About This Blog

This is, as the title indicates, my kitchen notebook (the header is actually a scanned image of the cover of a notebook that I started using about 25 years ago and the background is a stained page from that book). I am not a professional recipe writer. If you try any recipe here, please keep that in mind, these recipes have not been tested by an independent tester. The "recipes" are often not even really recipes but rather a list of ingredients that I've noted after preparing a dish on the fly that I thought came out well. Perhaps I've also added some instructions, but I rarely keep accurate track of what I've done in terms of time or temperature, I've just noted to the best of my memory (feeble) what I did.

Please feel free to take some inspiration from here, but on the other hand, please give credit where it is due. I also welcome any constructive comments that you might have if you are inspired to try a recipe. Questions are welcome, but keep in mind that I may not remember specifics. The dishes do evolve over time...

Thank you and enjoy!

Zucchini in Agrodolce



My most recent experiment with this recipe is to omit dredging the zucchini slices in flour (I'm trying to reduce carbs these days, it does help me to keep my weight down) and I've found that the omission hasn't made a noticeable difference. This is one of my husband's favorite dishes and he usually notices when I tinker with it - he didn't notice the difference, so feel free to leave out the flour.

1/3 cup olive oil or as needed
1 1/2 lbs small to medium, firm zucchini,
   cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices
flour
2 tbsp red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar

2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp pine nuts
2 anchovy filets, finely
   chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp golden raisins, soaked in lukewarm water 

   or marsala 20 minutes
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste



Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Dredge the zucchini slices in flour to coat lightly, tap off excess flour. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. The less oil the faster the zucchini will brown. Fry the zucchini slices in the oil, making sure not to crowd the pan. Let them turn golden on one side and then turn them over to brown the other side, you may have to turn the heat down a bit if the slices are browning too quickly. Remove to paper towels to drain and continue to cook the remaining slices, adding more olive oil to the pan as needed. When all the zucchini are fried, arrange them on a platter. Turn the heat down to low and drain off all but one or two tablespoons of the remaining olive oil. If the remaining oil seems burnt drain off all the oil, wipe out the pan and add a tablespoon or two of fresh oil.

In a small bowl combine the vinegar and sugar. Fry the pine nuts, anchovies, and garlic briefly in the remaining oil in the skillet, add the vinegar and sugar and the raisins, stir the mixture for a half minute or so and then drizzle it over the zucchini. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.

1 comment:

  1. YES! I NEED some yummy zucchini recipes. I've been growing Zucchino di Fiore http://themuddykitchen.com/2012/07/15/duxelle-stuffed-fried-squash-blossoms/ which supposedly makes tons of flowers but hardly any fruit (a plus in my mind!). Somebody should have mentioned this to the plant itself - it yields an enormous supply of somewhat ugli-esque zeppelins and I've exhausted all ideas! This sounds yummy. Plus I'm a sucker for all things that sneak in anchovies!

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