Recently, our neighbor asked if we wanted some of their zucchini — their garden was being over-run, apparently. Of course, I replied, for I am quite fond of zucchini. Besides, the mystery squash plant in our garden that I *thought* was a zucchini is actually, well, still a mystery squash.

So, I found myself with two very large (about 3/4 of a pound each) squash. I remember trying a zucchini casserole once, from The Big Book of Casseroles, which utilized grated zucchini, sour cream and Parmesan cheese. I remember that being the very first time jwa ate zucchini without complaint. I looked again at the two very big zucchinis on the counter — I would definitely need help eating them.

Yep, this was a job for The Big Book of Casseroles, all right.

Grated Zucchini Casserole
2 big zucchinis, yellow or green, totaling about 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 pounds
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sour cream (light or full fat — not fat free)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
sprinkle of red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grate your zucchinis. I usually do this over 3-4 paper towels, that way I can bundle it right up, take it over to the sink and squeeze out the excess water. Place the grated zucchini in your baking dish. Add the garlic and pepper. Toss to mix and bake for 15 minutes. Dot the top with little pieces of your butter.

Remove from the oven and add the salt, sour cream, red pepper flakes and 2 tablespoons of the cheese. Mix. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on the top and return to the oven for about 10-15 minutes.

You’ll have a little extra liquid after it’s done, just use a slotted spoon for serving. The flavor of this casserole is really very good. It’s also a very good recipe to get someone to try zucchini or to convince those that say they don’t like zucchini that it is really quite tasty.

Can of garbanzo beans. Check. Onion. Yep. Cumin. Uh-huh. Garlic? Are you kidding me? Olive oil. Got it. Big pan. Right here. Well, okay then. Let’s go.

Easy Falafel
1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas), drained — you can also use 1 cup of soaked (overnight), dry beans
1/2 sweet white onion (red will also work — or, hell, whatever onion you have in the house will work here
1 handful parsley leaves
1 handful cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 shakes red pepper flakes
4 cloves of garlic
1-2 tsp lemon juice (about 1/2 a lemon)
1 big tsp ground cumin
1 tsp baking powder
6 tbsp flour (or a little less)
olive oil
Extras:
kalamata olives (just a few, chopped roughly)
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
spinach leaves
Tahani sauce
flat or pita bread

Start by adding the beans, herbs, salt, garlic, onion to a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. You can also use a big bowl and a potato masher and skip the processor all together. Just be patient with the mashing.

Next comes the cumin, lemon, baking powder and pepper flakes. Just a few pulses. Then add about 3 tablespoons of the flour. You want it wet but together enough to make little falafel balls. Add up to 3 more tablespoons of flour.

Add a little flour to a bowl with a sprinkle of salt. Roll each falafel ball you form into the four, flatten a bit into a disc shape, and set aside until all are done. Make sure you shake off excess flour — you just want them lightly coated.

Heat a pan over medium heat and cover the bottom with olive oil. Just coat it, probably 2-3 tablespoons, depending on the size of your pan. Add the falafel and cook 5-6 minutes each side, until golden and cooked through.

Sprinkle with a little salt and let cool on paper towels.

Make a sandwich by laying down a bed of spinach leaves on your bread of choice. Add halved falafel (I cut them so they fit easier — you don’t have to do this, of course), tomato slices and chopped olives.

Drizzle with a little tahini sauce. Eat. Don’t forget the fallen falafel crumbles on your plate. Sleep. Snore. I love you, bed.

Midnight Fig
Here, finally is my Sugar High Friday#22 entry — only two days late. Not too bad. This month, the theme was — Can you can? Well, no, probably not. But, I can throw a bunch of ingredients into a pot, bring to a boil and store them in my refrigerator for a month. Does that count? I hope so!*

This recipe is based on one from Gourmet magazine. I found it at epicurious.com. One of the things I really like about that site is that the comments have all kinds of helpful hints and ideas. There it was suggested to use orange instead of lemon and to add some cinnamon to the mix. These were excellent suggestions!

My title image are the labels that I made for this SHF. That was the issue that made my entry late. I did the jam last week but procrastinated on painting, scanning and texting the labels until Saturday night — I was working on this until about midnight. And there you go.

Midnight Fig: Fig-Orange Jam with Cinnamon & Sesame Seeds
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 orange — zest it first though)
1/4 cup water
1 lb firm-ripe fresh figs, trimmed and quartered (about 2 pint-sized containers)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
zest of 1 orange
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Simmer the sugar and orange juice, plus the water in a large heavy saucepan, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Next, gently stir in figs, cinnamon and zest, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick and syrupy, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

I think mine took about an hour and 15 minutes. When it’s done, stir in sesame seeds.

The original directions stated that this would keep about a month in the refrigerator. This is also excellent on crackers or slices of baguette, along with some creamy goat cheese.

Also, I’ve discovered that if you slather about two tablespoons of the jam on a pork tenderloin, along with some salt, pepper and fresh thyme leaves and then pan sear it in some olive oil, it is very good.

Finish it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the temperature is about 140-145. Mmmm!

Check out all the SHF entries here. Thanks to Delicious Days for hosting the event!

* Standard Disclaimer: I’d like to state that this is in no way “real” canning or preserving. I didn’t sterlize anything and this went right in the refrigerator like any leftover or homemade sauce.

So, my SHF dish is done but my extra-credit materials are not. So, SHF post this weekend. Today, we bask in the glory that is my finished (!) mosaic project — see, the last post was almost a year ago.

We live in a bungalow. When you go up the stairs, there is a counter with built-in bookshelves, a bathroom and three bedrooms. When we first moved in, I knew I wanted to do something fun with this large 12 foot by 1 1/2 foot counter top space. I just didn’t know what exactly. I just wanted to add something to the house that would be here after we left. Sort of like adding a piece of mine and jwa’s history to our house.

Then it came to me. A mosaic. There’s shattering glass involved, toxic fumes, grout, it’s some-what permanent and it involves hours and hours (and hours) of tedious work! It’s perfect. It started well. I think I finished laying out half the glass tile designs in the first three months. But then…

I had longer and longer breaks between work sessions. Then, two years passed. Well, finally last week I laid the last piece of cut glass down and then I grouted the whole damn thing. (Very messy!)

But it’s done. And I feel a huuuuuge sense of accomplishment. Yay!

This was very simple and very good. I wanted to make a lasagna (we were having milder weather in the mid/high 70’s) and I had a bunch of heirloom tomatoes that I got at New Seasons and a pint of cute little yellow pear tomatoes. I had just recently made a tomato salad and wanted to do something a little different. What to do? What to do?

Oh yeah. Combine them with cheese and pasta. Okay. This lasagna is extra Summery because it’s really only in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. Plus, you could make this with plain Romas or Hot House tomatoes or whatever you may have this Fall.

Summer Lasagna with Heirloom Tomatoes
4-5 Heirloom Tomatoes (any varieties)
1/2 pint yellow pear tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cups ricotta cheese
pinch of red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup feta, crumbled
1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1 red onion
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 handful fresh basil, chopped
1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
salt and pepper
1 box of lasagna noodles, cooked (use as many as you will need for your baking dish, figure on needing 4 layers of noodles — if you use a large lasagna pan, use more cheese and tomatoes)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Then, start by making a quick sauce. Heat the olive oil in a pan and saute about 3/4 of the onion — dice it first. Add the yellow pear tomato halves, 2 cloves of garlic, the oregano, and the kalamata olives. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, until it comes together a little bit. Salt & pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

Mix 1 clove of minced garlic, a pinch or red pepper flakes and the feta to the ricotta. Set that aside. Then, slice your heirloom tomatoes into thin slices.

Assembly
Okay, start by drizzling a little of your olive oil on the bottom of your baking dish. Add a layer of ricotta (about 1/2) and a layer of tomato slices. Spoon a little sauce over it and then cover with more noodles. Your going to need four layers of sauce so use just a little for the first three, so that you have a good amount to use for the top. You may also want to give each layer a very light sprinkling of salt and pepper. Err on the side of not enough.

Next is a sauce layer with a sprinkling of mozzarella and some tomato slices. Cover in noodles. Next, repeat the ricotta/tomato layer. Use all of your slices tomatoes in this layer. Cover with the fourth layer of noodles, the sauce, the mozzarella and some red onion slices.

Bake the lasagna for about 25-30 minutes, just until the cheese melts and it starts to get a little bubbly. Let rest for a couple of minutes before cutting into slices. Serve with a green salad and the chopped, fresh basil on top. Originally, I put the fresh basil leaves in the lasagna (between the middle layer) but I think it will work a lot better on the top, after it comes out of the oven.

I think Friday will be Sugar High Friday. We’ll see….