Menu
Steamed Clams, Mussels and Shrimp in Garlic Butter Broth
Garlic Ciabatta Toasts
Salad
If you’ve ever had a vegetable garden, you’ve probably had too much zucchini. It’s a cliche, a gardener’s inside joke. Eating zucchini for breakfast lunch and dinner, piles of zucchini left out with a “take some” sign in the office break room (back when we worked in offices that is). Finally resorting to sneaking over onto neighbors’ porches in the dark to leave bags of it on doorsteps.
There’s really something to be said, though, for a plant that cranks out such tremendous yields with such little effort. Not to mention its chameleon-like versatility. Take this menu for example. I can’t imagine two dishes more different than the two zucchini recipes that bookend this meal.
For the starter, I stuffed the blossoms of yellow straight-neck squash* with a mixture of ricotta and Parmesan cheeses and dipped them in a light batter fizzed with sparkling water. After a quick shallow fry, the blossoms emerge with a delicate crust that shatters around a molten center of warm, creamy cheese. A good store bought or homemade marinara is the perfect complement.
(*Yellow squash is what was blooming in my garden the day I made this recipe. It’s interchangeable with zucchini in every recipe I can think of, and the blossoms are identical in appearance and flavor.)
At the other end of the meal is this masterpiece: a Zucchini Cake Cheesecake that alternates layers of dark, moist, pecan-packed, carrot-cake-like zucchini cake with layers of real cheesecake, covered with a fluffy, sweet, cream cheese frosting. I bake this cake in 6-inch pans, so the finished cake is as tall as it is wide, making for a spectacular presentation.
For the main course, no zucchini. Just a trio of briny shellfish – littleneck clams, mussels and jumbo shrimp – cooked in and doused with a glossy, buttery, white-wine-and-garlic-laced broth. Tuck slice of ciabatta garlic bread into each bowl, and on the side serve a simple green salad. If you’re looking for dressing inspiration for your salad, try my basic vinaigrette or one of its many variations.
For my July playlist I wanted to feature some of my favorite female indie/folk/country artists. There’s so much crossover among those three genres, they’re so easy to blend, and there’s so much more in this mellow, melodic, heart-felt style than I could fit on one playlist…so I wouldn’t be surprised to see more like this in future playlists. Listen to my Women’s Voices playlist (part one of a series?) on Spotify.
The Game Plan
- The Zucchini Cake Cheesecake can be made ahead, and you can even spread the steps out over several days. If you’re making it the day of serving, start at least 4 hours ahead, or earlier if (like me) you like to have some time to relax in the evening before dinner.
- If you’re making homemade dressing for the salad, it can be made earlier in the day, too.
- The squash blossoms for the appetizer should be freshly picked (or bought at the farmer’s market) the day of serving, and held with their stems in water until you use them. You can make the ricotta filling ahead of time, but plan to stuff and fry the squash right before serving.
- Start prepping the steamed shellfish about 30 minutes before serving. While the shellfish steams, make the salad.
- For a detailed plan with step-by-step instructions and timing, download the Game Plan document linked below.
Saturday July 18 2020 Game Plan
