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Friday, June 5, 2009

Zucchini Fries

I was really in the mood for cucumber. Couldn't find any at the farmer's market so I headed on over to Maxx's Produce (20th and Locust). I saw some seedless hothouse cukes so I grabbed a pack and eagerly headed home to whip up a salad with all the nice looking organic lettuces I had.

After peeling and slicing it I realized something was very wrong with my cucumber. It was a zucchini. Now I briefly considered going back to Maxx's and complaining that my cucumber was dry, but I don't think I could pull it off with a straight face. So I just threw it in my fridge and resigned myself to a cucumberless salad.

After days of pondering the possibilities of those stupid zucchinis I just couldn't come up with a creative idea. Finally I settled on the idea of zucchini fries. I've breaded stuff and either pan fried or baked it, but never actually deep fried anything before so I figured I'd try something new.

Ingredients

2 zucchinis, peeled and sliced into fry like shapes
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup panko
1/2 cup cornmeal (optional)
Garlic powder
Chili powder
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil for frying
It doesn't look as pretty as Sam's, but here's my "mise en place." As you can see the beaten eggs go in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another.
Coat the zucchini in egg then in the breadcrumb mixture.


Heat your oil over medium heat. You'll know its hot when you touch the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon and you see small bubbles. Drop your fries in a couple at a time, watching carefully. It should only take a couple of minutes for them to turn golden brown.


Drain on paper towels and salt while still warm. Next time I'll have to make a dipping sauce for them. Any ideas?

2 comments:

  1. there are actually lots of things to do with zucchini - soup, quite good and I could share the recipe sometimes; bread (like banana bread type of bread), also very good. There was a time we grew zucchini in our garden, and one year had a bumper crop so had to come up with some new ways to use it all!

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  2. i, personally, am not a fan of zucchini (other than zucchini bread); however, my trusty veg cook book, vegetarian cooking for everyone by deborah madison, has a great recipe for a dill/yoghurt dip and barely sauteed zucchini. I have to say that I absolutely loved it! If this ever happens to you again, you can try that!

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