Main Dish for Zucchini Fritters

In my post below where I provided the recipe for the yummyliscious zucchini fritters I made for the dinner party, my friend Sarah asked for a main dish to go with these fritters.  Since I first made these fritters in my Mediterranean cooking class, I immediately thought of Lamb.  So, here is a quick and easy lamb kebob recipe to go with the zucchini fritters below.

Marinated Lamb Kebabs
Serves 6

• 2 lbs lamb shoulder, cut into 1 ¼ inch cubes
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ½ cup olive or vegetable oil
• 1 pureed onion
• 8 crushed cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp mint (1 tsp dried) dried mint
• 1 Tsp cinnamon
• Salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. Mix together all the ingredients and taste for seasonings, place cubed lamb in for 1 hour to marinate.
2. Thread lamb onto skewers and cook under a preheated broiler or grill on a well-oiled grill 7-10 minutes, turning occasionally to prevent them from burning.
3. Serve hot with pita and cucumber yogurt salad

*Marinade variations:

• Substitute thyme for the mint
• Add paprika and lemon zest

Fireworks

First, the Zucchini Fritters I posted about yesterday went over really, really well.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the finished product and by the time I remembered, the platter was empty. Sorry!

But I did remember to take photos of Seattle’s 4th of July Fireworks…. here are a few of them. You can find all the firework photos at my smugmug site.

Dinner Party

Work has been pretty busy these last few weeks and since I can’t post photos from work, posts here on my blog have been sparse. Sorry about that.  Working 2nd & 3rd shift took some adjusting so working on photos and cooking have also been sparse.  We were however, given the 3 day July 4th holiday off so I am catching up on things.

I’m also having a small dinner party tomorrow night with a few friends.  I have a pretty good view of Seattle’s main fireworks show so we’ll grill out on the deck then watch the fireworks display.

I started prepping for the dinner today making some delicious zucchini fritters.  Just don’t tell my mom about me eating anything with zucchini in it, cause I will never hear the end of it.  Growing up we always had a garden and by summers end we were knee deep in cucumbers and zucchini of which I HATED both.  So, mom would try to hide zucchini in all sorts of meals and I would try to discover her “creativeness” and then refuese to eat anything with zucchini in it. Yeah, I was pretty bratty back then. But as I have gotten older my tastes have adjusted and I actually kinda like zucchini now.  Strange, eh?

We made these in my last cooking class, which was on Mediterranean Foods.  These suckers are a bit addictive, so make at your own risk.  I took a photo while making them today, but I forgot to take one after they were all done.  I will try and take one of them tomorrow before the party.

Zucchini Fritters (Kabak Mücveri)
Serves 4

These little fritters can be served hot or cold. They can be made in advance and reheated.

• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons vegetable or sunflower oil, plus more for frying
• 1 pound zucchini, finely chopped
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• Black pepper
• 2 to 3 sprigs of mint, chopped
• 2 to 3 sprigs of dill, chopped
• 7 ounces feta cheese, mashed with a fork

Preparation:

1. Fry the onion in 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat until it is soft and lightly colored ten minutes. Add the zucchini and sauté, stirring, until they, too, are soft and beginning to color (5-10 minutes) remove from heat.
2. In a bowl, beat the eggs with the flour until well blended. Add pepper (there is no need of salt because the feta cheese is very salty) and the chopped herbs, and mix well.
3. Fold the mashed feta into the eggs, together with the cooked onions and zucchini.
4. Film the bottom of a preferably nonstick frying pan with oil and pour in the mixture by the half ladle (or 2 tablespoons) to make a few fritters at a time. Turn each over once, and cook until both sides are browned a little. Drain on paper towels.
5. Serve with yogurt (recipe follows).

Cucumber and Yogurt Salad (Cacik)

Unless it is to be eaten as soon as it is made, it is best to salt the cucumber and let the juices drain before mixing with the yogurt; otherwise it gets very watery. If possible, use the small cucumbers sold in Middle Eastern and Asian stores—they have a finer flavor than the large ones. Cacik is served as part of a meze (appetizer) and also as a side dish—to be eaten with spoons from little individual side bowls—to accompany pies, meat dishes, and rice. It even makes a lovely cold summer soup. Use plain whole-milk yogurt.

• 4 small cucumbers or 1 large one
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed (optional)
• 2 sprigs of finely chopped mint or dill, or 2 teaspoons dried, crushed mint

Preparation:

1. Peel and dice or grate the cucumbers (squeeze out any extra water), or cut them in half lengthwise, and then into half- moon slices. Unless the salad is to be served immediately, sprinkle with salt and leave for 1/2 to 1 hour in a colander for the juices to drain.
2. Beat the yogurt in a serving bowl with the crushed garlic, if using, and the mint or dill, and fold in the cucumber. Add a little salt, taking into account the saltiness of the cucumber if you have salted it, although most of the salt will have gone with the drained juices.

Last Day in Yellowstone

Should have posted these yesterday with the other photos, but I was running late and had to get to work.  On our last day in Yellowstone, we had a long drive back to Seattle, but elected to drive through the park one more time to see what would could see. Last Sept when we did this, we had a grizzly walk right in front of our car and saw Big Horn Sheep for the first time.  This time, we were not so lucky; only seeing a mountain blue bird and getting stuck in a rather large Bison jam along the road to Madison.  Since we had the extra time and the extra hour we gained driving west, we took a quick break at the Columbia River Gorge for the wonderful views and pretty flowers near the parking lot (mom had never seen this view in the daylight).

Mountain Bluebird

Columbia River Flowers

More Yellowstone

Things are getting very busy at work so the posting time has been limited.  I got another day of Yellowstone photos up for y’all though.  This last full day in Yellowstone was spent down near the Old Faithful area so the photography is more scenic oriented than animals.  Enjoy!

Burnt trees in Morning Fog

Heart Spring

Old Faithful

Scruffy-looking Girl Elk

More Yellowstone Photos

Here are some more photos from the next two days (Sat 5/23 & Sun 5/24) at Yellowstone.

My first wolf sighting in Yellowstone

Pronghorn

Big Horn Sheep

Baby Big Horn Sheep

Black Bear

Great Horned Owl

Hayden Valley

Babies Abound

We are in Yellowstone and it has been fantastic as usual.  Our first two days were spent near a seemingly empty Hayden Valley.  Seems all the snow is just now melting there and the animals have yet to move into the valley from the lower elevations.  We did however see some great sights and some of the more unusual animals in Yellowstone.  We saw Beavers near Fishing Bridge and a marmot near West Yellowstone.

We moved up to Lamar Valley the next two days and discovered where all the Elk and Bison were hiding out.  Along with the usual animals seen in Lamar, we have also seen badgers (with 4 babies), a wolf, moose, and a great horned owl.  Every day we seem to see some animal we have never seen before in Yellowstone.  It really is a magical place.

We head over to West Yellowstone tomorrow where we will have less animals but more geysers to see and photograph.  Here is a photo or two to tide you over till I get back home and sort through the hundreds I have taken so far.

Yellow-bellied Marmot

Reflection from Fishing Bridge

Brink of the Lower Falls

Cute Baby Badgers

Baby Bison

The Final Season at Yellowstone

As this is being posted, mom and I are again headed to Yellowstone National Park for the long Memorial Day weekend.

I’ve been to Yellowstone now 3 times; first in the summer ages ago on a family vacation through the west.  A few winters ago, our family spent the Christmas holiday in a wonderfully empty and snow-filled park.  Then last year, mom and I took a quick trip to Yellowstone in September to see the the park in the fall colors and see the elk and buffalo in rut.

Now, we are headed for the spring season.  Baby red-colored buffalo, momma bears with her cubs, and the ever elusive Yellowstone wolves is what we hope to see as spring hits the national park.

Not sure how much I will be able to post while gone… depends on internet access and time, but I will try to post a few photos while away.

Dublin or Bust

The travel arrangements are all in place now so it looks like I will be finally fulfilling one of the items on my bucket list….. to see a U2 concert in Dublin.  YAY!!!

My good friend Alana and her magic ticketmaster fingers got us great seats to one of U2’s shows in Dublin on their upcoming concert tour.   I was able to find a fairly cheap flight to London through Canada.  Cheap in that the airfare was almost the same price as all the taxes and fees.  I also just booked us a hotel near downtown Dublin.

So Dublin….here we come!  Can’t wait to see U2 in their hometown and can’t wait to catch up with my good buddy Alana in London.  It’s gonna be a fun summer!

Pain in the Neck

For the past month or so, I have had a sore neck.  Stiffness and trouble turning had me worrying that my Rheumatoid Arthritis has now moved to my neck and is now attacking the cartilage in my spine.  So, I went to a neck & spine orthopedic specialist.  First step was some x-rays which showed some measurement of the neck bones slightly off from normal by one millimeter.  That led to an MRI.  Never had one of those before and I now understand why folks who are claustrophobic may have difficulty with MRIs.  Yikes, that was a very small space… and loud!

Today I went and got the results. Apparently I have 2 bulging disks of the C6 & C7 (?) vertebrae.  These disks push slightly on the spinal column causing the soreness. Nothing bad right now and nothing to go under the knife for, but I now have some exercises that I need to do a few times per day to help build my neck muscles and strength. Apparently years of poor posture, sitting at un-ergonomic desks, and staring at computer screens all day is really not good or the back or neck.

So good news that nothing is really wrong with the neck joints.