Ron's View

I wrote three weeks ago about the giant zucchinis we discovered in our garden. We brought in nine of them, which was about eight too many as far as I could tell. We gave a few away, let the others sit, and then Gail went to Boston to help Joel close up his apartment. So when they returned (landing at 2:10 AM this past Saturday), we still had zucchini to eat. Monday morning Joel came up with the solution: zucchini pancakes, following Mark Bittman’s recipe in How to Cook Everything.

Joel made the pancakes that morning, cooked one as a trial — a success, and refrigerated the rest. Gail bought lamb chops later in the day and last night we had a stupendous dinner. Joel cooked the lamb chops on the grill while Gail fried the zucchini pancakes. To complement them, Gail prepared an arugula and fennel salad with a plum salsa to put on both the salad and the lamb chops. Add to that a Wilson Winery 2005 reserve Zinfandel, purchased during the very first stop of our Healdsburg area wine-tasting trip last October, and we were all set.

I am lucky to live with two great cooks. Unfortunately, Joel is here just for the week before heading to France. I look forward to his culinary discoveries on his return.