A Forgotten Summer Meal

When I was a kid, my mother was a domestic goddess.

(me & mom on my 12th birthday)

Summer afternoons quite often found us working in the kitchen to bottle the produce she'd grown in our garden. We bottled tomatoes, green beans, apples, peaches, and salsa. She also grew plenty of zucchini and summer squash.

During the week or so of bottling tomatoes, we'd have the same thing for lunch. Mom would cut up chunks of yellow summer squash and cook it, just till it was tender, in the diced, juicy tomatoes. Then she'd sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. Eating that meal—I don't know what we called it—is one of my favorite summer memories.

Another thing Mom would make with the zucchini—the big ones that languished in the back of the garden until they were sized like small baseball bats—was grilled zucchini. Not grilled in the sense of cooked on a barbecue, but grilled like a grilled cheese sandwich.

On Sunday, I was facing some fairly severe cooking dejection as what I had planned to make for dinner—coconut chicken curry—had been shot down by not just one but two of my family members. ("Oh. My. Gosh. <insert gagging noises> that sounds disgusting." Just the thing to fuel my excitement.)

Then I saw the enormous zucchini my neighbor had left on my porch the day before. Usually with a big zucchini I'd make some zucchini bread, followed by a zucchini cake later in the week, but as I'm not eating sugar for the next six weeks, that idea was out. What can I make with that zucchini? I pondered, and there, behind the yearning for baked goods, was the memory of grilled zucchini.

I was certain it would meet with the same reaction as the coconut chicken curry had. But I also thought, Hey! I'm the mom here. And then I made it:

And with the very first buttery, vegetable-sweet, crispy bite, I was back there on those summer afternoons, eating lunch on the shady patio of my childhood. My whole life ahead of me.

The great surprise of the whole thing? Everyone loved the grilled zucchini. Well, everyone except Kaleb who refuses to allow anything resembling vegetables to enter his body. Even Kendell, who at first complained I wasn't doing it like his mom used to (wah!) liked it. Jake had his sprinkled with cayenne pepper, which probably tasted delicious. But I wanted to keep it simple and pure, like it used to be.

Grilled Zucchini

1 large zucchini
2 eggs
2 T milk
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
butter for the griddle

Slice the zucchini into very thin rounds. Beat the eggs till frothy, then stir in the milk. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper.  While butter is melting on the griddle, dip a zucchini slice into the egg, then the flour. Cook on the buttered griddle, flipping once or twice and adding more butter as needed.

Don't be surprised if you make some new memories!

Comments

[heidikins]

This sounds delicious. I make zucchini pancakes (basically this same recipe, but with shredded zucchini, and parmesan) and LOVE them. Will have to try these!

xox

[Vickie]

Yum. My Mom used to do that with eggplant but I've never tried it with zucchini.

[Britt]

We eat this a lot at our house, but we call it "fried" zucchini. My grandma made it all the time when I was little. Scotty's mom made it, too, when he was little, but instead of dipping the zucchini in the egg then flour mixture, she would just pour everything all together and fry it up. We had a few disagreements on how to make it when we first got married, but now we enjoy both ways.

[Pamela K.]

Like Britt, we call it "fried" zucchini. No matter what you call it, it is one of my favorites! Yum!

[Denis Garza]

Hey Amy!!
This is Denis from Monterrey... Mexico =D
First...Want to thank you for the BEAUTIFUL pumpkin you sent... it is absolutely gorgeous!!
And... I love the way you write.. I could imagine the taste of the grilled zucchini and definitely... I will try to cook it at home..

Send you a big hug!!

[Johanna Rose]

My mom used to fix zucchini the very same way in the summer. Funny, but it's the one food that reminds me of my mom as well!