Zucchini Fritters with Israeli Couscous

The inspiration for this dish came from Food & Wine's most recent issue on travel. There was a section about Istanbul, Turkey, with some awesome food pictured. I saw these zucchini fritters and checked out the recipe. They suggested serving the fritters with champagne, and since I had a beautiful bottle of Veuve, I went for it. I found a great recipe on epicurious for Israeli Couscous with fresh parsley, lemon, and pine nuts. Because I only needed enough for two, I checked the "review's section and used another person's suggested proportions. Yum!

Zucchini Fritters over Israeli Couscous with Pine Nuts and Parsley

Zucchini Fritters

Ingredients:
4 medium zucchini, coarsely shredded
Kosher salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup chopped dill
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped mint
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Freshly ground pepper

Vegetable Oil, for frying

Directions:
1. Pile the shredded zucchini in a colander and sprinkle with 1 TB salt. Toss the zucchini well and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible and transfer the zucchini to a large bowl. Stir in  the eggs, flour, dill, parsley, mint, and the feta. Stir in 1/2 tsp of pepper and refrigerate the fritter batter for about 10 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, heat 1/2 inch of vegetable oil on medium/high heat. Set a paper towel-covered baking sheet or plate near the stove.
4. Working in batches, drop rounded tablespoons of the fritter batter into the hot oil and fry, turning the fritters a few times, until browned and crisp.
5. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fritters to the paper towels and repeat with remaining fritter batter.
6. Discard the paper towels and reheat the fritters in the oven for about 3 minutes (I did this as the last batch was frying so that they were all hot and ready to go. Serve hot.
Serving suggestion that we did not follow: serve with a cucumber-yogurt sauce.

Toasted Israeli Couscous with Pine Nuts and Parsley

Ingredients:
Here are the proportions for a bigger meal:

• 5 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2/3 cup pine nuts (about 3 1/2 ounces)
• 2/3 cup finely chopped shallots
• 3 cups (16 ounces) Israeli toasted couscous
• 1 large cinnamon stick
• 2 fresh or dried bay leaves
• 3 3/4 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup minced fresh Italian parsley

Here are the proportions I used, as suggested in the reviews section (for 2-3 people)

3/4 cup couscous 

3 TB butter

1/4 cup chopped onions or shallots

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock plus 1/2 cup water 

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon ( I used a dash)

1 bay leaf

zest from one lemon

1/4 cup parsley 

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Melt 1 TB butter in sauce pan over medium low heat ( do not let it get too hot at this point!)--saute pine nuts for about 5 minutes, until golden. Remove pine nuts from pan and set aside for later. 

2. In the same pan, melt the remaining butter and saute the onions on medium heat for about 10 minutes.

3. Add couscous, cinnamon, and bay leaf. Saute for 5 minutes

4. Add stock and water, along with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover, stirring occasionally, until all liquid is absorbed and couscous is cooked completely.

6. Stir in parsley, lemon zest, and pine nuts. Enjoy!