[0 - 2] - Hello, I'm Andrew, and welcome to my kitchen.
[2 - 5] In this video, you're gonna see me cook a lot of zucchini.
[6 - 7] And that's because recently on the channel,
[7 - 8] I've been making these videos
[8 - 11] where I cook a large amount of one ingredient.
[11 - 13] And it started as a fun challenge
[13 - 16] to use up a surplus of potatoes that I had,
[16 - 19] but what surprised me is that it was a very fun experience,
[19 - 22] and it taught me a lot of intricacies
[22 - 26] of these ingredients that I had overlooked previously.
[26 - 28] And so I wanted to try a bunch of recipes
[28 - 30] that I was either not super familiar with,
[30 - 32] or had never made before,
[32 - 35] to try to better understand this vegetable.
[35 - 38] And I know in previous videos I've done 20, 25 pounds.
[38 - 41] But here's the thing, zucchini weighs less.
[41 - 43] The first dish is kolokithokeftedes,
[44 - 46] which are Greek zucchini fritters.
[46 - 49] This is a dish I actually have some familiarity with.
[49 - 50] My partner is Greek,
[50 - 52] she introduced me to this dish initially,
[52 - 55] and I've seen her and her family make it numerous times,
[55 - 58] but I've never really dug in myself to learn it.
[58 - 62] So it begins by grating zucchini on a box grater.
[62 - 65] Zucchini hold a tremendous amount of water.
[65 - 68] When I sliced the tips and ends off the zucchini,
[68 - 73] there is immediately moisture beading on the cut side.
[73 - 75] So even just a couple of minutes sitting with salt,
[75 - 77] there's already a ton of moisture
[77 - 78] coming out of this zucchini.
[78 - 82] Really the best technique is to get a clean dish towel
[82 - 84] and then wring it very tightly
[84 - 87] to release as much moisture as possible.
[87 - 90] Excess moisture is going to make it very difficult
[90 - 93] to hold the fritters together while frying.
[93 - 95] Next you're combining it with the rest of the ingredients.
[95 - 98] I finely sliced three spring onions.
[98 - 101] Next, there's herbs, dill, mint, and basil.
[101 - 104] I personally really love what happens
[104 - 108] when a bunch of different herbs are combined together.
[108 - 110] Then there's crumbled feta.
[110 - 112] So then there are the binders, eggs and flour.
[112 - 116] I add the eggs first and mix the mixture very well.
[116 - 117] 'Cause kind of like in baking,
[117 - 121] these are essentially all of the wet ingredients,
[121 - 124] and then the flour is just enough to hold it together.
[124 - 127] So it really just comes down to the moisture level
[127 - 132] of the other ingredients on the day that you're making this.
[132 - 134] I think my first couple fritters were a little loose,
[134 - 136] so I added some more flour.
[136 - 138] I think also with fritters your first one
[138 - 141] is never gonna be the good one.
[141 - 144] But by that third, fourth, fifth fritter
[144 - 147] you have things dialed in and they were coming out nicely.
[147 - 151] This has become honestly one of my favorite foods.
[151 - 155] I just love the transformation that this vegetable takes
[155 - 160] into this fried, but really fresh tasting thing.
[160 - 162] And there's some unique things happening
[162 - 165] where the ingredients on the outside of the fritter
[165 - 167] becoming caramelized and fried,
[167 - 171] while the inside is still very tender and fresh tasting.
[171 - 172] The next recipe I tried
[172 - 174] was focaccia with a zucchini topping.
[174 - 178] And I followed Samin Nosrat's focaccia recipe,
[178 - 181] and then sort of made up the zucchini topping myself.
[181 - 185] I began by measuring honey in a large bowl by weight.
[185 - 189] And I did this so that I could then pour warm water
[189 - 191] over the honey to fully dissolve it,
[191 - 194] because this is gonna be used to then bloom the yeast,
[194 - 197] which needs the sugar from the honey to come alive.
[197 - 200] In a separate bowl I combined salt and flour.
[200 - 203] And then once I saw that my yeast was doing something,
[203 - 205] then I added the water with the yeast and the honey
[205 - 209] to the flour and salt, as well as olive oil.
[209 - 211] So I mixed this until it was just combined,
[211 - 214] making sure not to overwork it.
[214 - 216] And then this rests for 12 hours.
[216 - 219] The next day with my dough fully risen,
[219 - 222] I prepared a large baking sheet with olive oil,
[222 - 224] and then turned the dough out into it.
[224 - 227] Then I dimpled the dough with my fingers,
[227 - 231] and then poured it over a salt and water brine.
[231 - 234] The dough then proofs for another 45 minutes.
[234 - 236] So meanwhile, I prepared the zucchini.
[236 - 240] I mandolin it sort of medium thin.
[240 - 241] It's tricky with zucchini
[241 - 243] because it can lose so much volume.
[243 - 246] So then I salted the zucchini, let it sit for a moment,
[246 - 249] and then I spread out all the slices on a wire rack
[249 - 252] so that it could release as much moisture as possible.
[252 - 255] I took my dried zucchini and I stole some oil
[255 - 259] from the edge of the focaccia to just toss the zucchini in.
[259 - 261] And I also added some thyme.
[261 - 264] And for the top of the zucchini, I just sort of made it up.
[264 - 266] Kind of tried to do a random pattern
[266 - 268] while keeping it evenly covered.
[268 - 270] And I did some with twists and folds
[270 - 273] because I wanted to test what the outcome would be later on.
[273 - 276] Lastly, there's a sprinkling of flaky sea salt.
[276 - 279] Then when it's out of the oven, another drizzle of oil.
[279 - 283] I let it cool for a moment, then it was time to invert it.
[283 - 288] And I was very pleased to see that the bottom had a rich,
[288 - 292] even, golden, crunchy bottom of the bread.
[292 - 295] From a flavor standpoint, the focaccia was very interesting.
[295 - 299] The dominant flavors are salt and the olive oil,
[299 - 300] which is delicious.
[300 - 302] And the zucchini becomes so dehydrated
[302 - 306] that it's almost more like and herb at this point,
[306 - 308] than it is a vegetable.
[308 - 310] But overall it was very good.
[310 - 314] I mean, the base focaccia recipe is tremendous,
[314 - 317] it's a can't lose situation.
[317 - 321] The next dish I tried was a boiled zucchini salad with tuna.
[321 - 323] And this recipe comes from Lidia Bastianich,
[323 - 325] you will find it on her website.
[325 - 328] This is a recipe I was not expecting to find,
[328 - 330] but as soon as I saw it I was very excited.
[330 - 333] 'Cause the first step is you just boil the whole zucchini,
[333 - 337] which just feels like a refreshingly efficient
[337 - 340] and straightforward way to prepare something.
[340 - 343] And the goal here is to just get it tender.
[343 - 346] Mine took maybe just about 10 minutes,
[346 - 347] let it cool for a moment,
[347 - 349] and then it's just a matter of slicing it,
[349 - 351] and combining it with the other ingredients.
[351 - 353] Since this is such a simple dish,
[353 - 357] I made the extra effort to find a great can of tuna.
[357 - 359] And her recipe calls for chili flakes,
[359 - 361] but I had this jar of Calabrian chilies,
[361 - 364] so I sliced those, added them to the salad all the same.
[365 - 368] There were some capers, a drizzle of olive oil,
[368 - 370] lemon juice, some salt,
[370 - 372] and then you toss it all together.
[372 - 376] And I gotta say, I was blown away by this salad.
[376 - 379] A common complaint of zucchini is that it's boring,
[379 - 383] it's watery, but here those attributes are actually used
[383 - 385] as virtues among all these other flavors.
[385 - 387] Capers, very briny and salty,
[387 - 390] tuna, obviously big fish flavor.
[390 - 393] These Calabrian chilies, which are kind of perfumey,
[393 - 395] and fruity, and also spicy.
[395 - 398] And so the zucchini kind of plays this more muted tone
[398 - 399] and you just kind of get more
[399 - 403] of a refreshing mouthful of water.
[403 - 406] On paper it was very surprising to me, but once I ate it
[406 - 407] it made total sense.
[407 - 409] Considering how simple it was,
[409 - 412] this was kind of my new favorite thing.
[412 - 415] The next dish I tried was zucchini alla scapece.
[415 - 418] And I referenced a recipe from the YouTube channel Speziata.
[418 - 422] So it starts by slicing it into sort of medium thick rounds.
[422 - 423] And you sort of have to use your judgment
[424 - 428] of how much these slices will shrink in size.
[428 - 430] And then salted it, let them sit for a while.
[430 - 433] And then once again, I put them into a dish towel
[433 - 436] to wring out any excess moisture.
[436 - 439] Then it was a matter of frying in olive oil
[439 - 442] until they were getting golden on both sides.
[442 - 445] Then it was just a matter of seasoning with sliced garlic,
[445 - 449] mint leaves, olive oil, and vinegar.
[449 - 451] And this dish is meant to sit with those ingredients
[451 - 453] for at least a few hours,
[453 - 455] or I think typically overnight
[455 - 457] to be served cold at a later point.
[457 - 460] There's only a couple of flavoring elements here,
[460 - 462] but the result is really big.
[462 - 466] Some of those sugars are awakened in the frying,
[466 - 469] and then you have all of these bright and delicious flavors
[469 - 471] that are put back into the zucchini.
[471 - 474] I love any dish that falls into this category
[474 - 477] of something that you can make
[477 - 478] whenever you have a chance to make it,
[478 - 481] and then eat it at any point in the future.
[481 - 484] I even took some of that leftover focaccia,
[484 - 485] it was magnificent.
[485 - 487] So the next recipe was zucchini bread.
[487 - 489] And I referenced the recipe from Smitten Kitchen.
[489 - 491] And I wanted to make zucchini bread
[491 - 493] because I never made it before.
[493 - 496] And because the focaccia was a baked good,
[496 - 499] zucchini on top, and now I wanted to make a baked good
[499 - 501] with zucchini incorporated into it.
[501 - 506] I began by weighing the exact required amount of zucchini,
[506 - 508] and then it was grating it on a box grater.
[509 - 511] And in this case you actually keep all of the moisture
[511 - 513] that is in those zucchinis.
[513 - 516] It was actually very refreshing to do a zucchini dish
[516 - 520] where the moisture was not the enemy of the outcome.
[520 - 521] So then it was just a matter
[521 - 522] of adding the other ingredients.
[522 - 524] And you mix all of those ingredients thoroughly
[524 - 527] so that when you add the flour,
[527 - 529] you can mix as little as possible.
[529 - 531] Then you pour that batter into a prepared loaf tin,
[531 - 534] and then you put some very coarse sugar,
[534 - 536] which will hopefully make a crust.
[536 - 537] So then it goes in the oven,
[537 - 540] until you can put a toothpick in and it comes out cleanly.
[541 - 543] And the recipe also called out that you should wait
[543 - 545] until the next day to eat the zucchini bread,
[545 - 546] because it'll be so much better.
[546 - 549] So the next day was the moment of truth. It's amazing.
[549 - 553] And I wouldn't say that it tastes like zucchini.
[553 - 555] I think your initial bite,
[555 - 558] you get mostly the spices, the cinnamon and the nutmeg,
[558 - 562] but then you sort of have this background flavor,
[562 - 565] like after you've taken a bite and you exhale,
[565 - 567] it tastes like you just ate some squash.
[567 - 569] It's kind of incredible.
[569 - 571] I mean, when you're looking at this brown mixture
[571 - 575] of grated vegetable, how is this gonna turn into something
[575 - 577] that I want to eat for dessert?
[577 - 579] It's pretty magical.
[579 - 581] I thought this was so, so good.
[581 - 586] The last recipe I made was roasted zucchini.
[586 - 588] And I followed these particular instructions
[588 - 590] from chef Thomas Keller.
[590 - 595] And I think this is the dish that surprised me the most,
[595 - 596] though it may not have been my favorite.
[596 - 598] You begin by taking a couple of zucchini,
[598 - 602] splitting them lengthwise, and then scoring them
[602 - 604] in a cross hatch manner.
[604 - 608] So there's a diagonal grid across all halves.
[608 - 610] Then you salt it as evenly as possible,
[610 - 612] and let it sit for about 20 minutes.
[612 - 614] And you can see immediately
[614 - 617] there's water pooling on the surface.
[617 - 620] So you blot off as much moisture as you can.
[620 - 622] Then those halves are seared in a pan
[622 - 624] with a minimal amount of oil,
[624 - 627] at just sort of a moderate high temperature.
[627 - 632] You're just getting as even of an initial caramelization as possible.
[632 - 633] And that just takes about five minutes,
[634 - 635] maybe a little bit more.
[635 - 637] And then the whole pan goes in the oven
[637 - 640] for 20 to 30 minutes,
[640 - 643] or until they're at the tenderness that you desire.
[643 - 645] Earlier, I made the sauce,
[645 - 646] which is this sauce vierge.
[646 - 649] And I started by peeling tomatoes.
[649 - 653] So I cored them, made an X on the backend.
[653 - 656] Then I boiled them for less than a minute,
[656 - 658] or until I could see the skin coming away,
[658 - 661] and then immediately shocked them in ice water,
[661 - 663] and then completely peeled them.
[663 - 666] And then I removed any tough center that the tomatoes had,
[666 - 667] and then dice them.
[667 - 670] And then the sauce was just combining this tomato,
[670 - 673] some minced shallot, minced parsley,
[673 - 676] some oil, salt, and vinegar.
[676 - 678] And I did this well in advance of starting the squash
[678 - 681] so that the flavor had a chance to develop.
[681 - 683] The instructions were to cook the squash
[683 - 684] until completely soft.
[684 - 687] I pulled mine out in about 20 minutes.
[687 - 689] And this was the first surprising result,
[689 - 691] which is that there's pretty big inconsistency
[691 - 694] between the different halves of squash.
[694 - 698] Some were very even, one was way overdone
[698 - 699] compared to the rest.
[699 - 702] Even though the technique seemed dead simple,
[702 - 706] there was a lot of potential for variation and outcome,
[706 - 709] which had an effect on the final flavor.
[709 - 711] Then it was a matter of plating the squash halves,
[711 - 714] and spooning over some this sauce vierge.
[714 - 716] And so the most surprising part of this dish
[716 - 719] was how good it really was.
[719 - 723] And I know that this plate can appear sort of underwhelming,
[723 - 726] it's just zucchini halves and some tomato on a plate, right?
[726 - 728] The most caramelized sections of that squash
[728 - 730] were almost candy sweet.
[730 - 732] And they were extremely tasty.
[732 - 734] And then you have this sauce vierge,
[734 - 737] which is all sort of acidic, sharp flavor.
[737 - 741] And so the pieces that were evenly caramelized,
[741 - 743] and even when flipping and plating them,
[743 - 748] where I could preserve those caramelized little side bits,
[748 - 749] that made a big difference
[749 - 752] to the final flavor on this plate.
[752 - 755] If I could stretch an analogy, maybe I would say
[755 - 758] what a charcuterie board is to a pork chop,
[758 - 762] this roasted zucchini plate is to a ratatouille.
[762 - 766] It's just this singular taste of summer vegetable.
[766 - 768] So that was my zucchini journey, I had a lot of fun,
[768 - 769] I hope you enjoyed watching.
[769 - 771] If there are any zucchini recipes
[771 - 772] that you think I should know about,
[772 - 774] I would love to hear about 'em.
[774 - 776] But otherwise, thank you for watching.
[776 - 779] (slow jazzy music)