Monday, April 20, 2009

Weekend Herb Blogging #180 Announcement

I am honored to be the host of Weekend Herb Blogging #180. Weekend Herb Blogging is a food blog event that focuses on recipes and informational posts featuring herbs, vegetables and other plant ingredients. Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once is the coordinator of Weekend Herb Blogging and you can find out more about the event, who some upcoming guest hosts will be, as well as WHB roundup archives on her site.

Here are the rules for submitting an entry:

1. Entries to Weekend Herb Blogging must be posts written specifically for Weekend Herb Blogging. This means they cannot be cross-posted in other events.

2. Weekend Herb Blogging entries should have the goal of helping people learn about cooking with herbs or plant ingredients.

Only two types of entries will be accepted:
* Recipe posts where a herb or plant ingredient is one of the primary ingredients in the recipe
* Informative posts that spotlight one herb or plant ingredient, particularly including information about how they are used in cooking.
Naturally, posts can be a combination of both these criteria.

3. Posts must contain the phrase Weekend Herb Blogging with a link to the host for that week (The Crispy Cook) and to Cook (Almost) Anything at Least Once.

4. The posts may be written anytime during the week but you must email me with your submission at oldsaratogabooks AT gmail Dot com with WHB in the subject line by Sunday, April 26, 2009, 5 pm Eastern Standard Time. I will endeavor to have the roundup posted the next day.

5. In your email please include the following information:

* Your Name
* Your Blog Name/URL
* Your Post URL
* Your Location
* Attach a photo (250 pixels wide maximum)


You can catch last week's informative roundup which featured Rose Vinegar, Asparagus Souffled Omelet, Tanglad Juice, Stuffed Zucchini Flowers, Prickly Pears and Cabbage with Fresh Coconut, among other deliciousness in the tasty spread hosted by The Cabinet of Professor Kitty.

For my entry this week, I was inspired by reading Donna Leon's wonderful Venetian mysteries featuring the philosophical and stout-hearted Inspector Guido Brunetti. He is always in search of real truth and justice for the victims of the murders he investigates, despite the corruption swirling around the police and government offices, the grinding criminal justice system and his suspicious and vainglorious boss. Brunetti is enamored with his wife and children, his history books and his meals, which often are preceded by a glass of Prosecco. I searched out a bottle of this sparkling white wine and Dan and I enjoyed it while I prepared a version of Zucchini Trifolati, as mentioned in one of the most recent Brunetti books I inhaled.

I typically saute up coins of zucchini with garlic and basil and tomatoes from the garden all through August and September, but this time I wanted to try slicing my zucchini into thin ribbons with a vegetable peeler to make the dish a little differently and it was terrific. The zucchini gets soft and slippery almost like a noodle and cooks up very quickly. In this dish, I used slow-roasted tomatoes from last year's garden that were thawed from our freezer, so they added a nice rich flavor, but you could use canned plum tomatoes as a substitute.

Zucchini Trifolati


2 medium zucchinis, ends trimmed, cut in half widthwise, and then peeled into ribbons with a vegetable peeler (see photo below)



5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup roasted tomatoes (or drained meaty canned plum tomatoes)
2 Tbsp. basil leaves, rough chopped (mine came from the freezer)
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated Romano cheese for garnish

Heat olive oil in medium skillet. Add garlic and cook, stirring 2 minutes, or until golden. Add tomatoes and stir around 2-3 minutes. Add zucchini ribbons and cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes, or until nutty and crisp-tender. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with cheese.

Serves 4 as a side dish.

This is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging #180. I have already received some entries for this always-flavorful, always-delicious, foodie event, so feel free to join in the fun by the April 26 deadline.




1 comment:

Finla said...

I love zucchin and this looks so refreshinly delcious.
I also just send you the mail for the WHB.