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July 30, 2006
Zucchini Is Just a Vehicle
This is another quote from "A Chef's Table." The cooking teacher uses zucchini to teach how the cooking method can completely change the food.
This weekend, it was all about the zucchini. Or, if you're American, the baby yellow summer squash. I had picked up some beautiful ones at the Allentown Farmers' Market, and I wanted to use them while they were still fresh, so I made squash at about every meal. On Friday, I made the sunshine platter. Saturday night, I cooked the squash in chardonnay with yellow tomatoes, white eggplant and garlic, then served it over cubed eggwhites (which are a great pasta-alternative) with a fourth cup of fat free ricotta hidden under the sauce for added flavor and texture. Sunday was extremely hot, so I made a cold squash bowl by lining a large glass bowl with squash discs, then layering fat free ricotta, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, basil, oregano and garlic then topping with Muir Glen organic tomato paste mixed with olive oil. Sunday dinner was squash (again!) cooked in white wine with garlic, Quorn tenders, tomatoes, and the stems of the beautiful rainbow chard fresh from Luke and Christine's garden that they dropped off. On the side I served the chard leaves as a salad with Walden Farms dressing and a dessert that I'll tell you about in a minute.
I added either flax or olive oil to all the dishes after removing from the heat. I never cook oil anymore because it oxidizes, so I cook in wine or broth (usually wine) but always add oil afterwards.
For desserts, I mostly served fresh berries from the Allentown Farmers' Market with either flax oil, hazelnut oil, or in a parfait layered with fat free ricotta and hazelnuts. We had blackberries and blueberries, plus a few leftover strawberries. Last night I was out of berries, so I made up a new dish: cold pumpkin pie in a glass. I mixed a half cup of fat free ricotta with a half cup of canned pumpkin, added a drop of sucralose and a lot of cinnamon, and stirred up in a large wine glass. To that we decided to add some Walden Farms chocolate sauce. It was a big hit. A pumpkin pie for summer that you can eat with a spoon!
I really enjoyed my weekend cooking. I forget how important cooking is to me. When I am so busy with work and other obligations that I don't have time to cook, I feel like something is missing. Like all good hobbies, cooking is a great stress-reliever for me.
Speaking of stress, off to work! Today at noon I have a meeting with some of my favorite people, the social workers, so that should be fun. If no meetings get set up for Wednesday, I may actually (gasp!) take a day off for my birthday! We're allowed to take our birthdays off but I don't think I've ever done it.
Posted by april at July 30, 2006 4:34 PM