Zucchini Souffle

After searching without result through the recipe box for more real vegetables I gave up. They just weren't there. I guess they just weren't something for the box. Anyway, I found this recipe that she emailed me along with two other family recipes - brisket and eggnog (you will have to wait for Christmas for that recipe). We've had a few cold nights that have nipped my plants but the zucchini is still producing despite a few damaged leaves. I decided to try to make this for the end of season zucchini. It is easy to get tired of trying to make things with zucchini if you have a prolific harvest. I did not have a prolific harvest this year and I still got tired of zucchini bread. So here is the Zucchini Souffle recipe:

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
2 T. olive oil
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 tsp salt
3 medium zucchini, grated or chopped into small pieces
1 cup grated cheddar
2 cloves garlic
2 T. onion, finely chopped
1 T. minced parsley
1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Sift dry ingredients together. Combine egg, olive oil, 1/2 c. milk, salt and pepper. Beat to a paste. Gradually add dry ingredients. Add cheese and remaining milk. Add remaining ingredients - onion, parsley, garlic and zucchini. Pour mixture into greased casserole dish and bake until firm, approximately 45 minutes.

Anyone ever have a problem with recipes that say 3 medium size "onions, zucchini" whatever. How are you supposed to know how much that is? In my garden a medium zucchini might be a large zucchini to somebody else. It would be nice to have an approximate measure. Right now I only have one large zucchini and a couple of tiny ones. I am going to see if it works anyway. I will let you know.

More sorting

I decided to look through the "vegetable" section first. I have a garden that is winding down. I have fresh tomatoes, green beans, squash, onions and leeks. I was thinking I would find something different or "down home" in the box that we could try. Imagine my surprise when the first recipe I found filed under veggies was Scalloped Oysters. Who knew that an oyster could be classified as a vegetable. Perhaps I should rename this tab - side dishes. My mother's family was wild about oysters. I am not really a fan. Though I had a brief love affair with oysters when I lived in Hilton Head. We made the trek over to Savannah once Sunday for all you can eat steamers and long neck Buds. I think I ate about six buckets and had at least that many beers. You can imagine I didn't feel to well the next day and I haven't had an oyster since.

My mother's family always had oyster casserole or scalloped oysters on Thanksgiving. I will give you the recipe here but I am going to pass on making this one myself - nobody under my roof would eat it.

1 pt. oysters
1/4 c. melted butter
1/4 c. stale bread crumbs
3/4 c. cracker crumbs (they liked Ritz)
trace of sherry
1/4 oyster liquor (I have no idea where you get this ingredient)
2 T. cream
1 tsp. sale
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix crumbs with butter and place a layer in a baking dish (9x13 - I recall, though it is not on the recipe card). Add a layer of well cleaned oysters, half the seasoning and liquid. Repeat but never use more than two layers of oysters. Cover with remaining crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Let me know if you try it.

Now on to the real veggies - I think.

Champignon Su Cloche - this is mushrooms under glass - they are fungi, not a vegetable. My mother left me some special dishes for this dish. Nobody knows what they are when they see them. Its a bowl-like plate with a glass dome - individual serving size.

Lot's of rice and potato recipes. Is rice a vegetable? A side dish, yes, a veggie, no. Potatoes are a vegetable but I am looking for something to make from my garden.

My aunt's Baked Apricots. Isn't that a fruit? This is going to be harder than I thought.

At long last - Italian Zucchini ( with a hand notation that says "delicious"). The one comes from an aged newspaper clipping submitted by Mrs. Archer Yates of Plantation, Florida.

1 1/2 to 2 pounds zucchini, sliced
3 T canola oil
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
dash of crushed basil
1/2 c. red wine
1/4 pound of Monterey Jack cheese, sliced
3 T grated Parmesan chees

Saute zucchini in canola oil until lightly browned; drain. Combine olive oil, tomato sauce, garlic, basil, and wine in a saucepan,; simmer over low heat 2-3 minutes.

Layer zucchini, tomato sauce mixture, and Monterey Jack cheese in a lightly greased 2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly. Yields 6 servings.

Sorting things out

My mother was a great cook and entertainer, sort of a Martha Stewart before Martha existed. My Dad used to call her Pearl Mesta. I had to look that one up. She had hundreds of cookbooks, handwritten recipes, newspaper clippings, etc. She never met a recipe she didn't want to try. I grew up watching her. Sometimes she let me cook with her but more often than not I was just allowed to watch. She had a very tough life - several types of cancer and MS - but she managed to make it to 67. She left me with a lot of things to sort through after she died. Much of it relates to entertaining and cooking. I managed to sort through many of the cookbooks and give away those that didn't seem to carry special significance or notations. I still have about 50 or so cookbooks and 3 large recipe boxes. After watching Julie and Juia, I decided to revisit the boxes and see what gems I might find to make and share on this blog. So I will endeavor to add a new recipe every day or two, with the exception of the days I am on the road sorting through what my father left me when he passed away a few years after my mother.

My dilemma for tomorrow is whether or not to start with "meats" "veggies" or "desserts". I am partial to desserts. But I think I will sleep on it.