Lynnfield 7-26-18

JULY 26, 2018
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 7
Sweet ideas for zucchini
By Rosalie Harrington
After 20 years in the restaurant
business and having raised
my four kids into various stages
of adulthood, I was ready for
some variety to my life. With
the support of my son, who had
invited me to stay in his apartment
in New York, and my husband,
who would stay behind
and keep the restaurant going,
I spend a few months studying
acting at the Lee Strasberg
Theater and Film Institute in
New York.
I had recently completed
shooting 52 shows for the
fledgling Food Network, and
really enjoyed it. The network,
originally known as TVFN,
was brand new, and I was
thrilled when they asked me to
be among their first hosts. My
old boss from Channel 7, Raysa
Bonow, who had directed the
Look program I was on a few
years earlier, was helping to get
the Food Network launched,
and it was great to have a national
opportunity. All of this
tickled an acting bug, and since
my bachelor son said I could
live with him for a few months
in his West Village apartment,
it was an opportunity to be
grabbed.
Even now, I’m glad I did.
The next few months were so
much fun. My best friend in
school was Telly Savalas’ niece,
Aphrodite, and we just clicked.
I was much older than most
of the students, and was often
asked to play roles like aunt,
mother, or older sister in some
of the plays. My time with my
son was wonderful and I did
learn some techniques to help
me relax in front of the camera.
Having the chance to play at
living in Manhattan was also
wonderful - though I’d been
to college, I had done so as a
commuter, and a city kid, so my
brief time at Strasberg gave me
the feeling of being a ‘real’ college
student.
My son lived in an amazing
restaurant neighborhood, and
he delighted in introducing me
to some of the best - almost as
much as I enjoyed the experience.
One of his favorites was
Lupa, one of the first of Mario
Batali’s efforts. It is a tiny trattoria
in the Village. I made a plan
to interview Mario for a radio
piece for a show I was doing
called “Delicious Encounters.”
My husband Todd was in town
for a few days, so the two of us
went to Lupa at Mario’s invitation
to interview him during
the day, before the restaurant
opened. Mario was caring for
his 2-year-old, and couldn’t
have been more charming. He
took me into the kitchen with a
“let’s cook something together”
invitation. In a few minutes
he rinsed a few cups of chickpeas
in water, dried them with
a paper towel and tossed them
into a pan with olive oil and
garlic for a quick saute. Next,
he added a teaspoon of freshly
chopped rosemary, then a cup
of chicken broth. With each
additional ingredient he would
snap his wrist and send the ingredients
airborne a few times
before adding another. Next in
was a few cups of fresh cooked
pasta and a heaping handful of
Pecorino.
Mario plated the food in the
dining room and served us some
delicious wine, then joined us
for lunch and a great conversation
about food. It was one of
the highlights of my New York
experience. The recent accusations
of inappropriate behavior
against him are disappointing,
of course, but I will always remember
how cordial and gracious
he was to us.
I enjoy the dessert book,
“Dolce Italiano,” written by
Gina De Palma, who worked
at Babbo, another of Mario’s
restaurants and a favorite of
ours. Her recipes are easy to
follow, delicious and fresh
tasting. I enjoy her olive oil/
zucchini cake with lemon glaze
(with only a few variations I’ve
made over the years). It is delicious.
All my gardening friends
are already supplying me with
zucchini from their gardens, so
this is timely to deal with the
overflow supply. I hope you
enjoy this cake and some other
favorite zucchini ideas.
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Rosalie’s zucchini olive oil cake with lemon glaze.
Zucchini ideas
I prefer the narrow, long thin zucchini. Wash and dry them and cut into half-inch slices on
the diagonal.
— Heat a pancake grill and oil it with an olive oil spray.
Sprinkle a few fresh thyme and or rosemary onto the grill and place the zucchini right on
top of the herbs. Turn over after a few minutes, careful not to brown too much. Both sides
should be nicely golden.
Save for zucchini Parmesan, sandwiches with roasted peppers and soft cheese, or just a nice
accompaniment as a side dish with meat or fish.
— Minestrone is delicious with finely chopped vegetables, especially red pepper, celery, carrot,
summer squash, zucchini.
Puree a few tomatoes in the food processor after you saute the veggies in a little olive oil and
garlic, then cover the veggies with the tomatoes and broth.
Season with salt and pepper, a sprinkle of fresh thyme and add a few cups of green beans the
last few minutes, for some crunch. Serve with a side of pesto and some grated cheese.
— For a fresh summer salad that is so easy to make, grate a few zucchini in a bowl. In another
bowl mix a half cup of olive oil with the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoon of maple syrup, a pinch
of dijon mustard, salt and pepper and whisk well.
Toss some of the dressing with grated zucchini.
Any fresh herb like cilantro, flat leaf parsley, basil is nice chopped with this. Grate some Pecorino
over the salad at serving time.
— Zucchini flowers like the ones that I decorated the cake with are stuffed with ricotta and
then dipped in a flour and beer tempura batter and deep fried. They are considered very special
in Italy, and at my house. Enjoy the many opportunities that zucchini can provide along
with the other great seasonal veggies.
Zucchini Olive Oil Cake
with Lemon Glaze
— Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
— Grease a 10-inch bundt pan well with Crisco and then sprinkle with flour, shaking off the excess.
— Place 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon
salt in a bowl and whisk together with 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon and
ginger, set aside.
— In a mixer bowl, beat 3 eggs with 1¾ cup sugar and 1 cup of olive oil for 3 minutes.
— Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla, scrape sides of bowl. Beat in dry ingredients on low speed all at once.
— Add 1 cup of nut pieces and 1 teaspoon chopped candied ginger, stir to mix.
— Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes until knife inserted comes out clean.
— Prepare the glaze while the cake is baking.
— In a small bowl, whisk 3/4 cup of fresh lemon juice with 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup
of confectioners sugar.
— Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes, and then invert onto a wire rack. Brush with glaze when
cake cools off. Decorate with a few zucchini flowers.