Cookin' Somethin' Up

Well, I tried my hand again at cooking. Last night to be specific. I just have to laugh at myself because while I do love to cook and experiment with new recipes, sometimes I just have all kinds of problems in the kitchen.

A few weeks ago, I copied a recipe from a friend of a friend's blog. It sounded easy and, thanks to B putting up a picture, it looked yummy too. It's made from zucchini which seems to grow in abundance this time of year. My family lives in a great little neighborhood where people share things from their garden so we've always got fresh squash and zucchini in the fridge. Well, I've been wanting to try out this recipe for a while, but I couldn't decide if it was a main dish or more of a side dish. And my dad works all day out in the sun so when he comes home he's hungry and wants a good sized meal. Well, I decided to pair it with some fish and cold salads. Sounds easy...but I should know better than that when it comes to something new in the kitchen!

This was actually the meal that was on the dinner menu for Tuesday night, but after I'd gotten all the stuff out and ready, I discovered that I didn't have a grater. (The zucchini has to be grated.) More accurately, I do have a grater...the one my mom gave me when I was in college...which is still packed away. Then my mom remembered that she got a Gizmo electric grater a few years ago. So, I dug it out and started to read the instructions. Wouldn't you know that the stupid thing had to charge for at least 15 hours before the first use? Yeah...it wasn't a popular gift so it got stuck in the cabinet behind some other stuff we don't use very often. At this point I just got frustrated and voted for hamburgers from Sonic. But I did plug in the Gizmo and was determined that Wednesday night would bring these zucchini cakes.

Wednesday night rolls around and I'm set again to try out these veggie cakes. I re-wash the zucchini and put together the gizmo grater. I push the start button and the darn thing doesn't work. Okay...I'm big enough to admit that it was probably a little bit (oh fine...a lot...geez people) of operator error. Maybe the zucchini was too big, or maybe it was the skin was too rough, or maybe...just maybe...the gizmo isn't that great. Anyway, it was shredding the zucchini into mush instead of grating it. Now might be a good time to explain that I lose patience with stuff very quickly. Thankfully, my mom remembered (she's always remembering after I'm elbow deep in mess!) that we have a Presto Salad Shooter over in the pantry. So, I chunk the Gizmo disaster into the sink and pull out the salad shooter. We hadn't used it in a while so I had to wash it before I could use it. Finally, I get the zucchini chopped and put in and the thing works beautifully! My zucchini is grated and my ingredients are mixed...I'm ready to roll into patties. Boy was that a messy thing too. I had big globs of wet zucchini and breadcrumbs and now flour all over my fingers. Thankfully, I got them shaped into patties and eventually into the pan to brown.

While they were cooking, I had to try and clean off the cabinet so that when they were done I'd have room to set out the plates, coleslaw, potato salad, and fish. My simple solution was to just chunk everything into the sink. That's usually what happens when I cook...I have a sink full of stuff to clean up after dinner. In our family we have this I cook...you wash policy but when it comes to me it's dependent on how big of a mess I made! My mom glanced in the kitchen and predicted that I probably wouldn't make these again because of all the frustration I had making them. But, they turned out super good so I'll probably try my hand at them again. You know...this time with the right grating machine and a cleaned out sink.

Anyway, I would recommend these little zucchini cakes to anyone. They really were delicious! And because I'm a thoughtful person I'm even going to include the recipe. If you want to see the finished product travel over to B's blog and scroll down a few posts. Enjoy!

Zucchini Crab Cakes

2 1/2 c. grated zucchini (rind and all)

1 egg, beaten

1 TBSP melted butter

1 c. seasoned bread crumbs

1 tsp. seafood seasoning (I used Old Bay and probably more than a tsp...I just shook till it looked like enough)

1-4 TBSP flour or cracker crumbs

Combine the zucchini, egg, and butter. Add the rest of the ingredients. Shape into patties. Dip patties into the flour or cracker crumbs. Fry on medium high heat in a little vegetable oil until brown on both sides.