Cheesy Zucchini Pancakes

I miss the kitchen in my old apartment. Though it was smaller than my current one, it was new and bright and clean. It had not one, but two windows and the afternoon light would come in and keep me company while I cooked. My current kitchen is much larger with ample storage space and room for a table. But it’s older and a bit dingy. And it’s dark, because for whatever reason, the lights are dim, even with new bulbs. And because we are renting, we can’t replace the fixtures that would actually enable me to see what I'm doing.
I’m reminded of my old kitchen because of these zucchini pancakes. I was thinking about a zucchini soup that I made last summer, when the windows were open and the light and summer breeze was pouring in. We’re not quite there yet. While a few weeks ago it was in the 80’s, it’s cooled somewhat and we seem stuck in that coolish spring weather that leaves you wishing for summer. So for now, these zucchini pancakes will have to suffice. Boy, are they good. They are slightly crisp on the outside, and gooey, cheesy, soft and peppery on the inside. They are equally as good the moment they come out of the pan as they are the next day- and you can eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. (So far, I've only hit dinner and lunch, but hey, we do have more pancakes leftover!) And, while you can top them with cottage cheese or sour cream, take an extra moment and make the garlicky yogurt sauce and add some fresh chives.

Give it a few more weeks and I’ll probably be lamenting the heat – and the overwhelming amount of zucchini that will be out in the markets. But until then, I’ll happily eat these pancakes at my small wooden table in my dimly lit kitchen.

Cheesy Zucchini Pancakes

Adapted a little bit from here and a little bit from here

Makes about 15 medium sized pancakes

For the pancakes:

4 medium zucchini

grated 3 green onions

sliced 2 extra large eggs, beaten

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

unsalted butter

vegetable oil

For the yogurt sauce: 
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1 garlic clove, minced
pinch of salt 

Preheat the oven to 250 F.

Grate the zucchini into a bowl using the large grating side of a box grater. Mix in the green onions and the eggs. Stir in the flour, cheese, baking powder, salt and pepper. If mixture seems liquidy, add in a few more tablespoons of flour. Heat a large cast iron pan over medium heat and melt 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1/2 tablespoon oil together in the pan. When the butter is hot but not smoking, lower the heat to medium-low and drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the pan.

Cook the pancakes about 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place the pancakes on a plate or sheet pan and keep warm in the oven. Add more butter and oil to the pan if necessary, and continue to fry the pancakes until all the batter is used. The pancakes can stay warm in the oven for up to 30 minutes. Mix together the sauce ingredients and spoon on top of the pancakes. Serve hot.

Apricot Granola

Every home cook has a nemesis - that one dish that irks them to no extent, that never comes out properly, that they can never master. Granola is mine. Yes, I know. Granola is so simple, so ubiquitous and yet despite literally dozens of attempts, I can't seem to get it right. Sometimes the granola burns, sometimes it comes out of the oven and is glued together like a granola bar. Sometimes it seems to have no taste because for fear of burning, I pull it out of the oven too soon.


But after three weeks of granola research, I'm ready to unveil the results. First, I just have to trust my instincts and pull the granola out of the oven when the oats are one shade darker than their natural color. For me, this was about 17-18 minutes in the oven, far less than other recipes call for. I also found that turning the granola often (every 5 minutes) with a spatula helped to ensure that it browned evenly and didn't burn. This strategy also helped to keep the granola from clumping.

Granola is so common these days - but it's often overly sweet, expensive and full of fat so there really is no excuse not to make your own! My recipe is really simple and includes the ingredients that I like - almonds, honey, and apricots- but you can substitute in virtually any nut or addition.

One nemesis down....now if I can only get those poached eggs to come out right the first time around.

Apricot Granola

3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup chopped almonds
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
5 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup dried apricots, diced

Pre-heat the oven to 325. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl except for the apricots. Stir until combined. Spread on baking sheet and shake pan until the granola is in an even layer. Bake for about 17-18 minutes until the granola has turned golden. Be sure to turn the granola over with a spatula every 5 minutes. Allow granola to cool in pan on a rack. Once cool, mix in fruit (this is important - don't add the fruit until the granola is cool or else it gets dry and hard.) Keep granola in an airtight container or like I do, in a ziplock for up to a week.

Asian Spinach Salad

A few weeks ago, NAK and I had dinner at Nooshi, a reliable restaurant that has become our go-to place for sushi and Asian inspired dishes. The salads and slaws are served in giant silver martini glass shaped bowls and are not only tasty but also incredibly eye-appealing with colorful fruit, shredded crunchy vegetables and candied nuts. We have eaten at Nooshi no less than two dozen times over the years we've lived in DC, yet for some reason, I never had the urge to try and re-create one of the salad at home. After all, why mess with a good thing when the perfect salad is served in a pretty bowl and costs all of $6.

But yesterday afternoon, after too much wine was consumed while sitting in the backyard listening to a drum circle, I had zero- make that negative- desire to put the stove or oven on and cook something for dinner. This scene is one I'm sure will repeat itself often enough throughout the summer so it bears getting my slaw making skills up to par because we can't just go running off to Nooshi anytime the salad and slaw mood strikes. (Let me clarify - I most definitely could but our bank account won't like it too much).

So I made this salad for dinner last night and it was fabulous. Fresh and crunchy veggies, a tangy but sweet dressing and enough leftovers for the next day’s lunch. And as I wrote this, we had eaten our fill of salad and the drum circle was still going strong. It’s going to be a good summer.

Asian Spinach Salad

Salad:
1 bunch or 1 bag spinach, cut into thin strips
1 1/2 cups savoy cabbage, shredded
3 carrots, thinly sliced into rounds
Half an English cucumber, sliced into half moons
3 scallions, sliced
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Dressing:
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
a few drops soy sauce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1/3 vegetable oil
warm water (as needed, to thin dressing)
salt and pepper to taste

Assemble the salad ingredients, reserving the almonds. Whisk the dressing together, adding in a few drops of warm water until the dressing is the right consistency to coat the salad. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, toss and sprinkle almonds on top. Dressing will keep well in the fridge in a tightly sealed container.

Whole Wheat Waffles

There are no shortage of waffle recipes out there. I've tried too many of them. Some require that you beat the batter with a hand mixer. Some insist on beating egg whites into stiff peaks and then folding them into the batter. Others demand fancy ingredients like buttermilk powder.

These are simple. They require two bowls, a spoon and a waffle iron. Just mix by hand and before you know it, you have just enough batter for waffles for two for brunch on a Sunday morning, like we had this weekend.

It was our anniversary this weekend - 3 years! And while I hadn't planned to make brunch, these came together so quickly that I don't think NAK even noticed that I almost pulled out the cereal box from the pantry. But I made these instead. Make them - for your spouse, roommate, significant other....just like me, you'll be glad you did.

Whole Wheat Waffles 

Adapted from King Arthur

1 1/2 cups King Arthur whole wheat flour, white whole wheat or all purpose flour 

2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups milk (low fat is fine)
1/3 cup melted butter or vegetable oil

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and butter or oil. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients, stirring just till combined.

Cook the waffles. Drizzle maple syrup on top of the waffles, dust with powdered sugar and serve with fruit, if desired.

Lemon Angel Food Cake

This cake started off as an innocent attempt to use up a cup+ of egg whites that were left over from some quiches I made last week. It ended as a pile of crumbs after we literally inhaled this cake before and after dinner last night.  But really, this is a nibbling cake, one that you can pull the spongy edges off of to get your sugar fix during the day. It's also a snack cake because it's light and airy and won't ruin your dinner (Yes, I am admitting that I ate cake before dinner and still had room for more cake after dinner.)
I had never made angel food cake before and feared a dry and crumbly cake- not based on anything rational, but just a general skepticism of any dessert that doesn't use much flour and absolutely no fat. But rest assured, the egg whites whipped up quickly and after only a few minutes, I had smooth shiny clouds of egg whites filling up my mixing bowl that not only looked like, but tasted like, heaven. And after about 35 minutes in the oven, out came a fluffy and spongy cake. It did a shrink a little - at least 2 inches down- and I'm not sure why. Ina's cake appears to be tall in her picture, certainly taller than mine was. But cut it up into slices, top it with some strawberries, and I guarantee you'll be left with just crumbs before anyone even notices.

Lemon Angel Food Cake
Adapted from Ina Garten

If you don't have cake flour in your pantry, you can make the following substitution: for every cup of flour, remove 2 tablespoons of flour, then add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. So for this cake, follow this substitution, then add the additional 1/3 cup flour and proceed with the recipe.

2 cups sifted superfine sugar, divided
1 1/3 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising) or use the substitution above
1 1/2 cups egg whites, at room temperature- 10 to 12 eggs. (I used 11 egg whites from standard large eggs)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately the zest of 2 lemons)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine 1/2 cup of sugar with the flour and sift together 4 times. Set aside. Place the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on high speed until the eggs make medium-firm peaks, about 1 minute. With the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of sugar by sprinkling it over the beaten egg whites. Whisk for a few minutes until thick and shiny. Whisk in the vanilla and lemon zest and continue to whisk until very thick, about 1 more minute. Sift about 1/4 of the flour mixture over the egg whites and fold it into the batter with a rubber spatula. Continue adding the flour by fourths by sifting and folding until it's all incorporated.

Pour the batter into a greased 10-inch tube pan, smooth the top, and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes, until it springs back to the touch. Remove the cake from the oven and invert the pan on a cooling rack until cool. Cut into slices and serve with strawberries if desired.