Zucchini Pancakes

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I cooked my first meal for the blog...from one of my many cookbooks; and that meal was Zucchini Pancakes. The recipe came from Ina Garten's cookbook: "Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again". Now... At first... One might not think these pancakes would taste very good. However... When I looked at the photo in the cookbook, they looked very appetizing. Looking at the recipe incredredients: they were very simple, and easily attained at any grocery store. I had most of the ingredients, and went to the store to get the zucchini, onion, and baking powder to finish getting what I needed. The instructions were easy to follow, but there was one instruction (the amount of flour needed)...that did not seem to make the pancake batter the right consistency. It called for no more than 8 tablespoons of flour, and I had to almost double that... This might not happen to you, but just wanted to give you a heads up. Don't be afraid to add more flour if you need it. The only thing that I could think of that would account for this discrepancy, is that maybe the zucchini I purchased was too large. It called for two medium size zucchini's (which is what I thought I purchased)...but maybe they were the large ones. It also called for the zucchini to be shredded. I did not realize that my shredder was still in storage, so I had to compromise. I had a slicer that sliced veggies really thin. Once I did that with both zucchini's...I chopped them up into small pieces. Wasn't sure how they were going to turn out, but it was my first attempt, and wanted to go for it. I also realized that I ended up getting the wrong onion. It called for a red onion, and I ended up getting a sweet onion. I guess I must have had another recipe on my mind, and mixed the two up. I went ahead and added it to the mixture, anyway. I imagine the red onion would give it a different distinctive flavor, but I wasn't running back to the store for an onion. LOL The batter will be slightly runny than normal pancake batter, but this is okay; because they quickly began to form once I placed them in the iron skillet. An iron skillet is not necessary, but I prefer it when it comes to making pancakes. The recipe also required a different twist that I never thought of before. Ina said she mixes a little butter with her oil when frying these. She also suggested to wipe out the pan with a dry paper towel after each batch; but quite frankly...I forgot to do this (LOL)...but it did not seem to hinder the cooking process. I cooked the first couple of batches on high heat, but quickly needed to turn the burner down to about 5-6, to keep the heat from burning the pancakes. Amazingly... It made about 20 miniature pancakes. I would not recommend going too big (which I tried to do)...because cooking time will be longer with the zucchini in them...and you don't want to risk burning the pancakes. Results: Surprisingly... These little bad boys ended up tasting pretty good! Who would have thought that zucchini pancakes could taste this delicious? Ina recommends cooking them for kids (like her mother did for them)...to help get more veggies into their diet that they would never eat. According to the research I have done...zucchini has a lot of nutritional value, especially the skin. However... Fair warning!!! The outside of the zucchini is made of wax, and probably has a lot of pestiside residue on them, so scrubbing them with a clean brush that is only used for food, will make them safer. You can also peel the zucchini, or buy organic ones like I did...then you will be just fine with a light rinse. I also decided to put a little spin on it (which I normally will eventually end up tweaking most of my recipes {not baking})...by topping a few of them with a little white sugar. Not a lot...just a light coating. It added just enough sweetness to turn them into a tasty dessert. I ate the first couple of pancakes without anything, and I now know why Ina puts butter in the frying oil. The butter taste really came out in the pancakes, so more was not even necessary after cooking. That buttery favor really made them yummy! You can try other favorites, like honey, powder sugar...even maybe syrup to these pancakes, and they probably will be just as tasty, or just eat them as savory dish. BTW: Don't worry if you don't have a shredder. If you have a way to thinly slice your zucchini, you can chopped them up in small chunks, and they will work just fine. But nevertheless... This is definitely one recipe that I would recommend in this cookbook.