ZUCCHINI SOLUTIONS

While most of you are frantically searching for ways to use the season’s bounty of zucchini, I am, once again, bemoaning the fact that I can’t grow zuccchini. The plants flower beautifully and produce infant squashes. But, when they get about thumb-sized, they turn yellow and fall off the vine. Not enough water? Too much water? Why do I even bother to plant them, year after year?

Not to worry. The markets are heaped with zucchini these days. I can afford to go through my whole repertoire of zucchini recipes. Here’s one I haven’t made in a while—batter-dipped and fried zucchini slices. They’re good as a side or, with a dipping sauce, as aperitif.

Sliced zucchini is dipped in batter and fried until golden. Serve it as an aperitif with a dipping sauce such as mojo picón, red chile sauce.

Fried zucchini is crisp on the outside, soft in the center.

Batter-Fried Zucchini
Calabacín Rebozado

One egg makes enough batter for two medium zucchini. Or, make just one and refrigerate the remaining batter for another use. Fish sticks?

Regulate the heat when frying the zucchini slices so that they don’t brown too quickly before the centers are cooked. The fried zucchini is best served immediately, as the coating loses its crispness if left to set. However, the leftovers are terrific recycled, layered in a gratin dish with sliced tomatoes, basil leaves and grated cheese and baked. 

1 ½ pounds zucchini (2 medium)
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
Olive oil for frying

Combine the flour, baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt in a mixing bowl. Add the egg and milk and stir to blend well. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Slice 3/8 inch thick.

Slice the (unpeeled) zucchini crosswise into 3/8-inch thick rounds. 

Heat oil in a heavy skillet to a depth of 1 inch. Dip slices of zucchini into the batter, letting excess drip off. Carefully place them in the hot oil. Fry on medium-high, turning once, until zucchini is golden on both sides. Remove and drain on a rack. Sprinkle with salt. 

Drain fried slices on a rack and serve them immediately.

Recycling leftover fried zucchini: layer the slices in a gratin dish with sliced tomato, basil leaves and grated cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and zucchini is bubbling.

Another way to fry zucchini:

Crispy Fried Zucchini "Fish"

Some more dipping sauces:

Spicy "Brava" Sauce.

Fresh Tomato Sauce.

Turkish Walnut Sauce.

Alioli Garlic Mayonnaise.

Romesco Red Pepper Sauce.

Piquillo Red Pepper Sauce.

Green Chile Sauce (Mojo Verde).

Cherry Ketchup.

GRILLING ON A PLANCHA

Vegetables grilling on a plancha.

Summer means grilling season. I know that. But rarely do I fire up a charcoal or wood-fired grill for only one or two persons. Instead, I do my grilling on a plancha in the comfort of the kitchen.

Plancha means a metal plate. It’s also the word for “iron,” the sort you iron your clothes with. Nowadays, irons are electric, but I once lived in an old mill house in the country with no electricity. We heated heavy planchas on a gas fire to iron our clothes. I had a pair of them—one to heat while the other was in use. 

But, back to grilling on a plancha. In a tapa bar, a plancha is the same sort of griddle you might find in a fast-food joint for grilling hamburgers. Instead of burgers, the grill meister is cooking tiny squid; whole, unpeeled prawns; slabs of swordfish steak; pork cutlets, and small steaks, basting them with aliño, a mixture of olive oil, garlic, parsley and lemon. I am amazed at the skill, knowing exactly when to turn each piece of food, when to remove it from the grill.

A plancha is a great tool for home cooking. I prefer a heavy, cast-iron grill pan that heats evenly. Especially useful is a reversible one—ridged grill pan on one side, great for steaks, and flat griddle on the other, perfect for fish and shellfish. The plancha sets directly over a gas burner.

Hake steak on a flat plancha.

How to grill on a plancha: Place the plancha over high heat until very hot, about 4 minutes. Then brush the grill with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt (same procedure whether using a flat or ridged grill pan). Place food to be grilled on the plancha. Keep the heat on high to get a good sear on the food. Don’t move it around. Then turn it.

Timing is the tricky bit, just as it is with grilling on charcoal. It takes some practice to know when to turn the food, when to take it off the grill.

Chicken breasts on a ridged grill pan.

If you don’t have a plancha, substitute a large cast iron skillet. An extractor fan helps to draw out the smoke from grilling, but you might set off the smoke alarm in any case. By the way, any of the foods cooked on a plancha can also be cooked a la parilla, on a charcoal or wood-fired grill.

What I most like about plancha cooking is that it doesn’t need a whole lot of pre-planning—no marinades, rubs, brines required. But, plancha-grilled foods really do need a sensational sauce. Romesco sauce with grilled shrimp. Alioli (garlic-olive oil mayonnaise) with griddled lamb chops or rabbit. Piquillo pepper sauce with fish. Here’s a bunch more.

Aliño
Sauce for Grilled Foods

This simple sauce is spooned over grilled foods immediately before serving. Use it with griddled baby cuttlefish, grilled chicken breast or any fish fillet. The sauce can also be used as a marinade or basting sauce. Keep it handy when you´re grilling meat, poultry and fish.

Aliño in the making.

2 cloves chopped garlic
½ cup chopped parsley
3 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to mix. Use at room temperature. Sauce may be kept, covered and refrigerated, for up to one week.

Grilled hake and vegetables, drizzled with aliño.

Mojo Verde
Green Chile Sauce with Cilantro

This spicy Canary Islands sauce is sensational with grilled fish, lamb, or vegetables.

Cilantro, garlic, chiles for mojo verde.

4 cloves garlic
1 green chile, such as jalapeño (or to taste)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
½ cup chopped parsley
½ cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
¼ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons wine vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons water
   
Place all ingredients in a blender container and blend until smooth. Sauce keeps, covered and refrigerated, one week.

Squid and sliced potatoes are grilled on a plancha, served with spicy mojo verde. The squid was cut open lengthwise, edges snipped to prevent their curling and grilled whole, then cut in pieces to serve. The potatoes were partially cooked whole, then sliced and brushed with olive oil before placing on the grill pan.

Mojo Picón
Red Chile Sauce

Serve this as a dipping sauce for chips, with grilled chicken or meat.

Piquant mojo picón.

3 tablespoons pimentón (paprika), not smoked
1 fresh red chile, seeded and chopped, or cayenne to taste
4 cloves garlic
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons wine vinegar
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons water

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. If desired, thin with a little water. Sauce keeps one week, refrigerated.

Grilled chicken and butternut squash with mojo picón.

Sliced chicken on grilled bread with spicy red chile sauce.

Salsa Cabrales
Cabrales Blue Cheese Sauce

Cabrales is a distinctive blue cheese from Asturias—sharp, but remarkably creamy in consistency. It makes a delightful dressing or dip when thinned with wine or, in the Asturian style, dry cider. It's a classic served with grilled entrecote steaks. But, you know what? I didn't really like the blue cheese sauce with the steak. It was delicious, however, with the potatoes and as a dip with endive leaves.

Makes 2/3 cup

5 ounces Cabrales or other blue cheese
2 tablespoons chopped onions
1/3 cup white wine, cider or cava (sparkling wine)
Pinch of cumin seed

Place the cheese in a blender with onions, wine and cumin seed. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately or keep, covered and refrigerated, up to 3 days.

Ridged grill pan gives a good sear to steak, sliced potatoes.