Zucchini 2011 and beyond

[heidih]

We have many zuchini and zucchini topics. This year I have one planter full in a kiddie pool and I want to utilize them completely. The older topics are at the end of my post.

Here is the kiddie pool of plants

Here is today's first little harvest - I also included a bit of sage and some oregano blossoms that will get fried with the flowers.

The plan for today was to fry up a few of the flowers - dragged in a slurry of cornstarch and cornmeal meant for polenta with a dipping sauce of Sriracha and orange juice. I could not believe as I set up the prep that I had almost no oil so I made do with a pan fry in maybe 1/16th inch of olive oil. That affected the crunch factor and the looks, but it was SO lovely to eat. I leave the "innards" in the female flowers because I like the crunch of the infant zukes.

The baby squash were sauteed with garlic roasted in olive oil, a bit of tomato and then tossed with linguine, Asiago cheese, 1/2 & 1/2, a few peas and roasted corn (Trader Joes) and finished with grinds of pepper and some scissors of basil. I could taste the delicate nature of the squash and will move away from my crutch of cream and cheese in the pasta department in future rounds.

So what have you done or what is on deck? I know you will be dealing with them either from your garden or as "gifts"

About fried flowers

The bumper crop topic

Keeping ahead of them

And more flowers

Pickles

[LindaK]

Heidi, beautiful pics. It will be months before we see any local zucchini around here, but I'd love to hear more about what you like to do with the flowers.

[annachan]

Heidi, beautiful pics. It will be months before we see any local zucchini around here, but I'd love to hear more about what you like to do with the flowers.

Me too! I just got some beautiful flowers at the farmers market this morning. Still deciding what to do with them....

[heidih]

annachan - two simple preparation that allow the subtle flavor of the blossoms to shine through are in a frittata or omelette and in a quesadilla.

For the egg prep - start the flowers in a pan with olive oil or butter, pushing down on them for maximum contact with the pan, then add egg mixture and finish as desired.

For the quesadilla - I tear then into bite sized bits if they are large so that they do not pull out when you take a bite. Flour tortillas are more subtle than corn in this instance. Choose a cheese that is also low key. A bit of tang in the cheese is a nice contrast to the sweet of the flower.

Let us know what you end up preparing.

[SobaAddict70]

I like to make a light zucchini soup (chicken or vegetable stock, shallots, zucchini, mint or chives; puréed to which is added some crème fraiche or light cream), then spoon that into a shallow soup bowl and lay a piece of poached salmon or halibut on top. Scatter with chopped herbs and serve.

This

Pan-roasted black sea bass, with buttermilk corn chowder, cherry tomatoes

is a variation on that theme.

[heidih]

Today I ventured into raw squash territory. I have honestly used all of the harvest so far in cooked preps. I pulled out the mandoline and using the shoestring blade ran the little guys over it. Of course the guard has gone missing so blood was involved but none got into the bowl. For a sweet touch I added some of my peaches (peeled) that were on the brink of ripe but suffering from birds pecking their red cheeks. The mix was tossed with salt and garlic mashed in the little mortar and pestle, lots of Meyer lemon juice and zest, and pepper and olive oil. An initial taste leads me to believe it will be tasty after sitting for a while. When serving I will probably snip in some fresh mint or basil and sprinkle on some crumbled feta.

[kayb]

LOVE the idea of the zucchini and peach salad; will have to try that. It's just about to start zucchini season here, and one of the big things I look forward to is zucchini fritters:

2-3 medium zucchini, grated

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup half-and-half or milk

1 "sleeve" regular Saltine crackers, crushed

Mix to form a thick batter, drop by 1/3-cupfuls into hot oil,and fry until golden brown.

[Genkinaonna]

Heidi, this is just for you!

I haven't done anything with them yet, but soon they will play a starring role in a zucchini and ginger stir fry...

I'm also contemplating what to stuff the blossoms with...maybe a soft sheep's milk cheese and some basil?

[heidih]

Heidi, this is just for you!

I haven't done anything with them yet, but soon they will play a starring role in a zucchini and ginger stir fry...

I'm also contemplating what to stuff the blossoms with...maybe a soft sheep's milk cheese and some basil?

The plants look happy. The blossoms have just a hint of the zuke and I always find the more simple the better so as to capture that itty bitty zuke taste. Make sure you leave some of the males (the long stems with nothing on the end) as well as the giant females that will produce the fruit. So happy this silly simple concept got you started!

[SobaAddict70]

Lately I've discovered the joys of Mediterranean and Russian vegetable preprations (e.g., stufato, ratatouille, tapsi) for breakfast.

One delicious variation is zucchini and tomato "hash" with poached eggs. Slice zucchini or summer squash, chop tomatoes and thinly slice shallots or onions, then fry in olive oil over medium heat with a pinch of salt and pepper. Let tomatoes break down partially -- you want them to be more solid than liquid. "Hash" is done when zucchini has turned golden brown.

Edited July 5, 2011 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[Emily_R]

LOVE the idea of the zucchini and peach salad; will have to try that. It's just about to start zucchini season here, and one of the big things I look forward to is zucchini fritters:

2-3 medium zucchini, grated

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup half-and-half or milk

1 "sleeve" regular Saltine crackers, crushed

Mix to form a thick batter, drop by 1/3-cupfuls into hot oil,and fry until golden brown.

This sounds fantastic -- can't wait to try it! I love love love saltines...

[Katie Meadow]

Let me be the first to admit (in this thread, anyway) that zucchini bores me to tears. However, I feel it's my duty to eat it every so often. In my gardening days I learned after the first year never to plant any of it because it pops up anyway, regardless of intent. I do love the blossoms, although I've never been that successful frying them myself.

My favorite way to eat zucchini is to make pancakes. In season I add fresh corn. A generous amount of grated zukes, a little flour and minced herbs, some egg, scallion, etc. There are scads of recipes out there. They lend themselves to dress-up, and are equally good with a dollop of dairy based or tomato based stuff. Best if you grate the zucchini and salt it, let it drain, then squeeze it out before mixing into the batter. I prefer them very vegetal, and not too eggy and they don't need much more than a thin film of oil or butter to get a little crispy. You can use up a LOT of zukes this way.

[sparrowgrass]

I made this Peruvian Quinoa stew this weekend--very, very good. The quinoa is optional--it would be good with pasta or other grain.

Peruvian Stew

[Shelby]

Bumping this thread because I have literally a ZILLION yellow squash and zucchini. I've been longing to try frying some of the flowers and have chickened out--I'm not a very good fryer. However, I'm going to put my big girl panties on and do it.

[Pierogi]

Zuke pancakes/fritters are a good sort of in-between that don't go all the way to the breading and frying scene (which I don't do either....). Ina Garten has a good recipe in one of her cookbooks, and Michael Symon has an outstanding one that uses feta cheese in the batter. I found that one on Ruhlman's blog about a month and a half ago.

The other day I also made zucchini/coconut muffins that I found on the King Arthur flour blog. It's called "Baking Banter", it's NOT the normal KA website. They're really yummy. Not too sweet, seasoned with ginger, nice and moist. They're glazed with a simple powdered sugar/milk glaze, and topped with toasted coconut. I recommend them.

[SylviaLovegren]

Bumping this thread because I have literally a ZILLION yellow squash and zucchini. I've been longing to try frying some of the flowers and have chickened out--I'm not a very good fryer. However, I'm going to put my big girl panties on and do it.

I'm terrible at stuff like that and even I could do it -- so go for it! When we had a garden and a bumper crop of squash flowers I got into frying them or tossing them sliced into omelets, etc. My favorite was to stuff the flowers with a bit of soft goat cheese and herbs, give them a quick dip in egg/milk, then another quick dip in flour, then a few minutes in a bit of very hot olive oil. They cook so quickly that you can have them all prepared and then fry them while your guests are standing around with cocktails in hand. Delicious fresh out of the oil with the cheese still all melty. Always met with pleased oohs and aahs.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Don't any of you pickle your excess zucchs and yellow squashes? They make absolutely hands-down amazing sliced dills (of if you've got itsy bitsy ones, whole dills), but I think they really shine in bread-n-butter brines.

[Shelby]

I don't care for sweet pickles...I wish I did, it would make it easier to use these up

Question:

When picking the blossoms, do you have to use them right away, or could I pick them in the morning and they would still be fine by evening? If so, do I keep them in the fridge or out?

[heidih]

I don't care for sweet pickles...I wish I did, it would make it easier to use these up

Question:

When picking the blossoms, do you have to use them right away, or could I pick them in the morning and they would still be fine by evening? If so, do I keep them in the fridge or out?

They wilt like a flower with no stem and not in water - and quickly. I prefer to pick in the morning when they are perky and store in the fridge loosely wrapped in paper towels or a paper bag.

[GRoston]

Our zucchini plants are doing well this year. Though probably plebeian for this crowd, one of our favorite preparation is to split a zuke lengthwise, spray the cut side lightly with olive oil and lightly season. They then go on the grill, cut side down for about five minutes. Next, we flip them, sprinkle with shredded cheese (typically mozzarella), scallions, and panko crumbs and let them cook for another five minutes or so.

When we miss one and it gets too big for this preparation, we have made fritters. Actually, they were more like pancakes as I did not bother to look up a recipe...

But, does anyone have recommendation for dealing with a zuke that was hidden from sight for a few days too many and was harvested at 5+ pounds?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

5+ pounders are for stuffing in my household. We inevitably get 2-3 of them a year, that have hidden away from our baby-zucch raids.

Cut in half lenghtwise as if you were going to grill it, then scoop out the seedy part (save the seeds if they're mature) and stuff with your fave whatever. I'm very fond of golden rice tossed with green peas and shrimp, then topped with gratinade of some sort. That goes on the grill for about 20 minutes with the lid closed, or in the oven at 400 F/200 C for about 15-20, just until everything's good and hot and the gratinade is starting to golden up.

[heidih]

Maybe I lost the link to this year's topic, and for some of you in other climates the season may over. However I had to mention a revelation today  I had 2 kinda biggies. For whatever reason I always think zuke and olive oil. My go to is sliced, liked with olive oil,  grilled and strewn with garlic & mint.  Butter was discovered in overabundance in the freezer (long story) - oh what lovely marriage.  Today with pasta and tomorrow with eggs for breakfast. A few drops of decent balsamic bring it up. 

[kayb]

('m telling you. Grate it,salt it, drain it, mx it with cracker crumbs and eggs/ Fry as fritter. cajt]t beat 9t;

[heidih]

Not much new stuff being posted. Maybe we all have our "go to" preps by now. My newish favorite which is not photogenic but I enjoy  - Diagonal 16th inch slices, olive oil & salt - broiled till golden one side. Settled over pressed garlic, torn basil and a sprinkle of mustard powder. Then a bit of whole milk tangy yogurt. Comfort food. Snarfling now.

[Annie_H]

Just noticed this post. 

I grow zucchini/squash for the flowers---then get some fruits I try and catch small for the grill. Now finding some bats.

 

Made some excellent cakes last night. A bit ambitious for a weeknight. So zipped out the cuisinart for ease and speed.. Expectations were low so I just winged it knowing basic proportions via corn fritters. Two big zuks grated, lightly salted, set aside to sweat-n-squeeze.

Two green onions, one small red onion. A spicy red jalapeño. A small potato a couple minutes in the microwave. <all through the grater disc. (I probably switched to the slicing disc for the green onion)

Two eggs, 1/2 cup panko, cup of corn, ---folded in the zucchini, probably 3 and a half cups. Added BRedMill corn flour, (not corn starch), until it felt right. About a cup and a pinch. Used my English muffin molds. A bit of butter in each. Made six. delicious and crispy. When I flipped I did cover for a few minutes. 

I'm hoping to find a few more previously dreaded big ones.