Ina Garten is one food celebrity I am not very familiar with. I have seen her on foodtv, but that is really about all. I don’t own a single one of her cookbooks — she has seven. When Phyl suggested her as our chef for July I saw it as a way to explore a different type of recipe.
Ina is The Barefoot Contessa and has had an interesting career before embracing her love of fresh food and becomming the owner in 1978 of the The BareFoot Contessa, a shop whose name she did not change (named for an Ava Gardner film). She claims she is a self-taught cook but she has had some fantastic mentors.
Exploring her recipes was fun. It was difficult to find just one. In the end, I chose one that used veggies from my garden and was quick and easy.
Zucchini Pancakes
Ingredients:
2 medium zucchini (about ¾ pound)
2 tablespoons grated red onion {I used yellow only because I was out of red.}
2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
6 to 8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Unsalted butter and vegetable oil
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Grate the zucchini into a bowl using the large grating side of a box grater. Immediately stir in the onion and eggs. Stir in 6 tablespoons of the flour, the baking powder, salt, and pepper. (If the batter gets too thin from the liquid in the zucchini, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour.)
Heat a large (10 to 12-inch) sauté pan over medium heat and melt ½ tablespoon butter and ½ tablespoon oil together in the pan. When the butter is hot but not smoking, lower the heat to medium-low and drop heaping soup spoons of batter into the pan. Cook the pancakes about 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place the pancakes on a sheet pan and keep warm in the oven. Wipe out the pan with a dry paper towel, add more butter and oil to the pan, and continue to fry the pancakes until all the batter is used. The pancakes can stay warm in the oven for up to 30 minutes. Serve hot. {They are also good cold!! if you get a snack attack at 3 in the morning!! or warmed in a skillet with some browned butter for breakfast. Just sayin’.}
Can I tell you how good these were??
There is just enough seasoning to bring out the zucchini flavor. And the ease of making them means they are a quick side dish for any night of the week. While the batter is very liquidy, it doesn’t spread much and firms up nicely in the skillet and are easy to flip. The recipe says 10 pancakes but it depends on the size of the spoon you use. You could easily make the larger, or smaller.
Next time I make them I might try sweating the onions a little to soften them. The pancakes cook very quickly and it really doesn’t give the onions time to soften.
Thanks, aka Phyl, for introducing me to another chef.
July 2, 2011 at 11:45 AM
I am glad you discovered Ina Garten. I Love her recipes…her favorite expression is, ‘It’s just that easy”…
She has a lovely calm way about her and her recipes are just as “calm”..and definitely good, and definitely easy..
This is a great way to use zucchini…thanks for posting.
July 2, 2011 at 12:49 PM
These are great, I have made them numerous times each year when zucchini season is at it’s prime. Guys like them as portable food as well…lol. Great choice.
July 2, 2011 at 12:58 PM
Hey – this week in our Ina group, we are making a squash dish – zucchini graten – but you can link up if you have made any Ina squash dish so be sure to stop by my blog on Thursday and leave your link to this post! These look great. I love Ina’s recipes.
July 2, 2011 at 3:22 PM
The zucchini gratin was #2 on my list. Still going to make it. Look forward to seeing yours!!
July 2, 2011 at 2:11 PM
Oh, crap. Is it my avatar chef month already? I guess I should actually participate for July, huh? Your ‘cakes looks great. You should try a few more Ina recipes; you won’t be disappointed.
Rooster
July 2, 2011 at 8:21 PM
These look really yummy! Ina’s recipes are great: easy to follow and good flavor combinations.
July 3, 2011 at 8:25 AM
Ina’s recipes are fabulous! Just beware of anything using lemon, she tends to air on the side of more lemon the better, it can actually be a bit overwhelming.
Your zucchini pancakes look great!!!
July 3, 2011 at 9:56 AM
My mom made something very similar with yellow squash and parmesan cheese! Those look great!!!
July 3, 2011 at 10:15 AM
I was thinking of using squash next. Thanks for the P cheese idea.
July 3, 2011 at 1:17 PM
Margaret, Your timing is wonderful. In the cooking group, Ina’s Garden, we are making zucchini, this week. The linky will be put out on Thursday. There is a main blog http://gartenofina.blogspot.com and there are five linkys on individual blogs, including mine. Please feel free to link this up. They look delicious.
Of course, if you found you liked Ina’s recipes, we welcome you with open arms to join in on Ina’s Garden. We link twice a month with generalized themes. Our next theme, after Zucchini is July 21st – Sweet Baked Love.
Forgive me for getting carried away about the group. I am excited about it.
July 3, 2011 at 11:44 PM
Yummy! These look really great. Need to get in Ina-gear and pick a recipe!
July 7, 2011 at 7:32 PM
Ooh, these zucchini pancakes look really crispy and tasty! I’ll have to try them. Thanks for linking up with Ina’s Garden!
July 15, 2011 at 9:47 AM
Your zucchini pancakes look scrumptious! Thank you so much for sharing them with Ina’s Garden. I hope you will join us again on Thursday when we are sharing our experiences with Ina’s baked goods and desserts under the theme Sweet Baked Love. Hope to ‘see’ you there!