Tag Archives: zucchini

Help! I’m trapped in the kitchen!

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I think this may be the penance I have to pay for escaping on a vacation to Spain during harvest season.

It all started innocently enough with a five-cent wine sale at our local big-box alcoholic-beverage store. Buy one bottle of certain specific wines, and you can get a second bottle for five cents. Now, as anyone who knows me will tell you, I am not one to turn away from a bargain easily. And besides, since we were preparing for our trip to Spain at the time, I had a hankering for a good Rioja. But how could I know if this particular Rioja that was on sale would be any good? Never fear, they told me. If you don’t like the wine, just bring back the unopened second bottle, and we’ll refund half your money.

This seemed like a good deal. We bought the wine.

It was pretty bad.

So we returned the second bottle, got half our money back, and were left with an almost-full bottle of wine in our refrigerator that no one wanted to drink, but we were too conscious of waste to throw out. “Never mind,” I told Dan. “I’ll use it to make coq au vin.” This traditional French recipe calls for a bottle of red wine to cook the chicken in, and it doesn’t have to be your best wine. Your leftover undrinkable Rioja will do just fine.

A little bit of research–this was tricky–led to a couple of recipes for coq au vin that did not call for pork parts. It also led to some pretty interesting ideas for side dishes: a hash of Brussels sprouts and leeks, and something delicious-looking called “smashed potatoes.” I needed leeks anyway for the chicken recipe, so I bought a couple more, along with some potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and now I was committed.

Only problem was that our garden was producing tomatoes about as fast as dandelions shoot seeds; there were more cucumbers hiding under the cucumber leaves than we had thought possible; several fat zucchini were working up the bulk for sumo wrestling, and our delicate purple-flowered eggplant plants had finally set fruit.

The refrigerator was beginning to resemble a hoarder’s closet. And I’m not sure I can escape.

I made coq au vin from a whole bird–meadow-raised and purchased at our farmers market from Rossotti Ranch. This was quite good but impossible to finish before we went away, so into the freezer it went. I made Brussels sprouts hash and smashed potatoes–both a bit of a disappointment, and into the freezer went these leftovers too. I made ratatouille, which had to be finished, and seemed to call for brown rice; and I made endless helpings of cucumber salad and cucumbers with yogurt,and tomato salad.

And no, I may never get out of the kitchen.

Dealing with the garden, part 2

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You know the garden situation is getting out of hand when you turn down an invitation from friends to go out for dinner because you *must* *keep* *eating* *salads*.

Really, really good salads.

But today for lunch I made a zucchini frittata with one of the (er, many) garden zucchinis. Thanks to my friend Vicki Rowland for the idea!

Zucchini Frittata

Ingredients

  • about a half of a medium onion, sliced thin and then roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Olive oil, for sauteing
  • 1 medium zucchini, * thinly sliced into rounds
  • about half a red pepper, thinly sliced into rounds and then roughly chopped (quartered, perhaps)
  • a bunch of chopped herbs from the garden: oregano, rosemary, thyme, basil
  • 6 eggs
  • a tablespoon or two of milk
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan
  • 1/2 cup grated mozzarella

Ingredient note: 

* Our “medium” zucchini is equivalent to someone else’s “large” zucchini. Our large zucchini can be used for batting practice.

Directions

Preheat the broiler.

If you haven’t already thinly sliced the zucchini and the red pepper, I’d suggest using a mandoline. It’s really fast and easy!

Heat the olive oil in a medium nonstick saute pan on the stove. Add the onion and saute till transparent. Add the garlic. Saute for a short time and then add the herbs, the sliced zucchini, and the sliced red pepper. Cook until the zucchini is tender, but not cooked through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Blend eggs in a blender with a little bit of milk and some salt and pepper.

Pour the egg mixture into saute pan and let it sit for a minute or three, or until there isn’t much loose egg left in the pan, or until you don’t want to cook the bottom any more without cooking the top too. Add grated Parmesan and mozzarella on top, and place pan in the broiler for a minute or two–until the top is beautifully brown.

Take pan out of broiler, let it cool and set in the pan for 5 minutes. When cool invert a plate on top of pan and turn over. Take photographs (alas, I didn’t–but I should have!). Slice and serve.