Summer Fun

Okay, okay, I know I said in the last post I would get back to Design fun, but did I also mention I might talk about food from time to time? Well, at the beginning of the summer I purchased half a share of a farmer's crop and every week we recieve different types of organic vegetables and eggs from them. Every week is usually a surprise - we never know what we are going to get, or how much we will get.

 This last week I recieved the mother of all zucchinis- and it was an adventure trying to think of some good ways to use this vegetable (or is it a fruit?? it has seeds??) Anywho- I shredded the heck out that zuke and then divided up into three portions.

For the first attempt I made a very typical Turkish dish called Mujver or Zucchini Fritters and the recipes goes like this:

5-6 small firm zucchinis, grated  (makes ~4 cups)
3 eggs
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
2-3 tbsp or 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint (depending on how much you like mint)
3-4 green onions, finely chopped
1 cup white cheese/feta
1 tbsp paprika
salt
black pepper
~1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup olive oil for frying

-Put grated zucchini in a colander. Sprinkle with salt and let drain for 10 minutes. Squeeze and place in a bowl.
-Mix well all the ingredients except for flour and frying oil.
-Add flour in slowly and mix well.
-Heat oil in a frying pan. On medium drop scoops of Mujver mixture in hot oil. Make sure they don't touch.
-Fry them on each side until golden brown, 4-5 minutes.
-Drain excess oil by placing fritters on paper towels.
-Serve with plain yogurt or garlicy yogurt sauce. For garlicy yogurt sauce beat every 1 cup of yogurt with 1 clove of minced garlic.

 

 

Then I decided to make a savory zucchini cheese bread with walnuts- it's my mother-in-law's recipe, which she makes superbly :)

The recipe:

-3 eggs

-1 cup yogurt

-1/2 cup canola oil

-1 cup grated cheese (mozzerella or cheddar is fine or even feta)

-2 1/2 cups self-raising flour

-1/2 cup grated zucchini

-3 green onions diced

1 tbsp of dried oregano

1 tbsp of sesame seeds and  1 tbsp of caraway seeds for sprinkling on top)

 

Mix all of the ingredients together and pour in a greased glass 9x12 pan at 375 degrees for 40 minutes

 

 

 and lastly a more typical sweet zucchini bread but with cocoa added and chocolate chips (and walnuts- I went to Costco, so I had ALOT of walnuts :))

 2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups zucchini, grated
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup bakers chocolate, chopped (optional)

Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, baking powder and cinnamon together.

Combine eggs, oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat until well mixed. Add the flour mixture from the waxed paper. Mix until smooth. Add chocolate and nuts and mix. Pour mixture into a greased 13x9x2" pan or if you have a similar size just check with a toothpick until it comes out clean.

Bake at 350ºF for 40 minutes.

 okay that was fun--Bon Apetit!