Fried Zucchini

Many vegetable gardens in my part of Ohio was started a little later than usual due to the cold weather, at least later than last year when it was unseasonably warm. We have been eating spinach and lettuce for several weeks now and a few peppers, but nothing else.

Today, I was able to harvest three zucchinis and I decided to fry them up as a pre-dinner, hold-me-over snack. I know, I know. Why grow a garden for healthy eating if you just turn around and fry the veggies? Because fried zucchini is sooooo good! And it has to be better than anything you would get in a restaurant.

I use small zucchinis that have not started to develop their seeds yet. I slice them about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch thick (you choose however you prefer them). I dip them in a beaten egg and plunge them into a flour mixture. My mixture is a little different every time I make them. Tonight it was flour, Cajun seasoning, salt, garlic powder, and lemon pepper seasoning. I like mine a little spicy so I put more Cajun seasoning than anything else. I then pan-fried them on the stove making sure not to crowd them in the pan. I used tongs to turn them when the first side was golden brown and put them on a paper towel-lined plate. I had some buttermilk ranch dressing in the fridge and used that as a dip; hubs opted for ketchup.

Sometimes I double dip my slices using milk and bread crumbs for the final coating. There is no right or wrong way to do this. I usually dip them once, so you can still taste the zucchini.

I have summer yellow squash that looks like it might be ready tomorrow night and a few bell peppers to make my almost famous "Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta."

Strawberry Sherbet and Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Last year I planted 50 (yes, 50) "hardy" northern European strawberry plants. Well, they weren't that hardy, because about twenty of them died over the winter, even with being "strawed." And the ones that did survive, did not produce that many strawberries. If I'm lucky and beat the critters to the ripe ones, I may get three a day.

But have no fear, my farmer friend is here. I have had three large batches of strawberries from her place. The first batch became my snack for a couple of days. The second batch became strawberry buttermilk sherbet, and the third batch became strawberry yogurt cake.

I used a modified recipe last year for berry sherbet, but I could not remember how I made it. I know I wrote it down, but I don't know where I put it. I did a quick search and found this which tastes just like it. I changed out the half-and-half with heavy cream, because that is what I had in the fridge. It is quite refreshing, and the buttermilk adds a little tang to it. I use my electric Cuisinart ice cream maker, but a friend of mine uses lidded containers in the freezer. She stirs it every 15-20 minutes until firmly frozen.

My favorite recipe is the strawberry yogurt cake that my friend Sandy had pinned on her Pinterest page. I made it last year and loved it. I made it again this year and changed one thing. Since the Greek yogurt I could find at my country market came in 6 oz. containers (I needed 8 oz.), I added 1/4 cup of heavy cream and used just one of these 6-oz. containers of Greek yogurt. The recipe is http://www.aspicyperspective.com/2010/05/farmstand-fresh.html. It is delicious!

Sorry for the lack of pics, but by the time I realized I should take them we had already made the dishes  unpretty.

Feta & Spinach Stuffed Chicken

I'm back. Today is the first Monday of my summer holiday and I am loving it. I have no place I must be, no time constraints of when I make it down town to the post and grocery, no makeup, no straightening my hair...you get the picture. However, the dogs think that since I am home all day they can be taken out for walks once an hour.

Anyway, I have vowed to make some new dishes this summer and last night was the first. First a little story about why I picked it. Last summer, my garden spinach did fantastic and we were having spinach salad almost nightly in addition to the little bit I put in the freezer. This year, it is doing just as well and I decided not to always use it in salad (plus, I have several varieties of lettuce that are doing quite well for that).

The original recipe came from here, but I changed it up a bit.

Ingredients
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 - 1 lb fresh baby spinach
8 oz. block of light feta, crumbled (I love Trader Joe's)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic (I always have store-bought in a jar in my fridge)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I used two "giant" breasts cut in half)
4 slices of prosciutto


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Chop or tear spinach into small pieces and saute in a very small amount of oil over medium for a few minutes (or steam). Blot any excess moisture before adding to mix in step 3.
3. In a medium bowl, mix mayonnaise, spinach, feta cheese, and garlic until well blended. Set aside.
4. Carefully butterfly chicken breasts, making sure not to cut all the way through. Spoon spinach mixture into chicken breasts. Wrap each with a piece of prosciutto, and secure with a toothpick. (I didn't use toothpicks and they stayed together.)Place in shallow baking dish. Cover.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

Next time I make this I may leave out the mayo and/or add some bread crumbs to the mixtures. I've also thought about flattening the breasts first to thin them a little to reduce the cooking time.

I took a few pics, but we started eating before I got the final photo!

Tomato-Basil Soup for the Freezer

This is my recipe that I use to make "Tomato-Basil Soup." I used a copycat recipe for Applebee's soup as a starting point, but of course I had to tweak it to my specs :) I doubled the recipe to make four meals....I used quart-size freezer bags to store it in.

Amelie's Tomato-Basil Soup

Ingredients

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil                         ½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup minced white onion                                2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley

1 teaspoon minced garlic                                   ¼ teaspoon dried oregano

8 cups fresh tomatoes, prepared*                      ¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup chicken broth                                         ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ cup minced fresh basil                                   2 chicken bouillon cubes (optional)

Directions

* To prepare tomatoes, boil for 45 - 60 seconds, use slotted spoon to transfer to ice water bath, slide skins off, and cut out top of core and any bad spots. I find that Roma tomatoes need the full 60 seconds to ensure the skins come off easily.

 

1.     Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and then add onion and garlic. Saute for about one minute.

2.     Add prepared tomatoes and chicken broth and bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let mixture cool, uncovered for 30 minutes or so. You can let it sit for as long as an hour if you like.

3.     Pour about half of the mixture into a blender. Put the lid on and hold it down with a dish towel. Blend on high speed for about one minute. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.

4.     Repeat Step 3 for the rest of the unblended mixture. (I usually do not do this step, because I like my soup a little chunkier.)

5.     Pour the puree back into the saucepan, and then add the remaining ingredients. Bring the soup back up to a bubble, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. 

7.  Let cool to warm before attempting to ladle into freezer bags. I stand my bags up in a high-sided bowl for ladling. Make sure you have a good seal; lay flat on plate over sink to make sure.  I then transfer them (2 bags for single recipe, 4 bags if you doubled it) to the freezer. Each bag would serve four for lunch, two for dinner, or in our case two for lunch.

    When I reheat a package, I run under hot water to loosen and then "dump" the soup into a pan for reheating. I add a little bit of heavy cream or half-and-half, also. Serve with croutons and a little Parmesan shredded on top. We often have a grilled cheese sandwich or toasted ham-and-cheese sandwich with it.