What to do with Zucchini

By Sandy Hu
A new video for Video Friday

Zucchini is the poster child for summer‘s largesse. There’s so much of it that you begin to wonder, what else is left to do with this prolific ingredient?

For an easy side dish, I like to cut zucchini in half lengthwise, cook in olive oil on both sides until softened, then season with sea salt, a few grindings of black pepper, and top with grated lemon peel or Parmesan cheese. I dice it to incorporate into Chinese fried rice and slice it for pizzas or green salads.

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Grate Your Way to Great Risotto!

By Katie Barreira

Shredding the ingredients is the secret behind this seasonal risotto.

Delicata Squash: As its name suggests, this thin-skinned squash has supple flesh and a sweet, delicate flavor. Unlike a thick, gummy puree or chunky pieces, shredded squash incorporates seamlessly into risotto, while still retaining its fresh squash taste and toothsome texture.

To prep, trim the ends then use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin. Halve the squash lengthwise then use a measuring spoon (they have sharper edges than a soup spoon) to remove the seeds. You can grate by hand on a box grater, but the best way is to use the food processor fitted with the shredding disk.

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Marry Myself Chicken

By Katie Barreira

In 2004, Glamour magazine printed a recipe for “Engagement Chicken,” an oven-roasted, lemony meal for two, fabled to have set wedding bells a ringin’ for a number of staffers. Since then, women across the country have reported stories of domestic bliss beginning with the nurturing flavor of an engagement chicken in the oven.

Now, the magazine has assembled a cookbook’s worth of such buzz-generating meals called, “100 Recipes every Woman Should Know,”featuring classics like the “He Stayed Over Omelet” and “Let’s Make a Baby Pasta.”

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All Hail the Bench Scraper

By Katie Barreira

If you’re a cooking newbie, chances are you don’t own a bench scraper. Perhaps you’ve never even heard of such a thing, and unless you’re a closet baker, why would you have?

The simple, but highly utilitarian tool was conceived by and for pastry chefs, who use the thin metal blade to cleanly portion bread dough, gently lift the edges of a sticking pie crust and scrape up the pesky scraps from their kneading surface. For these functions alone, I would highly recommend the $8 investment to any budding baker.

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