Tofu Green Curry, Spring Rolls and Zucchini Cakes with Curried Dipping Sauce

Sunday night cooking at our house last night. I had spring roll wrappers and chopped veggies at the ready, a half block of tofu and 3/4 can of coconut milk leftover in the fridge and a gorgeous zucchini from the farmer's market. This meal was born, a blend of thai and middle eastern flavors. The zucchini pancakes were an old favorite, spiced up with a new dipping sauce, the spring rolls a new favorite I foresee making frequently in the future.

Tofu Green Curry

Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Zucchini Cakes with Curried Dipping Sauce

Zucchini Cakes with Curried Dipping Sauce

I adore zucchini pancakes and love pairing them with different dipping sauces. We are starting to see beautiful zucchini in gardens and at the markets and I couldn't resist making this today.

ZUCCHINI CAKES

1 - 1 1/2 lb zucchini
1 small white onion
1 egg
6 Tbsp flour
1 tsp baking powder
salt and pepper

- Heat oven to 200

- Using a box grater, grate the zucchini and onion. Set in a colander and let drain for awhile (30 minutes recommended).

- Squeeze out as much of the excess liquid as possible and lay the vegetables out on paper towels.

- Lightly beat the egg.

- In a large bowl combine the zucchini onion mixture, egg, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.

- On the stove top heat a skillet with oil over medium high heat

- Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto the skillet and flatten. Cook on one side until crispy and brown then flip.

- Set cakes on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil and move to an oven proof plate to keep warm while finishing the rest.

- Continue this way until all of the batter is gone, adding extra oil to the skillet as needed

CURRIED DIPING SAUCE

8 oz. plain yogurt
2 Tbsp curry
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp harissa
salt

- Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill until serving.

Zucchini Blossoms

I have been loving my time with the Altgeld Sawyer Corner Farm. Jason took some great photos on July 3rd and July 10th. The farm is going crazy right now. We had a brief but harsh storm Monday morning and that afternoon I joined a couple of other members to stake up some of the tomato, pepper and corn plants that had gotten knocked around. Several zucchini blossoms had been knocked off the plant and I decided to bring them home and fry them up. I opted for a flour and water batter instead of flour and egg to keep them a little lighter. The blossoms fried up beautifully, I only wish I had grabbed a few more!

The Italians only use the male blossoms, identifiable by their single pistil (which you can remove before cooking). The female blossoms will be attached to the zucchini. I fell in love with this delicacy in Italy before our wedding at Dal Lino Ristorante in Florence. We had them served during the cocktail hour of our reception and I daresay those were one of the greatest bites of food I have ever eaten. Fried zucchini blossoms and sauteed beets greens with dinner last night were such a treat and the best way to kick off the official start of my summer vacation.

FRIED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

zucchini blossoms
flour
water or soda water
salt
pepper
mozzarella (or whatever cheese you like)
oil

-In a small bowl mix the flour with enough water so it is the consistency of cream. Add some salt and pepper.

-Stuff the blossoms with a small piece of mozzarella (which I had handy) or any other cheese and even a little salami if you like.

-Heat the oil in a pan, dredge the blossoms in the flour and water mixture, and fry on both sides until golden brown.

-Drain on paper towels and enjoy!

Zucchini Pancakes

I have been craving zucchini pancakes ever since I had korean veggie pancakes a few weeks ago. The farmer's markets are overflowing with zucchini right now and this is a great way to use them up and healthier than a potato pancake, but just as delicious!

ZUCCHINI PANCAKES

- 2 large zucchini

- 2 carrots *optional

- 1/4 large onion

- scant 4 tbsp flour

- scant 4 tbsp cornmeal

- 1 egg

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- salt & pepper to taste

- dash of soy sauce

- any other seasonings or herbs you desire

Grate the zucchini and squeeze with papertowels to try to get out as much of the moisture as possible.

Grate the onion and carrots.

Put all the veggies into a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients except the olive oil and stir to mix. In an ideal world you would probably whisk the egg before adding, but I forgot to this time and it turned out fine.

Add the olive oil to a pan and heat over medium high. In batches, usually two at a time, put a dollop of the mixture into the pan and coax it into a relatively flat, relatively round shape. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, flip over to cook the other side and remove to a plate lined with papertowels.

Continue with the rest of the batter. This reipce made about 8 silver dollar sized pancakes. The first couple didn't really brown but the last 6 looked beautiful!

Summer Indeed, Vegetable Terrine!

It only took until August, but I am in full summer swing these days. I finally feel like I have some free time to do what I want and am really trying to get back into the cooking mode.

Thursday evening I made pickles. The next day I took off the afternoon and went a little crazy with the cooking. I used an obscene amount of our pots and bowls, but it was well worth it!

First off, the vegetable terrine. I've been wanting to make one of these for quite some time, even though I'm not totally sure what defines a terrine. I'm pretty sure its the layering in a loaf and weighing down that does it.

I researched a couple of recipes and then ended up borrowing bits from each and coming up with my own. It is labor intensive but then you just put it in the fridge and eat it the next few days.

AMY'S SUMMER VEGETABLE TERRINE

- loaf pan & saran wrap

- 3-4 red bell peppers

- 2 zucchini

- 1 eggplant

- 1 lb spinach

- 8oz. log of goat cheese

Peppers: preheat the oven to about 350-375 and roast the red peppers. Put in a covered container until cool enough to handle. Peel off the skins and slice the peppers into long, wide strips.

Eggplant: slice lengthwise, salt and set out in a colander to drain (this helps draw out some of the bitterness). When ready to use, rinse and pat dry. Heat up a grill pan. Brushing each slice with olive oil, grill the slices on both sides and set aside.

Zucchini: slice into rounds. Sautee in a little oil and garlic until softened (I also added some salt and pepper during this step. It was the only seasoning I used). Pull out of the pan and discard the garlic.

Spinach: sautee spinach in a little oil until wilted.

Once all of the veggies are ready, line the loaf pan with saran wrap leaving enough hanging over the sides so that you will be able to wrap it over at the end.

First layer the red peppers. I put 2 down on the bottom and used the rest of the pieces to cover over the long sides of the loaf pan. Leave the short ends free as from this angle you will be able to see all the layers of the finished product. Try to cover all of the spaces as this will be the outside of the finished terrine. Save a pepper slice or two to put on the top (which will be the bottom of the finished terrine). It is important to keep the slices on the sides upright while layering the rest of the veggies.

Next put a layer of eggplant slices followed by a layer of zucchini rounds.

On top of this layer I spread a thin layer of goat cheese (I used about 6oz. of the 8oz.)

Top this with spinach, followed by another layer of zucchini and another layer of eggplant.

Finish it off with the remaining red pepper slices and fold the ends of the side peppers over the top as much as possible. Wrap the saran wrap over all of it tightly.

Put the loaf pan on a plate and weight down the top of the terrine. I used a glass tupperware filled with dried beans that fit just inside the pan. Refrigerate 8 hours to overnight.

To serve, flip the pan over onto a plate lined with arugula or spinach. Pull off the loaf pan and remove the saran wrap. Voila! Cut into slices with a sharp knife. It should hold its shape pretty well.

This dish was simply delicious, clean and simple. I ate it for the next 2 or 3 days and never grew tired of it.