Zucchini Fritters

So, I saw my patio zucchini plant had a zucchini.  I was going to pick it about three days ago, but forgot, or only thought about it when I was walking by it on my way to the car to go to work, or had my hands full with groceries.  So I finally picked it.  It seemed bigger than I recalled.

My three pound squash.

Then I had to decide what to do with it.  Growing up, we pretty much only used zucchini for bread, cupcakes, or muffins.  But as I've gotten older, I've found I use it more for cooking than baking.

I found a recipe for Smitten Kitten's zucchini fritters and thought I'd give it a shot.  I like potato pancakes and they sounded similar.  You can check out the recipe at Smitten Kitten for the particulars, but I'll give you the gist. I only needed a pound of zucchini, so I whacked mine in half and pulled out the seeds and grated it with a box grater.

I left the peel on because I thought it looked prettier.

Then you salt it and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Notice kitty lurking in the shadows?

Then, press out all the water you can using paper towels or cheese cloth, throw it back in the bowl, and add egg, pepper, shallots (or some garlic in my case).

 

Next add a little flour and baking powder. And mix.

 

Then fry in oil on the stove top over medium heat till golden on bottom, flip and cook a few more, and then your finished.  Serve with yogurt or sour cream and some fresh lemon juice.

Lunch!

I thought these were pretty good, they fry up crispy on the outside, but soft and tender inside.  They were pretty fast to make too and no fussy ingredients.  I love that!  Next time I think I'll skip the sour cream and just put a little butter on top.  Which, I'm in luck, because there's leftovers! The recipe makes about 10 fritters.  Yum!  And now you have an idea for zucchini besides more zucchini bread.