabaza

From the Masa Assasin masaassasin.blogspot.com

1 1/4 pounds Squash Flowers, cleaned and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or unsalted butter
3 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Sea salt to taste
2 pablano chilies, charred, peeled, and cut into strips
1 tablespoon roughly chopped epazote
Oaxacan Cheese
Corn Tortillas

This is a fairly simple recipe; most of the work is in the prep. It was a fun day making these; my brother and I were prepping the flowers while the wife worked the grill and the masa. This Recipe is adapted from Diana Kennedys "From My Mexican Kitchen Techniques and Ingredients."

Rinse and briefly shake excess water off the flowers. Remove stringy green sepals around the base of each flower. If the flowers are large leave about a half inch of the stalk on. Roughly chop the flowers, calyx and stamen included.


Prepare chiles by placing over open flame , turning them from time to time until skin is blistered and lightly charred. Place them inside a plastic bag and set aside to steam for 10 about minutes; this process will loosen the skin. Then remove the skin by running your hands or a spoon down the chile. Cut into vertical strips.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the onion garlic, and a little salt, and fry gently without browning until translucent, about 1 minute. Add the chili strips and cook stirring from time to time, for another two minutes.

Add the flowers and salt to taste, cover the pan, and cook over low heat until the round calyx is tender, not soft, about 10 minutes. Add epazote after 5 minutes.

The mixture should be moist not juicy.

Prepare some corn tortillas on the comal with some Oaxaca cheese and flor de calabaza mixture. Enjoy!
This is enough for about 15 quesadillas (which was a bit much) I will most likely split the recipe in half next time.

Baharat

Baharat. I love saying that word! It seems like it should be spelled with an exclamation mark.

Baharat! It means “spices” in Arabic and generally refers to a mixture that is used in North African and Eastern Mediterranean cultures. Countries like Tunisia, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and the Palestinian territories use baharat as well as Turkey and the Gulf States. Each culture has its special spice mixture traditionally used to compliment lamb, beef, chicken or fish. Baharat also works well as a flavorful addition to lentils, soups, rice and vegetables.

Recipes for Baharat

Baharat
2 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom


Turkish Baharat
2 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground mint
1 tbsp ground cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
pinch of ground cinnamon


Levant Baharat
1/4 cup black peppercorns
1/4 cup allspice berries


Syrian Baharat
2 tsp allspice
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cloves


Tunisian Baharat
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp dried rose petals
1 tsp black pepper

Kebsa spices (i.e. Gulf baharat)
1 tbsp red pepper
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground loomi (dried lime)
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp saffron threads

(recipes from www.theepicentre.com)

Pizza on the grill

So have you done pizza on the grill? I’ve been at it for several months now and continue to get excited each time I start mixing up a batch of pizza dough because the results have been so incredible. I use a stone and the result has been beautiful free form pizzas with crusts that are golden crunchy and bubbly. The real deal.
I put the baking stone on the grill cold (rinsing the stone first with water) and then bring the temp up gradually. It usually maxes out about 600 degrees, but that seems hot enough.
I assemble the pizza on a wooden pizza peel dusted with cornmeal and then slide it on to the hot stone, close the lid and wait a few minutes. The crust bubbles up beautifully and browns evenly.
I’m sure there must be some concern with heating the stone directly on the rack. Will it crack? So far so good. The stone doesn’t show any signs of stress. Mostly what I’ve read suggests not doing it that way. The indirect method (placing the stone over the area on the grill that is not being directly heated) is most often sited and then there are those who throw the dough right on the grill. In my opinion, neither of these techniques produces a satisfactory pizza.
It could be that heating the stone slowly has been the key so far. Also, I leave the stone on the grill to cool down, overnight if necessary.
Give it a try! You won’t be sorry. Being able to create pizza of this quality without heating up the kitchen is a definite bonus on these hot summer days, too.

Basic Pizza Dough
Yield: 3 lb. dough

1 T. dry yeast
1/2 t. sugar
2-2/3 C. warm water
2 T. olive oil
7-1/2 C. unbleached flour
1/4 C. whole wheat flour
2 t. coarse salt

Proof yeast for 5-10 minutes using 1 C. warm water and a pinch of sugar, until yeast dissolves and liquid appears creamy.

Add remaining water and 1-1/2 to 2 C. flour, including whole wheat. Beat this well (100 strokes!) until it is smooth and soupy. Let stand for 10-15 minutes until bubbly. Add the salt and olive oil and stir in rest of the flour by the cup, until dough is still and slightly sticky.

When the dough begins to form a mass that's thick enough to hold its shape, turn out on to a lightly floured surface and let rest. Clean and oil the bowl you were using. Knead dough ( 5- 8 minutes) and return to the oiled bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until double.

After first rise, form the crust or punch down and let rise again. Can be refrigerated up to 2 days. If you refrigerate, punch the dough down after it has been chilling for about 40 minutes and put in plastic bag.

Garden View

Food Memories

I just sat down. Needed to throw a couple of quiches together and get them into the oven before the day gets too hot. I was frying some good bacon from our neighbor’s hogs in my favorite cast iron skillet. (Ok. I’ll tell you foodies now so you can concentrate on the rest of the post: The first was bacon, local raw-milk cheddar cheese, and fresh chives from the garden. The second one ended up with some feta, left-over oven roasted new potatoes along with red peppers, and green onions all from our garden!)

So, having more time than I sometimes do, I put the bacon in the cold pan and put it over a low heat. Slowly, the bacon releases its fat and becomes uniformly crisp. So simple…no splatter, no burned bacon or that rubbery rawish fatty stuff. Time is what you need for good bacon, then. My grandmother taught me that. The part about always putting bacon in a cold skillet, that is. She had the time, or at least a significant amount of time spent in the kitchen, so she didn’t think about outright mentioning that part.

Anyway, I love food memories. I accept, as a true gift, moments where I am thinking about people because food has triggered a memory, a feeling.