Squash Lovers Unite

Got Squash? Ours are still coming in -- yellow summer and zucchini. [Actually on a side note last year I had yellow zucchini in my garden and liked it even more than the green -- forgot to get seeds this year.]

As promised here is a recipe for squash fritters (related to potato pancakes/potato latkes).

There are lots of possibilities here, so be brave an experiment. Here's what I just did:

1 medium yellow summer squash, grated/julienned*
1 medium zucchini grated/julienned*
1 nice sized mild banana papper grated/julienned*
1 medium-large egg
ruffled basel chopped
salt/pepper
oil for frying**

Note: you can also add onion and/or potato. I have made these this way as well. Here I stuck with my garden fresh veggies.

*I used the julienne grater on my cuisinart and sent the veggies through it -- perfect for this sort of thing

**Oil -- to wax a bit on frying oils: Olive oil is fine and will add some flavor depending on the complexity of your oil. Canola oil I find better as the veggies don't tend to stick as much as with olive oil AND I just read that canola oil (flax and safflower) all have more antioxidants than olive oil. Interesting!

After the veggies are grated take the mass a handful at a time and squeeze the excess liquid out (give it a good squeeze). Place in bowl, add the egg, basel, spices (you can get creative here as well), and mix well. [Note: you can add flour to help the binding and in making nice uniform round fritters, but I didn't and it isn't necessary. I like the helter-skelter look of uncontrolled squishing -- after all I'm irreverent!]

The tricky part: you should have about a 1/4 inch (or slightly less) oil in a frying pan. Heat to medium high to start. Take a handful of your mixture, mold it in your hand to a round, place in the oil and immediately pat down to desired thickness (see picture below). Place other rounds until pan is full with some spacing inbetween then turn heat down to medium. [Note the higher starting heat helps set the patty. But you want the whole thing to cook through before it browns too much -- hence turning the heat down to medium. Fry until nicely browned on one side, then flip each round. Fry until brown on second side and cooked through. Place on dish with papertowel to drain. Serve hot.

Can be served with sour cream ala Latkes, but these are good just as they come out with a bit of salt.

Enjoy!

Joe Koob