zucchini & corn fritters with herbs and cotija cheese

tasty at room temperature, these little pancakies are perfect for zucchini season, when (possibly) well-meaning neighbors sneak up to your house and leave giant bags of them on the doorstep and you can't face one more chunky zucchini pasta thing. 

they are totes simple and work well for potlucks or a quick dinner. also you can make them teensy and pretend they're fancy appetizers. they were inspired by a recipe from the delightful nigella lawson (although, being british, she probably calls zucchini "courgettes"), but instead of being feta-y and mediterraneanish, i added corn and used cotija cheese, cilantro, and mexican spices for a more south of the border feel. i left the mint, though, because it really works here for some reason. 

the first thing to do is to get some water out of the zucchini. grate them (i used a food processor and it was so easy!), set the gratings in a strainer or colander over the sink, and sprinkle with a couple of pinches of salt. then let it sit for 20 minutes or so while you get the other stuff ready. 

i ended up using some leftover corn that we'd already grilled, but i think some nice fresh sweet corn would be fine to use raw. cut the kernels off and put them in a bowl with a couple of ounces of crumbled cotija cheese (you could also use feta or ricotta salata) and 5 or 6 sliced scallions and a handful each of cut-up mint and cilantro. 

is your zucchini done yet? after the 20 minutes (or longer), use all your might and squeeze as much liquid as possible from the grated shards. i find it mildly therapeutic. 

then mix the vegetables, herbs, and cheese together and add another pinch of salt, the zest from one lime, a minced clove of garlic, perhaps 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle powder if you have it, and 1/2 teaspoon or so of cumin. it'll still be good without the spices, but if you have them, you might as well throw them in there. 

finally, add 2 eggs, beat them a little to get things going, and then add ~ 1/2 cup of flour and mix until it all comes together. try not to go crazy with the mixing at this point, though, as you don't want the fritter-pancake things to get too tough. the batter will be quite thick, so don't freak out. it'll be fine.

i like to have two pans of these cooking at once to make it go faster. add perhaps a tablespoon of oil to a largish pan and let it heat over medium until the oil shimmers. you can use less oil and/or a nonstick pan, but the oil helps them brown and crisp up better, so keep that in mind.

then dollop the batter into whatever size you prefer. i like to flatten them down a little to ensure that the middle cooks before the outside burns. but if you like that sort of thing, by all means...

cook over medium to medium-low (depending on your stove - ours runs hot) until the outer edges are getting a nice burnishy brown. you can edge a spatula underneath to check them, but i wouldn't make a habit of it. flip and get the other side nicely brown (maybe 4 -5 minutes per side), then set them on some paper towels or a rack or something. serve with limes for squeezing over and, if you want, a simple yogurt sauce. they're good with just the lime, though. and they really are oddly great at room temperature, which is nice because you can make them ahead of time and get all freshened up before company comes over or whatever.

we have them as a side for roast or grilled chicken or fish, but they would also be a good lunch with a salad or, if tiny, as little blintze-y things to eat with a kalimoxto, some gin & elderflower, a pink greyhound, or a fruity tequila & tonic. and if you still have zucchini left over, you could try this delightful salad with corn, zucchini, tomatoes, and goat cheese.

*ingredients* serves 2-3-4 as a major side dish, more if making as appetizers
2 zucchini
1 1/2 - 2 ears of corn
~ 1/4 cup cilantro
~1/4 cup mint
~ 2 1/2 ounces cotija cheese
5 scallions
2 eggs
1 clove garlic
zest from 1 lime
1/2 cup flour
~ 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder or hot smoked paprika (optional)
~ 1/2 teaspoon cumin (optional)
pinch or two of salt (optional)
lime

*yogurt sauce* (optional)
1/3 cup greek yogurt
1 tablespoon mayonnaise (or more, to taste)
pinch salt
maybe 1 tablespoon or so lime juice, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder or smoked paprika (optional)

biscuits & gravy*

spring is taking its time coming to the pacific northwest this year. it actually snowed just a week and a half ago. but everyone's trying to put a brave face on things and the trees are still blooming wildly, so that's heartening. i'm pretty sure spring's just around the corner.

biscuits and gravy seem sort of spring-y to me. i'm not sure why, except that they kind of tread the line between hearty winter food and lighter springtime fare. whatever the season, the richness of the cream gravy plus the lightness of the biscuits makes for a satisfying brunch dish and a great way to start off the weekend.

biscuits are remarkably simple to make. every time i make them, i wonder why i don't do it more often. and while many people no doubt have fondish feelings for the biscuits in a can that puff oozily out when you knock it against something, these are roughly a million percent better.

first, preheat the oven to 450. mix together 10 ounces (~2 c) of flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, ½ a teaspoon or so of salt, and ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. then add 6 tablespoons of cold butter, cut (as above) into smallish chunks. i think these were each about a centimeter cubed, but the size doesn't matter all that much.

then use your hands or a pastry blender or fork or something to cut the butter into the flour. i was looking for a video of this, but couldn't find one. if you're doing it by hand, you basically just rub the flour and butter between your thumbs and fingertips until the mixture is in kind of coarse crumbs. they don't have to be totally uniform.

then add ½ cup of yogurt and ½ cup of milk (i think it's easiest to mix them together, then add them to the flour mixture) and mix until it just comes together. you want to be careful about not overmixing biscuits, lest they turn into gross tough hockey pucks. word to the wise. use your hands to just push the dough together, then turn it out on a floured surface (i like using a large cutting board, so i don't have to clean stuck-on flour off the countertop) and pat it together (you don't have to be crazy-gentle, but don't like knead it) into a somewhat uniform shape about ½" thick or a little more (maybe even ¾").

cut them out using a cookie cutter or a glass that's 1 ½ - 2” in diameter. or you can make them bigger, of course. you can make them as big as you want! as big as your head!

maybe not that big. if they're bigger, they'll take a little longer to cook, fyi.

i don't make too big a fuss out of making sure all of the biscuits are perfectly round (as is evident above). i figure that if you want fancy, you probably aren't really wanting biscuits and gravy anyway. you can press the little scraps together into more biscuits! more biscuits = better.

i like to put them close together like this, i read somewhere that it helps them rise more. it does, of course, take away somewhat from the crunchy edges, but i also think it keeps them more moist inside. so it's a balance you'll have to strike for yourself. you can place them farther apart if you like. then into the oven with them for about 15-18 minutes (until they're a nice goldeny brown). after 10 minutes, i sometimes drop little bits of butter over the top of each one - it makes the tops even goldener and more delicious.

while they're baking, you can make the gravy. (i actually just wrote "cravy" which, while it should probably be "crave-y," is not an inaccurate reflection on my feelings about gravy). this time, i used some loose turkey sausage, but i often make it vegetarian and it's still totally good. if you're using sausage, cook it in a large pan with relatively deep sides, since you'll be making the gravy in there. you can use whatever amount of sausage you want - probably ½ a pound is plenty, though. once it's cooked (medium heat, break it up into smaller pieces with a spatula, don't get salmonella or something), take it out and set it aside for a bit.

if there is a huge amount of oil in the pan, you can use less butter, but turkey sausage doesn't have much oil, so i used about 1 ½ tablespoons of butter. let it melt, then add 1 ½ - 2 tablespoons of flour. basically you're making a roux. let these cook together for a minute or so, stirring frequently. then start adding milk.

i usually add maybe ¼ cup at first, whisk it into the roux, then keep adding small amounts at a time until it's thick but not like a paste. then you can add a little more milk at a time, like ½ a cup or something. adding the milk slowly and mixing as you do helps it to avoid dreaded lumpiness.

people have different thicknesses of gravy that they prefer, but i would guess that all together for that amount of flour and butter, you'll need maybe 1 ½ - 2 cups of milk. i like thicker gravy, myself, so i would probably stop adding milk around the lower end of that continuum. then add the sausage back into it and cook another couple of minutes over low-medium heat to make sure everything's hotted through. if it starts seeming too thick, you can always add more milk. also make sure to taste it and add salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

once the biscuits are done, split them in half while they're hot, pour a generous helping of gravy over them, and enjoy. they're also not bad with a sunnyside-up egg or two, if you're especially ravenous.

biscuits
there are a lot of biscuit recipes out there, and this one was cobbled together with ideas from several sources. you can also maybe just use buttermilk, but i thought the yogurt made them extra-tender.

10 oz (2 c) flour

1 tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

6 tbsp butter, cubes

½ c yogurt

½ c milk

~ ½ tsp (or a little more) salt

gravy**

~ ½ pound turkey or other sausage (if desired)

1 ½ - 2 tbsp butter

1 ½ - 2 tbsp flour

1 ½ - 2 cups milk

salt & black pepper to taste

*incidentally, i made this particular batch for a now-annual pun-filled oscar party - it was called "The Help yourself to some biscuits and gravy" and joined "midnight in pears" as our contribution.

**since this is essentially a béchamel sauce (without the fussy warming-up-the-milk part), you can also use the basic flour, butter, milk technique, add some grated cheese and maybe a little freshly grated nutmeg, and have a tasty cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese, etc. a little mustard instead of the nutmeg is also good. go crazy! you're welcome.

listening to: a spotify playlist of songs that get stuck in my head a lot. includes bishop allen (click, click, click, click) and the national (mr. november)

asian scrambled eggs & rice

are you tired of slogging through soggy cereal? do you quail at the thought of another slurpy yogurt and fruit combo?

my point is that these eggs are quick and simple and delicious and a little out of the ordinary. thus they are practically guaranteed to be a welcome respite from the doldrums of typical weekday breakfasts. you can also make them on the weekends - i just did!

this was a great quick breakfast on a rainy saturday morning. it would also be good on a dry tuesday morning. or with a nice salad for a quick lunch. it uses leftover cooked rice, eggs, onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper (incidentally, this is just regular black pepper in a lemon pepper container, but lemon pepper would be good, too), and sriracha (or other hot chili sauce).

you can customize these in various ways - if i have cilantro, i will put it in. sometimes i use shallots instead of onion. if there are some scallions skulking around, i will put those in at the very end, or just snip them over the top of the finished eggs (you can also do the same with chives). so consider this just a basic template for whatever genius thing you come up with.

first i let the onion cook up a little. i used 1/4 of a small onion - probably like 1/4 - 1/3 cup once it was chopped. this is totes to taste, though. use however much onion you feel you deserve. i like to cook it in some butter on medium-high heat so that it gets some nice browned areas. brown is where the flavor is! although the flavor is also still in the regular white part. it is just a different flavor.

then add some cold cooked rice. i was just making this for me, so i used like 1/3 cup of plain white rice that has been hanging out in our fridge for a day or two. or three. i hope rice doesn't go bad. it seemed fine, though. let that cook together with the onions for a little bit. i usually turn the burner down a little at this point - to medium or a little below that.

while the rice and onion are getting better acquainted, mix two eggs with a tablespoon or so of soy sauce. you might want to start with a little less than a tablespoon - maybe two teaspoons or so. i really like salt, apparently. although i didn't feel like this was too salty.

then just add the eggs to the onion and rice mixture and cook until they reach the perfect scrambledy consistency. then once you plate them you can sprinkle on more soy sauce if desired, plus sriracha and a little smidge of sesame oil to taste. sesame oil is pretty strong, so be careful! this is also when i would put some chives or whatnot on there if i had any. a scattering of toasted sesame seeds would not be out of place here, either.

then eat it up and be glad you didn't settle for some plain ol' toast or sad instant oatmeal. this comes together in under ten minutes and is satisfying and delicious and happy-making. you could also try it with other cooked grains or different flavor profiles - quinoa/cumin/chili powder/salsa, brown rice/frozen peas/curry powder, etc.

*ingredients* (for eggs for one - can be doubled, etc)

1/4 - 1/3 cup onion, chopped (sweet onions are particularly good in this, but you can use any kind)

1/3 cup cooked rice

2 eggs

2 teaspoons - 1 tablespoon soy sauce

chili sauce

sesame oil

pepper

other toppings - chives, scallions, sesame seeds, etc.

garlicky sorrel'n'cream eggs

so this is sorrel (aka wood sorrel). it kind of looks like clover, but it is very bright and lemony-green-tasting. it's wonderfully sour when you nibble it raw, but when you cook it, it just melts into an army green puddle of yum. it is not necessarily the prettiest, but it is really good.

i bought a big bag of this at the farmers' market because i remembered picking and eating it while on walks as a kid. this particular sorrel was wild, but sometimes people grow it as well. i got it at a great stand that had all kinds of wild things, like different fancy mushrooms, nettles, and sea beans (surprisingly tasty - usually i don't really care for sea vegetables/seaweed, etc).

this dish was inspired by orangette (one of my favorites), who was inspired by a recipe in the new york times. that recipe calls for scallions, which i didn't have, and has you de-stem the sorrel, which, being naturally lazy, i didn't do. i also added pink peppercorns, which are beautiful and delicious.

so.

make sure your sorrel is clean and dry. slice up some garlic - the thinner, the better. for two eggs, i used one small clove, but if i had had any of the green garlic left, you bet i would have used that. but the regular garlic was good, too. cook up the garlic bits over medium heat in however much butter you feel comfortable with. i used a little less than a tablespoon. you want to do this in a smallish pan, but it depends on how many eggs you are using, so use your best judgment. i used my smallest pan, but i was only cooking two eggs.

when the garlic has cooked a bit, but before it browns, add the sorrel. you can cut it up with a knife, but we don't have a dishwasher and i didn't feel like dirtying another cutting board, so i just held it over the pan and used scissors to cut it right into the pan. if you are also not into de-stemming the sorrel, just make sure you get the stems pretty finely cut. the first time i made this, i didn't, and it was still good, but it looked kind of ugly because the leaves really do just melt and then you are left with a pile of stems and it's weird.

once the sorrel cooks down a bit - really, this takes like 15 seconds - add a glug or two of cream. for two eggs, i used less than a quarter of a cup. you could also mix some cream with a little milk or greek yogurt if you don't want to be so unhealthy, but since this is very much an occasional thing, i don't think a little bit of cream will kill you. add salt and pepper to taste - i was out of regular pepper and used some chili flakes.

then make a little hollow for each egg and drop it in. salt and pepper each (pink peppercorn time!) and cover the pan. you might want to turn the heat down slightly - on our stove, which is a stupid electric one, i had it set at 4. this is also the point at which you put your toast in. you will want toast with this, because you need something to sop up the delicious sorrel'n'cream. trust me. you can butter the toast if you want, but after all that butter and cream in the eggs, i refrained. then once the whites of the eggs are set and the yolk is however set you like it (i cooked mine for about 5-6 minutes and the yolks were perfect for my taste - somewhat creamy still, but not too scarily runny), spoon the whole thing over the toast and prepare to be dazzled.

this is quite easy and is really really delicious. the richness of the cream and eggs and the sprightliness of the sorrel play off each other really well and it feels fancy but is totally simple as well. though i really liked the pink peppercorns on it, they are totally not a requirement (and, by the way, are not really peppercorns, but you can delve into that on wikipedia on your own). if you see sorrel at the farmer's market, i think this is a perfect use for it.

*ingredients (for two eggs)*

big handful of sorrel - see top picture

small clove of garlic

a tablespoon-ish of butter

a glug of cream (~1/4 cup)

salt

pepper

chili flakes

2 eggs

pink peppercorns, if you've got 'em

toast

i should mention that what i used is wood sorrel, which is similar in taste to other kinds of sorrel (sheep sorrel and cultivated, garden sorrel), but is actually a totally different genus and species. they look nothing alike, which is what was confusing me about this sorrel because i remember picking it wild as a child. that was sheep sorrel. there is a whole thing about them here, if interested.