Fritter me this: How to use extra zucchini

This year has been a banner one for my garden, which has been bolstered by all the time I spend at home, by being the one outdoor space I have to use and by all the extra time I can devote to it that normally I would spend commuting every day.

One of the banner crops that really has pushed its way through the garden, going so far as to knock over a corn stalk, is the zucchini.

I have so many of them and I have absolutely no doubt that you, or maybe your neighbor, or maybe just the person down the street, is just like me and drowning in a sea of zucchini.

That’s where fritters come in.

Fritter is a broad term ftor potatoes, zucchini, fruit, meat, dough and probably many more things, that have been combined and are fried. In this case, the recipe is kind of like latkes (also called potato pancakes), but with zucchini, instead.

The comparison is important because potatoes and zucchini are jam packed with lots of water that needs to be removed before they are turned into fritters. It’s the same process that goes into preparing decent hash browns, although usually hand power gets them dry enough for the skillet.

In this recipe, salt will help drain the water out of the shredded zucchini, with the aid of a strainer. That only gets so much water out, so there is a second step. Either the shreds can be wrung by hand or they can be balled up into a dish towel and wrung out as the towel is twisted. I find the dish towel applies enough force to get most of the water out.

The other reason I chose to write about fritters is they go great with two other recipes I’ve already shared in previous columns, mainly, tzatziki and hummus. Both make great dips for fritters.

Dill plays a starring role in the tzatziki and it goes great in the fritters, as well. Most herbs would do well as a seasoning, but since I like to pair them with tzatziki, I always reach for dill, first. It does not hurt that the dill has also been having a banner year, since it has not yet been pushed over or smothered by the zucchini.

One thing that most fritters need is some kind of binder. Here, I use eggs and crumbled feta, as well as a little bit of flour.

When it comes to the frying, use a lot of oil if you really want to go for that deep-fried taste or use a lot less if you’re using a nonstick pan. I use cast iron skillets, so a little oil goes a long way. Alternatively, the fritters could be baked in the oven.

detailed EIR.

The Mojave ground squirrel was on the endangered species list and an expert was dispatched to Palmdale to scout the huge spread of desert. At one point, he thought he might have seen one of the creatures … but wasn’t sure. But the EIR required years to complete and cost way more than $1 million.

In the meantime, City of Palmdale officials made a number of trips to Washington D.C. to talk to Air Force officials about leasing a 54-acre portion of AF Plant 42’s 5,700 acres.

When an agreement was reached, the L.A. Department of Airports built a half-million-dollar terminal building north of Avenue P near 20th Street East. The facility was opened in July 1971, with ceremonial fanfare.

Since then at least seven airlines have initiated flights to and from the terminal but all have discontinued their efforts when they were unable to achieve profitability.

During the 41 years since the airport project was announced, the name has been changed from the Palmdale Intercontinental Airport to Palmdale International Airport and the interim terminal became the Palmdale Regional Airport.

In 2006, attempting to give the airport more big-city clout, the department (now called Los Angeles World Airports) renamed the terminal LA/Palmdale Regional Airport.

United Express was the last operator flying in and out of the terminal. The operation began on June 7, 2007, with a grand total of about $4.6 million in donated stimulus money to underwrite the operation for 18 months.

But the destination chosen by United was San Francisco and most Antelope Valley residents wanted an eastward airport so they could connect to other flights across the continent or across the Atlantic.

There were also complaints about fares being significantly higher than flights connecting LAX and San Francisco.

Scheduled bus runs linking Van Nuys and Palmdale Airport were provided by Los Angeles County to encourage residents of San Fernando and other portions of the L.A. Basin to avoid traffic nightmares in the Sepulveda Pass and in the vicinity of LAX.

The Antelope Valley Freeway provides a relatively easy drive except when commuters are headed to or from work in the L.A. area.

And parking has always been free at Palmdale Airport.

As the nation’s economy began stalling in 2008, the lack of passengers doomed the United operation to an unhappy landing which occurred in December of last year as the contract ran out.

LA World Airports still owns the massive chunk of real estate that extends all the way to 110th Street East. Some portions of the property continue to be used for agriculture but there are no runways and the land is an airport in name only.

In November of 2008, the city of Palmdale announced it would take over the lease of the terminal, parking lot and taxiways.

At the time, it was reported that LAWA officials decided that they would no longer operate the airport or include it in plans to reduce air traffic at LAX.

Palmdale officials will try to attract another carrier in the future but the nation’s severe recession may stretch out the time line for many months.