Yet more zucchini

One of the most common thing you will hear home gardeners lament about , at this time of year is "what am I gonna do with all the ZUCCHINI?" Yup, it happens. No matter how viligant you are at cleaning the vines, cutting back flowers, and everything else you do to keep the populations in control.. there are always some that escape. Some that seem to grow, overnight, to the killers that my grandmother and I had so much fun with. I am told in New Englan there is a sort of "tag, you're it" kind of game that goes on with homegrown zucchini. The first gardener fills a basket with it, puts it on someone's doorstop and runs away. If he or she escapes, it is now the property of the home owner, who may add some of his or her own zucchini to the basket, and pass it on and on and on. The game goes on until someone gets "caught" leaving the basket. Then, that poor person is stuck with the squash.

This is one of the reasons why you will find so many dessert recipes that use zucchini: zucchini muffins, zucchini bread, zucchini cookies (don't even THINK about it). I have even seen deep dish zucchini pie (I'm feeling my guts churn even thinking about THAT one). (Incidentally, these recipes also developed because, during WWII, when people were encouraged to keep home gardens, fruit and butter were kept for soldiers. And sugar was rationed, so that the guys could get candy bars and whatnot. So making dessert was difficult. Carrot desserts and zucchini desserts were the result. ).

Living on the 12th floor of a high rise, I avoid, for the most part, the risk of the basket of zucchini. That does NOT mean, however, that I do not occasionally wind up the recipient of a "gift" (remember that "Gift" in German, means poison) of squash for which I smile gratefully and go home and think "what next?"

You've seen the recipes for zucchini enchiladas, and for cold squash soup. Here's another one. I think this may be one of my favorite things in the world.

I can't think of anyone I know who doesn't like fritters, or pancakes, or something like that. And zucchini make wonderful pancakes. They have a very neutral flavor, so you can play with them. I'm going to tell you one of my variations, and encourage you to make your own. And the key thing here is to play with what you put ON them. The recipe comes from Penzey's , my source for dried spices and herbs, but it's kind of a generic one you'll find everywhere.

You'll need a generous cup of grated zucchini. You should use the small ones, and that will be about two , grated on that teardrop side of the three sided grater (don't shred in the food processor here. It's not worth the trouble, and it produces too much water. Put the zucchini in a bowl with two large eggs, and a third of a cup of milk and mix it all up. Separately, combine a cup of flour with a teaspoon of baking powder, and a half teaspoon of salt. Mix that in the zucchini and eggs and milk until it's just combined.

Get a griddle hot, with a nice film of oil on it. You can use a frying pan, but I always find that it's difficult to get my spatula or flipper into the frying pan, so when I do stuff like this, if I can't get a griddle, know what I do? I turn the frying pan UPSIDE DOWN. Now, as Brini Maxwell would say "why didn't YOU think of that?"

You can make this as big or as small as you like. I like them better small, because they cook faster and they crisp up more. You don't want the heat too high, (the higher your heat, the darker they will be)and you need to be patient. I never am. Put you know when it's time to flip them when the uncooked side begins to look dry and glossy, and the bubbles have stopped forming. This is after about three minutes. Then you flip and cook for another two or so.

Move these guys to a tray that you can keep warm, like in a 175 degree oven until you've made them all.

One option that I sometimes use is to work a half cup of grated cheddar cheese into these. When I do that, I also add a tablespoon of mustard (dijon), and some pepper. That turns them more into light lunch than a side dish, which is just fine if you want a light lunch instead of a side dish. If you just want a side dish, leave the cheese out. So, too, with something like bacon (and then you can use the bacon fat, if you like, to fry them), or sausages or hot dogs or things like that. You can also combine the zucchini with corn (substituting corn completely is also an option). Perhaps the most elegant way I have ever had these, however, was with crab meat worked into the fritter. You have two ingredients that are subtle, but very much "singular" in their taste, i.e., you KNOW when you're eating crab, just like you KNOW when you're eating zucchini. And the combination is bliss (so, too, is zucchini and crab in pasta, but that's for another day).

So, what do you put on them? Well, plain, nothing beats sour cream or creme fraiche in my book, but then again, few things do. If you can stomach apple sauce in the summer (I really can't), use that. And perhaps, if you have some crab around , put that on top of them (I DO seem to be obsessed with that combination, don't I?). I think a spicy sauce would work, too, but I've not done that. Maybe an Asian based sauce, like the one you get when you order scallion pancakes from a Chinese restaurant? Play with it, and make up some combinations of your own.

Tag, you're it.