Savory Zucchini Corn Pancakes

It's zucchini season!  The time of year where zucchini plants have grown into large, bushy monsters overflowing with zukes that go from 2 inches to 2 feet over night.  Where our farmers' market practically gives them away at $1 for a bag of 4.  This has resulted in zucchini-filled everything around my house: twists on the classic zucchini bread, zucchini scrambled eggs, grilled zucchini... and these (my favorite) -- savory zucchini corn pancakes. They are packed with veggies, held together by eggs and a little flour, and boosted by some toasted walnuts and tangy feta cheese.  We've been eating them for dinner as an entree, but they could be appetizers or even breakfast.

Rustic Leek and Mushroom Galette

Galette refers to a rustic, free-form tart.  They can be any size, filled with savory or sweet fillings, and they look beautiful and... well, rustic.  They don't take as much effort as a pie -- there is no gentle pinching of crust edges.  A galette just gets folded up onto itself and popped in the oven.  I love them.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Continuing on my Indian food and memory kick, I made Bill's favorite Indian meal: Chicken Tikka Masala.  It is debated whether this is a true Indian dish.  If it is, it was invented within the last 50 years.  Some people believe (strongly) that it was invented in London or Glasgow.  A survey conducted in the U.K. concluded that chicken tikka masala is the country's most popular restaurant dish.  Whether it is authentic or not, it is a delicious marriage of fragrant Indian spices and tomatoes (still have some canned from last summer?) in a creamy sauce.    

Celebrating the Irish

I'm not a big St. Patrick's Day reveler, but I am half Irish and would be happy to celebrate that fact with some dark beer anytime.  With the holiday falling on Thursday during a very busy work week, I had every intention of letting the day pass with a hasty after-work beer toast and a night on the couch.  But that morning as I cleared my in-box I saw a recipe that caused me to pause.  Somewhere, somehow I ended up on Martha Stewart's daily Every Day Food listserve, which diligently sends me a dinner recipe every morning.  I often delete without opening, but am also occasionally interested and inspired by the recipes that come through, which is why I have not unsubsribed.  This particular morning's recipe was for Irish Beef Hand Pies.  Although this did not initially sound appealing to me at all, I returned to the deleted recipe as I remembered the Hand Pie's relative -- the Cornish Pasty.  Traditionally a buttery (or lard-y), flaky crust enveloping steamy roast meat, potatoes and other veggies, the perfect size to hold in your hand. 

Bean & Barley Soup (in honor of Mickey)

Mickey Schoenberg

This week's blog is dedicated to my great family.  Especially to my Grandpa Mickey, who passed away peacefully on February 26th, 2011.

In the last few hours of his life, surrounded by his entire family -- wife, children, grandchildren, sister -- he talked about how grateful he was for his family, for his wife of 62 years, and for all the great meals my grandmother has made for our family.  He smiled as he rattled off a list of his favorites: Grandma's chicken fricassee, her Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing, matzoh ball soup.  Everyone reminded him that he also makes a darn good bean & barley soup.