Batter Fried Zucchini

Three zucchini were ready for picking today! We planted six zucchini plants, thinking that they wouldn't all thrive. But they are all huge, and they each have about 10 zucchini or zucchini flowers growing on them. While I was out visiting the zucchini, I kept thinking about that line in Robots, "Brace yourself; you're about to get very popular." Except I was thinking, "Brace yourself, you're about to get a lot of zucchini." Good thing it's versatile. I am thinking zucchini bread, zucchini cookies, frozen shredded zucchini, zucchini soup, zucchini stir fry, dehydrated zucchini chips....we're going to be eating a lot of zucchini.

But tonight when I picked my first three, I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do with them: Batter Fried Zucchini. That's gotta be a first harvest tradition. They are SO good! I thought I would share the joy in case there are similarly zucchini swamped friends out there.

Batter Fried Zucchini (I got this recipe from cooks.com, by the way)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp. parsley flakes (I didn't have any so I used Italian seasoning, and it was still really good)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
milk
zucchini

Slice the zucchini to about 1/2 inch thick.

Combine all the dry ingredients and then add the egg. Slowly add milk to make batter about the thickness of pancake batter. (too think and it won't stick to the zucchini, too thin and it will just run off--you want it to coat the zucchini fairly thick.)

Pour about 1/3 inch oil in a pan and heat over medium heat (you don't want the batter to cook too quickly). Dip the zucchini slices in the batter and slide into the oil. Turn over when they are golden brown on one side. Take out with a slotted spoon when the batter is golden brown all over, and drain on a paper towel.

These are delicious plain, but I like to dip them in ranch dressing or/and make a mayo/mustard dipping sauce . They are SO good! We also had corn on the cob and a bean and ham soup that I'd frozen awhile ago. Dev made cornbread to go with it. It was delicious! I LOVE how in the summer season when we get to eat fresh produce for most of our meals!

If you try them, let me know what you think!