Cook-Off 63: Summer Squash

[Shelby]

I am experimenting.  I had the best pickled eggplant at an Italian restaurant years ago.  They put it on their salad.  They looked like little anchovies in size and shape.  Anyway, I am wondering if I could duplicate that using zukes.  I have them weighted down now in salt to press the liquid out.  

[Smithy]

I love summer squash - feel free to send me your bounty! 

 

Earlier this week I turned a couple zukes into pasta sauce.  Grated zuke, lots of garlic, hot chili flakes, sauteed in evoo, a bit of pasta water & tossed with fettucine.

Hmm, I wonder if that trick might disguise zucchini enough to get it past my darling. If I showed him Shelby's basket he'd shriek and flash back to his youthful days of forced gardening. He swears that neighbors used to leave bags of zucchini on each other's doorsteps in the middle of the night. I can bring home yellow summer squash (saute in butter or oil, with garlic; add dill and possibly tomatoes; toss with pasta and grated parmesan) but NOT the green stuff. :-D

[Shelby]

Hmm, I wonder if that trick might disguise zucchini enough to get it past my darling. If I showed him Shelby's basket he'd shriek and flash back to his youthful days of forced gardening. He swears that neighbors used to leave bags of zucchini on each other's doorsteps in the middle of the night. I can bring home yellow summer squash (saute in butter or oil, with garlic; add dill and possibly tomatoes; toss with pasta and grated parmesan) but NOT the green stuff. :-D

My husband semi-retired so he has more time.  He built a "greenhouse" on the back of his shop.  He used windows from an old farmhouse etc.  He did an amazing job, but I digress.  Over the winter he cultivated tons of plants--among them a LOT of squash.  Soooooo, we have beautiful squash plants (we are fighting the squash bugs already) and lots of squash.  I just told him that I should go pick some blossoms and he rolled his eyes.  Not sure what that means lol.  National Leave Squash On Your Neighbors Porch day isn't until sometime in August, so that idea is out for now lol.

Edited July 11, 2014 by Shelby (log)

[Smithy]

Stuffed squash blossoms! What a great idea!

[Beebs]

Fritters are also great for using up too much summer squash.  After salting and wringing out the liquid, there really isn't very much squash left.

[Anna N]

Zucchini cut lengthwise into planks, outside mostly green planks discarded, salted briefly, dipped in beaten egg and then in panko/parmesan crumbs and fried or oven baked.

[BeeZee]

co-worker gifted me 2 beautiful yellow squashes, I think I'm going to make ribbons with the veg peeler and cook them very briefly, cool, then dress with vinaigrette and fresh herbs.

[heidih]

"Zoodles" aka zucchini noodles are all the low carb/low cal/healthy rage these days. https://www.google.com/search?q=zucchini+noodles&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=N0fAU_qrCMykyATosYLgCg&ved=0CFIQsAQ&biw=1242&bih=565

 

My stepmom does this often and gifted me with one of the hand held gadgets to make them. She usually does a creamy sauce - just simmering them briefly together. The last one I really enjoyed was something like lots of sauteed onion, part of a can of cream of mushroom soup (not my fave but to give you the flavor idea) and a scattering of parmesan. We girls sat around the table and polished it off out of the pan before my dad smelled anything cooking! I have not used the gadget yet but if I am able to hit the farmers market this weekend I will give it a try and report back. 

[David Ross]

I love summer squash and Shelby that is one beauty of a basket. Picking a few of the buggars is o.k., but I worked harvesting zucchini in a commercial farm many decades ago and it is literally back-breaking work. Just last week my favorite grocery store started their annual baking of zucchini bread. Delicious.

[Shelby]

I love summer squash and Shelby that is one beauty of a basket. Picking a few of the buggars is o.k., but I worked harvesting zucchini in a commercial farm many decades ago and it is literally back-breaking work. Just last week my favorite grocery store started their annual baking of zucchini bread. Delicious.

I re-read this whole thread today and I was thinking again how hard that job must have been!  I can't imagine!!!

 

I just took 2 loaves of zuke/banana bread out of the oven.  I have spag. sauce with zuke simmering on the stove.  The experimental pickled zuke is in a  jar in the fridge.  It smells JUST like the pickled eggplant.  If it is a success, I'll post how I did it.  It says to wait at least 3 days before tasting.  I also peeled and thinly ribboned long-ways 2 zukes and layered them with some salt and lemon juice.  I am going to take the out of the fridge in a bit, roll them up, drizzle with some smoked olive oil and a dash of parsley and eat.  We will see if we like them.

 

 

Annnnnnnd, all of that didn't make a damn dent in the basket lol.  I think I used 5 or 6 total.

[Shelby]

 Zuke banana bread

 

 

These were the hit of the evening.  It's amazing how something so simple can be so good.

 

[huiray]

I *rarely* do baking stuff or indulge in cakes and whatnot.  But, Shelby, those zucchini-banana loaves look REALLY good!!  Recipe, please?

 

As for the zucchini ribbon rolls, what's that they say...K.I.S.S.  A lot of excellent dishes are very simple, so long as the ingredients are good.  This applies across all sorts of cuisine, from Italian to Cantonese.  (Not sure about Classical French, in this regard ;-) )

 

[Shelby]

I *rarely* do baking stuff or indulge in cakes and whatnot.  But, Shelby, those zucchini-banana loaves look REALLY good!!  Recipe, please?

 

As for the zucchini ribbon rolls, what's that they say...K.I.S.S.  A lot of excellent dishes are very simple, so long as the ingredients are good.  This applies across all sorts of cuisine, from Italian to Cantonese.  (Not sure about Classical French, in this regard ;-) )

Thank you!!!  

 

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/banana-zucchini-bread  I used that recipe.  I omitted the nuts--don't care for nuts in breads and I used 3 bananas instead of 2 because I had 3 going mushy on me.  Oh and I sprinkled sugar on top before baking.  Gives it some sparkle

[huiray]

Stuffed squash blossoms! What a great idea!

 

If you have not tried these before, I encourage you to do so!  The blossoms are, of course, ephemeral and rapidly decay.  Baby zucchinis with blossoms still attached are lovely, blossoms stuffed or not.  I've posted a few examples of meals with these, battered & deep fried.

[huiray]

Thanks, Shelby.

[SylviaLovegren]

What are the zucchini ribbon roll things? 

 

There's a simple zuke recipe in Huntley Dent's book on southwestern US cooking -- just coarsely grated zucchini, grated carrot, bit of green onion, quick saute in the fat of your choice till just softened.  Then stir in some fresh cheese or sour cream and serve.  Lovely and simple. 

[Shelby]

What are the zucchini ribbon roll things? 

 

There's a simple zuke recipe in Huntley Dent's book on southwestern US cooking -- just coarsely grated zucchini, grated carrot, bit of green onion, quick saute in the fat of your choice till just softened.  Then stir in some fresh cheese or sour cream and serve.  Lovely and simple. 

Just ribbons of zuke (cut my finger a few times making those lol) layers with salt and lemon juice.  I let that marinate for at least  four hours.  Then, right before eating, I drizzled smoked olive oil over them and sprinkled some parsley.  Sooooo simple and good.

 

 

Zuke fritters last night (they weren't this dark in real life, dunno why they look that way)

 

[Shelby]

I am not making any headway.  In fact, I am going backwards.

 

Basket yesterday

 

 

I have that basket plus this now

 

 

       

[FauxPas]

You won't use up a ton of summer squash with this Early Summer Risotto recipe from Simple Bites, but I thought it was so lovely. You could, of course, increase the squash and decrease the other veggies. I love the squash blossoms! 

 

 

Picture is from (and recipe is at) Simple Bites:

 

http://www.simplebites.net/early-summer-risotto-with-new-garden-vegetables/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+SimpleBites+(Simple+Bites)

 

 

[Shelby]

Chocolate chunk zuke bread

 

[rotuts]

looks really good !  probably much better w/o the Zukes.

 

 

Just sayin'    

[Shelby]

Honestly, I won't make that bread again.  I used a different recipe.  It was too heavy.  I liked the chocolate, though.

[BeeZee]

I did make my raw summer squash noodle salad today. Used a regular Y peeler, took off skin (its a little tough when raw) and scraped down until I got to the seedy core. Note for those looking to reduce volume of squash...two nice sized ones yielded a very big bowl of "noodles"...so you won't feel like you made a dent! Anyhow, the yellow summer squash was terrific and sweet, I didn't cook it at all. Mixed up a basic vinaigrette with garlic/EVOO/half balsamic and half cider vinegar/dijon, some fresh chopped parsley, and halved grape tomatoes, S&P. Really nice, light salad. Curious how it fares after a night in the fridge, if the squash will break down too much. Leftovers slated for lunch tomorrow, maybe with some cubed mozzarella added.

[Martin Fisher]

I do love "zoodles"....so does the finicky better-half which is a BIG surprise!!!

[huiray]

• Linguine with zucchini & zucchini blossoms. (Linguine alle zucchine e fiori di zucca)

Baby zucchini, zucchini blossoms. garlic, EVOO, Prosciutto di Parma, Campari tomatoes, sea salt, fettucine [Ferrara].  Details here.