I'm just gonna jump right in to the food part, maybe I'll get around to an introduction later, maybe not. Yesterday for lunch I made magnificent zucchini cakes. I've been wanting to make these for over a month... I bought a zucchini at the beginning of November. And I just threw it out 2 weeks ago. Oops. They were on sale this week at Publix, so I figured I'd do it for real this time.
I told Joe (my boyfriend) what I made and he was grossed out because he thought like, dessert cake made with zucchini. And then he was grossed out because he claims he doesn't like zucchini. "But you like eggplant," I said. "Yes," he said, "I like eggplant. I like pickles too." I just kind of looked at him for a second, because I didn't know when we had started talking about pickles. After a short awkward silence he realized his mistake. "Oh, wait. Cucumber. That's what I don't like. Not zucchini. I don't like crunchy vegetables." Tactfully sidestepping his vegetable faux pas, I gently explained that when you cook food, it stops being raw and crunchy. I told him these were fried zucchini patties.He was like "You can do that?" "Yes, Joe, you can. You can fry anything." He seemed ok with that. Unfortunately for him, he didn't get to taste these delectable morsels because I made them for lunch while he was at work.
I adapted the recipe from here, mostly because it's the first result for "zucchini cakes" on Google lol. I looked at a few different ones, though, and they're all pretty much the same- zucchini (duh), breadcrumbs, egg, and cheese. But I didn't follow the recipe to a T. That's one of the coolest parts about cooking, especially in contrast with baking. You can kind of do your own thing. So that's what I did.
I didn't want to make a large serving, in case they sucked. So instead of using a huge zucchini, I used a little one. Which messed with the ratios of the other ingredients, so I kind of just eyeballed it. Usually when I do that it doesn't turn out too great. It seemed to work ok this time, though, except as I'll note later, my mixture wasn't the same consistency as Ryan's.
Another zucchini problem was my grater. I only have a grater with little holes. Not the tiny ones, but also not the large ones. so instead of having nice stringy zucchini pieces, I had more of a zucchini mush lol. And then when it was time to squeeze the moisture out, I didn't have a cheesecloth or anything like that, I made do with a paper towel or five. That zucchini was WET! Not damp, but like sopping wet. I made it rain zucchini juice. It was pretty gross. Especially when the paper towel ripped. Because I can't afford Bounty or Brawny. There may have been little paper towel particles in those cakes. But thats ok. I got the mush down from a watery glop to a damp stringy mess. And then I used one egg and a little more than a quarter cup of breadcrumbs. The only cheese I had was a container of Locatelli brand Pecorino Romano. That shiz is expensive, so I didn't want to use too much. Ryan used the jarred garlic, which I have, but I also have fresh, so I decided to go all out and minced up 2 cloves. Definitely think that was the right call, getting a chunk of garlic in a bite is the best ever. I sprinkled in some S&P and added some red pepper flakes for pizzazz. The breadcrumbs were preseasoned, so I didn't feel the need to go wild with the spices. I started mixing with a fork like he suggested, but that was proving stupid, so I got in there with my hands. It's how my mom would do it. And she is most definitely my cooking idol. (Maybe a post on that over winter break, while I'm home!)
Now that I'm looking at the pictures again, I can tell my ratios were off. His mixture was more of a batter consistency, where mine was more of a dough. Instead of dropping a spoonful into the pan, I was able to form little cakes and place them in. Mine ended up being thicker, so they took longer to cook and weren't as crunchy. During cooking I began to doubt myself and the amount of oil I used. I thought it might be too much, they were just kind of sitting in an oily pool. I didn't want them to get soggy, so I poured out some of the oil into the sink. I was desperate. Then I was concerned about there being oil on the bottom of the pan and potentially starting a grease fire. But I wiped it all off with a paper towel, without burning myself, so we were good. Sometimes I'm amazed at how my food turns out, given the problems I have cooking it lol.
These things were DELISH. They taste way more delectable and bad for you than they probably are. I scoured the fridge for dipping choices, and my only viable option was marinara, which made sense to me. But they were super tasty sans sauce too. I am most certainly making this again. I'll use a large zucchini and follow the recipe exactly to see what happens. I think it's pretty hard to mess this up, though. Because I clearly did whatever I wanted and they still turned out great. Another cool thing is that you can adapt this recipe to other veggies. Squash/eggplant cakes? Potato cakes... LATKES!
Be on the lookout next week for my Chanukah post, so stoked to make my own for the first time. I'm very much a Gentile, but grew up with an abundance of Jewish friends, so I dig Chanukah. Also, my dad's side of the family is Polish, so he makes latkes, but calls them potato pancakes. And he makes gingersnap gravy to pour over them... it's a savory-sweet taste explosion. I think he also usually makes this pickled beef at the same time... I forget what it's called. He hasn't made that meal in a while (or I just haven't been home for it!). I think I'm gonna go the traditional Jewish route with my potato pancakes and use sour cream & applesauce for my dipping options. Gonna have to get a potato grater. I forget what we use, if it's just the cheese grater with the big holes. I'll double check on that before embarking on my adventure.
Anyway, that was my adventure with zucchinis... I still have 2 little zucchinis left! (They came in a pack of 3 for around a dolla) What to do!? More zucchini cakes? I'll keep you posted :)
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