Our Weekend Zuchini Tryst

Denna, Helly and i spent a Saturday together cooking a home style zuchini pasta and zuchini fritters simply because that summery, juicy vegetable hit our lil market and it was time to celebrate! Although the variety we get in Darj are way bigger than their western cousins and needs to be cooked a tad longer than the smaller ones, the girls still couldn't contain their excitement to find the blessed squash on the vegetable stands here since it's like a staple food for them back where they come from.

at Helly's virtual farm

 listening to jazz on the ipod!

also drinking tea, eating momos while the food sat on the stove and mainly gossiping and laughing about nothing really!

Denna's association with good food and great cooking goes way back to her childhood that she spent mostly with her grandparents who watched her while her parents worked in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania in the States. Her half Italian and half Polish grandmother who was a superb cook  encouraged her to help in the kitchen from the tiny age of three. Peeling potatoes, setting the table, pouring water were some of her chores in the kitchen. 
They would sometimes pretend to be caterers on a ship and would wait for her grandfather who owned an Italian restaurant in the city to come home to dinner every night to what the two of them had cooked.

Both her grandparents being old school Italians, they loved to cook and eat big meals with family members and also never missed eating dinner together. She says her earliest memories of her grandparents' house is her grandfather coming home from work and peeking into the kitchen in his undershirt and asking, 'what's for dinner?'

Her mom is a great cook too and their family always make it a point to eat together at home. Mike, her husband, is good around food too and i plan to cover some of his recipes soon as well :)

She and Mike have co-founded Broadleaf, a non profit outfit focused on providing under served areas in the Eastern Himalayas with innovative solutions for health and education. Needless to say, they are doing an amazing job.

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Denna's Homestyled Zuchini Pasta

Ingredients

zuchini

lemons

pasmesan cheese (store bought in this case)

black pepper

bread crumbs

basil ( dry in this case)

extra virgin olive oil

garlic

balsamic vinegar

tomatoes

Crush the garlic, chop the tomatoes and zuchini into fairly large pieces. The local  Darj zuchini is bigger than the ones you get in the cities so cook it longer than you would do the other ones.

Pour olive into a pot and add the garlic.

Add the zuchini

Squeeze out the lemon juice in a bowl and grate some lemon zest as well

Add the basil, salt, pepper, lemon juice to the zuchini.

Add the balsamic vinegar and tomatoes(just for color)

Cook half-covered on medium heat until it looks like this

Add the pasta which has been previously boiled until al dente and kept aside

Add the bread crumbs and parmesan snow - the bread crumbs might sound like an odd combination but it actually binds the dish together to all its other ingredients.

Serve it in a bowl, family style with a bottle of red, not exactly pinot noir but it'll do.

And savor the deliciousness . Note how the cheese, pepper and other ingredients stick to the spaghetti because of the breadcrumbs in the recipe.

Guest Speak

'I love food because I associate it with family and the fondest memories of my life.'

Helly's Zucchini Fritters - Get the Recipe here.

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Helly's Zuchini Fritters

Helly made the Zuchini Fritters which used to be a big hit in her cafe in Wellington which she owned before moving to Darj three years back. She is now Darj's very own Cake Lady and one of my closest friends.

these are her self-made fridge magnets and they are all spice filled little steel containers. a perfect accessory for a chef! creative innit?

Ingredients

2 cups of grated raw zuchini

1 onion diced finely

5 cloves of garlic diced

salt and pepper

3 eggs

half a cup of plain natural yogurt

3 quarters a cup of flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

optional - chopped chilli,chopped bell peppers, feta cheese, crushed walnuts or pine nuts

Serve with a simple salad of cucumber, tomatoes and fresh herbs in olive oil, pepper and lemon dressing.

Grate the zuchini and squeeze out the excess water.

add all the ingredients except for the flour and baking powder

then add the flour and baking powder. don't over mix.

heat olive oil in a shallow pan and scoop the mixture out in small proportions with a spoon

cook on medium heat until bubbles start forming on one side and then flip them over.

they should look like this - crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside.

keep them warm until serving time

We enjoyed it served hot right out of the pan with the refreshing side salad and natural homemade yogurt whip. 

The final touch was Mike, Denna's better half who joined us for the all important taste review.

Guest Speak

' Everything always tastes better when cooking with friends.'

xxx

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