Summer Squash: One Way

I love how on Top Chef the contestants are always preparing things two ways.  Chicken, roasted and stuffed with figs and cheese on one side of the plate, and chicken liver with fig sauce and chestnuts on the other. (In case you're wondering, I just made that up.) It's always done with serious technique and plated in a fancy way, both things on the same plate, and topped with foam or a complicated reduction. Things I don't do in my humble little kitchen.

Summer squash has been in our box for the past couple of weeks. I've been feeling relief that we don't grow our own squash in our tiny garden. I've heard rumors of people with overwhelming amounts. You can't give the stuff away this time of year.

But we get just the right amount; enough to prepare squash one way this week, and a different way the next. Unlike gardeners and Top Chef contestants, there's no pressure on us to get it all on the plate at once.

Here's squash one way:

Josh made fried squash sticks that were pretty amazing. He cut the long yellow squash into sticks battered and deep fried them. He loves to do two things: grill (charcoal only, please) and fry. He does a lot of other cooking, but I suspect these are his two favorites. It balances out, because I don't like to do either.

I had him give me the recipe. True to form for us both, the quantities are vague. We really must get more disciplined about these things! Here's a run-down:

After cutting the squash into these nice little sticks, he dipped it in flour. He mixed one egg into a cup of milk, then soaked the squash in this egg wash for one hour. When the hour was up, he dredged the squash in a mixture of flour, corn meal, garlic powder, and salt and pepper, then deep fried them in hot oil until they turned golden brown. Drain on paper towels and enjoy.