Squash patties is one of the best recipes I’ve found for making use of lots of squash. The recipe did not originate from me, I’ve merely tweaked it to my liking. Recently I whipped up a batch of these for a 100-mile radius potluck and I was able to use almost all local ingredients, including the squash & zucchini, eggs, onion, and cheese. The recipe is a little time intensive but it’s not difficult, and it makes a lot! Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Squash Patties

Ingredients

Approx. 8 small to medium yellow squash or 3 large zucchini (~8-10 cups shredded)

2 medium yellow onions

1-2 cloves garlic (to taste)

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1 cup flour (or more if needed)

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 cup cheese (I prefer something with some zing, like sharp cheddar)

Black pepper to taste

Vegetable oil (or other oil or fat for pan frying)

Instructions

1. Shred onion and squash, add salt, and drain in a colander for at least 30 minutes or until no longer wet.
2. In a large bowl, mix together squash and onion with all the remaining ingredients except the oil. You’re looking for a somewhat wet, batter-like consistency. If it is too wet, add a little more flour.
3. Heat oil in a skillet (non-stick recommended) over medium heat. Drop the mixture by about 2 tablespoonfuls into the pan and flatten slightly (a disher works great for this.) Cook ~4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Repeat until finished.

These are best enjoyed when still warm and a little crispy, though they do reheat well. I enjoy mine with sour cream and a little hot sauce. Mmmmm.

1. Cook’s Illustrated

I know some of you may balk at the idea of paying to access a web site full of recipes when there are so many free sites out there. Hear me out. I have had a subscription to the print version of Cook’s Illustrated for a few years now and I love it. I have gotten more great recipes from them than from any other resource. About a year and a half ago I bit the bullet, tried the 14 day free trial, then paid for a year’s membership to the website as well. Neither are particularly cheap, the magazine is $24.95 for one year (six issues) and the site membership is another $24.95 annually.

It’s worth it. Like Consumer Reports, Cook’s Illustrated does not accept any advertising, so the only thing they are interested in selling you is more of their own products. Because of this I highly respect their recommendations on what kitchen gear and ingredients are best. All of their recipes are tested many, many times over and tasted by a panel of “real people.” Though some of their ingredients and methods may border on the fussy side, I have yet to fix a dish of theirs that I haven’t loved. Enough with the gushing … check them out! (If you live nearby and want to borrow a couple of the print copies, let me know.)

2. All Recipes

Here’s a freebie for ya. Though there are lots of websites full of user-submitted recipes on the ‘net, I always find myself coming back to All Recipes. In addition to tons of user-rated and reviewed recipes the site features robust tools for meal planning, grocery shopping, and storing favorite recipes. I also like that they have a good selection of world and ethnic foods. One of the features I’ve tried to mixed success is finding recipes based on particular ingredients, which I suppose could come in handy if you have a pantry full of food and can’t figure out what to fix. The one time this did come in handy was dealing with last year’s abundance of yellow squash from our garden.

3. Cooking for Engineers

This one appeals to my geeky side. If you’ve got a geeky side too, you should definitely check it out. The article on kitchen scales was one of the main factors in my decision to choose the kitchen scale I did when I finally bought one. They have lots of good gear reviews and recipes, all with lots of great pictures and instructions. The folks who run the site have even created a new way of writing out recipes for quick reference which has to be seen to be believed. If you’ve got an analytical mind and a culinary passion, this site is for you.

4. Cooking.com

Yes, I’m including an online retailer amongst my favorite cooking websites. Cooking.com carries an amazing array of cooking-related gadgets, gizmos and gear. And I’m a sucker for all 3. They also have some gear reviews, though I tend to rely on their reviews less than Cook’s Illustrated. If you’re looking for hard-to-find tools for cooking, this site should be on your short list. In my experience their prices tend to be very reasonable. This is particularly true if you shop their extensive clearance & sale sections. It’s the first place I head when I’ve got some spare change to spend on kitchen toys. However, it’s not the only …

5. Cutlery and More

While it’s not as glitzy and full-featured as Cooking.com, Cutlery and More is definitely an A+ site for procuring cooking gear. My most recent order from them was mostly cutlery, appropriately enough, but I must admit that I’ve ordered more gear from them lately than I have from Cooking.com. They have a great selection of MAC knives and Forschner Fibrox, which are recommended by Cook’s Illustrated and just might be the best cutlery value out there. Do yourself a favor and check them out the next time you get ready to head to the store and buy a new kitchen knife. You’ll get way more for your money here.

Do you have any favorite cooking sites you’d like to share? Any experiences (good or bad) with the sites I’ve listed? If so let’s hear about it in the comments …

1. Not reading through the recipe all the way before starting.
2. Overcrowding the pan.
3. Not preheating the pan.
4. Not using a large enough pot for cooking pasta.
5. Sautéing wet greens.
6. Substituting dried herbs for fresh without properly compensating.
7. Frying food in oil that is not hot enough

Even as an experienced home cook I sometimes fall prey to a few of these easy-to-make mistakes, such as pan overcrowding and not waiting long enough for oil to come up to temperature. In addition to naming each mistake the article also goes on to give tips on how to avoid making the mistake in the future. It’s well worth reading, so check it out:

7 Common Cooking Mistakes - Real Simple

1. Roma Tomatoes

We absolutely love Roma tomatoes. Last year we had four Roma plants and at one point wound up harvesting about 140 tomatoes over the course of three days. This year we decided to scale back to two Romas instead of four. Both of us really like the convenient size of Romas and the fact that they very rarely taste mealy. We started with two small potted Romas from Lowes.

2. Early Girl Tomatoes

Like the Romas, last year we also planted four Early Girls as well. Yes, you’ve done the math right: last year we had eight tomato plants crammed into a roughly 2′x8′ section of our little garden. Crowded didn’t even begin to describe it. This year we’re doing two Early Girls to go with our Romas. Last year’s Early Girls didn’t end up being all that early, the Romas actually were ready for harvest first, however we really liked the taste and size of the Early Girls so we’re trying them again this year. Our two Early Girls also came in the form of small pots from Lowes.

3. Sweet Green Bell Peppers

Between the 8 tomato plants and a hill of yellow squash that grew to over 4′ tall last year, our green peppers never really had a chance. This year we’ve got two sweet green bell pepper plants with a corner all to themselves, so hopefully we’ll get more than the 5 or 6 peppers we got all last year.  Once again these were started from small plants from Lowes.

4. Poblano Peppers

This is the biggest experiment we’ve got going in our garden this year. I absolutely love Poblano peppers for using in chili, so the last time I cooked chili I made sure to save some Poblano seeds. I inadvertently touched my face after handling the seeds, resulting in a mild chemical burn, so hopefully this experiment will turn out to be worth all the trouble! I dried the seeds for a couple weeks and we’ve planted quite a few in the corner opposite the bell peppers, so we’ll be waiting anxiously to see if they sprout in the next couple weeks.

5. Mesclun Greens

As we went to begin preparing the soil for this year’s gardening we realized we had a handful of mesclun greens sprouts that must have been left over from last year. We carefully removed them before turning over the soil and I transplanted 9 or 10 of them back into the garden when we were done. We’ll see how they do. Hopefully this will mean our first garden salad of the year will come early this year!

Has anyone else started their garden yet this year? If so, what are have you planted? I’ll have to post again in the next few days once we get everything else in the ground.

All natural, organic, whole, free range, grain fed, locally grown, the list goes on and on. I often find myself wondering what is just marketing hype and what may actually impact the world we live in. I’m far from an expert on this, for sure, but I can offer what little wisdom and insight I’ve managed to glean. First let me disclose that I buy organic foods when I can, I’m a member of the local food co-op, I do a little gardening of my own, and I try to avoid red meat most of the time. I am not in any way a radical environmentalist, but one of the primary reasons I shop and eat the way I do is because I think it is important for those of us who are able to be mindful of our impact on the environment and act accordingly. Read on for why I think my decisions reflect such mindfulness …

I know some folks tend to think the whole organic movement is all about people being afraid of ingesting fertilizers, pesticides, and other not-so-pleasant byproducts of the modern industrialized farming movement. While I don’t deny that this is definitely part of the allure of organic problems, it is not my primary motivation. By and large organic farming is much more sustainable than most modern industrialized farming practices. Such modern farming practices rely heavily on fertilizers and other chemicals to grow more than the land can naturally bear. It is my hope that by supporting the organic movement that I am supporting farmers and a way of life that will help preserve the earth’s capacity to food for future generations.

I support the local co-op not only because I happen to be good friends with many co-members there, but because I believe in the ideals of being member-owned and operated and providing products that are natural, whole, organic, vegetarian, and environmentally friendly. I also appreciate the fact that I can buy things like flour, sugar, oil, rice, and sugar in bulk in order to cut down on excess packaging. There are also items like locally-produced butter, cheese, eggs, and milk that come from people who care about the environment and not just profit for profit’s sake.

As a small child growing up in Virginia I remember a few years when my family did some gardening. I’m not sure how old I was, but I know it was before I started high school. It wasn’t until last year that I ever did much gardening for myself, starting with a small 4′x8′ plot in the back yard. Last year we grew more yellow squash and tomatoes than we could possibly eat, in addition to some smaller crops of green beans, beets, green peppers, and salad greens. Locally-grown produce doesn’t get much closer than your own back yard! My wife and I both learned a lot about gardening last year and are looking forward to doubling the size of our garden plot as we begin the growing season in the next couple weeks. By growing a few things in our garden I know that we used less gas driving to the store, made better use of the land we live on, spent less money on food, and ate better too!

Many Americans’ diets center around large amounts of red meat. I recently read that raising a 1,200 pound beef steer requires almost 800,000 gallons of water, 35 gallons of petroleum, and 8,000 pounds of corn! I’ve also read that it takes about 15 pounds of grains to produce a pound of beef and only two per pound of poultry. This is hard for me to hear, because I like eating meat.

Recently I have come to realize that enjoying meat can still be done in an environmentally mindful way. One popular way to do this is to change the way we think about meat in relation to the rest of our meal. If we treat meat as more of a condiment, something we add to the meal to make it more flavorful and enjoyable rather than the main focus of our meal, then it becomes easier to reduce our consumption. So what does this all mean in terms of practical application? I most often use ground turkey in place of ground beef, if I’m hankering for a hunk of meat I’ll go for a small portion of lamb or pork before beef, and I intentionally try and eat vegetarian a few times a week to help balance things further. I used to really miss steak, and I still enjoy a nice hamburger every now and then, but I do so with a mindfulness of the impact of my food-related decisions.

I’m trying to include some links for additional reading at the end of all of my earth day posts, so be sure to check out New Community Project’s educational materials, Eco Eats at Ecologue, information about locally grown products at Local Harvest, and The Simple Dollar’s post on Planning a Kitchen Garden.

Do you try and eat in an eco-friendly way? Maybe you think this is all a bit ridiculous. Let’s hear about it in the comments.

Since I prefer to bake using a scale, I’ve included weight measurements for the dry ingredients in addition to the typical volumetric ones. Feel free to use either, the recipe will work equally well.

Matt’s Magnificent Cornbread

Ingredients:
1 cup | 120g all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 cup | 160g cornmeal (stone ground is best)
1/4 cup | 30g sugar
1 tablespoon | 14g baking powder
1/2 teaspoon | 4g table salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 stick unsalted butter OR 1/3 cup canola oil (but butter is best!)
Additional 1 tablespoon oil or non-stick cooking spray

Hardware:
10″ cast iron skillet
Large & medium bowls
Measuring devices
Whisk
Rubber spatula or wooden spoon

• Place rack in middle of oven and preheat to 425 degrees.
• Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and whisk together until well combined. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture.
• If using butter, melt or soften it and cool slightly. Whisk together milk and egg, then whisk in butter or oil.
• Add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix with a spatula or spoon just until evenly moistened. The batter will still be lumpy but do not overmix!
• Preheat skillet on the stovetop over medium-high heat until hot, then quickly add additional oil and swirl to coat the pan or spray with non-stick spray.
• Pour batter into skillet. It should sizzle a bit. Place in oven and bake until top is golden brown, about 16-18 minutes. Test for doneness using the “toothpick method.”
• Cool at least 10 minutes before slicing and eating.

While the instructions may seem a bit long, in reality it only takes me about 5 minutes to throw a batch together, especially using the scale. This recipe yields 8 reasonably large wedges of cornbread, which means I almost always have leftovers when I fix it for my family. I’ve found it freezes well wrapped in plastic wrap or in a plastic freezer bag for up to a month. To reheat simply pop in the microwave for about 45 seconds.

Got any questions? Anybody willing to give it a try and report back? Let’s hear it in the comments …

I admit it, I’m a gadget-phile. Whether it’s tools for my garage, cell phones, cameras, mp3 players or a great little widget for my kitchen I’m a sucker for a good gadget. In this inaugural edition of Friday5 I’m covering five of my favorite kitchen gadgets. In order to come up with this list I’ve had to narrow down what to consider as a “gadget.” In this case a gadget is not a utensil, not an appliance, and not a pot or pan, but a small tool that helps make culinary endeavors a more enjoyable experience. So what are my Friday5 favorite kitchen gadgets? Find out after the jump.

Here they are, in no particular order. I’ve also included some links to places you can find these items on the web.

1. Remote Probe Thermometer & Timer

Even though I don’t use the thermometer portion of this gadget very often, when the opportunity to use it arises it is priceless. Mine is just a cheap model from Target, and they can be found all over the place. Here’s how it works: the base unit looks remarkably similar to most other kitchen timers, but it also has an option to set a target temperature. There’s a wired thermometer probe that plugs into the side of the unit. You insert the probe into the item you want to monitor the temperature of and place the item into the oven. The probe stays in the item (usually a large hunk of some kind of meat) while the wire runs out the oven door and to the base unit. Now, instead of depending on a recommended cooking time you can simply set your desired temperature and wait for the alarm! Cool.

2. Magnetic Knife Bar

This is a fairly new one for me, but I’ve really come to enjoy it. My knife bar is about 12″ long and mounted just to the left of the main workspace in my kitchen. It’s not big enough for a large collection of cutlery, but I’ve found I really only use about three different knives about 90% of the time. Of course, that’s another article. In addition to those three knives I also keep a pair of kitchen shears and a pair of multi-purpose scissors on my bar. I originally had some concern about whether the magnet would be strong enough to hold the knives securely, but I’ve not had any problems in the past year. I have found that it is important to remove the knives from the bar by rotating them on their vertical axis towards their spine. This keeps the cutting edge from being forced against the magnets which can cause it to become dull.

3. MyWeigh Digital Scale

For a long time I had been wanting a digital kitchen scale, and about a year and a half ago I finally got one. Being the discriminating gadget-phile that I am, I did quite a bit of research before settling on a MyWeigh iBalance 5000H made from eco-friendly hemp plastic. It has a 5kg/11lb capacity and has a resolution of 1g/ 0.05oz. I have found it invaluable for baking, especially when I can find recipes written with weight measurements instead of or in addition to volumetric measures. I’ve even gone so far as to work on translating some of my favorite recipes into grams instead of cups and tablespoons.

4. Infrared Thermometer

Yes, two of the my five favorite gadgets are thermometers. I guess I’m just a temperature geek. My infrared thermometer has quite a story behind it. I received it from my brother who used to work for an auto-parts warehouse where they liquidated old store furnishings. To make a long story short I once got this as a gift from him and I’ve found all sorts of fun uses for it in the kitchen. Though mine wasn’t originally intended for culinary use, it is perfectly suited to it. You can find models similar to mine relatively easily. It’s great for testing oil temperature or even the temperature of a pan I’m getting ready to cook with. So far the hottest I’ve recorded was about 700 degrees Fahrenheit on a cast iron pan I was getting ready to use for some searing.

5. Adjustable Measuring Cup

Though it’s not good for every measuring situation, an adjustable measuring cup is invaluable when you need to measure sticky, goopy, or gooey ingredients like honey, peanut butter, or yogurt. It also comes in handy when measuring dry ingredients in odd amounts such as 1 3/4 cup. The one I’ve got is made by KitchenArt, although I think the ones available from Pampered Chef and Alton Brown are better designed.