Zucchini Fritters

My husband is out of town this week, which means I didn't really plan a menu.  Which is terrible because it's not like I only cook for him.  But I figured I'd take a break and give the kids a week of all the stuff they really love.   Like breakfast for dinner one night.  And make our own pizza another night.  And we went out to dinner one night.

I had planned to make Italian Sausage Soup one night since that is always a big hit in my house. But I never did make it because we were too busy winging it.  So, I had some extra zucchini lying around and decided to make myself a little snack one afternoon.  These zucchini fritters came together so quick that I only wish I'd had more zucchini.   Seems like you could make a large batch of these and freeze them for a snack any time.

I kind of wish I'd had this recipe on hand last week.  With a smaller scoop, these would have made an awesome appetizer.  These would have been a big hit at my husband's birthday dinner.

But speaking of a big hit, my son ate three of these!   My daughter is in a bit of a phase about "green things" right now and wouldn't try it.  But William gobbled them up.

I found the recipe on smitten kitchen.  She called for scallions in her, which I didn't have so I just skipped.  I did think scallions would be a nice addition, or even some diced and softened white onion.  She also made a lemon sour cream to put on top.   I love lemon, so I did not hesitate to follow that detail.  It really made a huge impact.   I think next time I'm going to throw some lemon zest into the fritter batter, too.

Of course, these can be made with any squash.  I'd been meaning to make spaghetti squash fritters all summer, but never got around to roasting a spaghetti squash.  (Shame on me, I bought one and it went bad on my counter!)  What I loved about this recipe was that the zucchini didn't require any pre-cooking.

The recipe below made about seven fritters in a 2" diameter.  Next time I will be doubling the recipe for sure!   These will be a lovely accompaniment to a salad and a glass of wine in the summer months.

Zucchini Fritters with Lemon Sour Cream
ever so slightly adapted from smitten kitchen

For the fritters
2 medium zucchini
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 large egg, lightly beaten
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
oil (I used canola)

Trim the ends off the zucchini and grate them on the holes of a large box grater.   You could use the shredding blade of a food processor.  But I was in the mood for a quick snack, not a huge mess to clean.  So I used my flat grater set over a bowl.

I shredded the zucchini into a large bowl, then tossed it with 1 teaspoon of salt.  The salt extracts any excess moisture in the zucchini.  You can leave it to sit for 10-15 minutes.  Or you can do what I did, and leave it to sit while you head out to preschool pick up.   Once I got back home, I transferred the zucchini to a colander and used my hands to squeeze out the moisture and returned it to the bowl.

You can add more salt at this point, if you'd like, which I did.  Stir in the eggs and black pepper (and lemon zest at this point if you're using it).  Add the flour and baking powder and stir to combine.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Use a spring loaded ice cream scoop and add mixture to the oil.  Use a small fork to spread the fritter out and flatten them a bit.  Cook until browned, about 3-4 minutes.  Flip them over and cook on the other side, 2-3 minutes.   When cooked, transfer to a paper towel lined plate to absorb and excess oil.   You can hold the fritters in your oven (or toaster oven, if you're looking to not make a big production out of these) while you prepare the remaining fritters.

For the Lemon Sour Cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
zest of half a lemon
pinch of kosher salt

Combine the sour cream and lemon juice in a small bowl.  Just before serving, top the fritters with the sour cream, lemon zest and a small sprinkle of kosher salt.

Shrimp Lo Mein

There are many things I miss about living in the northeast.  One of those things is Chinese food.  It's something I used to order quite often.  I had my favorite places to go to.  When I worked at the country club, there was a chef dedicated to making the most ah.may.zing Chinese food.  Honestly, Chef Ho ruined all other Chinese food for me.  But part of that was because he used the best ingredients known to man.   The freshest produce, the finest cuts of meat, shrimp the size of kittens...  Not your average all you can eat buffet fare.  You can imagine, we did a phenomenal amount of take out.

When we moved to Vienna, one night we went out for Chinese food.  You know they say Chinese food here is Americanized?  Well it's not Americanized in Austria.  Why did I not anticipate that?   It was totally different than what I was used to, so after that I rarely ordered it.  Then we came back to the US and one of the first things I wanted to do was order Chinese take out.   Turns out, its a regional thing, too.   It's not the same down in the South.  I can't explain it, but it's different. I think it's the sauce.  There are items not on the menu that I want.   Lo mein is one of my favorite dishes and I rarely find a lo mein I like down here.  

Well, why not make my own?   I saw this recipe in Real Simple this month and thought I'd give it a try.  It seemed easy enough.  And it was.   A few ingredients that were not already in my pantry, but after a trip to the farmers market, I am now armed to make all kinds of Chinese specialties.

I do think I did one thing wrong, which I'll correct next time I make this (or any other Chinese dish).  When I was making the Thai Basil Chicken , Cook's Illustrated had said something about Chinese oyster sauce being too thick, dark, and overwhelming for the Thai Basil dish.  Since I needed oyster sauce for two things I was making that week and it seemed I would need two different oyster sauces, I opted to just buy the lighter Thai oyster sauce for both dishes.   I did think that the sauce on the lo mein was a little thin and light.   So next time I'll pick up a bottle of Chinese oyster sauce and see how I do with that.

But otherwise, this was great.   Quick, simple and delicious.  The Real Simple recipe called for snow peas only, but you could toss in whatever you wanted here.   Carrots, celery, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, you name it.  You could also use thin sliced chicken, beef or pork in place of the shrimp.   Or go crazy and toss them all in and make a House Lo Mein!  This is a great stir fry, so throw in whatever you like!

Shrimp Lo Mein
recipe courtesy of Real Simple, January 2012


8 ounces lo mein noodles (found in the Asian aisle at the supermarket or substitute linguini)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
kosher salt
1/4 cup oyster sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
crushed red pepper, for serving

Cook the noodles according to package directions.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Add the shrimp, snow peas, scallions, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring until shrimp are cooked through, 2-3 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the oyster sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, and 1/4 cup water.  Pour into stir fry and cook, stirring until thickened, 1-2 minutes.  Toss with the lo mein noodles to combine.  Serve, sprinkled with red pepper flakes.

Sacher Torte

I'm feeling very celebratory.  Today is my husband's 40th birthday!   And this is my 100th post.  The first being the more important occasion, obviously!

Over the weekend, Nico's parents came to visit and we had a little dinner in honor of his birthday.   I made all of his favorites.  There were 6 adults for dinner.  We started the night with cocktails and a few hors d'oeuvres.  Then we moved onto dinner -  Wiener Schnitzel, potato salad, sauerkraut, and shaved Brussels sprouts.   He asks for the same thing ever year for his birthday.  I usually make him a cheesecake for his birthday cake, even though I know what he really wants is a Sacher Torte.

Sacher Torte is a legendary cake in Vienna.   It was created in 1832 by Franz Sacher.  Dense chocolate cake is covered in an apricot marmalade glaze then sealed with glossy chocolate ganache.  The original recipe is guarded and the methods used by other bakeries and restaurants just come close to the original.  The recipe I have originally came from Nico's Tante Edith (who also taught me how to make her Linzer cookies).  But I was just not able to adapt it to US measurements and ingredients.

I did make this one day with Edith, in our tiny kitchen in Vienna. After a day of baking, we had dinner together.   Nico and I announced to Edith that not only were we expecting a baby, but we were also moving back to the US.  It was the only time I'd made a successful Sacher Torte.  

Last year, I tried to make one for Nico's birthday.  I attempted to convert Edith's recipe and do it.  It was disastrous!   It was way too pale, not dense enough and it crumbled when I spread the apricot glaze over it.  I nearly cried.  My lovely, lying husband said it was delicious and very close to the original.  I almost didn't want to do it over again this year.

But I did.  I decided it to give it a try, this time I researched a few adaptations and took keys from a few recipes I have.  Including a simplified version from the Hotel Sacher.   The result?  Well even I was amazed!  As it was coming together, I prepared myself for dissapointment.   It would be too pale again. It would be too sweet.  The chocolate glaze would not cover the apricot.  But it all worked out.  Not only was Nico more than pleased, but my father in law has pre-requested one for his birthday in May.  

It is a little unnerving to make classic Viennese dishes for a table of Austrians.  But there is also nothing like having a table of Austrians tell you, "you nailed it!"

Happy 40th birthday to my husband, Nico.  I know that together, the next 40 years will be filled with happiness, love and laughter.   And your cakes will be filled with apricot.

Sacher Torte
adapted from The New Sacher Cookbook

For the Cake
9 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
pulp from half a vanilla pod (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
6 eggs separated, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees with the oven rack in the center position.   Prepare a 9" spring form pan by buttering the sides and laying a circle of parchment paper on the bottom.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium high until light. Scrape the sides and add confectioners' sugar.   Combine on low, then return to medium high.  Add the vanilla and egg yolks one at a time until the mixture is thick and creamy.   Add the cooled chocolate.

In a separate, clean bowl beat the egg whites and granulated sugar until still and glossy.   Add 1/3 of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and fold in carefully to lighten the batter.   Add the remaining egg whites and fold in gently.  Sift over the flour and carefully fold with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared spring form pan and spread evenly.   Bake for up to 40 minutes but begin to check it at 30 minutes.  (I checked mine at 30 minutes and 35 minutes.  At around 37 minutes, the top began to burn.  It's ok if this happens since your carve off the top to level it out.)  

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan.  Then remove it form the pan and allow to finish cooling completely.

For the apricot glaze:
1 jar apricot marmalade
1 tablespoon rum

Over medium high heat, bring the marmalade and rum to a boil.  Send through a sieve to remove any large bits.  Allow to cool slightly before adding to the cake.

For the chocolate glaze:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, bring the water and sugar to a boil.  Allow to bubble for 5-6 minutes.  Add the chocolate and stir until it's all melted.  Let it cool slightly.  It should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

When the cake has cooled, it's time to assemble.  Place the cake on a cake stand and put strips of parchment underneath to catch any drippings.  Begin by leveling the top of the cake.  Then slice across the middle of the cake.  Fill the middle with apricot glaze, allowing any extra to spill over the sides.   Put the top of the cake back on and pour the last of the filling over the top, spreading it evenly over the top and down the sides.  Use an offset spatula to ensure the glaze completely covers the entire cake.  Allow to set before adding the chocolate.

When the apricot glaze is firm, pour the warm chocolate glaze over the top and allow to spill over the sides.   Use an offset spatula to complete coat the cake.  Cool until the glaze is set.

Serve the cake with plenty of whipped cream.

Thai Basil Chicken

Sometimes I just need to try things outside my comfort zone.   While I love spicy food, and I love chicken, trying a Thai dish was a little intimidating to me.   Because I don't eat Thai very often, I was nervous to make something that I wasn't sure how it should taste.  But I saw this recipe in Cooks Illustrated and new I had to try it.

The spicy, herb-y flavors of this were a definite hit.  I am not even 100% certain I made it correctly.  Cook Illustrated had said to use "hot basil".  They were specific to not use Italian basil, or Thai basil.  But I could not find hot basil, so I bought Thai basil.  Also, they said to stem the Thai chiles.   It didn't say anything about seeding the chiles.   It also said it was a mild spicy, not too spicy.  So I figured maybe Thai chiles just aren't very spicy.   And I only took the stems off and didn't seed them.  HOLY HOT!   It was more than mild spicy.  Next time, I will seed the chiles.

I made a few other mistakes along the way.   The recipe said to reserve one cup of the basil to stir into the finished dish at the end.  I forgot to do that and ended up chopping both cups of basil into the base of the sauce.   It may not have made that much a difference in flavor.  It was definitely full of sweet basil flavor that finished with the spicy chile.  Finished with the armomatic Jasmine rice, this is sure to become a new family favorite.  (Well, a hit among the adults, anyhow.  I made the kids a safety dish, since this was so spicy.   But Liam took a try of it and seemed to not mind the heat.)

I thought it was a lot of prep work to get it together, but it came together quickly in the skillet.   And while it was hot the first night (I ate mine with a glass of milk to cool the capsaicin), I thought the leftovers were much more mild.   When Nico finally took the last bit of it one day for lunch, I was jealous.   Guess I'll just have to make more!

Thai Basil Chicken
recipe adapted in procedure only, courtesy of Cooks Illustrated January/February 2010

2 cups fresh Thai basil leaves, tightly packed
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled
6 green or red Thai chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 Tablespoons fish sauce (can be found in international markets or online)
1 Tablespoon oyster sauce (can be found in international markets or online)
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 2 inch pieces
3 medium shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
red pepper flakes for serving (optional, I did not use it because it was hot enough!)

Process basil leaves, garlic and chiles in a food processor until finely chopped, 6 to 10 one second pulses.  Scrape down the bowl and pulse some more if needed.  Transfer 1 tablespoon of basil mixture to a small bowl and stir in 1 Tablespoon fish sauce, oyster sauce, vinegar, and sugar.  Transfer remaining basil mixture to 12 inch heavy bottomed skillet.  Do not wash the food processor.

Pulse chicken and 1 tablespoon fish sauce in food processor until meat is chopped into approximately 1/4 inch pieces.  Transfer to a medium bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Stir shallots and oil into basil mixture in skillet.  Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until garlic and shallots are golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the chicken, increase heat to medium, and cook, stirring and breaking up the chicken with a wooden spoon until only traces of pink remain.  Add reserved basil-fish sauce mixture and continue to cook, stirring constantly until chicken is no longer pink, about 1 minute.  Serve immediately with jasmine rice and pass extra fish sauce and red pepper flakes to sprinkle on top.

Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

I'm sure Mexicans and South Americans just love how Americans take a flour tortilla, fill it up with our leftover chicken, top it with sauce and cheese, bake it and call it an enchilada.  Really, enchiladas are about the chile sauce that I'm sure is lovingly made over the course of hours.  And, naturally those tortillas are hand made with precision.  Which of course, makes them so fantastically delicious.

But whatever is the case, I do love all types of enchiladas.  The authentic variety, the kind that you throw together because it's been a crazy day, and this one that Josie at Pink Parsley posted a few years ago, that I have since made so many times I can make them in my sleep.  

I've only ever made chicken enchiladas, which is a shame because there are so many things to fill an enchilada with.  But one day, it was sort of a clean out the fridge day, or what I like to call "Use it up", I decided to make buffalo chicken enchiladas.   I am a firm believer that anything can be buffalo'd. And you know Nico wasn't going to complain about this dish.

We had some leftover rotisserie chicken, so I used that.  You could start by cooking boneless, skinless chicken and shredding that, if you wanted more work for yourself.  You can't beat the convenience of a rotisserie chicken.

I tossed the shredded chicken with Franks Red Hot and prepared enchilada sauce.  I really like  Frontera enchilada sauce.   I threw in some cheddar, blue cheese and a little bit of monterrey cheese that I had.  Although you could use just cheddar or just monterrey.  But I always have too many varieties of cheese on hand and was trying to use it all up!  I also threw in some scallions.   Some would say that cilantro would go well in here, but I don't do cilantro.

Roll the mixture up in flour tortillas, top with more Franks/Frontera sauce, sprinkle with more cheese and bake.  It was delicious.   I will never tire of the spicy kick of buffalo sauce calmed by the cool bite of blue cheese.

Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas


8 flour tortillas
shredded rotisserie chicken (I used a little more than a half, but 1 full chicken would be best)
16 ounces prepared enchilada sauce - separated
1 cup Franks Red Hot (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 ounces gorgonzola cheese crumbles
3 green onions, sliced, white and green parts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.  Pour about 4 ounces (half the Frontera bag) in the bottom of the pan to coat it.

In a small bowl combine the Franks Red Hot and remaining enchilada sauce and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the shredded chicken, half the sauce mixture, 1/2 cup cheddar, 2 ounces blue cheese, all the Monterey Jack cheese, and scallions.  Fill the tortillas generously without overstuffing them.   Place them in the prepared baking dish seam side down.  Be sure the tortillas fit snuggly in the dish.

Top with remaining sauce mixture and remaining cheddar cheese.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, uncovered. Remove from oven and top with remaining blue cheese crumbles.

Lazy Tomato Sauce

You know those days where you don't want to cook, but you have to put something on the table for the other people who live in your house because cereal is not really dinner?  Pasta is my go to on those nights.  But sometimes I don't have any spaghetti sauce in the house and I don't normally keep jarred sauce in the house.   But canned tomatoes?  I always have those! 

This recipe found me about 8 years ago on new years day.  I hosted a huge dinner at my house the night before, but I didn't have a dishwasher.  The next morning, we woke up and took all my dishes to my best friends house, about three streets away.  There we spent new years day watching football and X-men movies and generally being lazy.   At some point, we needed to eat and Lisa whipped this up.  It is so simple and delicious it should be illegal.    After that day, this became my single-girl-go-to dinner.  When I met my husband, I made this one night when I didn't feel like cooking and he declared it his favorite pasta sauce.

You know the expression "the sum is greater than its parts"?  That's definitely the case here.

Lazy Tomato Sauce

2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cans diced tomatoes (I prefer petite diced)
salt and pepper to taste
cooked, drained pasta of choice

Add the garlic and oil to a small saute pan set over medium heat.  Move the garlic around to allow it to brown on all sides, not too long, less than one minute.   Add the canned tomatoes and heat until warm.

Serve over pasta with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, if you like.  If you really feel like being fancy, throw some fresh basil in there.  Side salad is optional, depending on your motivation in the kitchen that day.

Coq au vin, revisited

One year ago today, I launched this blog with Alton Brown's take on Coq Au Vin.  It was time consuming, it was laborious, it was delicious.   That night, my husband and I talked about what I would do when and if I found myself celebrating a year of food blogging.  While a lot of bloggers will bake a cake in honor of their "blogiversary", I had already gotten it into my head that I would want to do another take on Coq Au Vin.  There are so many ways to do coq au vin, traditional and non-traditional.  And being a sucker for customs and traditions, I thought it would be fun to make having coq au vin a new years eve tradition for us.

Well, that's not exactly what happened.  We ended up having this on the 30th because we decided at the last minute to spend the 31st at our friends' house.   It worked out perfectly.  This dish was delicious and on New Years Eve, we enjoyed a few hors d'oeuvres and champagne.   (I'm planning to share a few of the things I made this week.)

As for the coq au vin, I really liked this method.   It was the infamous coq au vin that Casey Thompson made on Top Chef.  The coq au vin that started the discussion about "is it really coq au vin if you use a hen and not a rooster".  Well, the truth is you'd be hard to find a recipe that calls for rooster and even harder pressed to find rooster in a store.  So onward we go with regular super market chicken.

Back to the method.  This one took about a quarter of the time than the Alton Brown version did.  It's true that this method is not classic.  But it yields the same delicious smokey flavor from the bacon in the red wine sauce.  Pan roasting the vegetables separately gives them more texture and allows their flavors to shine more.   I made some changes from Casey's, mostly in the vegetables.  She used asparagus and ramps in her recipe.  But I stuck with classic coq au vin vegetables, mushrooms and peas.  I took her lead and subbed the pearl onions for cipollini onions, because I like cipollinis better than pearl onions.

I served my coq au vin over egg noodles last year.  This recipe called for mashed potatoes.  At the time I loved the idea, but I think I'm going to stick with egg noodles.  It felt lighter.  Otherwise, I think I've found my go to coq au vin recipe.

The chicken was so tender and delicious.  My 1 year old son was eating his with his fingers before I could finish cutting it up.  This was a meal that was enjoyed and devoured.   A meal that is delicious and loved by everyone?  I can't think of a better way to end the year.

Coq Au Vin
slightly adapted from Top Chef Season 3, episode 12 by Casey Thompson
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
salt and fresh ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil, divide
8 ounces of bacon, finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tomato, chopped
1 bay leaf
3 cups red wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon of butter
12 cipollini onions
8 ounces fresh whole mushrooms
1 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.   Season the chicken with salt and pepper.   In a large oven safe pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium high heat.  Add the chicken and cook until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes.   Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.

Pour off most of the fat and add the bacon.  Cook over medium high heat while stirring for about 5 minutes.  Pour off most of the bacon fat and add the onion.  Cook for 1 minute then add the tomato paste, tomato and bay leaf.  Reduce heat to medium low, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.

Add the wine and stir, scraping up any browned bits.  Cook for 10 minutes.   Return the chicken to the pot and add the chicken stock.  Place the pot in the oven and cook for 1 hour.  Turn the chicken over and cook uncovered for 15 more minutes.

In a sautee pan, melt 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of butter over medium high heat.  Add the cipollini onions.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until they are tender, about 4 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and peas.  Cook until the mushrooms give off all their liquid and are browned.

Serve 1 thigh each over mashed potatoes with vegetables and some of the red wine sauce.  (You could remove the chicken from the pot and reduce the sauce by half, if desired.)