Although the summer is young, my family has reached a
pivotal moment: we’re growing tired of summer squash and zucchini. I planted early, with seedlings from Early
Bird Farms, and since this is my first garden at a new home, my crop has been
bountiful. I haven’t lost a single plant
to squash vine borers, though I’m sure they will find me next year.
Our standard approach to squash and zucs is to simply sauté
them with butter and sweet onions. When
we tire of that, we swap the butter and onions for olive oil and Italian
herbs. I’ll also cut them lengthwise
instead of into rounds and grill them, but that’s a minor and boring variation.
If ever we need little more richness in
our diet, we go with a buttery squash casserole.
Tonight, however, I made my first attempt of the season at
zucchini fritters, and they were a tremendous hit, more of a hit than the one
time I made them last year, when they were largely dismissed as some kind of
messed-up hoe cake. There are plenty of
recipes around the Internet for zuc fritters, but I like Martha Stewart’s
for its simplicity—it doesn’t dictate what kind of pan one should use
or offer any other unnecessary advice. The unnerving thing about these fritters is
the sloppy consistency of the batter—it’s about like a pancake batter—but the
payoff is tremendous: a crisp golden-brown exterior with a slightly creamy
(thanks to the egg, I guess) interior that really lets the herbs stand out. I used fresh parsley, as Martha recommends,
but I would also give basil a shot.
The
one tip I borrowed from Smitten Kitchen
was that I squeezed the moisture out of the zucchini before adding it to the
batter, but I did it barbarian style—with my bare hands instead of cheesecloth.
I served my zuc fritters with something my family calls “okra
sauce” because I first trotted it out as a dip to accompany fried okra (which
we thought needed some kind of dip that was neither ketchup nor honey
mustard). It’s roughly equal parts
mayonnaise and ketchup, with a dollop of horseradish (I like to grate my own
and keep a root in the freezer, but the prepared stuff is okay when it’s fresh)
and a squeeze of lemon juice. We have
come to the conclusion that this Okra Sauce is the perfect accompaniment for
virtually any fried vegetable. It’s a
little creamy but it has enough bite to cut through the oiliness of such fried
goodies.
