Patates Fournou and Zucchini Fritters

Tonight we made a new recipe, Zucchini Fritters with Tzatziki, along with just about the best potatoes in the world - Greek-style, roasted, with tons of garlic, oregano, and lemon juice (Grinnellians will recognize this preparation from the Phoenix).

You can tell how good this food is by the highly disdainful look Gabe is giving me because I am making him wait to eat it while I take pictures.

The fritters were a perfect balance of sweet and salty - I was glad we didn't lose the zucchini flavor under all the feta and garlic in them. They were just slightly spicy, which made them great with the cooling cucumber in the tzatziki. The potatoes were super delicious, as expected. Oven roasting is a great way to prepare potatoes because they get soft on the inside and nice and crispy on the outside without using very much oil at all.





Zucchini Fritters

2 medium zucchini
1 large egg
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 small onion, diced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 tbsp bread crumbs
1 tbsp chopped mint
1/4 cup feta cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch cayenne


Grate your zucchini (or have someone who enjoys grating do it, such as Gabe) and press out some of the moisture with some paper towels. Mix it with all the other ingredients.
Heat a few tablespoons of oil on medium-high and drop on a few lumps of dough. Press them flat with a spatula and cook for a few minutes on each side. We made the first few a little bit undercooked and they were mushy on the inside, so make sure you cook them until they're very dark and crispy to ensure that they're cooked through. Pressing them really flat also helps.

Tzatziki - Tzatziki is basically the Greek version of Raita, but because Greek food is generally less spicy than Indian, the accompanying sauce can be a little more assertive. The base is thick and delicious Greek yogurt, but we were too cheap to get some, so we thickened about a cup of plain yogurt by letting it sit on a colander lined with paper towels for a half hour. To this we added a dash of red wine vinegar and a dash of olive oil, about 1/2 cup fine-diced cucumbers, a clove of minced garlic, about a tbsp chopped cilantro, and salt. It was even better than raita for eating by the spoonful post-meal.


Patates Fournou

3 Russet or 5 Red Bliss potatoes, cut into uniform wedges
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 big cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c vegetable stock
1/3 c lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste.

Toss all of your ingredients in a baking dish and arrange in a single layer with a cut side down. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes at 400. Once all of the liquid has evaporated (around 30 minutes), start checking the potatoes every 5 minutes. When one cut side is browned, flip so that the other cut side is facing down. Adjust the seasoning when they're done (I usually like to add more lemon juice). These are delicious smothered with ketchup, but if you used enough vegie stock they should be moist enough to eat on their own.


Thanks for reading! No food tomorrow because Gabe is away so I will be subsisting on leftovers.

- The Gentle Giant