Bumper Crop 2: Zucchini Frittata

Zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables, maybe just behind chard. I think its versatility is what I like so much about this tender summer squash. My general rule of thumb with this vegetable is: the smaller the better. I love early summer when you can sometimes find baby zucchini. Baby zucchini are wonderful slightly browned in olive oil and tossed into pasta with basil and tomatoes for a light lunch. In South Africa zucchini are called marrows. When I was there visiting my sister I picked up a simple recipe for Marinated Baby Marrows which is essentially thinly sliced or julienned zucchini dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. Served cold, the salad is wonderfully refreshing on the hottest of summer days.

Late last June I got a chance to have brunch at a terrific restaurant in Oakland called Camino. One thing that makes Camino particularly special is that most of the food is cooked in a wood fired oven. The stand out that morning was the zucchini frittata. Typically when I've made a fritatta they have been rather thick, between 1 and 1 1/2 inches usually filled out with something like potatoes. The zucchini frittata served at Camino was served quite thin, perhaps 1/2 inch thick. Although I thought it unusual, this made a lot of sense. Zucchini contain a lot of moisture. If one were to make a deep frittata with lots of zucchini it would become a soup and probably never set. Also, wood fired ovens tend to be very hot and I would imagine that the top would scorch before the center was cooked. I was quite impressed by the simplicity of the Camino frittata and made note of it. Later in July I gave it a shot. My frittata turned out fantastic! My recipe may differ somewhat in its ingredients, and execution given that I don't yet have a wood fired oven, but I am none the less pleased with my take on Camino's Zucchini Frittata. I served mine over sliced heirloom tomatoes and grape tomatoes dressed with olive oil, but I would try it with arugula or spinach or even alongside roasted potatoes. As with most frittatas they can be served hot or at room temperature.

(Recipe for Bradley's Zucchini Frittata follows)

Bumper Crop 1: Zucchini Bread

What do you do with a bunch of giant zucchini's from the garden? I've found a few good uses for the abundance of zucchini that came from my garden last year. These summer squash (I know this is a little late) can grow from a perfectly usable size to something bearing more resemblance to a skinny watermelon in a blink. Often the larger zucchini lack a little in flavor, so I'm not advocating that you grow them so large. If you truly want the best flavor harvest them when they are between 5 and 6 inches long. Zucchini bread is probably my favorite use for the larger zucchini you'll end up with if you aren't paying attention.

Zucchini bread is really a cake. It is quite sweet and I find it rather addictive. Make sure you have someone to share this with because it is hard to stop eating it once you've sliced off that first piece. I've perfected my recipe for Zucchini bread since last summer. I found a balance of white and brown sugar that seems to work quite well. The best way to show off this bread is to use the best cinnamon you can find. I get mine from here (www.thespicehouse.com). This cinnamon is the sweetest most fragrant cinnamon I have found. Trust me it makes a huge difference in any dish calling for cinnamon.

Recipe for Bradley's Zucchini Bread follows

Spiked Tzimmes

(Before baking)

This post is about four weeks overdue. I've been cooking, but I haven't been writing. It feels good to put the proverbial pen to paper. After about 10 days of actual spring weather, tonight, the rain is beginning to fall. I'm eating a leftover pasta dish that probably won't win a spot on the front page of Oakland Skillet. Tonight just feels like a good night for blogging.

As I'm sitting here looking over photos of the dishes I've cooked since my last post. There is one in particular that I have been wanting to share: my Spiked Tzimmes. This dish is rather out of season, save for the carrots, but there is a significance behind it that gives exception to my recent custom of shopping  farmers markets for what is in season. April 6th was Passover. I'm not Jewish, but I've been to a few Passover Saders before. I have always felt honored when invited to share in this cultural tradition. This year the invitation came from my girlfriend's family. Actually, there is some debate as to whether I invited myself. The conversation went something like this:

(Having dinner with girlfriend's parents. Things are going well. I'm pretty relaxed and feeling pretty confident.)

Girlfriend's Mother: "Have you been to a Sader before?"
Me: "Yes, two."
Girlfriend's Mother: "Have you been invited to a Sader this year?"
Me: "No. But if that is an invitation to yours then I accept."

(Two days pass) I realize that I didn't actually wait for an invitation and kind of stuck my foot in the door. It turns out it was more or less an invitation, but it does point out where I might lack some social graces, but I digress.

Along with the invitation came a "challenge", or at least I took it as a challenge. I was asked to bring a traditional Ashkenazi-Jewish stew called Tzimmes. Traditionally the stew is made with carrots and dried fruit, but other root vegetables are often added. I had about a week to research the dish and come up with a recipe. I found many variations, but having never eaten Tzimmes before I felt I had a little free license. I loved the idea of using dried fruit with sweet potatoes and yams. I was reminded of my step-mothers recipe for baked yams with bourbon spiked apricots. After reading more about the dietary rules for passover I'm not sure the bourbon was appropriate, but the combination of flavors is magnificent. Besides, Tzimmes is more traditionally served in the Fall during Rosh Hashanah when bourbon is probably okay (don't quote me on that). My version also adds dried cherries along with more traditional raisins, and prunes.

I was quite pleased with the outcome of my Tzimmes recipe. I think the addition of dried cherries and bourbon soaked apricots made this my own rendition.

Recipe for Bradley's Spiked Tzimmes follows

Healthy Option 2: Ribollita

I'm back from the farmers market. There are some really beautiful greens growing here in the Bay Area right now. I kinda wish I'd bought some of the little young fennel too, but oh well next week and another post. I came home with a 3 1/2 pound cabbage. It looked amazing, but oh my god this thing is a monster. It is bigger than my own head (before adjusting for inflation). I found this interesting looking traditional Italian soup recipe here called Ribollita. The recipe looked like it would make good use of what I had on hand and my farmers market hoard.

Ribollita literally means "reboiled" in Italian. After eating this soup for a second dinner I can attest that it is even better when reboiled. You can easily make this soup vegetarian by substituting vegetable stock or water for the chicken stock. The soup is traditionally a peasant food that makes use of the left over soup, often minestrone.

(Recipe for Zuppa Ribollita follows)

Healthy Option: Kabocha Squash and Lentil Soup

The Holidays are almost over and it is time to eat some healthier foods. I can't believe the abundance of candy and cookies around the holidays. I'm weak, so when they are around I eat them. I didn't make a single dessert this Christmas, but I probably ate more sweets during the last two weeks than I did during the previous four months. For my next few posts I am going to try to post some healthy meals that don't sacrifice flavor.

This recipe is based on a recipe I found on one of my favorite food blogs. The original recipe can be found here. I forgot to get a fennel bulb when I went to the market, so I improvised using what I had on hand. I plan to try this recipe again using the fennel bulb, but I am quite pleased with the outcome. This soup features the Kabocha Squash which is an excelent roasting squash, but any smooth textured squash would suffice. The addition of the kale worked very well and the garlic croutons puts this soup over the top.

(Kabocha Squash and Lentil Soup recipe follows)