First Cukes, Now Zukes!

My friend Laurie brought me a few gorgeous zucchini from her garden, in exchange for a post on how to make fried zucchini sticks. Now, that's my kinda trade! I decided to serve them with some steamers, cooked in beer and shallots, and sprinkled with a chiffonade of arugula as well as some scallions. I love steamers on a hot summer day, and these were no exception. I could have eaten another two pounds!

Okay, so the steamers are delicious - and I could go on all day about them, but this post is about zucchini, and amazingly fresh zucchini at that! The recipe I used was loosely based on a Giada de Laurentiis recipe from foodnetwork.com, but I just kind of threw stuff together - no measurements this time around. For the breading, I mixed together some panko, grated parmesan and salt. Taste it to make sure it's seasoned correctly, but you won't need a ton of salt since parmesan is quite a salty cheese. In a separate bowl, crack and beat two eggs. The zucchini should be cut into 3-inch pieces that are about 1/2-an-inch thick.

This is a bit time consuming but don't rush, because you want each zucchini stick to be nicely coated. Dip it into the egg and soak it thoroughly, and then allow the excess to drip off before dunking it into the panko/parmesan mixture. Try to get it buried in there and pat the coating all over each piece. Once a piece is ready to go, place it on a baking sheet while it waits to be fried to a wonderful crisp! Keep going like this until all the pieces are finished. If your hands get all "gloopy," rinse your fingers off to avoid thickening the egg wash.

Once you are ready to fry, heat some olive oil or vegetable oil in a pot and allow it to heat until it fries a small piece of "test panko." I just took a little clump of egg and panko, threw it in the oil, and waited to see if it started to fry immediately. It takes a few minutes for the oil to heat up so don't rush it - if you rush it, you're going to get soggy, doughy zucchini sticks, and that...is not...appetizing. Once the oil is heated, fry your zucchini sticks in several batches, depending on the size of your pan.

I did about 5 at a time because I used a small pan. The larger the pan, the more you can do at one time. Once they are crisp and browned, about 2-3 minutes, you can remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and allow them to drain on some paper towels. Serve fairly quickly so that they don't have time to cool completely...the cooler they are, the soggier they get, but when they are hot, boy are they crispy!!

I sprinkled them with a bit more parmesan, and served them alongside the steamers. You could serve them with a ranch dressing dipping sauce, or even give them an extra kick by adding some crushed red pepper flakes to the panko/parmesan mixture. Get creative with it! As long as your oil is hot, and you fry them for the right amount of time, you've got a wonderful side dish for an easy summer meal!