Round Steak with Zucchini Fritters and Tomatoes

I have to admit its been rough trying to get a recipe right.  I swore to do my own recipes by not rushing off to Google every idea that popped into my head.  Tonight's dinner was a home run in that department.
I started off with the idea of using up the two zucchini I had on the counter before I go out tomorrow to harvest more.  They were getting a little on the hard side and I knew I would need to shred them so I thought, "my not give zucchini pancakes a try?"  I ran to the computer and entered the search term, then slowly backspaced as I realized I needed to try this myself.
The basics I knew.  Zucchini, eggs, and some kind of breading.  I wanted to avoid flour because really I wasn't looking for a "pancake".  Breaking out my trusty food processor I plucked the zucchini  from their resting place with the yellow squash waiting to be frozen and started to cut it up.  Each long piece went into the processor quickly becoming shredded green bliss (can you tell I love zucchini?) I also shredded in one very small (size of my palm) sweet onion. Now here's the hard part....waiting.  You want the zucchini to be as dry as possible to once it is all shredded you'll need to put it into a colander with about 2-3 tsp of salt.  Mix it up and let it sit for 20-30 minutes.  The salt will draw the moisture out of the zucchini.  After time as pasted put the zucchini into a large square of cheese cloth (paper towels will work too though you need quite a few) and wring the zucchini out.  Keep pressing until all the moisture is out then turn it into a bowl.  In a separate bowl combine 2 eggs, a tsp of mayo, 1/4 tsp of garlic pepper, 1/4 tsp salt and a couple dashes of pepper.  Whisk this together then pour it in with the zucchini.  Mix the zucchini and eggs together, it will be quiet moist.  In a shallow dish add 1 cup of corn meal.  Heat a skillet adding 1-2 tbsp of olive oil.  When hot (pan sizzles when sprinkled with cold water) form the zucchini mixture into a patty, this will be messy and drop on top of the corn meal.  Use your hands to pull cornmeal onto the top of the patty then carefully pick the patty up and drop into the skillet.  Depending on your patty size you could get 5-8 patties.  Let cook 2-3 minutes or until golden brown on one side, then turn and cook another 2-3 minutes. 
Now to the leftover cornmeal I added seasoning salt, stirred to combine and then dredge two round steaks.  I added these to another pan I heated with more olive oil and cooked 5-7 minutes on each side or medium rare.  You can of course cook them to your desired doneness.  I found the cornmeal added a nice crust that did not burn like flour or bread crumbs.
I decided after plating the steak and zucchini cakes that I needed a sauce.  This is a very simple sauce.  To a small bowl add about 2-3 tbsp of ranch dressing, a half tsp grated horseradish and a couple two or three dashes of hot sauce.  Mix together and spread over the cakes.  As a palette cleanser and for some color on the plate I cut up 2 small tomatoes and fanned 4 slices over each plate.

I wish I could find my camera because this was divine!  The flavor of the onions and zucchini with the horseradish married beautifully.  Each bite wasn't overpowered by one flavor or another, but yet you could pick out the onion, then the horseradish, with the sweet tint of zucchini.  The steak was just done enough to melt as I bit into it, the seasoning salt and coarseness of the cornmeal brought out flavors I had been missing before, and the tomatoes and their sweetness definitely brought that cleansing level to the dish I was looking for, as I alternated bites of zucchini with bites of steak and tomato.

When your husband makes it a point to say,  "write that recipe down" you know you have a keeper.

Going for it - Small Town Home Cook

I love love watching Food Networks "The Next Food Network Star".  It is so inspiring to see real cooks on the show.  By real I mean the ones that learned from traditions passed on by generations not from some fancy school.  Now I am not by any means knocking cooking schools.  I would love to attend one myself to get a better grasp on some of the less commonly used cooking skills and how to cut veggies like a pro.  No, I just like seeing someone like myself become something just because of what they love to do....cook for their family and friends. 

I have decided that I would like to get on the road to becoming someone the Food Network might pick for this show.  I sat down the other night and came up with several things I believed I would need to work on to accomplish this goal.  Here they are in no particular order:

1. Purchase more fresh fruits, veggies and meats.  I rely to much sometimes on processed, frozen and pre-packaged meals.  I enjoy cooking and it's about time I did more of it.
2. Work on my speaking skills.  Anyone who knows me well knows I can talk and talk.  That's problem number one, I don't always know when to stop and tend to over share as a result.  Problem number two is a tongue twister, literally.  I think faster than I speak and sometimes I change thoughts, or think of a different word to use and end up creating new words, or going off topic.
3. Start creating my own recipes rather than using others.  I already do this to some extent.  Many of my concoctions are rather good, but I never write them down so it is hard to duplicate them later.  That does not mean I will stop altering recipes but it does mean you will start to see more original content on this blog.
4. Become popular.  This is a laugh but many of the contestants this year list their professions as a "food blogger".  Now I haven't googled them yet to see what they blog about, whether it's their own food, others food, restaurants or what. They can cook and cook really well so I imagine it's about their own food and with this blog I am on the right path, just have to keep things interesting,  up beat and up to date.
5. Keep it simple.  That's my philosophy.  Every Food Network host has a food point of view and with this I have come up with, "Small Town Home Cook" the new title of my blog.  I'll focus only on foods that I can purchase from my local grocer.  Some weeks my feature the obscure but that will be because my grocer has decided to feature it as well.  Part of being a small town home cook should involve fresh garden vegetables and as those grow I'll be looking forward to using them.

I hope you all enjoy the new path I am on.  Now I don't know if I will ever put in an application to the ""Next Food Network Star" but I do hope that this brings a whole new take on my food journey.  Let me cook.