Planting Zones and Life Isn't Fair

Those big growing maps of the entire United States aren't a completely reliable guide for planting. Only a few miles can make a big difference.

On Mother's Day I sat down with my son-in-law and divided up all of the seeds I bought. I was ready to plant and got those seeds in the ground right away. He hadn't prepared his garden yet and didn't get around to planting until the end of May. They live only 25 miles away, but they have almost two weeks more growing season than I do. They live on Virginia's Northern Neck, that strip of land between the Potomac and the Rappahannock Rivers. It's flat, it's sunny, and it has wonderfully rich, sandy soil. The counties of the Neck have been growing grain, hay and vegetables to feed Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania since the 17th century. Drop a seed in the ground in King George, Westmoreland, Richmond, Northumberland or Lancaster counties and it will grow no matter what you do to it. I think the land is the bottom of a prehistoric sea.

I, on the othe hand, live in Stafford County right at the Falls of the Rappahannock, the end of the Tidewater. 100,000 Union troops were stationed here during the entire Civil War, and I think they chopped down every tree in the county. There probably are less than a dozen hundred year old trees in the whole county. As a result my county has very little topsoil. And we get warm later and cold earlier. We're only 25 miles away, but it makes a difference.

The point of this is that I spent July 4 at their house and saw that my early, plentiful summer squash crop was nothing compared to the bounty they had produced in less time.

Of course, we all have more squash than we can eat. So, here's some more zucchini recipes.

Roasted Vegetable Salad Recipe

2 large (1 1/4 pounds) eggplant, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 large (12 ounces) zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 medium (6 ounces) yellow squash, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups diced onion
1/2 cup olive oil
3 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 cup finely chopped assorted fresh herbs, such as chives, tarragon, dill, chervil, basil, cilantro, and parsley
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
8 ounces feta ceese, crumbled (about 2 cups)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the vegetables in a large mixing bowl and toss with the olive oil, salt, and pepper, to evenly coat.

Spread the vegetables in one layer in a large roasting pan, and roast in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and allow the vegetables to cool for 15 minutes.

Place the vegetables in a large mixing bowl and toss with the fresh herbs, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Toss with the cheese and serve.

Greek Zucchini Cakes

1 pound zucchini, grated
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 green onions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped pine nuts
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
Olive oil

Combine the grated zucchini and kosher salt. Set aside for 5 minutes (no more, or it will be mush). Rinse in cold water and squeeze dry in a kitchen towel or press in a strainer or colander until dry.
Combine the cheese, egg, green onions, flour, pine nuts, dill, oregano, garlic, and pepper in a large bowl; fold in the zucchini. Form into 24 small cakes (about 2 tablespoons of mixture for each) and saute in olive oil, turning once, until browned, about 3 minutes on each side. Serve immediately.

Zucchini Lasagna
From: The Everything Vegetarian Cookbook by Jay Weinstein
This lasagna has no noodles! The zucchini serves as the lasagna.

4 large zucchini, sliced very thin on a mandolin or slicing machine, about 1/8-inch thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ricotta cheese
1 pound provolone or mozzarella, or cheese of your choice, shredded
2 cups sauteed onions and mushrooms,
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread 1 cup sauce onto the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Arrange a layer of zucchini slices into the pan, overlapping the pieces by a third.
Dot the zucchini layer with half of the ricotta, distributing teaspoonfuls evenly around the casserole. Layer on 1/3 of the shredded cheese, and half of the vegetables.
Arrange another layer of zucchini, and repeat fillings, using remaining ricotta, vegetables, and another third of the shredded cheese. Add a final layer of zucchini on top, and spread on 2 more cups of tomato sauce.
Sprinkle top with remaining cheese; bake 1 hour until casserole is bubbly and cheese is lightly browned. Cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate until cold. Cut into portions, and reheat in the oven or microwave until hot.

Potatoes, Potatoes

One of my favorite children's picture books is Potatoes, Potatoes by Anita Lobel. It's an anti-war story of two brothers who join opposing armies. Anyway, let's talk about potatoes. What a vegetable! Here's some spicy dishes.

I've learned that on an Indian restaurant menu the dishes named "Aloo" have potatoes.
Shajahanni Aloo (Almond-Spiced Potatoes)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 pound peeled and sliced potatoes
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
2 teaspoons groung red chile ( I like the Hatch, New Mexico hot version)
3 tablespoons almond butter or cashew butter - both are easy to find in the health food section of the supermarket
4 yellow onions, sliced in rings
tablespoon ground cardamon
teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup water
salt to taste
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Chopped fresh cilantro

Heat half the oil and fry the potatoes in batches until brown. Remove the potatoes. Add the remaining oil and stir in yogurt, chile and nut butter. Cook, stirring often. Add onion and soft until soft. Return the potatoes to the pan along with the cardamon, turmeric, water and salt to taste. Mix well and cook, shaking the pan now and then, for 20 minutes. The oil should be floating on the top.
I think to be authentic you should really use ghee (butter oil), but that's not so easy to find in the supermarket and it's a lot of extra work to make.
Pour the cream over the top and serve garnished with the cilantro.

Nobody ever said Indian food was lowfat.

I love regular tabbouleh made with bulgar wheat, but for a make it with potatoes.
Potato Tabbouleh
5 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 medium plum tomatoes, diced
1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

In a small bowl, stir together dressing ingredients until blended; set aside.
In a stockpot, in water to cover, over high heat, cook the potatoes about 15 minutes, or until fork-tender, but not mushy; drain and transfer potatoes to a large bowl.
Using a wooden spoon, gently toss potatoes with the reserved dressing mixture. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, scallions and mint until well mixed.

For the dressing
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed limejuice
3 tablespoons prepared pesto
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper


Spicy Coconut Potato Shakuti
This is a red chili paste curry.
Ingredients
For the curry paste
2 tsp vegetable oil
3 cloves
½ cinnamon stick
2 tsp poppy seeds
½ tsp black peppercorns
4 dry red chillies or 1 tsp red chilli flakes
2½ ounces grated coconut
4 garlic cloves
2 medium onions

For the curry
4 tsp vegetable oil
4 medium potatoes, chopped into 1 inch cubes
1 can chopped tomatoes
box frozen small green peas or cup fresh peas
1 tsp salt

1. To make the curry paste, heat the oil in a pan. Fry the cloves, cinnamon, poppy seeds, peppercorns and red chillies for one minute.
2. Dry roast the coconut in a separate pan until it is golden brown.
3. Place the fried spices, coconut, garlic cloves and onions in a blender and grind to paste.
4. To make the curry, heat the oil in a pan and add the diced potatoes. Cover and cook for two minutes.
5. Next add the paste, chopped tomatoes, peas and salt. Stir, cover and simmer for ten minutes until the potatoes are cooked through.

Spicy Sesame Potato Salad

4 cups of diced boiled peeled new potatoes
1 cup of roasted and coarsely crushed roasted peanuts
1/2 cup sesame powder (it's available in Asian groveries, but you can substitute toasted sesame seeds that have been processed in the food processor)
Juice of 2 lemons
4-5 green chilies, deseeded and diced (the kind you choose determines how hot this dish will be)
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 inches fresh gingerroot, grated
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
salt to taste

Melt the butter. To the melted butter add the cumin and when brown remove pan from heat.
To this add the chilli powder first and then all the other ingrediends and toss together- you can adjust the ammount of lemon juice/salt and chillies to your taste.
6 servings

Here's a microwave version of oven fries.
Spicy Potato Wedges

4 large potatoes, cut into wedges
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1. Pierce potato wedges with a fork, and arrange in a single layer on a microwave safe plate. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder and Parmesan.
2 Microwave on high for 10 minutes, or until cooked through.

Summer Pies

Time for cool desserts. Here are some fairly easy summer pies.

We love Nutella on toast for breakfast, but it also makes great pies.

Nutella Pie
1 chocolate nut crust
3/4 cup toasted and skinned hazelnuts or filberts
1 1/2 cup whipping cream, chilled
teaspoon vanilla
13 ounce jar of Nutella

Chop hazelnuts very finely. Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Whip in vanilla. Place Nutella in a mixing bowl. Gently fold in one quarter of the whipped cream. Gently fold this combination into the remaining whipped cream. Fold in the chopped hazelnuts. Scrape the filling into the prepared pie shell. Cover the pie with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the filling is set, at least six hours, up to a day.

Chocolate Nut Crust
22 Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers ( about 1 cup crumbs)
1/2 cup pecans, walnuts, blanched almonds or hazelnuts
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cookies and nuts in food processor and process until they are finely ground. Combine all ingredients until the crumb mixture is moist. Press the mixture evenly on the bottom and sides of a nine-inch pie pan. Press firmly to make it firm and compact. Bake 6 to 8 minutes until crisp. Cool completely before filling.

Frozen Milky Way Pie
1 nine-inch cookie-nut crust pie shell (made with pecans)
12 1/2 ounces good milk chocolate
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
Caramel Sauce

Combine cholate and cocoa in a mixing bowl. Bring the heavy cream just to a boil over low heat. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate mixture and let the mixture stand for 5 minutes. Whisk it until it is smooth.Pour the chocolate misture through a fine sieve into the prepared pie shell. Let the filling stand for 15 minutes. Stir the nuts into the caramel sauce. Drop the caramel and nut mixture by heaping tablespoons across the top of the pie and swirl the filling with a knife to create a marbling effect. Cover the pie with plastic wrap and freeze it until the filling is set, at least 6 hours, up to a day.

Caramel Sauce
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons dark rum

Combine the suagr and water in a heavy saucepan. Bring the pot to a boil and continue to boil the mixture until it turns a light amber. Do not stir. When the syrup is a uniform amber color, stir in the heavy cream. The cream will bubble. When the bubbling has subsided, stir in the rum and let sauce cool.