sometimes it all goes pear-shaped

Friday, October 2, 2009 |
I have nothing against pears. They actually have a lovely shape. And Bosc pears in particular are huge favorites of mine. It’s pear season right now, and I’m loving it! BUT I do adore that saying – ‘pear-shaped.’ It’s like the world’s supposed to be a perfect circle or something, and when it slips, we get a pear.

But on to the story, which is why you are still reading (I presume). It’s zucchini season, too. And I don’t mean zucchinis at the grocery store, I mean my mother’s friends present her with vegetables the size of my head (and I have a big one. head, that is.). So we had two of those sitting on the counter the other day, and I thought to myself (dangerous activity, thinking), “I should make something!” I searched ‘zucchini dinner recipe’ on the interwebs and found a simple-ish something called Zucchini Galette. [recipe at the end of the post]

So I jumped in before ascertaining that we had all of the ingredients. Turns out there wasn’t any Parmesan cheese in the house. I sent my mother off on a grocery run, and commenced grating the zucchini. I grated. And grated. And GRATED. That monster took 20 minutes to pulverize! Then I let it sit and browsed the blogosphere and absently wondered when my mother would appear.

AN HOUR LATER (the nearest grocery store is 5 minutes away), she called to say that she’d picked up chicken and jo-jo’s, and she’d be home soon. I groaned on the inside. Not that I don’t like chicken and potatoes, but I’d gone to all this work…

After a delicious store-made meal, it was back to the experimental food. I whisked the eggs, mixed everything together…and realized that this recipe had curry in it. Let’s just say there was an incident in my childhood when a curry dish burned, and we all had to eat it anyway. I don’t know that I’ll ever LIKE the stuff. But I’ve eaten curry since and thought that it would be okay.

There was so much grated zucchini that I tripled the recipe. That’s enough Zucchini Galette for 9-12 people. I put it in the oven, and watched it come out beautifully. My family gathered around and commented, questioned, prodded and eventually taste-tested it. They all approved (some with a hint of surprise in their voices)! Relieved, I decided to try the finished product myself.

It. Was. Terrible.

That’s my completely biased opinion. Everyone else in the family really did like it. They swore they weren’t lying. Actually, if I’d left out curry and added fresh cilantro instead, I know I would have loved the recipe, too. As it was I made a face and told my mother that we could throw it out. Horrors! Our family does not throw out food products. End of story: she put it in a turkey and rice broth today, and it made a tasty soup, with a much milder hint of curry flavor. Moral: one person’s cooking disaster can become another person’s dinner. Oh, and I found egg on the toe my converse shoe this morning. :)

Zucchini Galette

INGREDIENTS

1 pound zucchini (about 4 medium), trimmed


2 teaspoons salt


2 large eggs


1/4 cup bread crumbs


1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated


1 teaspoon curry powder
(I’d say cut this at least in half, but that’s just me…)

fresh tomato sauce (optional)


olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Meanwhile, grate the zucchini. Toss in a colander, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the salt on top. Let the zucchini drain for about 30 minutes. Then run the zucchini under the faucet for a few seconds, to rinse off the salt. Dry the zucchini with a towel.

Whisk together the eggs in a large bowl. Add the bread crumbs, cheese, curry powder, and the rest of the salt. Dump in the dried zucchini. Stir everything until combined.

Pour the mixture into a 10 1/2 inch baking dish rubbed with oil. Pat the mixture down with the back of a spatula, until it is flat and smooth. Transfer to the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Remove, let cool for a few minutes, and then slice and serve with fresh tomato sauce poured on top, if you so choose.

11 comments:

vvb32 reads said...

holy mac! that is a monster zuc! the galette looks so gourmet. too bad you didn't like the taste. i figured it out to be a zombie zuc as it had a second life in another dinner dish ;-D

Leah l'Orange said...

well it LOOKS fabulous... i'm sorry for your curry mishap! we're sure the fam wasn't humouring you, right?

and yes, the "pear-shaped" phrase is a great one! nobody says it here, so i try to throw it in when i can. :D boscs are my favies, too. i have one ripening on my counter right now, and it's going in my salad tonight.

vvb32 reads said...

oh yea, enjoy zombieland tonight!

Kim said...

Your family is so nice! Zucchini's are very prolific. Try making zucchini bread next time -- can't go too wrong. One year from our garden I made 35 loaves from 2 plants. After awhile you can only give so much of your garden vegetables away to friends :)

Mandy said...

Ha!! I love your deadpan zucchini portrait.

Ginny Larsen said...

hey, i really didn't think it was bad. only you did. i liked it. i would've eaten it for breakfast.

Steph Su said...

Hahaha, I'm sorry it didn't turn out well for you. My family is full of zucchini lovers, and my mom can put it in almost anything--yes, even with eggs, although zucchini bread is the BEST. :)

xAZD said...

thanks for your comments! and love zucchini (bread especially...mm!)

www.xAZDdesign.com

Nina said...

Looks very good! Thanks for the recipe.

Lisa said...

That does sound tasty, but I'd ditch the curry, too. You were sure brave to triple a recipe that you hadn't made before!

Unknown said...

Man, what is with squash incidents of late? I had a wicked run-in with trying to slice a table squash with a new mandoline and it was Epic Fail with almost a 911 call. Your blog is great; I found it via Kam's Needle + Thread. Missed meeting you gals on Sunday but will try and attend next meetup!

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