It is, perhaps, the greatest slap in the face of all.

Just as Summer presents you with a dazzling array of berries and fruits, all of them inspiration for your deepest baking desires, Summer also slaps you in the face with heat and humidity.

The very idea of turning the stove on makes me shudder and that’s saying a lot for a committed home baker such as myself.

It’s just not fair.

For a solid two weeks now, to step outside your front door is to be immediately met with a muggy, heavy, moist and stifling Summer kiss. Shudder.

Central air-conditioning be damned. We live in a small, older home and even with central air, as soon as you turn that oven on, our house is a sauna.

So for two weeks, I have been freezing berries like a madwoman, all the while fuming.

Every single time I hear someone say how much they love the Summer and the heat, I’m pretty much casting eye daggers their way.

What is the point of Summer if you cannot bake and use all the beautiful fruits and vegetables around you?

Sitting and stewing has led to many elaborate revenge fantasies. While I’m still working on that machine that will allow us to skip straight from Spring to Fall, I have settled on something a bit more realistic.

Vichyssoise. Zucchini vichyssoise, to be exact.

I was initiatied into the vichyssoise club several years ago during a leisurely lunch at the home of a family friend. It was a hot (of course) summer day and after the appetizers were cleared away, our hostess pulled out a tall, glass jug from the refrigerator.

The jug appeared to be filled with a thick cream, but I soon discovered that it was a cold potato and leek soup known as vichyssoise. Just before serving, our hostess mixed in a healthy dose of cream and then poured the soup into pretty litle cups.

As I had my first taste of vichyssoise I remember thinking, “This is gold. This must become a part of my life on a regular basis.”

Vichyssoise is very easy to make. Cook down some leeks (or onions) and potatoes with chicken stock. Once it’s all cooked, season to taste and then puree and refrigerate. Just before serving, mix in some cream and then serve with snipped chives for a bit of bite.

From Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris, I got the idea of making a zucchini vichyssoise.

Perfect. Now I can thwart summer on two fronts. Not only can I enjoy a delicious cold soup, I can also make another dent in the zucchini mountain growing outside our door.

This soup is so refreshing, it almost makes up for the pain of not being able to bake.

As an added “painkiller” and hopefully another salvo aimed at Summer, I’ve been topping the zucchini vichyssoise with … what else … more zucchini.

These fried zucchini strips are a common side dish in our house. It’s a very fast way to use up some zucchini and I have yet to meet the person that can resist them.

So I bide my time. Summer has to end sooner or later. Cooler temperatures will usher in the days of baking once again.

I just hope the freezer holds out.

Ciao!

Zucchini Slivers

2 zucchini, medium-sized
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
corn oil or canola oil, for frying
sea salt, to taste

1. Cut the ends off the zucchini and discard. Slice the zucchini into the finest slivers you can by first cutting the zucchini into long, thin slices and then cutting the slices into long, thin slivers. Set aside.

2. In a large frying pan, pour in enough oil to come about an inch up the side of the pan. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.

3. While the oil is heating, place the flour in a large bowl and in several batches, dredge the zucchini slivers in the oil. Once dredged, shake off the excess flour and place the slivers in a plate.

4. Once the oil is hot, fry the slivers in batches. Do not overcrowd the pan. The slivers will fry for about 4 to 5 minutes, at which time they should be golden. Using tongs, turn the slivers so that they become golden and crunchy on all sides.

5. Once golden, remove the zucchini slivers to a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with sea salt right away.

6. Serve the zucchini while hot.

Dear Zucchini,

I’m sorry to have to do this to you in such a public manner, but you leave me no choice.

I have tried to let you down gently, but you just don’t seem to be getting the message. At first, I thought that if I just ignored you, you’d understand. But you didn’t.

I tried leaving you in the refrigerator, but you insisted. I withheld water, but you kept coming. I even left you for three whole weeks, without any contact, and still you were there.

I don’t know any other way to do this but to send you this letter in the hopes that you will finally hear what I’m saying:

It’s over.

Yes, it’s true, things were great in the beginning. You were so fresh and green, the only plant thriving in a garden of that had, up until that point, been bare.

You were sweet, Zucchini. You were. You were always waiting for me when I got home from work and on weekends, you filled me.

I don’t deny it.

But Zucchini, you’re too much. You don’t know when to stop. You put too much pressure on me. You, I could handle. But then your family started arriving, and your extended family, and your friends … what was I supposed to do with all of you?

Look, I thought that going to Italy for three weeks would be the answer. I thought that during that time, left alone to your own devices (and no water), you’d understand that you couldn’t crowd my space.

How was I supposed to know that it would rain for the entire summer? How was I supposed to know that while the rest of the garden slowly began its inevitable decline, you would still be inviting your zucchini relatives over? How was I supposed to know you’d live so long?

Please don’t take this the wrong way. I will always think you’re beautiful and there will always be a part of me that loves you.

But right now, it’s all about the tomatoes. They’re plump and juicy.

You’re not.

Goodbye, Zucchini. It was fun while it lasted. Call me next summer. Maybe we can hook up again.

Yours truly,

Cream Puff

Ciao!

Zucchini Cakes
A Cream Puff Original

Makes about 20 little cakes.

Note: The never-ending supply of zucchini has forced us to be most inventive when it comes to ways to cook them. This is a recipe that I came up with that’s always a big hit. The success of this recipe depends on three things: 1) You must squeeze as much water out of the grated zucchini as you can; 2) You must flatten the cakes as they fry so that they crisp up nicely; and 3) You must eat these hot; once they’re cold they lose their appeal. Try making them with yellow zucchini as well!

4 medium zucchini, grated
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup water
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
fresh herbs, finely chopped, such as basil, parsley, mint, etc., to taste
additional salt and pepper

Place the grated zucchini in the middle of a clean dishcloth. Roll the dishcloth up and then twist the ends, squeezing out as much of the water from the zucchini as you can.

Place the zucchini in a large bowl. Add the flour, water and eggs and mix until everything is well combined. Add a handful of fresh herbs (use whatever herbs you like and add as much or as little as you like).

Add the salt and pepper and mix.

In a large frying pan, heat an inch or so of olive oil until hot. Drop large spoonfuls of batter into the pan (don’t overcrowd). Very quickly flatten the drops of batter as much as you can. Flattening the cakes will help them to crisp up nicely.

Fry for two or three minutes and then flip the cakes over and fry for another minute or so.

Remove the cakes to a plate lined with paper towels and then season with additional salt and pepper.

Serve hot!

Enjoy!

Before you start fretting that this is yet another food blog event, not to worry. Don’t get me wrong, I love food blog events but sometimes I have difficulty keeping track!

Magazine Mondays is more of a self-help tactic than anything else. A few months ago, I wrote about taking a huge step in letting go of so many recipes that I’d had for years and never tried. In my ongoing efforts to actually cook and bake rather than store recipes for all eternity, I came up with Magazine Mondays as a way to do that.

When possible, I’ll post a recipe (always on a Monday) from a magazine. I figure this will help me to actually get into the kitchen and try all those recipes that I’ve bookmarked.

If you’re interested in joining me, please do. This is a completely informal thing that I hope will help me to continue to manage all those magazine purchases!

For my inaugural Magazine Monday, I chose a recipe from the February 2007 issue of Gourmet Traveller. When I saw the cover of the magazine with a beautiful Zucchini and Feta Tart with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, I just had to buy it. And finally … I tried it! It was well worth it, too.

Welcome to Magazine Mondays! Have a great week everyone!

Ciao!

Zucchini and Feta Tart with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Recipe here.

Technorati tags: magazine mondays, tart, zucchini, feta, cherry tomatoes

Summer without a vegetable garden is unimagineable to me.

For as far back as I can remember, my summers are dotted with memories of the garden. I can still see my beloved Papu’ (maternal grandfather) with a sprig of basil tucked behind his ear. And I can picture my paternal grandparents preparing to hike up into the hills to tend their plots of land.

Mostly, though, I am filled with memories of my father planting, tilling, watering, tending and watching. I can still remember the watering can he fashioned for me by attaching an old coffee can to the end of a long stick. This enabled me to walk along the high concrete wall bordering one end of our home garden and water all the plants without having to actually step in between them.

I was a girl, after all. As much as I wanted to be in the garden I was all about sugar and spice and everything nice. All those icky bugs were a bit much!

Now that I’m grown, I think nothing of plunging my bare hands into the earth - something I would have NEVER done when I was a younger.

Our home garden is an homage to the farming background of both of my parents. In Italy, the land was the main source of food. The very idea of going to a store to buy your tomatoes or onions must have once seemed so strange to my parents.

Our little garden is a wild place and I love it. Tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions, swiss chard, lettuce, lavender, strawberries, sage, mint, cucumbers, rosemary, tarragon and basil are gathered together like an outrageous green family. At times you have to strain to see through it all lest you miss a perfectly ripe tomato, ready to be plucked. The strawberries and the tarragon bush hang over the cracked concrete wall that holds up one side of the raised garden bed. That same side is covered by an old makeshift trellis built by my father, many years ago, as a support for his grape vines. Though they are old, to this day they still spread their leaves along the precarious structure before producing the lovely green grapes that dangle down so tantalizingly.

It’s a jumbled, edible forest and I love it. I cannot imagine my life without it.

For this reason, I chose to feature Viana La Place’s My Italian Garden as the Flavour of the Month for August 2007. While August is already almost half over, it was high time to introduce this book.

It is a gem.

It is a testament to a person’s will to grow fresh food in whatever little corner they inhabit. To read La Place’s account of how she transformed her backyard into a small garden oasis is truly inspiring. And the recipes - oh, the recipes!

While I have yet to try one, I will very soon and of course you shall be the beneficiaries. In the meantime, I decided to use so many of the beautiful zucchini flowers our plants yield to make one of my very favourite summer dishes: ricotta stuffed zucchini flowers.

I hope you all have a garden to love!

Ciao!

I don’t use a recipe to stuff zucchini flowers but if you need one, try this one from Leite’s Culinaria.

Technorati tags: zucchini flowers, ricotta, italian garden