The Newlywed Kitchen - Book Review with a Recipe for Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini fritters from The Newlywed Kitchen

I love a cookbook that has a unique point of view, and Lorna Yee and Ali Basye's Newlywed Kitchen: Delicious Meals for Couples Cooking Together has that in spades. They have created a beautiful, charming book for couples just starting out in marriage to explore cooking together.  You'd be crazy not to give it as a shower gift to every couple you know who is getting married this summer.

Along with the recipes are endearing stories from a wide range of culinary professionals about their experiences cooking with their beloved in the first years of marriage. I love Chef Ethan Stowell's story of how he came to throw the soup his wife Angela requested for their wedding over a cliff!

When I first flipped through the book, I was immediately attracted to this recipe for zucchini fritters. I'm pretty much a sucker for any sort of little crispy pan-fried fritter, and I could tell this one was gonna be good. Lorna was happy to share it with our readers, so it is reprinted below. Serve them fresh out of the frying pan for maximum crispy goodness.

Zucchini Fritters with Tangy Yogurt Sauce
Vegetarian
Makes 10 Fritters

For the sauce:

• 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1. Whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

For the fritters:

• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons extra-vigin olive oil

1. Combine the zucchini and salt in a sieve over a large bowl and squeeze the water out with your hands. (You should be able to remove about 1/2 cup of water.)
2. Transfer the zucchini to a large bowl and add the garlic, egg, peppers, Parmesan, and flour. Stir to combine.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Spoon heaping tablespoons of the zucchini batter into the pan, making sure the fritters don't touch one another. Brown the fritters for about 3 minutes, lifting the edge to check on the color. When the fritters are golden brown, flip and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Grilled Pineapple Salsa - Recipe

Grilled pineapple salsa

I like this salsa for its bright flavors and simplicity - just a few ingredients, and you can throw it together in a few minutes of active time. I served it with tacos that I'll cover it my next post, but it could work well in a Southeast Asian context too, especially if you added lemongrass and/or ginger. It is plenty tasty to polish off with a bag of chips at midnight too; if there was a security camera in my kitchen, I could prove it.

You will have to butcher your own pineapple to make this, because if you buy it already cut up, it will be in chunks too small to grill effectively. I was going to describe how to do that, but it turns out there is a website devoted solely to that specific topic: howtocutapineapple.com. Talk about working a niche! Follow the pictures there through the part where the skin is fully removed, and then slice into vertical planks instead of horizontal. You'll only need half of it for this recipe, you can save the rest for a salad with tiny marshmallows and vegan spam chunks.

If you have a grill going for other reasons, just use that. If not, this Lodge cast-iron grill pan is a great alternative. It has a ridged grill on one side, which I used for the pineapple, and a flat griddle on the other, which I use for pancakes. Be sure and grill the pineapple long enough to drive off some moisture and develop caramelized flavors.

Grilled Pineapple Salsa
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free
Yields about 1.5 cups

• 1/2 fresh pineapple, sliced into 3/8" thick planks (see above)
• canola oil for grilling
• juice of one lime
• 2 tablespoons minced shallot
• 1/4 to 1 jalapeno, depending on your heat preference, seeded and minced
• big handful of cilantro leaves
• salt to taste

1. Brush one side of each plank of pineapple with canola oil and sprinkle on a little salt. Grill over medium high heat until dark grill marks develop. Brush and salt the other side and grill until done.
2. Remove the pineapple from the grill, allow to cool until you can handle it safely, and cut into 3/8" dice.
3. Combine with all of the other ingredients. If not using right away, hold off on the cilantro so it stays bright. Taste and and salt, lime juice, heat as needed.

Asparagus With Nori Butter - Recipe

Asparagus with nori butter

I'm in the middle of a two-week stage at Canlis, a terrific fine-dining restaurant in Seattle. [The stage is over now, and I've written a little about what I learned.] One of the many delicious items on Chef Franey's menu is an asparagus with sauce gribiche. At Canlis we use much more classical French technique than I typically apply in my home cooking. I thought I would apply some of those ideas towards this asparagus with nori butter, though of course the level of refinement is not as high as what we serve at the restaurant.

I think you will like the nori butter. It brings umami intensity and a slightly sweet funkiness that pairs beautifully with the asparagus.

The garnishes for this dish are nori strips, sesame seeds, Maldon salt, miso-lemon sauce, finely diced lemon zest, and chive tips. Don't feel obligated to make it this complicated at home! You could just as easily toss the asparagus with the nori butter and salt and have a delicious side dish.

You can do all of the prep up to a day in advance, and simply reheat the butter and blanched asparagus when you are ready to serve.

Asparagus with Nori Butter
Serves 4 as a side dish
Vegetarian and gluten-free

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 sheet of nori seaweed
  
• 24 stems of beautiful medium thick asparagus
• 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup white miso
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• Maldon or other flaky salt
• toasted sesame seeds
• 24 chive tips
• thin nori strips, which you can buy separately or cut with scissors from a sheet

1. Bring a pot of well salted water to a boil and set up a ice bath.
2. Melt the butter in a small skillet. Tear the nori sheet into rough pieces and infuse over very low heat for five minutes. Allow to rest 15 more minutes, then strain through a fine mesh.
3. Juice half the lemon and reserve. Cut the juice half in half again, squish flat on your cutting board, and carefully remove all of the white pith, leaving only yellow skin. Square this piece off.
4. Blanch the lemon skin in the boiling water for 30 seconds, shock in the ice bath and drain on paper towels. Cut first into 1/16" strips (fine juliene) and then into 1/16" squares (brunoise).
5. Cut the asparagus to uniform length and use a paring knife to remove all the little random leaves that aren't part of the main tip. Blanch the asparagus until crisp-tender and bright green. The tip of a knife should go in easily but offer a hint of resistance. Shock in the ice water, drain, and reserve.
6. Whisk together the miso, mirin and juice of 1/2 lemon. Aim for a consistency where you can make a dot of sauce on a plate and it will stand up. Put in a squeeze bottle.
7. At this point you can reserve everything for up to 1 day.
8. When you are ready to serve, have 4 hot plates waiting, and set an oven or toaster oven to 500 degrees. Melt the nori butter. Bring the miso sauce back to room temperatute. Brush the asparagus with the nori butter. Reheat the asparagus (this should just take about 3 minutes).
9. To plate, arrange the asparagus in a neat row. Drizzle on more of the nori butter. Add neat lines of nori strips and sesame seeds. Make 6 dots of the miso sauce and top each one with a chive tip. Randomly place bits of blanched lemon zest. Sprinkle liberally with the Maldon salt and serve.