Monday, August 23, 2010

Zucchini Pancakes Stuffed with Goat Cheese

Here's a great way to use up a small portion of the garden abundance of zucchini!
I've made this recipe before, courtesy of Emeril Lagasse, 2002.
I'm encouraged by this recipe to try lemon zest, flour and baking powder in other pan-cake recipes involving crab or fish in the future, hmmm...
Grate a 1lb zuke into a big bowl. The one I used was 1 1/4lb but I cut off the ends.
Grate a medium onion. Cut off the root end bottom and use the top to save your hand.
Either use cheesecloth or a very thin, rinsed dish towel and gather the gratings to squeeze out all the juice you can. I was astonished to have nearly a cup-full!
Zest a lemon. I obtained 3 tsp. but you only need 2 tsp.

Add gratings, zest, 1 TB chopped fresh basil, clove of chopped garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground pepper to the big bowl.
In separate bowls, beat up 2 eggs and in another, mix 1/2 cup all purpose flour with 1 tsp baking powder. Pour eggs, then flour into bowl and mix until just combined.
Thin-slice a 4oz. bar of goat cheese. It helped to freeze it 30 min. ahead of time.
Preheat a nonstick skillet for 3 minutes on medium-high heat. Add olive oil (or canola) to coat the bottom of the pan enough to fry (don't be shy) and carefully plop 1 TB (erring less) of batter, 4 spots in the pan about 1" apart. Then immediately top with a slice of goat cheese and more batter to cover.
Flip once you can see the underside browning, about 2 minutes.
Cook another couple minutes, even flipping some more if necessary. Be patient. Keep a small plate in a toaster (or regular) oven warm at the lowest temp. possible (ours at 150) to keep the finished pieces ready and warm for serving.
All ready to eat! We did freeze some for later consumption (mmm yumm).
We ate them with "Wild Harvest" marinara sauce on top. Yummy yet rich.
It would be a great appetizer with a simple green salad.
Taster approved. (A+ rating)
(added one month later): These freeze and reheat well! Put on foil in a 425ยบ toaster oven and cook for 10 minutes, flip, then 8 minutes more.

1 comment:

  1. Made these the same way but instead used potato instead of zucchini.

    To prep the potato, grate 1lb or 3 peeled russet potatoes. Grate them on the large holes and put the gratings into a large bowl of iced water for 10 minutes. Drain and squeeze out excess moisture with a colander, cheese or dish cloth.
    SO good and best of all, they freeze and reheat better than anything else I've tried!

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