Thread: The Verdict On Zucchini Corn-cakes

Lou wrote:

> Thanks to thread-drift in the zucchini bread thread I tried something
> for grins for lunch today. Bob's comment about soaking the cornmeal
> made me think of masa. I didn't measure anything, just grabbed a
> tablespoon from the drawer and a bowl. I added two heaping spoons of
> flour, two of masa, about 2 tablespoons oil, about 1/2 teaspoon of
> baking powder, a handfuls of shredded zucchini, and enough milk to
> make a batter. I fried it in a bit of oil and some butter. When I
> flipped it I topped it with some shredded cheddar and a dab of butter.
>
> It was light, fluffy and delicious.
>
> I was afraid I might have used too much zucchini but it had been
> seeded a few days ago and not wrapped so good and it didn't turn into
> mush as I feared. It wasn't peeled. Next time I'll use even more.
>
> So the verdict is not only will I make them again I'll serve them to
> guests. Thanks to those who influenced the experiment. I'm sure I'll
> do a bit of tweaking but it's great as is.

It would have taken me a long time to think "masa" after reading my post!
But you're, uhh... welcome? :-)

I'm glad it turned out well!

Bob

Lou Decruss wrote:
> Thanks to thread-drift in the zucchini bread thread I tried something
> for grins for lunch today. Bob's comment about soaking the cornmeal
> made me think of masa. I didn't measure anything, just grabbed a
> tablespoon from the drawer and a bowl. I added two heaping spoons of
> flour, two of masa, about 2 tablespoons oil, about 1/2 teaspoon of
> baking powder, a handfuls of shredded zucchini, and enough milk to
> make a batter. I fried it in a bit of oil and some butter. When I
> flipped it I topped it with some shredded cheddar and a dab of butter.
>
> It was light, fluffy and delicious.
>
> I was afraid I might have used too much zucchini but it had been
> seeded a few days ago and not wrapped so good and it didn't turn into
> mush as I feared. It wasn't peeled. Next time I'll use even more.
>
> So the verdict is not only will I make them again I'll serve them to
> guests. Thanks to those who influenced the experiment. I'm sure I'll
> do a bit of tweaking but it's great as is.
>
> Lou


Thanks, it sounds worth a try.

gloria p

"Bob Terwilliger"

> It would have taken me a long time to think "masa" after reading my post!
> > But you're, uhh... welcome? :-)

Me too, because leftover polenta came to mind. OTH that might be because
masa is a rare and precious thing for me.

Giusi wrote:

> Me too, because leftover polenta came to mind. OTH that might be because
> masa is a rare and precious thing for me.

Come to think of it, leftover polenta might work pretty well to make
cornmeal pancakes. Have you tried it?

Bob

"Bob Terwilliger" ha scritto nel messaggio
> Giusi wrote:
>
>> Me too, because leftover polenta came to mind. OTH that might be because
>> masa is a rare and precious thing for me.
>
> Come to think of it, leftover polenta might work pretty well to make
> cornmeal pancakes. Have you tried it?
>
> Bob

>whistling< what leftover polenta?

Giusi wrote:

>>> Me too, because leftover polenta came to mind. OTH that might be
>>> because masa is a rare and precious thing for me.
>>
>> Come to think of it, leftover polenta might work pretty well to make
>> cornmeal pancakes. Have you tried it?
>>
>
>>whistling< what leftover polenta?

Heh... got it.

Lin doesn't like polenta, so if I make it there are always leftovers. But
even then, it's so easy just to cut it into slices, brush with olive oil,
broil until crisp on top and serve with some kind of sauce and cheese (or
with berries and/or honey) that I've never attempted to transform it into
pancakes.

The milk-soaked cornmeal is much less "set" than leftover polenta, so it's
easier to work with than polenta would be.

Bob

"Bob Terwilliger"
> Giusi wrote:

>>>whistling< what leftover polenta?
>
> Heh... got it.
>
> Lin doesn't like polenta, so if I make it there are always leftovers.

I make polenta for one most of the time.

But > even then, it's so easy just to cut it into slices, brush with olive
oil, > broil until crisp on top and serve with some kind of sauce and cheese
(or > with berries and/or honey) that I've never attempted to transform it
into
> pancakes.

A local cook here serves quail cooked at hi temps wrapped in prosciutto on
such "bricks" of polenta with salsa verde and salsa tartufata. It's good.

> The milk-soaked cornmeal is much less "set" than leftover polenta, so it's
> > easier to work with than polenta would be.

Stir some extra liquid into it before refrigerating.
Anyway, it can be softened with warming and stirring in a bit of something.
I do a couple of dishes where it is made and chilled on purpose to make
grilled logs or bricks. A couple of ricette ricche in which diced things
are added before chilling to make bricks.
Mostly I just like it hot and creamy with lots of sauce braised stuff.

Giusi wrote:

> A local cook here serves quail cooked at hi temps wrapped in prosciutto on
> such "bricks" of polenta with salsa verde and salsa tartufata. It's good.

Well, YEAH, if you can get truffles! None to be had in these parts.


>> The milk-soaked cornmeal is much less "set" than leftover polenta, so
>> it's easier to work with than polenta would be.
>
> Stir some extra liquid into it before refrigerating.
> Anyway, it can be softened with warming and stirring in a bit of
> something.

That's the approach I would take if I wanted to make the pancakes. Someday I
might.


> I do a couple of dishes where it is made and chilled on purpose to make
> grilled logs or bricks. A couple of ricette ricche in which diced things
> are added before chilling to make bricks.
> Mostly I just like it hot and creamy with lots of sauce braised stuff.

Same here on all counts.

Bob

Bob Terwilliger wrote:
> Giusi wrote:
>
>>>> Me too, because leftover polenta came to mind. OTH that might be
>>>> because masa is a rare and precious thing for me.
>>>
>>> Come to think of it, leftover polenta might work pretty well to make
>>> cornmeal pancakes. Have you tried it?
>>>
>>
>>> whistling< what leftover polenta?
>
> Heh... got it.
>
> Lin doesn't like polenta, so if I make it there are always leftovers. But
> even then, it's so easy just to cut it into slices, brush with olive oil,
> broil until crisp on top and serve with some kind of sauce and cheese (or
> with berries and/or honey) that I've never attempted to transform it into
> pancakes.
>
<snip>
Pan-fry the slices and serve it to venison like Rehpfeffer.
They are wonderful for enhancing the taste of the venison and sauce.

Cheers,

Michael Kuettner

On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:24:48 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"
<virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz> wrote:

>Lou wrote:
>
>> Thanks to thread-drift in the zucchini bread thread I tried something
>> for grins for lunch today. Bob's comment about soaking the cornmeal
>> made me think of masa. I didn't measure anything, just grabbed a
>> tablespoon from the drawer and a bowl. I added two heaping spoons of
>> flour, two of masa, about 2 tablespoons oil, about 1/2 teaspoon of
>> baking powder, a handfuls of shredded zucchini, and enough milk to
>> make a batter. I fried it in a bit of oil and some butter. When I
>> flipped it I topped it with some shredded cheddar and a dab of butter.
>>
>> It was light, fluffy and delicious.
>>
>> I was afraid I might have used too much zucchini but it had been
>> seeded a few days ago and not wrapped so good and it didn't turn into
>> mush as I feared. It wasn't peeled. Next time I'll use even more.
>>
>> So the verdict is not only will I make them again I'll serve them to
>> guests. Thanks to those who influenced the experiment. I'm sure I'll
>> do a bit of tweaking but it's great as is.
>
>It would have taken me a long time to think "masa" after reading my post!

<laugh> Who knows why our minds drift where they do. Years ago I
took some interior design classes and the subject of design magazines
came up. The debate of individual creativity VS. stealing some ones
idea from a book was discussed. The resulting statement was "The
ideas have to come from somewhere."

As the group "The fixx" said: "One thing leads to another." Things
led up to you talking about soaking cornmeal in hot milk which
reminded me of hot chicken stock over masa for tamales. And one thing
led to another and that's that!

>But you're, uhh... welcome? :-)

yes

>I'm glad it turned out well!

It sure did. We're getting packed up to go on a short holiday and my
Chicago medic/fireman friend will be there. He gets a kick out of
serving the cavemen weird stuff so we'll play with this and come up
with a recipe.

Next week I'll be obsessed with something else.

Lou

On Aug 22, 9:34*am, Lou Decruss <LouDecr...@biteme.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:24:48 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger" wrote:
> >Lou wrote:
>
> >> Thanks to thread-drift in the zucchini bread thread I tried something
> >> for grins for lunch today. *Bob's comment about soaking the cornmeal
> >> made me think of masa. *[snip]
>
> >> I was afraid I might have used too much zucchini but it had been
> >> seeded a few days ago and not wrapped so good and it didn't turn into
> >> mush as I feared. *It wasn't peeled. *Next time I'll use even more..
>
> >> So the verdict is not only will I make them again I'll serve them to
> >> guests. *Thanks to those who influenced the experiment. *I'm sure I'll
> >> do a bit of tweaking but it's great as is.
>
> >It would have taken me a long time to think "masa" after reading my post!
>
> <laugh> *Who knows why our minds drift where they do. *Years ago I
> took some interior design classes and the subject of design magazines
> came up. *The debate of individual creativity VS. stealing some ones
> idea from a book was discussed. *The resulting statement was "The
> ideas have to come from somewhere."
>
> As the group "The fixx" said: "One thing leads to another." *Things
> led up to you talking about soaking cornmeal in hot milk which
> reminded me of hot chicken stock over masa for tamales. *And one thing
> led to another and that's that!
>
> >But you're, uhh... welcome? :-)
> ....
> It sure did. *We're getting packed up to go on a short holiday and my
> Chicago medic/fireman friend will be there. *He gets a kick out of
> serving the cavemen weird stuff so we'll play with this and come up
> with a recipe. *
>
Another possible contributing factor to the genesis of the idea is
simply that corn and zucchini go so well together. I've mixed diced
zuccini with corn off the cob as a side dish for years. (throw in a
little red bell pepper for color) Not only do they go well together,
they also associate well with the same herbs and spices. Cumin, for
example, nutmeg for another, basil for a third (all separately, not
together). Indeed, cumin would have suited the zucchini masa cake,
I'd bet. -aem

On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:34:13 -0500, Lou Decruss wrote:

<snip>
>
> It sure did. We're getting packed up to go on a short holiday and my
> Chicago medic/fireman friend will be there. He gets a kick out of
> serving the cavemen weird stuff so we'll play with this and come up
> with a recipe.
>

have a good time, lou. i'm sure you'll eat well.

your pal,
blake

On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:57:37 -0700 (PDT), aem <[email protected]>
wrote:

>> It sure did. *We're getting packed up to go on a short holiday and my
>> Chicago medic/fireman friend will be there. *He gets a kick out of
>> serving the cavemen weird stuff so we'll play with this and come up
>> with a recipe. *
>>
>Another possible contributing factor to the genesis of the idea is
>simply that corn and zucchini go so well together. I've mixed diced
>zuccini with corn off the cob as a side dish for years. (throw in a
>little red bell pepper for color) Not only do they go well together,
>they also associate well with the same herbs and spices. Cumin, for
>example, nutmeg for another, basil for a third (all separately, not
>together). Indeed, cumin would have suited the zucchini masa cake,
>I'd bet. -aem

Thanks for al the good tips. The cumin sounds like a winner.

Lou

On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:10:25 -0400, blake murphy
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:34:13 -0500, Lou Decruss wrote:
>
> <snip>
>>
>> It sure did. We're getting packed up to go on a short holiday and my
>> Chicago medic/fireman friend will be there. He gets a kick out of
>> serving the cavemen weird stuff so we'll play with this and come up
>> with a recipe.
>>
>
>have a good time, lou. i'm sure you'll eat well.

Thanks Blake. We had fun but we had too many things going on to try
these again. We'll do them next weekend. We're doing a fish fry
Friday night for a bunch of people and they'll fit in perfectly.

Lou

On Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:09:03 +0200, "Giusi" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>"Bob Terwilliger"
>
>> It would have taken me a long time to think "masa" after reading my post!
>> > But you're, uhh... welcome? :-)
>
>Me too, because leftover polenta came to mind.

The few times I've had polenta I didn't like the texture which was
what I wanted to avoid.

>OTH that might be because
>masa is a rare and precious thing for me.

I don't think the big yuppie stupidmarkets carry it but the markets I
shop all have it. The last bag I got was $2.59 for 4.4 pounds. That
was on sale. I think it's usually about 3 bucks.

Lou

"Lou Decruss" ha scritto nel messaggio
> I don't think the big yuppie stupidmarkets carry it but the markets I>
> shop all have it. The last bag I got was $2.59 for 4.4 pounds. That>
> was on sale. I think it's usually about 3 bucks.
>
> Lou

I have to bribe visitors to bring it to me and it's pretty heavy in
suitcases. I can get 1 kilo bags of a Venezuelan instant masa in Rome, but
that's al all day trip on trains.

On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:38:18 -0500, Lou Decruss wrote:

> On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:10:25 -0400, blake murphy
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:34:13 -0500, Lou Decruss wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>>>
>>> It sure did. We're getting packed up to go on a short holiday and my
>>> Chicago medic/fireman friend will be there. He gets a kick out of
>>> serving the cavemen weird stuff so we'll play with this and come up
>>> with a recipe.
>>>
>>
>>have a good time, lou. i'm sure you'll eat well.
>
> Thanks Blake. We had fun but we had too many things going on to try
> these again. We'll do them next weekend. We're doing a fish fry
> Friday night for a bunch of people and they'll fit in perfectly.
>
> Lou

knock 'em dead, lou!

your pal,
blake

On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:30:41 -0400, blake murphy
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:38:18 -0500, Lou Decruss wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:10:25 -0400, blake murphy
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:34:13 -0500, Lou Decruss wrote:
>>>
>>> <snip>
>>>>
>>>> It sure did. We're getting packed up to go on a short holiday and my
>>>> Chicago medic/fireman friend will be there. He gets a kick out of
>>>> serving the cavemen weird stuff so we'll play with this and come up
>>>> with a recipe.
>>>>
>>>
>>>have a good time, lou. i'm sure you'll eat well.
>>
>> Thanks Blake. We had fun but we had too many things going on to try
>> these again. We'll do them next weekend. We're doing a fish fry
>> Friday night for a bunch of people and they'll fit in perfectly.
>>
>> Lou
>
>knock 'em dead, lou!

Thanks, but something came up so the fish fry got canceled. But zuks
keep showing up at the door so I'll be making them anyway for just the
two of us.

Lou

On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:40:18 +0200, "Giusi" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>"Lou Decruss" ha scritto nel messaggio
>> I don't think the big yuppie stupidmarkets carry it but the markets I>
>> shop all have it. The last bag I got was $2.59 for 4.4 pounds. That>
>> was on sale. I think it's usually about 3 bucks.
>>
>> Lou
>
>I have to bribe visitors to bring it to me and it's pretty heavy in
>suitcases. I can get 1 kilo bags of a Venezuelan instant masa in Rome, but
>that's al all day trip on trains.

That sounds like too much work for masa. <G>

Lou