Even More Zucchini!!!

I'm not on zucchini overload yet. Heck I haven't even made one bread! I just keep doing other things with it. Today I made a side dish, roasted potatoes, zucchini and summer squash. There is one thing you really need to keep in mind when you make dishes with zucchini or summer squash in them. They contain tons of water. So cooking times are going to differ depending on just how much water is in them. One way to remove some of the water is to slice the squash and then salt liberally and place in a colander. Let the squash drain for several hours and then quickly rinse or try to blot off some of the salt. Me, I don't usually bother with this step. I just go for the gusto!

So, zucchini and summer squash, cut into about 1/2 to 3/4 inch slice and the quartered. This is that Italian zucchini I got a the farmer's market at Howe Meadow and some summer squash I also bought there.



To this I added some chopped purple scallions


And my favorite potato of all, blues, which are really purple. Very purple, inside and out as you can see!


They aren't just pretty though, they are damn tasty! Mix all of them in a baking dish (I also threw in some Yukon Gold potatoes), drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and the bake in the oven at 375 for about an hour, do not cover it. They take longer than just potatoes would because of the aforementioned water in the squash. You want everything to get browned because, as Food Network chef Anne Burrell says so often, "brown food tastes good." So check it, stir it, shake it, watch it. It's worth it when you get this...




It's really super yummy. Add your fave herb on top when it comes out and enjoy! The squash is all roasted, the onions are pretty much gone but leave behind their flavor and the potatoes are crispy outside, tender and creamy inside.

More Zucchini!

After the reaction I got on FB and elsewhere to my last zucchini recipe, one I almost didn't even post by the way, I figured I would post anything I make with zucchini! This dish is a Carano household staple in the summer. It's one of our faves. Start with a good sized zucchini and a summer squash. Sometimes I'll add a red pepper into the mix, but I didn't today. Just the lovely Italian zucchini I got at the farmer's market, the summer squash and one of those awesome heads of garlic.

Once again, cut your zucchini and summer squash into about 1/2 inch slices.



For the garlic, cut off the top of one head and then place it on a double layer aluminum foil.




Drizzle with olive oil the seal up the foil. You can roast this garlic right on the grill. As an aside, can you believe the beauty of that garlic from the Farmer's Market? Not even a hint of a sprout inside! Gorgeous! (sorry Mom - she's probably got a serious case of the heebies reading me gush about garlic since she hates it so much - yeah, she's Italian. Yeah I know she's anomaly).

Brush both sides of the sliced squash with extra virgin olive oil and then line it up on the grill. You can put the foil wrapped garlic somewhere on the grill too. I find that it's best to turn that garlic on the grill from time to time because if you leave it in one spot without turning it, it will burn on one side. If you want to add a red pepper to this, just put the whole thing on the grill and let it char on all sides. Turn as it starts to char. You want it to get black. When it's all black on every side, remove and let set for a few minutes until you can handle it. Then peel off all the blackened skin, remove the seeds and chop the pepper up.



Depending on the heat of your grill, the squash should take about 5-7 minutes on each side. I'm guessing here because well, I watch mine and when it starts to brown I turn it. I don't really time it. So watch the edges and if it starts to brown, turn them.




We like ours nicely browned, but not blacked/burned.




When you've turned it, go in and turn on your pot of water to boil. You can use any pasta you want.... Rotini, Penne, Rigatoni, Linguine whatever. It's all good. I happen to have linguine on hand so I used that.

Once all the squash is done and the garlic is roasted to a nice softness, it's time to assemble. I cut the squash pieces into quarters (depending on how big it is, you may have to cut it more), basically bite sized. Then squeeze out all the garlic cloves. Mix all the veg and the gar with the pasta when it's done and toss with about 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Top with fresh parsley and basil, and then some Romano or Parmesan.


*sigh* This is my idea of heaven on a plate! If you'd rather make this a side dish instead of a main dish, you can check out a similar blog I did last year, using Orzo pasta.

Zucchini, Baked not Fried

It's zucchini time! I don't grow it because I get so much from other people that I don't need to grow it. And if I don't get it from someone, I can buy it at a farmer's market. This particular zucchini that I used on this day was from my former neighbor who came by to drop it off for me. How nice is that right? She gave me two huge zucchini's. One will most likely become bread, but the other was begging to be breaded. Since I'm really trying get back on my diet, I didn't want to fry it in oil, so I decided to bake it.

First I took the zucchini and sliced it into about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch slices.



From here it's done just the same as you would if you were frying it. Most things I fry I dip in flour first, but didn't feel the need to do this with zucchini. So I went straight to the egg (two beaten eggs) mixed with about a Tablespoon of Dijon mustard.



From there, dip in bread crumbs. Mine are mixture of plain bread crumbs, panko bread crumbs, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese.



Line them up on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. And then I lightly spray the top of the breaded zucchini with Fabio spray. Wait, you don't know what Fabio spray is? Here, I'll let this explain it for me:



Ever since those commercials started I have called it Fabio spray, so now you know what it is and I bet you'll call it that from now on too!

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes (until lightly browned). If you wish, top with a little provolone or mozzarella.


You won't miss the frying! We didn't :)

Move Over GA, SC Has Some Kickin Peaches!

Several years ago we went on a trip with my whole family to Charleston, SC to celebrate my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary. We chose Charleston because it was kind of in the middle between those of us in Ohio and my brother and sister, who had moved to Florida. While there, I discovered the joy of South Carolina peaches. Before this, I had always preferred nectarines. I don't know why, since I don't have an aversion to the fuzz on a peach. I just had my preference and that was that. Then I ate a South Carolina peach and all that changed. It was the best peach I had ever had. It was juicy and not too soft but soft enough that the juice ran down your chin and down your arm and it was so good you wanted to lick your own arm so as not to waste a drop. Since then I seek out SC peaches in our stores. So when my mother in law told us she was going to Myrtle Beach for a few days with my sister in law and her family, I asked her, if it wasn't too much trouble and she happen to see a roadside stand, could she get me some peaches. When they got back, I got the call... "I got you some peaches." Thrilled and excited to bask once again in peach rapture, I headed over to their house to pick them up.

The problem was, when I got them home and actually looked at them, they were kind of past their prime after being jostled around in a hot car for about 10 hours on the trip home. So what can you do but make pie?

I happen to really love Martha's "Our Favorite Pie Crust" recipe so that's what I use. She claims you need a pastry cutter, but I use a fork and it's perfectly fine. This recipe makes one pie crust. So if you want a top crust on your pie you'll have to double it. Start with 1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour mixed with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon sugar in a bowl.



Add one stick of cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces.



Now you will need that pastry blender or, like I said, a fork. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Make sure the butter pieces are no larger than the size of a pea.


Sprinkle the mixture with two Tablespoons of ice water and work it through the dough. You want the dough to be able to hold together if you take some in your hand and squeeze it. If it doesn't, then you will need to add more ice water. Add it one Tablespoon at a time. It should look like this:


When you get it that consistency, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a disk about 3/4 inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour to firm up.



While the crust is chilling, prepare your peaches for pie heaven! They need to be peeled so you will need a large pot of boiling water. You will also need a large bowl of ice water. I used about 8 peaches of varying sizes. They weren't overly large but they weren't small either. Drop the peaches, about two or three at a time, into the boiling water for about 10-15 seconds.



Take them out after that 10-15 seconds and immediately drop them into the bowl of ice water.



Once they are cool enough to touch, the peels will slip off easily.



Slice the peaches and put in a bowl and toss with a little lemon juice.




By this time, your pie crust is probably ready to be rolled out. Take it from the fridge, unwrap and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough carefully. You don't want to break it and you want it to be as much of a circle as possible. Make sure as you roll, you move the dough around so it doesn't stick to the surface. Add more flour to the board if necessary and make sure you flour your rolling pin. But don't over flour, you don't want a dry crust. The dough should be about 1/4 inch thick.



When you have it in the size you need and know it will fit in your pie plate, roll the dough around your rolling pin.


Gently unroll the dough into your pie plate.



Cut off some of the excess, but not all. With the excess that is left, tuck it under the plate.



From here, if you have more pie crust talent then I, you can do all kinds of fancy stuff to the crust. But since I'm really not very good at that, I just lightly crimp it with a fork.



Now take your peaches and mix them with 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a liberal grind of fresh nutmeg. This isn't any ones recipe, just a mixture I threw together based on how I've seen peach pies made in the past. The mixture will most likely be pretty juicy which is why you need some cornstarch in there to thicken up those juices while it bakes.


For me, you can't go wrong with a streusel topping. I prefer it over a second crust. For an easy streusel topping, combine a half a stick of unsalted butter, softened, with 3/4 cup of flour, 1/4 cup light brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Use your handy dandy fork again to mash it all together and make a crumble. I wanted to add chopped pecans to the topping, but when I went to get them, I discovered I didn't have any. Doh!



Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the pie.




Put the pie on a baking sheet. Trust me, don't skip this step! You do not want to clean peach lava off the bottom of your stove. Bake the pie at 450 degrees for the first 8-10 minutes. Then lower the temp to 350 and bake for another 45-50 minutes.




You can let it cool, or you can eat it warm. You can serve it as is or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. You can do whatever want with it, but now matter how you serve it, it won't last!

My Version of Mediterranean Pasta Salad

This salad is one of several different pasta salads I've come up with through the years, and probably my favorite one. It's got it all. Start with a pound of farfalle (otherwise known as bowtie) pasta. Now be forewarned. If you do make a whole pound of pasta, this salad will feed an army. Cook pasta in salted water to al dente, drain, cool completely. You can toss with a little olive oil while it's cooling if you like, to keep it from sticking together.

Now the good stuff. First up, half a pound of pitted Kalamata olives, sliced.


A whole pint of grape tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes if you like), sliced.


Then a small jar of marinated artichoke hearts. They are usually already sliced, but I slice them in half again. Sometimes even more if it's particularly big.




You will also need a full 9 oz. bag of spinach. I made this before I went to the farmers market so I used the bagged pre-washed spinach.


And then, a 5 oz. container of crumbled Feta cheese.



Now the dressing. This is a very simple Balsamic vinaigrette. The salad is so chock full of flavors you don't need to bog the dressing down with too much. One half cup Balsamic vinegar to one cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This is actually double the amount of dressing I usually make, but this salad is big and needs it. Add salt and pepper to the dressing, to taste. Remember you put olives in this salad so you may not need as much salt as you think.

Mix well and the spinach will start to wilt into the salad.



It's great as a side dish or on it's own. It's fantastic with some grilled chicken added. Feel free to leave out whatever you may not like. If you don't like Feta, try using cubes of mozzarella instead. If you don't like Kalamata's, by all means use an olive you do like. A lemon citronette (lemon juice, Dijon, olive oil) instead of the Balsamic vinaigrette would be delish too. Play with it. It's really really yummy.

Oh Farmer's Market, I Love You So

This past Saturday, Nick and I finally made a trip down to the Countryside Farmers Market at Howe Meadow. This time of year, Northeast Ohio is full of neighborhood weekly farmers markets and I love it! And this was one of the best ones I've been to. It was huge, with at least 20 stands, I'd say. If you live here and aren't going to these amazing markets with locally grown produce, what's wrong with you!? Just look at all the great stuff I got this week. First up, this crazy big garlic.



It's huge, and the guy who sold it to me couldn't have been nicer, telling me how he grows it. You should see my garlic this year... it's teeny tiny. In fact, I'll show you a comparison between his and mine. My sad little garlic is on the right, obviously.



I still have some in the ground, but I'm not expecting it to get much bigger. We planted in Spring this year, which we will never do again. In fact, I never thought you could plant garlic in the Spring, but in April as we were walking through Lowe's they had packages of garlic for planting, so we decided to give it a try. Hey if Lowe's has it, it has to work right? Well no, not necessarily. So we will, from now on, be Fall garlic planters and hopefully it will be more like this one!



To much great joy, one of the stands had Italian Zucchini. Now I like all zucchini, but I particularly love this variety. It's less seedy and has more flavor. You can tell the Italian variety by it's lighter green color and the ridges that run along it.




Picked up some lovely yellow squash too.



Some of my fave Cubanelle peppers.



And just had to get some of these purple scallions.



I'd never seen them before and damn if they aren't pretty! I also picked up some blues (deep purple potatoes that I forgot to take a picture of). So all this cost me $14, with the potatoes being the most expensive at $4. Not too shabby! Support your local farmers. You won't be sorry!

Now what am I going to make with all this great stuff? Well that will have to be another blog :)