Zucchini Blossom & Squash Gratin w/ Grilled Leg of Lamb & Tomato Vinegar Slaw

Our four little zucchini plants have thrown down the gauntlet and are pumping out blossoms at a record rate, leaving us scrambling for unique ways to cook them up. These things are the rabbits of the culinary niche-gardening world...Elizabeth gathered up 4 more this morning to go along with the 8 already in our fridge from this weekend...total count is 31 blossoms in the last 3 1/2 weeks.

Elizabeth adapted one of her signature recipes (Squash Mini Casseroles - follow the link) to incorporate the blossoms.

She chopped the older blossoms up into quarters and sauteed them along with the yellow squash, them blended the veg saute into a mix of panko bread cumbs, greek yogurt & a smidgen of goat cheese.

She had the idea to crispy fry some blossoms and place them atop a finished & browned gratin.

We dusted the blossom in some seasoned rice flour then dipped them into a 375 degree canola oil bath.

I had to hold the blossom lightly to shape the blossom & keep the leaves from spreading open in the fryer, but the end result yielded beautifully crispy blossoms for garnishing the mini squash casserole with.

To accompany the squash we purchased 2 lbs. of butterflied leg of lamb from Whole Foods; it was on sale at 6.99 per lb., which made for a perfect grilled accompaniment to the casseroles...plus, there would be plenty of leftovers.

Here's the final result of the grilling...char-grilled exterior, pinky medium-rare center.

I scored the meat on both sides, marinated this hunk of lamb in some salt, pepper, garlic & lemon juice for 1/2 hour and then threw it meat side down on a blazing hot grill to char, before flipping it over, fat-side down, and cooking for another 20-30 minutes on indirect heat.

After the center registered 135, I pulled the lamb off the grill, plucked a handful of thyme from the garden and threw it atop the lamb as it was tented in some foil to rest for 10 minutes.

To accompany the lamb, we made a tomato & red onion slaw, spiced with salt, pepper, mint & cumin, drenched in olive oil & red wine vinegar and allowed to steep in the fridge while the lamb cooked on the grill. The minty cool and bracingly tart tomato & onion salad worked well to softened the strong char-grill of the lamb.

Healthy Squash-Zucchini Mini Cassaroles

Buried under by summer squash? Here's Elizabeth's signature side-dish that's healthy and fun because it's tiny (personal sized) and works great as a side.

For 2 people you'll need:

1 Medium-sized Squash & 1 Medium-sized Zucchini; cut into quarter-inch slices
1 small onion diced (about 1/3 cup)
1 cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumb); divided into 3/4 cup and 1/4 cup.
1/3 cup greek-style plain yogurt
2 - 3 tablespoons Italian breadcrumbs
2 tblsp olive oil
1 tblsp butter
salt & pepper to taste
Two small (6oz?) ramekins

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt butter then mix in with 3/4 cup Panko; make sure they're evenly coated and set aside.

Add olive oil to heated pan and sautee onion. Once onions become translucent and soften, add zucchini & squash. Add salt and pepper to layer flavor. Sautee over medium heat until squash mixture is soft and a golden brown color has formed over the onion & squash mixture (10 minutes). Remove from heat and place in a large mixing bowl.

Immediately add your yogurt and stir to coat. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of Panko to the mix and stir. Depending on how wet your mix is, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the Italian breadcrumbs to form a stuffing-like mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spray your ramekins with olive oil. Now, divide the mixture into two ramekins and top with the 3/4 cup buttered Panko. Lightly coat with olive oil spray and place in the oven. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until squash mixture bubbles through the golden topping.

You can place the ramekins under a broiler to get them toasty topped as well. Serve with your favorite protein. Here we've pan-seared some lamb chops (on sale 6.99 lbs at Super Fresh) and placed some olive-oil fried sage leaves.




C & E