Zucchini Poppers With Sour Cream Dip Recipes

Steps:

• Place zucchini in a saucepan, and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a food processor or blender. Process until smooth. Add the garlic, sugar, and oregano, and process until blended.
• Transfer the pureed mixture to a serving bowl, and stir in the mayonnaise. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Steps:

• Trim ends off zucchini and grate them either on the large holes of a box grater or, if you have one, using the shredding blade of a food processor. The latter is my favorite as I'm convinced it creates the coarsest and most rope-like strands and frankly, I like my fritters to look like mops.
• In a large bowl, toss zucchini with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and set aside for 10 minutes. Wring out the zucchini in one of the following ways: pressing it against the holes of a colander with a wooden spoon to extract the water, squeezing out small handfuls at a time, or wrapping it up in a clean dishtowel or piece of cheese cloth and wringing away. You'll be shocked (I was!) by the amount of liquid you'll lose, but this is a good thing as it will save the fritters from sogginess.
• Return deflated mass of zucchini shreds to bowl. Taste and if you think it could benefit from more salt (most rinses down the drain), add a little bit more; we found 1/4 teaspoon more just right. Stir in scallions, ginger, garlic, lemon zest, and egg and some freshly ground black pepper. In a tiny dish, stir together flour and baking powder, then stir the mixture into the zucchini batter.
• In a large heavy skillet - cast iron is dreamy here - heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Drop small bunches of the zucchini mixture onto the skillet only a few at a time so they don't become crowded and lightly nudge them flatter with the back of your spatula. Cook the fritters over moderately high heat until the edges underneath are golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. If you find this happening too quickly, reduce the heat to medium. Flip the fritters and fry them on the other side until browned underneath again, about 2 to 3 minutes more. Drain briefly on paper towels then transfer to baking sheet and then into the warm oven until needed. Repeat process, keeping the pan well-oiled, with remaining batter. I like to make sure that the fritters have at least 10 minutes in the oven to finish setting and getting extra crisp.
• For the topping, if using, stir together the sauce ingredients and adjust the flavors to your taste. Dollop on each fritter before serving. These fritters are also delicious with a poached or fried egg on top, trust me.

Steps:

• Make dip:
• In small bowl, stir together sour cream, parsley, sugar, lime juice, salt, and pepper. (Dip can be prepared ahead and refrigerated, covered, up to 24 hours.)
• Make poppers:
• Line colander with clean kitchen towel or triple layer paper towels.
• In food processor, coarsely grate zucchini. (There should be about 3 cups.) Transfer to prepared colander. Wrap towel around zucchini, squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Transfer to medium bowl, then stir in egg and egg yolk, flour, Parmesan, sage, and garlic. Using hands, roll mixture into ¾-inch-diameter balls.
• In heavy large skillet over moderately high heat, heat 1/4-inch oil until hot but not smoking. Working in batches of 5, drop balls into oil and, using slotted spatula, flatten each ball to approximately 1 inch round.
• Fry poppers, turning once, until golden brown, 2 to 2½ minutes per side, then transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve warm or at room temperature with sour cream dip. (Poppers are best served right after frying, but can be prepared ahead and kept at room temperature up to 2 hours. If desired, rewarm in 350°F oven, turning once, 10 minutes.)

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, stir together the sour cream, horseradish and lemon juice. Season with salt, paprika, garlic salt and minced onion. Mix and then chill for about 20 minutes to let the flavors blend before you start dipping.