Welcome to My Kitchen

Somethings are better, made the old-fashioned way. When I was young and learning to cook and bake, my family, like most, did not own an electric mixer. If you were whipping cream or beating a cake mix you used a hand cranked set of beaters.

Youth participating in the Go Odessa Recreation Program, Cooking Class, learned to make hand mixed Chocolate Chip Cookies this past week. Additionally, they learned room temperature butter is about 66 degrees, for proper creaming of ingredients, and parchment paper makes cleanup following the baking much easier. They used a very old version of the Nestlé’s Original Toll House Cookies recipe.

Nestlé’s Original Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 package (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, using a wooden spoon, cream together butter and sugars until very creamy. Stir in vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until mixture is smooth.

Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until all the flour is mixed in. Then stir in the chocolate chips, and the nuts if using, until evenly distributed.

Drop dough by slightly rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake 9 to 11 minutes until edges are golden brown. Yield 4 1/4 to 5 dozen cookies.

Note: if you omit the nuts, you will have better formed cookies if you add 2 tablespoons extra flour to the recipe.

Zucchini and other summer squash continue to produce prolifically in area gardens. Keeping the developing squash picked while they are still tender will prolong the harvest, and they are delicious in many summer recipes. Don’t worry, you are bound to miss one that turns into the main ingredient for zucchini bread or relish.

Squash Croquettes calls for yellow summer squash, but any young tender squash will work. I tested the recipe with 6- to 8-inch-long zucchinis. Panko breadcrumbs create a crunchy coating to these fritter style vegetable pancakes. The recipe calls for self-rising flour, but you may use regular all-purpose flour and add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt per cup.

Squash Croquettes

4 cups shredded yellow summer squash

1 medium sweet onion, very finely diced

2 large eggs, beaten

1 cup self-rising flour

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp chopped chives

1 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Dash cayenne pepper

4 Tbsp vegetable oil

4 Tbsp butter

3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

Blot the shredded squash with paper towels to remove excess moisture.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix the shredded squash, diced onion and beaten eggs.

Add the self-rising flour, grated parmesan, chives, seasoned salt, garlic powder, cumin, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Mix well

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.

Using a tablespoon, divide mixture into 18 portions. Sprinkle each with panko crumbs and drop in heated pan, panko side down. Sprinkle the other side with panko crumbs.

Fry in batches, cooking until browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes each side. Keep warm until all are cooked, then serve immediately. Yield: about 4 servings.

Note: I found putting the crumbs in a shallow bowl and dropping the mixture in to coat was easier than trying to sprinkle each spoonful.

Squash Tots need a new name. They will never fool anyone into believing they are a tater-tots, but with suitable presentation many kids will like them. The original recipe comes from a site called Babaganosh, but I have changed it significantly.

After several test trials, I am calling them Veggie Nuggets.

Veggie Nuggets

1 1/5 pounds zucchini or yellow squash, finely grated

1/2 tsp salt

1 small egg

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 cup fine breadcrumbs

1/2 cup finely minced onion

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp fine ground black pepper

1 tsp finely crushed dried parsley

Place grated squash in a colander and toss gently with the salt and let stand. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Press liquid from squash in colander and combine with the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mixture should look like thick, lumpy paste. Form mixture into 24-30 tots and place on prepared pan.

Bake 25 to 35 minutes until deep golden brown. Serve immediately with ranch or other dipping sauce. Yield: about 4 servings or 24 tots.

Share your favorite summer vegetable recipes with your fellow readers by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Record-Times, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA 99159, email therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record Office. Check for sneaky weeds that take cover under flower bed and garden plants, robbing them of nutrients and water, and making seeds to sprout in the next year, and remove them before the seed pods burst