Crispy Zucchini Fritters with Basil & Goat Cheese

& pausing paid subscriptions

Aug 26, 2024

Hello! Thank you for all the kindness in response to my last post, An August Menu. I was delighted by how many of you actually made the menu and reached out to me with photos and thoughts, so thank you! I think we’re onto something there, so a monthly menu may become a new feature on The Dish. September, I’m taking notes; Brooklyn friends, please come over and eat.

A little housekeeping to start: I’m pausing paid subscriptions for a while. This decision is primarily because I started a full-time job (which is going great, thank you!), and I want this newsletter to feel like a joyful creative practice rather than a responsibility. Although I do believe that it can occupy both categories, I want it to exist firmly in the former for now. Paid subscribers, thank you so much for your support, and when I eventually re-launch paid subscriptions, I’ll be sure to give you fair warning. xx

Now, back to regularly scheduled programming!

On life —

We spent last weekend in the Nashville area to celebrate my cousin John’s wedding to the lovely Rebekah. The humidity was so high that walking outside felt like swimming, but it didn’t detract from the wedding’s beauty — a cross-cultural event that embraced Rebekah’s Indian heritage through music, dancing, and ceremony.

There are Tennesseans on both sides of my family, so when we weren’t at wedding events, we hung out with my aunt, uncle, and cousins from the other side. We floated in their pool, drank beer, ate hot chicken, listened to country music, and felt very Nashville all around. And don’t think we missed a trip to Waffle House, where we demolished far too many waffles and far too much cured pork and consequently weren’t hungry for the rest of the day.

On Sunday, our flight to New York got canceled due to Hurricane Ernesto, and we found ourselves stuck in the Nashville airport with no plan to get home. We couldn’t find another flight home that made sense and wasn’t outrageously expensive, so we had a speedy brainstorm and made a seat-of-our-pants decision to rent a car, drive to Ohio, spend the night in a motel, and take an affordable early morning flight out of Cincinnati. Believe it or not: it was the economical decision! The whole predicament was ridiculous to the point of hilarity, and we laughed our way through our four-hours-long, Cheez-It-fueled car ride.

Back in New York, I’m just over a week into my new job as a food editor at Jow, where everyone has been welcoming and helpful. A big part of my job is developing approachable dishes with minimal ingredients, and it’s a fun puzzle to write recipes that are as simple as they can possibly be without sacrificing flavor. And since Jow is a French company, based in Paris, I’ll get to take business trips there, which feels QUITE glamorous and grown-up to me. I’m already saving Parisian places I want to visit (read: eat at) on Google Maps, and I’m reading Ruth Reichl’s latest book, The Paris Novel, for a dose of the City of Light in the meantime.

On food —

One culinary discovery of the week was this very Roman recipe for Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cake, adapted from Melissa Weller. It’s rich, just-sweet-enough, and dense in a good way — the kind of cake you want to eat in little wedges throughout the day as you pass through the kitchen. I love the combination of fresh raspberries and dark chocolate more than most things in life, so I think next time I’ll add tart raspberries to cut through the chocolate-studded cake.

Another delicious thing I cooked at home this week were Zucchini Fritters with Basil and Goat Cheese, an invention that came about from an afternoon craving for something crispy and hot off the skillet. Here’s the recipe, which makes the right amount for four as a little pre-dinner snack.

Crispy Zucchini Fritters with Basil & Goat Cheese
Ingredients:
2 medium zucchini
Kosher salt
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
¼ cup basil, slivered
Black pepper
¼ cup goat cheese
Olive oil
Lemon wedges, for serving
Directions:
Line a bowl with a clean dish towel. Coarsely grate the zucchini into the bowl and toss with a generous pinch of salt. Let sit for 10 minutes or so, then use the towel to wring out as much liquid as possible from the zucchini.
Transfer the grated zucchini to a bowl (perhaps the same one, cleared of excess liquid!). Add the flour, egg, and herbs and season with salt and pepper. Mix until just combined. Add the goat cheese in teaspoon-sized blobs. Gently stir to combine.
Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, drop the batter in heaping tablespoonfuls, without crowding them. Use the back of a spoon to gently press them into mini pancakes. Cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 2-3 min per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt.
Serve hot! Squeeze with lemon just before eating.