THE ZUCCHINI CHRONICLES

Zucchini in the garden with flowers.

I may be the only person in the world who can’t grow zucchini. The plants flourish and flower, but the baby zukes turn yellow and fall off the vine before they mature. Anybody know why? Too much water or not enough water?

I harvest the tiny zucchini and enjoy them simply sauteed in olive oil. But, to prepare some of my favorite zucchini dishes, I have to head to the market or wait until friends pass along surplus from their gardens.

Someone just gave me a fine big specimen, a bludgeon of a zucchini. Shall I stuff it? I like to cut zucchini into 2 ½-inch segments, scoop out a well in each and fill with chorizo or other sausage, top with breadcrumbs and cheese and bake until zucchini cups are just tender.

But today I will make my favorite zucchini dish, cuajado, a sort of timbale with vegetables, eggs and cheese. Cuajado means “set” (as a gelatine sets) or “clotted.”

Cuajado comes from Spain’s medieval Sephardic Jewish culture, where a meatless, all-dairy meal was served on some holidays. Modern-day Sephardim call these meatless meals by the Spanish word desayuno, or “breakfast,” meaning a substantial brunch or lunch. Spanish cooking has a number of variations on cuajado—with zucchini, eggplant, spinach, potatoes. In fact, cuajado may be the precursor of the popular Spanish tortilla, made of eggs and potatoes.

Cuajado makes a fine vegetarian meal, a classy starter (garnish with roasted red peppers sauteed in olive oil) and, if you omit the optional bread crumbs, an ideal low-carb breakfast.

Zucchini timbale in microwave.

Because I refuse to turn on the oven from early June until September, I have adapted the recipe to cook in the microwave. This requires using a microwave-safe ring mold (it is plastic, which, when I purchased it, was  considered microwave-safe). An alternative would be to put the zucchini mixture into four to six custard cups. Reduce the cooking time and rotate the cups four times during the cooking time.

I use a food processor to grate the zucchini and cheese.

Zucchini Timbale
Cuajado de Calabacines

Serves 4 to 6.

2 pounds zucchini
¼ onion
2 teaspoons salt
4 ounces Manchego cheese, grated
   (about 1 ½ cups)
4 eggs
½ cup fresh bread crumbs 
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
chopped fresh herbs (such as dill, basil or    thyme)

Grate the zucchini and onion. Place in a colander and sprinkle with the salt. Let stand for 1 hour. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

If baking the timbale in the oven, preheat oven to 350º.

Beat together the cheese, eggs, bread crumbs, pepper and chopped herbs. Stir in the shredded zucchini.

To bake: Pour mixture into an oiled 9-inch cake pan. Bake until top is golden and a skewer comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

To microwave: Pour zucchini into an oiled microwave-safe tube pan. Smooth the top surface, but do not compact the mixture. Place in microwave and cover with microwave vented lid. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Reduce power to medium-high. Microwave for 10 minutes. Allow the timbale to rest, covered, inside the microwave for 10 minutes before unmolding.

Serve hot or cold.

Zucchini timbale unmolded.

GAZPACHO FOR MICHELLE OBAMA

Photo from Málaga Hoy/EFE

Michelle Obama is vacationing on the Costa del Sol (southern Spain)! She and younger daughter, Sasha, and some friends are staying at a posh resort hotel in a village just a few miles up the road from where I live.

Although the American press has almost nothing to say about Michelle Obama’s trip—except to wonder why she’s not with the president on his birthday—here in Spain her visit is the story of the week, if not the month. In spite of tight security, crowds are lining up to wave and call out to her: “Guapa, guapa!” (gorgeous). (She did look gorgeous in a flowered belted tunic.)

I am intrigued that she is here and very interested to know if she’s tasting really great Spanish food. Here’s what’s been on Michelle’s menu so far.

Dinner out in the old town of Marbella (Restaurante Buenaventura), Michelle and her party dined on the patio, ordering fresh fish and shellfish, finishing with a warm chocolate cake and torrijas de almendras (custardy fried toasts with almonds).  They drank a red wine from Ribera del Duero and finished with sweet Málaga moscatel. During dinner, she received a call from Barak Obama—and everybody sang Cumpleaños Feliz.

On Thursday, the party traveled by motorcade to Granada. With the temperature at 40ºC (104ºF), they stopped for ice cream (Michelle, triple-chocolate cone) before visiting the Cathedral (which contains the tombs of the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabel, who funded Columbus’s voyages).  Then to the caves of Sacromonte for a private flamenco performance. There, the First Lady reportedly danced a few steps por soleás.

Reversing the usual Spanish timetable, the group had a very early dinner at the Parador San Francisco within the gardens of the Alhambra palace. Then, in the cool of the evening, they toured the Moorish Alhambra.

The tasting menu at the parador reflected the Moorish heritage. To start were a trio of cold soups—traditional Andalusian gazpacho with tomatoes, Moorish-inflected ajo blanco con uvas, a white gazpacho made with almonds and garnished with grapes, and a cold melon soup with fresh mint. Next was a pastry filled with vegetables and spiced chicken, then monkfish in mozarabe style with a sauce of raisins and pinenuts. The main course was cabrito de Guejar Sierra con ajo y piminetos secos, baby kid from the sierra with garlic and dried peppers.

Today Michelle and Sasha are at the beach. On the midday news, I saw video of Sasha splashing in the Mediterranean. I hope they had grilled sardines for lunch!

And, I hope to hear if Michelle enjoyed Spanish food.

Here are two recipes from Michelle Obama’s visit to Andalusia, Spain.

White Gazpacho with Grapes
Ajo Blanco con Uvas

Serves 4.

6 ounces stale bread (about 2 ¾ cups packed bread crumbs)
1 cup almonds, blanched and skinned
3 cloves garlic
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
5 tablespoons wine vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
12 muscatel grapes, halved and seeded

Soak the bread in water until softened.

Place the almonds and garlic in the container of a food processor and pulse until almonds are finely ground.

Squeeze out the bread, discarding the crusts, and add it to the processor. Blend to a smooth paste.

With the motor running, add the oil in a slow stream, then the vinegar and salt. Beat in ½ cup of water, then pour the mixture into a tureen, wooden bowl or pitcher and add the 2 ½ cups of cold water. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt or vinegar if needed. The soup should be fairly tangy.

Serve immediately or chill the gazpacho. Stir before serving into bowls garnished with grapes.

Baby Kid, Granada Style
Cabrito al Estilo de Granada
   
If you are unable to buy kid-goat, try this recipe with lamb chops. Make sure they are well trimmed of excess fat. You really only need the nugget of tender flesh. The dried peppers in the traditional recipe are called ñoras. They are plum-sized, bittersweet (not hot). They are fried or soaked in water, then the flesh scraped. Use a big spoonful of pimentón (paprika) if ñoras are not available.

Serves 4.

2 pounds kid, cut up, or lamb chops
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon pimentón (paprika)
2 slices bread, crusts removed
1 cup white wine
4 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dry oregano, crumbled
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a skillet and quickly fry the kid or lamb chops until browned on both sides. Remove the pan from heat. Drain off excess fat. Stir pimentón into the pan.

Place bread, wine, garlic, cumin and oregano in blender container. Allow bread to soften for 5 minutes, then process until smooth. Pour this mixture into the skillet with the meat. Add 1 cup of water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer the lamb chops for 10 minutes.

MY FRIEND, MISTRESS OF THE FIRE

What in the world is the feminine for “grill meister”? Is she “maistresse of the grill”? Grill mistress? She with the art and craft, learned from a master, is my friend Donna Gelb who visited me in Spain a few weeks ago.

Donna was recipe developer for Argentine chef Francis Mallmann’s acclaimed book, SEVEN FIRES. She worked alongside the chef on location at his exquisite little hotel in Garzon, a tiny village in rural Uruguay, in order to translate his grand designs into workable recipes, then returned to her New York City apartment to tweak them. (Read a review of SEVEN FIRES here.)

Fuel for the fire. Donna Gelb uses olive wood to prepare coals for grilling lamb on my patio in Spain. She came to Spain from Languedoc (France), after teaching grilling classes there, preparing guinea hens over vieilles souches (aged vines).

Donna inspired me to get out the grill, hardly used for several years, and cook up a meal for friends. Instead of grilling over charcoal, she suggested we make a fire using small branches of olive wood that I had stacked for use as kindling in the fireplace.

I planned the menu using some of her recipes and she provided the expertise.

Salad of cucumber granita, avocado and watermelon

Boneless leg of lamb with onion marinade

Grilled tomatoes

Smashed potatoes with green olive tapenade

Grilled Leg of Lamb with Onion Marinade

In Spain, lamb is generally smaller than what is found in American meat markets. We used the thick part of the leg, without the shank end. Donna boned it, opened it flat and, skin side down, cut through the thickest muscle, then pounded it with the side of her hand so that the meat was approximately the same thickness. Boneless leg of lamb, opened up, is always a somewhat ragged, uneven piece of meat.

An Iranian cook introduced me to a marinade for lamb kebabs that I have adapted and used for grilling leg of lamb. Grated onion in the marinade both tenderizes and flavors the meat.  I use a food processor to grate the onion. 

Grate 1 large onion and combine with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1 teaspoon fresh minced thyme, pinch of chopped rosemary, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the lamb in a non-reactive container and spread the onion mixture on both sides. Marinate at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours. Bring the meat to room temperature before grilling.

Here are Donna’s grilling notes:

I scraped off most of the onion marinade so that the meat would crisp rather than steam.

I let the coals get very hot - hand just above the grate til about "3 mississippi" (or “3 matador” as we said in 7 Fires). The lamb was grilled directly over the coals. The grate was about 3-4 inches above coals.  I let it get a good char on the first side without moving it  (about 5 minutes)  before flipping it. You can rotate it 90 degrees to cross hatch for another 3-4 minutes before turning it.   Same on the second side until it feels almost but not quite done.  It should still yield somewhat to the pressure of your finger.  You can cut into an edge with a knife if you are really not sure, or use a instant read digital thermometer - about 120º F for rare BEFORE resting. Take it off BEFORE you think it is done - it keeps cooking while it rests, and it must rest about  5 minutes for juices to redistribute. You can always throw it back on if you need to.

   Grilled lamb, a little charred on the outside, pink and juicy on the inside, with grilled tomatoes and tapenade-crusted smashed potatoes. 

Smashed Potatoes with Tapenade Crust
Adapted from Seven Fires:  Grilling the Argentine Way by Francis Mallmann/Peter Kaminsky (Artisan 2009).

Donna used small (2 ½ - 3 oz), all-purpose white potatoes for this recipe. They can be par-boiled in advance, but are best “smashed” while still warm. For the tapenade, we used my home-cured green olives, somewhat mushy after all these months, instead of black olives. The trick, Donna said, is to use a fair amount of olive oil so the potatoes crisp really well. They are really delicious!

Serves 4

8 to 10 small potatoes, scrubbed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon black peppercorns
Coarse salt
½ cup olive tapenade (recipe follows)

Put the potatoes in a pan and add the vinegar, 2 tablespoons of the oil, bay leaf, peppercorns and salt. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the potatoes are tender enough to be pierced with a skewer, about 12 minutes. Drain in a colander, but do not cool the potatoes.

Place a potato on a clean dishcloth on a work surface, cover with another  cloth and, using the palm of your hand, slowly and gently press the potato to flatten it. Transfer to a tray. Repeat with the remaining potatoes. Spoon the remaining 4 tablespoons oil over the potatoes.

Heat a plancha or cast-iron griddle over medium-low heat until a drop of water sizzles on the surface. Put the potatoes on the hot surface, oiled side down, and cook until they are crisp on the first side, 4 to 5 minutes. Don’t move them! Transfer to a tray, crisp side down.

Spread a heaping tablespoon of tapenade on top of the potatoes and press down lightly to compact the crust. Slide a wide spatula under a potato and, with one quick move, flip it over onto the hot plancha, tapenade side down. Lower the heat slightly. Repeat with remaining potatoes. Brown them for about 7 minutes, until the tapenade forms a crisp crust. Remove the potatoes as they are cooked and invert onto a serving platter, tapenade crust facing up. Serve immediately.

Black Olive Tapenade

This is the recipe from Seven Fires, but, as noted above, it can be freely varied. We used green Spanish olives, chopped in a food processor. Tapenade, a French condiment/sauce, also goes well with vegetables, grilled tuna, hard-boiled eggs or spread on toasts.

Makes about 1 ¾ cups.

1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, minced
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and minced
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine the olives, capers, zest, juice and thyme in a bowl. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Season to taste with pepper. The tapenade can be kept, refrigerated, for up to 1 week.

Cucumber Granita

I invented this this cucumber ice to serve as a garnish for tomato gazpacho. I froze part of it in ice cube trays and used it in salad combos. For this meal, I chunked up the cucumber cubes a bit and combined them with chunks of watermelon and avocado and dressed them with salt and pepper, a little lemon juice, and extra virgin olive oil. Purple basil makes a fragrant garnish.

Serves 8 to 10 as garnish for gazpacho or salad ingredient.

2 cucumbers, each about 11 ounces
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup chopped green pepper
1 teaspoon salt
3 sprigs mint
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ cup water

Peel the cucumbers, cut them in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Cut into chunks. Puree the cucumbers in a blender with remaining ingredients.

Pour the cucumber puree into two 9-inch metal cake pans (or ice cube trays). Freeze.

To serve, remove the granita from freezer 5 minutes before serving. Use a fork to scrape ice into mounds. Add scraped ice to gazpacho immediately before serving. Or, if using cubes, cut them into chunks and add to salad immediately before serving.