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

Summer Veggies

Wow! I've hit the jackpot this year with my vegetable garden so far with new raised individual plots for my 'vine' plants aka squash, cucumbers, watermelon. As such I've already been using and giving away fat cucumbers, summer and zucchini squashes and hope to have watermelon as well.

Here's one recipe and some ideas for using this type of bounty.

Zucchini boats

One summer during my graudate years I worked as a vegetarian cook at a summer music camp. The recipe below was fairly typical of things I created for the vegetarian campers. Use your imagination for variations.

Makes 4 servings

One medium-large zucchini fresh off the vine
olive oil/butter for sauteing
fresh basil (I used purple ruffled)
fresh chives
two medium small potatoes
milk or cream
freshly grated hard cheese (parmesan, romano, pecorino, etc.)

Note: you can cut the squash several ways: two large boats (halve the zucchini length-wise and divide into portions later), or form four medium boats (length-wise, then halved), etc.

Halve the zucchini length-wise and then scoop out the insides until you have about 1/2 inch (give or take) thickness for all the walls. [Save the insides, but if there are large seeds, you can discard that portion. You will use about half of what you scooped out.]

Optional -- you can par-boil (in boiling water for 4-5 minutes) the zucchini halves (which is what I did) or bake until tender. Advantage of parboiling until almost soft is that the zuchinni boats stay more moist and they don't need to bake very long later. Solely baking them takes considerably longer -- 30+ minutes and tends to dry them out a bit. Another advantage is that you can cook the potatoes at the same time. [If you decide to bake, brush halves with olive oil before adding filling.]

Stuffing: Peel pototes and quarter. While parboiling the squash halves and potatoes start the filling.

Filling: Place olive oil in skillet and fry over medium heat the chives and about half the saved insides of the zuchinni (medium-fine chop) until cooked through -- few minutes. Add chopped basil during last minute to wilt.

When potatoes are soft for mashing remove from pot. Note: my zucchini halves were done about the same time -- remove these and place on rack or in strainer to drain. Mash potatoes in medium bowl, add milk to moisten, add fried veggies and cheese, season with salt/freshly ground pepper. Mix well with fork.

Fill zucchini halves with mixture (should be enough to form rounded mounds in boat halves/quarters. Place on oiled baking dish and place in oven near top (so it browns a bit) for ten minutes or so. Sprinkle with more cheese or butter at end. Serve hot.

Variations: you can add additional veggies to the mixture -- swisschard or spinnach make nice colorful and healthy additions (chop and then wilt with the basil); add other herbs/spices; try other cheeses, and so on. Note: for the health conscious -- a little hard cheese has not so much fat as soft cheese and goes a long way flavor-wise. Try blue cheese or stilton for a kick.

Next time: summer (yellow) squash and zucchini fritter patties.

For all you cucumber lovers -- fresh garden cucumbers are a good foundation for starting a flavorful Greek salad.

Enjoy

Joe Koob

P.S. Now that I know how to add images, maybe I'll take some pics of food!

Popover Heaven

Popovers are one of those wonderful dishes that actually don't take much work and you can tweak them in many ways. They are also SIMPLE and don't take much effort to make, not to mention very, very yummy.

Unfortunately in a traditional sense popovers are like souffles -- people avoid them because they can be tempermental -- not really!

Popovers are to have fun with and they go with almost anything, but they are especially good with soups, bisques, and the like. Here is the simple recipe I made with lobster bisque the other day for dinner with my wife.

Popovers makes -- 4 nice-sized popovers(Can be doubled, tripled, etc.)

2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt (halve it if preferred)
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
popover pan generously greased with butter (muffin tin will also work)
1/2 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese (optional)
See below for variations

Beat eggs lightly and mix in with flour, salt, and milk until smooth, do not whip, lots of air bubbles are not good. Stir in melted butter. let rest for 10 min to 30 min. or so.

James Beard debunks one traditional myth regarding popovers in his book "American Cookery." You don't have to preheat the tin or oven to very hot temperature. These guys work just as well starting in a cold oven and heating it to 425-450 degrees.

Once rested blend in gently the cheddar cheese. Pour into popover cups until 3/4 to almost full (if you want more 'pop' above the pan, fill them more).

Pop (sorry about that) them into a cold oven and set to 425-450. Bake 25-35 min. (watch carefully with light on). They are done when golden brown to brown and 'popped'. Some people like them more done than others; I go for a medium -- they hold up well enough after removing, but aren't dry and dark brown.

If you greased well they should slide out of the pan easily. Stick a sharp knife in the side near top to release some of the steam -- this helps them hold their shape better as you serve them.

Note: popovers, like souffles do fall a bit. One partial solution to this besides the above, is to make 'mini-popovers'. I have done this in a variety of pans -- mini-cake pans, mini-muffin pans, etc. Very cute and yummy, too. I had one guest at one of my dinners eat five of these.

Serve immediately -- hot with butter. Very yummy.

Variations: You can pop (ouch) any number of ingredients into the batter or into the center of the batter after it is poured into the cups. I have used a wide variety of cheeses and herbs. Placing a small chunk of brie, or blue cheese, feta, or??? in the center of each cup and letting it sink down before placing in oven yields a nice tasty surprise when eaten.

You can also sweeten this recipe up by adding sugar to recipe and add a chocolate surprise like a truffle or chunk in the center like the cheese before baking -- or cinnamon popovers are great, too. Have fun with these!!!

Enjoy.

Joe Koob

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Happy St. Patty's Day to Yah!

This is just a bit of a twist to a dish a few of us enjoy but once a year.

You know that little packet of herbs/spices that comes wuith your corned beef brisket? Truth is, you don't need to use it. Sure its 'traditional,' at least in this country for the past umpteen years, but you can experiment a bit.

Here's a few suggestions to change-up this meal a bit:

Try different herbs and spices:I've used the following, but you can try anything.

Indian Spices: put in what you like -- ground coriander, cumin, tumeric, cinnamon (this gave it a nice flavor! Just a hint), cardamon, etc.

French: Just made some with Bouquet Garni which if you add the cabbage and potatoes to the brisket a half hour or so before the end, helps additionally flavor them.

Haven't tried it yet but Cajun spices; Thai spices; etc, might be fun as well.

HINT: don't add salt -- there's plenty in that corned beef.

Another hint: want a tender, not much effort in the kitchen, corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage? Try that slow cooker you probably haven't dredged out in several years:

Cover the brisket with water; add spices of your choice; start on high for a couple of hours; then down to low for rest of day; or if your cooker is like mine and cooks to hot on low -- after a few more hours turn it to warm until ready to add potatoes. Add the spuds about an hour before serving,and crank heat back up to low (or high depending on your cooker); then add the cabbage a half hour before. [NOTE: vary time depending on how you like your cabbage -- I tend to like 'southern' cabbage, which is overly cooked and soft. The one vegetable that I think does well cooking it past respectability.]

Spoon out vegies and slice brisket -- ENJOY!

Smores Souffle

Truthfully I got this idea from a restaurant in Florida. The meal was unmemorable, but when we first sat down the waiter told us that the place specialized in souffles and he went through a list of the types they offered -- one was a Smores Souffle. We didn't have any souffle, but I was intrigued by the idea and told my wife I would create one when we got home -- the opportunity presented itself soon thereafter when she had some ladies over for a small holiday party. So here is what I did:

Joe's Smores Souffle

I made five individual souffles. To make a large souffle use a few more egg whites (7- 8). You shouldn't have to change the amount of chocolate and will likely only use a bit more marshmallow fluff.

5 Lg eggs separated
About 4-5 graham crackers -- pulverized in processor
1/2 cup of sugar or to taste
butter for white sauce (tablespoon or so)
flour for white sauce (tablespoon or so)
1 cup heated milk (I used 1%)
One container marshmallow fluff (7 ozs or so)
One large (4 oz) Hershey's brand chocolate bar (I decided to go with the original)
Optional: dash or two of Cream of Tartar
butter for buttering molds

5 small ramekins

If you haven't read my previous blog on souffles, you might want to start there. But trust me, souffles are EASY.

Prepare ramekins ahead of time by buttering and then sprinkling with the graham cracker crumbs. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

When you have all ingredients ready to go, start with the white sauce. Heat butter over medium flame until melted; stir in flour until blended. Raise heat to med-high and then stir in hot milk. It should thicken right away. Then add sugar and blend well until absorbed. Reduce heat to medium. Mix in two or three of the egg yolks to thicken a bit further and to enrich the sauce. Then break the chocolate bar into pieces and add them to the sauce and stir until they have all been added and are nicely melted.

At this point I truly had to begin the creative part. I decided to add about half the container of the marshmallow fluff to the sauce. I did this by tablespoons and stirred only enough for it to begin to break into clumps. I didn't want the clumps to completely melt at this stage and become incorporated into the chocolate.

Now turn off the heat, remove from burner, and whip the egg whites until soft peaks form (can add cream of tartar while whipping -- helps hold the rise). Blend 1/3rd of egg whites into sauce well, then fold gently remaining egg whites into mixture. Gently spoon mixture into ramekins until full (may puff up a bit above rim which is okay). At this point I added a large dollop of marshmallow gently to the center top of each filled ramekin.

Place these in 350 oven and watch them burst! 10-15 minutes. Mine came up out of the ramekins and formed an amazing mushroom-like shape with the melted ball of marshmallow in the center. These were GREAT!

Optional: sprinkle some more graham cracker crumbs on top when they are done.

Variation: I might try marshmallows themselves the next time. See how that differs from using fluff.

Enjoy!

Joe Koob

Next: Moroccan Fusion Dinner

Seafood Chowder

Seafood chowder

This is a great time of year for soup and chowder. Enjoy the warmth it brings to the table. I'm going to serve this with Popovers -- I'll give you that recipe on the next blog.

Since I haven't actually made this yet -- later today -- I'll tell you what I intend to do. Just be aware that I might actually tweak this as I go. One never knows what the creative juices might add to the pot during the actual process.

Ingredients:

Clams -- one cup small clams or lg. clams chopped -- I like large pieces. [If you steam the clams open yourself, do so in a small amount of liquid and save the liquid for the chowder (make sure you strain it through a fine sieve and preferably a linen towel or at least cheesecloth).

Fish -- about 1/2 a pd or so; almost any white fish with firm flesh will do -- I'm going to use Stripper bass I caught off N.J.

Shrimp -- 1/2 a pound, chopped in a large dice

One Idaho or other firm potato (about 1/2 a pound, peeled and chopped in small dice)

Peas or Corn or both (Veggies added can be to your own taste and the season, almost anything goes that doesn't take away from the rich broth and flavor of the fish)

Celery, fine to medium chop -- to taste (1/2 a cup)
Onions, fine to medium chop -- to taste (1/2 a cup)
Garlic (optional, couple of cloves minced)

One small bay leaf
pinch or two of thyme
large pinch or two of parsley, or fresh chopped -- couple of tablespoons
Salt and pepper to taste [NOTE! Seafood can be salty on its own; this is one of those times I actually taste the broth before adding to the pot.]

Fish broth and/or clam broth, a quart or so (quantity dependent on how much chowder you want and how thick with ingredients you want it).

Milk or Cream (Cream obviously adds calories and cholesterol)
A bit of butter (your choice to add for flavor, or not)

Thickener [Note: I like a THICK chowder, so I typically thicken it near end of cooking time. You can argue about what to use -- I use flour, typically, but try to keep it to a tablespoon or so. Corn starch or even egg yolks (more cholesterol) can also be used.]

This is simple to make once you have all the ingredients ready. Saute onions, celery, and garlic (if used) in butter or olive oil until translucent. [Note: browning these veggies more will change the flavor and add a richness to the broth -- your choice]. Put everything in the pot, including the celery/onion mixture, but NOT the rest of the veggies and reserve some of the milk or cream. Simmer for an hour or more on very low heat in a nice heavy pan(should just barely roil in center of pot). I like to give it a couple of hours for everything to blend.

This next part is optional: turn off heat and let the chowder sit for a couple of hours to blend flavors. You can take out the bay leaf at this point.

Turn heat back on about a hour before serving -- add rest of veggies and return to a simmer. Cook forty minutes or so until potatoes are soft.

Mix flour in with reserved milk and add to gently boiling broth. Stir to thicken. Serve warm with freshly made bread, corn bread, or popovers.

Enjoy!

Fried Chicken with little Fat

Sorry I've been away awhile -- working on a book.

The following recipe is a slight variation of one from Cook's Illustrated which is in my opinion the best Cooking Magazine available. I have found there are always things to learn about cooking and this magazine approaches everything systematically if not down right scientifically. I learned something from this recipe:

Healthy (judge for yourself) Fried Chicken

Vary amounts by how much chicken you plan to cook

Boned and skinned chicken breasts

For marinade:
Buttermilk (I use lowfat and about a cup)
1 tsp salt (scant)
1 tsp sugar (scant)
1 tsp pepper
Garlic powder and other herbs/spices as you wish

Canola oil or other healthier oil to fry in (1/2 a cup or so)

For topping:
Bread Crumbs (dried or fresh)
Flour
Corn meal (optional, just gives it abit of added crunch)
additional herbs/spices

I have tried this recipe a number of ways. If you have read this blog you know I tend to create as I go, so the absolute KEY to this recipe is the buttermilk marinade. Everything else can be varied according to your tastes and what you want the final outcome to be. I even used this marinade with baked, low-fat sourcream recipe.

Marinade: Cook's will tell you the why's and wherefore's but marinading chicken breasts (which if you've cooked at all, you know can come out dry and tough) in buttermilk, salt, and sugar makes them tender and juicy -- every time! The first time I tried this recipe I thought, "Wow, these are really good chicken breasts." Subsequently I know there was nothing special about the breasts, its how you treat them.

Mix the buttermilk, salt, and sugar (note I have varied proportions of these and like to go with a bit less salt and sugar, even as low as 1/2 tsp each) in a marinading bowl. All other spices and herbs are to taste. You can add them to marinade (we will use some of it again), or add later to bread crumb mixture. Note: one time I made this recipe I didn't have any buttermilk on hand -- I substituted some store-bought ranch dressing that the friends I was visiting had on hand which had buttermilk in it -- worked just as well.

If you are going LOW-FAT, make sure you meticulously trim ALL fat from the breasts.Then place breasts in bowl with buttermilk marinade, toss and place in refrigerator for a hour or up to 24 hours. (At least two hours is probably best). [Note: what seems to happen is that the salt, sugar, and buttermilk are infused somewhat --even alot -- into the breasts helping them tenderize and retain moisture. Later if you were able to manage to drain most of the liquid from the bowl and breasts, you'll find you don't have much left. This marinade should be enough for about six large half breasts.

Bread crumbs: This is a 'to taste' thing. Mix a half cup of flour (or more depending on number of breasts you will be doing)with bread crumbs and any herbs or spices you may want to add. [The first time I made this recipe I used fresh bread as I had nothing else to hand.] Mix well and then add a bit (few tablespoons) of reserved marinade from chicken. (If you dont have much left, use some more buttermilk). The idea is to get your hands in the bowl and mush the mixture about with just enough marinade to make some 'crumblings,' or small (half-pea sized or smaller) crumbles of flour and bread, etc. Don't add too much milk, you still want the overall mixture dry and breadcrumb-like. If you add too much, add some more flour.

Place oil (enough to cover bottom of frying pan about an eighth of an inch thick (That's all you need!)in pan and heat to medium/mediumhigh. PRESS each chicken breast (top and bottom) into breadcrumb mixture to coat place in pan and fry to a golden brown on each side (a couple of minutes each side depending on your heat).

Lay the breasts on a cooling/draining rack placed on top of a cookie sheet and put in a 325 degree oven to finish. Cook only until just done. (Cook's gives you instant read thermometer settings -- I just push on the breast -- it should be firm and springy. If you need, you can cut into one.)

Enjoy! These should come out near the top of your scale on how good chicken can taste and how moist and tender it can be. I might even try this marinade for Thanksgiving Turkey -- though I might need quite a bit more buttermilk!

Enjoy!

Joe Koob