Minted Zucchini Tagliatelle with Cucumbers and Lemon, this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice
If you read my Blog, it’s a given that I have great friends and a spectacular daughter. You already understand that. What you may not know is that as far as relationships with me, it’s usually Go or No. Meaning, I’m the kind of woman you either flat-out like or flat-out don’t like. Nothing middle-of-the-road. Pretty clear-cut.
Ouch.
Let’s just admit that if it’s a popularity contest, I won’t win. However, credit me with being solid, fiercely loyal, unwavering and (fun)/ny. Always got your back. If you need to laugh, I’m your girl! Promise always to make you smile.
Who knew a mandoline could cause so much havoc?
That’s why this week’s FFWD recipe choice, Minted Zucchini Tagliatelle with Cucumbers and Lemon, almost sent me kicking the can down the road. Touch-and-Go. First, with a friend. Then, with a daughter.
I’d not seen my friend, Linda, who lives part-time in Aspen, for two years. Since she’d be heading South soon after my arrival back in Colorado, we needed to make a lunch date.“Why don’t you come to my condo for lunch,” I asked, during our first telephone conversation. “I’ll do the salad we’re making this week for French Fridays with Dorie.”
“Oh, that might be fine,” she replied, cautiously. “What is it?”
I explained that we were making a zucchini, onion and cucumber salad with pistachio oil dressing and mint flavoring. “That sounds interesting,” she said, sounding optimistic.
Then, I mentioned, “It will be the first time I’ve ever used a mandoline.”
“No,” she stated emphatically. “Let’s go out.”
Normally, Linda, a former Miss Savannah, is gracious, diplomatic and kind. However, hidden behind every Georgia Peach is an Iron Magnolia. Right? “No” meant “No”. As much as she wanted to support my blogging adventures, she did not trust me with my mandoline. I realized visions of all things unappetizing must have danced through her head. In the end, we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at “Above the Salt” in downtown Aspen.
The mandoline guard/gadget that allowed me to safely and carefully create 1/8th-inch-thick zucchini tagliatelle strips. It’s a process!!!
Soon after that, my daughter, Melissa, called. During our conversation she asked what I was cooking this week. Without thinking I described the salad, telling her I was using a mandoline for the first time. Five seconds of silence. Then, “Mom, don’t you have a potato peeler?”
Our conversation deteriorated quickly. Me, laughing, hysterically, insisting I’d be careful. Melissa, not laughing at all, insisting “my” careful might not be careful enough. “Mom, seriously, those blades are dangerous. You’re a writer. You need all your fingers.”
“Mom, I am not kidding, you’re still scattered these days and shouldn’t be using a sharp instrument.”
And then, the shot through my heart, “Well, I think you know, Mother, I won’t sleep a wink tonight.”
In the end, I used the mandoline to make beautiful 1/8th-inch-thick zucchini tagliatelle slices. I was very, very, very careful. Still, except for very, very, very special occasions, I will not be using my mandoline again. For the amateur cook, caution is prudent.
I must admit that, to me, this salad looked better than it tasted. I didn’t enjoy this dish.
After all the drama, I didn’t enjoy this salad, finding the zucchini, cucumber, onion combo rather pugnacious, battling each other for the primary taste position. The pistachio oil/lemon juice/salt dressing didn’t blend the veggies strong flavors together. Surprisingly, the mint seemed to grab the salad and play a more important role than was ever intended. Although handsome in appearance, this wasn’t a palate-pleaser for me.
If you want to try out your mandoline on this salad, you will find the recipe here. To see how other mandoline mavens fared this week, go here.
MOTHER: STEP AWAY FROM THE MANDOLINE!
I used my mandoline just this afternoon to make two loaves of zucchini bread. No skinned knuckles and it is very good! Remember you originated in the Midwest where we grow ’em tough. (not the zucchini–the women)!
Gayle, I am totally impressed. Going to re-think using my mandoline. I think your zuchinni bread was yummier than my zuchinni salad. I think I like my zuchinni “cooked”.
I had an unpleasant run in with a vegetable peeler last week, so I think I’m the last person who should be handling a mandoline. I’m glad you managed to use yours uneventfully. It’s unfortunate that the salad didn’t live up to its promise for you, though.
I am sorry this wasn’t such a hit for you 🙂
It has been 11 years since my kitchen “incident” (which involved hand surgery and permanent nerve damage) and people still get nervous with me being around anything sharp. To this day, I refuse to use a normal can opener and will only use the ones that take off the whole top.
So… when I started using a mandoline regularly, my family was on edge all the time. I am not sure whether I feel loved or insulted…
Let’s go with “loved”.
How funny, Mary! I like you! John says I have “no sharp object days!” But, I managed with my mandolin just fine. This salad was not a favorite of ours either.
Enjoy your weekend!
Mary, one funny story – although it is very early Saturday morning here and I did not even have breakfast yet, I enjoyed reading your wonderful “mandoline post” – too bad that you did not really like this salad – we loved it but to my defence I must say that I left out the onion and substituted the mint with parsley. I believe that a vegetable peeler was the way to go with this recipe, it made an easy and non-dangerous job of cutting the zucchinis into thin strips. I agree with your daughter, do try to stay away from that mandoline!
Have a wonderful and safe weekend!
No onion and parsley would have made not-so-good, better.
Very entertaining post. I received a mandoline for my wedding and was so excited at first, and then not so much, and now I love it again. It took some getting used to at first and I think the first few times I used it, it actually took more time than if I had done the slicing by hand. But I’m slowly getting the hang of it and now I love it. It was a real time saver for this salad.
Mary, that first paragraph could easily apply to me too! You make me laugh. I can´t find my mandoline, maybe it´s the universe taking care of me…
Regarding the salad, it was crunchy and fresh but that´s about it. Never in my dreams would I´ve thought of pairing it with pasta. I´ll take the pasta though, no salad! Have a great weekend!
I have my own fear of the mandoline…along with total respect for very sharp objects!! It must be the over protective mother in me…but I’m always worried I’ll slice off a finger tip!
Well Mary…looks like we have something else in commen…this salad just didn’t do it for me! BTW…I flat out like you!! Have a great weekend!!
Mary, I feel lucky to be able to call you “friend”, even if we haven’t met face to face yet (soon I hope). One of the tricks I learned from Rowbear was to salt the cut zucchini, let it hang out for a while, drain and then proceed with the recipe. the salt “cooks” the zucchini in a fashion, brings out its flavor and softening it. if you’ve been generous with the salt (which is fine), just rinse then drain or gently squeeze. you can even use this technique before actually cooking it too.
Thank you and Thank you.
oh yeah, I’m always sooo careful with my mandoline, but have managed to absent-mindedly nick finger tips or knuckles with peelers AND graters. goes with the kitchen territory, “fire and knives”!
Oh, sorry you didn’t love it…all that work for nothing is always disappointing. I will admit it, I skipped all the parts of this post involving discussion of the mandoline, I have a queasy tummy. lol I am always very careful and I always pay careful attention…the rest I don’t need to know, lol. Horror stories horrify me. Your salad does look lovely!
Just checked again, Kayte. I still have ten fingers.
So glad to hear all your digits are still intact! 🙂 I am scared of mandolines and quite frankly don’t eat enough veggies to warrant buying one but I know they are very useful sometimes. I skipped this salad all together because it was just too much stuff I don’t like. Oh well. I’m baking the cake for BWJ this afternoon and I’m excited! You’re totally safe on that one Mary. Only a paring knife needed!
First off, I’m sorry you went to all the work and didn’t love this salad! I have the ‘old school’ style metal mandoline and using it does require a certain precision in your slicing technique especially if you like your fingertips to remain where they belong-on the ends of your fingers! So you lose a bit of the onion, zucchini or whatever- because you can’t slice all the way through to the end, that’s life in the world of fine slicing! But, it’s worth it for the lovely results-your salad looks beautiful, as only thin slices do..however, it’s nice to know your friends and family are concerned for your welfare;-) Have a wonderful weekend;-)
This reminds me of the first time my Dad tried using a mandoline. He insisted on NOT using the guard thing even though my Mom and sister implored him to use it. As you can imagine, he ended up slicing off a tiny bit of his finger – nothing serious, but enough for him to never want to use the mandoline again! I’m happy your first time was much more successful, even if you didn’t care for the salad (I didn’t either). I only use my mandoline occasionally, but when I do it is the right tool for the job.
My Super Benriner is just a Japanese brand for a mandoline. I was so nervous as I tend to be accident prone. (Note that Dorie suggests using it again for this week’s tartine…) I can understand your friend and daughter’s nervousness on your behalf. I was afraid for myself, and you when I read your post. In the end, I have to agree with you that this just wasn’t a favorite. Oh well, hopefully next week’s recipe will be more to our taste. Have a great week, Mary!