I discover Parmesan

Last night's menu was, well...kind of a bust. Makes me sad to have spent all that time in the kitchen with only a decent meal to show for it and a sinkful of dishes. Dinner was a far cry from fabulous. Wait, scratch that. I'm delighted to have learned yet another cooking lesson the hard way! What I don't know about cooking technique could fill a book. Or an entire Congressional Library.

Lesson: read the recipe ALL the way through before starting...

But before I learned this valuable life lesson, I took a field trip to the grocery store's specialty cheese case and shelled out for a small wedge of real Parmegiano-Reggiano. I haven't used those mega corporation green shaker bottles of "parmesan cheese" in years, but I have been using the pre-shredded giant Costco bag out of convenience (although hauling out a giant 5 lb bag from the freezer is not entirely convenient either). I was curious how much better a chunk of real parmesan with the rind could be. (I plan on saving the rind for my homemade chicken stock freezer bag per advice from the marvelous Mark Bittman!) I have on occasion bought national brand hunks of parmesan although I can't remember the last time I did. I've been sticking with cheese by Costco.

Although I already knew the answer since she would be happy to survive on Atkins induction, I asked my daughter, "Do you like cheese Avery?"

"Yes. Do you like cheese Mom?"

"Yup."

"Hmmm... but I thought you only liked Free Samples?"

She's very astute for a 4-year old. Yes, mama likes free samples. Did I mention the cheese case has free samples?!

So I knew dinner would feature some sort of parmesan smackdown and zucchini the size of a lightsaber. I've got a bit of summer squash left although the season ended quite abruptly when our nighttime temperatures dropped to the 30's this week. I flipped to my dogeared EatingWell magazine to Parmesan-Squash Cakes (the magazine is well read, but ill followed in my household).  I settled on a casual weeknight menu of broiled catfish (again, from Costco) with a mayo/herb/parmesan topping, parmesan-squash cakes and broiled veggies. I'm on a broiler kick this week - all broiled, all the time!

EatingWell's Parmesan-Squash Cakes

• 1 large egg
• 2/3 cup finely chopped shallots (I used mild fresh onions from my CSA)
  
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley (used curly parsley from my garden)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups shredded seeded summer squash
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used the Costco pre-shredded)
  
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Beat egg in a large bowl. Stir in shallots, parsley, salt and pepper. Place shredded squash in the center of a clean kitchen towel; gather up the ends and twist to squeeze out any liquid. Add the squash and cheese to the bowl; stir to combine. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pack a 1/3-cup measuring cup with the squash mixture and unmold it into the pan; gently pat it down to form a 3-inch cake. Repeat, making 4 squash cakes. Cook until browned and crispy on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes. Gently turn the cakes over and transfer the pan to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
 

Problem: Despite wringing out the zucchini, it was still too moist. As it rested in the mixing bowl, it continued to leach water which made it harder for the cakes to keep their shape in the pan. I decided to use up the Costco cheese in the squash cakes and use the new real stuff on the catfish topping.

Problem: The EatingWell recipe said to heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Done. Then as it heated I realized it needed to be a large OVENSAFE nonstick skillet, which I don't own. I scrapped the heated nonstick pan and grabbed my oven safe skillet which is definitely not non-stick. In fact, it's super duper ultra stick.

Problem: Apparently my oven runs cool and my stove runs hot because the bottom of my cakes burned... That's my story and I'm sticking to it. (Speaking of sticking...I need a recommendation for an oven-safe nonstick pan!)

I broiled my catfish for 3 minutes, flipped, broiled the other side for 2 minutes and then added my topping: 3 TB lemonaise light, 1 TB lemon juice, fresh basil, salt & pepper, 1 minced garlic clove and 1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan. (adjusting this recipe for Broiled Tilapia Parmesan from AllRecipes.com)

While everything was cooking, I tasted the Costco parmesan next to a small slice of the new parmesan. Pretty good but didn't knock my socks off. However, after grating the new parmesan, the new fluffy fresh grated stuff was... OH MY! The Costco cheese is tasty enough, but real fresh fluffy parmesan is like cheese snow falling from the Tuscan sky! Maybe that's a bit of an overstatement, but a few turns of a Zyliss grater (a neglected hand-me down which will now be in hot demand in my kitchen) and voila - next stop Flavor Town.

Problem: I used frozen, partially thawed Brussels Sprouts in my broiled veggies imagining that they would of course caramelize just as the fresh ones do. As they thawed and cooked, their moisture made all the veggies soggy instead of crisply roasted. Crap.

My broiled veggies were soggy. My parmesan-squash cakes didn't hold their shape and weren't crispy, but their flavor was pretty good despite the Costco cheese which is now sadly second rate. I'd love to try it again with actual shallots instead of onion and the good stuff that I scored from the cheesecase. At least the catfish turned out well. The fresh parmesan added a melt-in-your-mouth goodness to the fish.

Looking back, I should have used the good cheese in both dishes, but now I know better. Yes my menu was frought with more problems than a counseling session between Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake, but I learned a valuable lesson. Read the recipe all the way through, or just eat freshly grated parmesan for dinner.