Between the garden at Ben's work and the one at my MIL's house, we are never out of fresh veggies. Not at all a bad problem to have! However, I am finding that there is only so much you can do with veggies that is fun and healthy. Sometimes, you have to add some butter.
My Mom's best friend, Susan (also the talented lady who arranged ALL of my flowers at my wedding) is the queen of improvising. Don't have any [fill in the blank] on hand? No problem-we will find something. I was perusing her blog one day and was inspired by her post about things to do with zucchini!
Ben's mother had given us a zucchini that resembled a bowling pin-in size and shape. I thought about grilling it..or chopping it up raw for salad toppings..and became bored with all of my options. Then Susan's post reminded me of fritters! OH YUM!
My bowling pin zucchini
I grated that whole thing...
My zucchini mush...I promise it gets better!
Added in some goody!
And fried some patties
And for the healthy part...(garden tomatoes and cucumbers!)
I don't really have an official 'recipe' for this, but I will try my best:
-Large zucchini, Onion, 2 eggs, bread crumbs, flour, cheese (any kind), garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, vegetable oil
-Grate the zucchini and set aside on a paper towel (to soak up all the liquid)
-Finely chop the onion (mine went into the food processor)
-In a bowl, beat the eggs and start adding in the remaining ingredients. I added my zucchini and onion first, then the flour and (Italian) bread crumbs-probably about 1 1/2 cups total of the dry ingredients. I used shredded cheddar, but Parmesan would be good too!
-The spices are all to taste-I think I added about 1/2 tablespoon each. To the last batch, I added some cajun spices for Ben.
-Heat the vegetable oil in the skillet, then patty up the fritters and drop them in the hot oil!
Next time, I will probably roll them in some cornmeal for extra crunch. They were great heated as leftovers too! I also thought about making a big patty and putting it on a bun like a crab cake sandwich.
For a really crunchy fritter, try patting some Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)on them. Kroger has it - look in the baking section, next to the regular old bread crumbs. Panko makes GREAT crunchy coating.
ReplyDeleteOh, and remember not to leave them on paper towels for very long after you drain them. They just sit there and steam in the oil that's soaked into the paper towel, and it makes them soggy. Pat the oil off of them, then slide them onto a clean, dry plate.
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