Cook-Off 63: Summer Squash

[heidih]

No pic as I mixed the zucchini with the other sheet pan of roasted mushrooms.. I did not want them to age so I broiled them with just salt and olive oil and will use probably in a pasta prep tomorrow with melty cheese. I ate some off the sheet pan - sweet vegetal flavor.  Not a bold vegetable as I tend to prefer but ya gotta mix things up and sometimes appreciate the more subtle tastes in life.  

[Smithy]

On 8/19/2020 at 3:34 PM, heidih said:

 

I put them in a phyllo dough strudel and use plenty of warm spices. Enjoyed at the party Roughly grated and moisture squeezed

 

 

When you do this, do you individually oil the phyllo leaves? I made a phyllo "pizza" last night with roasted summer vegetables, and the hardest part to me was the peeling the leaves apart and brushing each with an egg/oil/water mixutre. Maybe I'm too impatient. If there's an easier way, please let me know. 

[Okanagancook]

If your phyllo dough is a little dry, it makes it more difficult to pull the sheets apart.  Keep them under a damp towel until ready to use then work quickly taking out only a few sheets at a time. Perhaps cut the dough into the sizes you want before trying to peel them apart...easier to deal with.

[Shelby]

I know I say this every year, but this year takes the cake.  We planted 4 squash plants (2 yellow and 2 zucchini) this year which is less than we usually do.  They grew HUGE.  I'm literally picking 8-12 squash a day from ONE plant and like 3-6 from the others.  Needless to say, I'm not keeping up.  You would have died at the pile of squash I had/have.  Piles on the floor, the counters.  I look like a hoarder lol.  I have culled a bunch....many went to "rest" in the compost sigh.  I feel wasteful, but we have never ever had plants produce like this before.  Anyway, I've started picking them very small with the flowers and decided to get brave and do a tempura.  I've tried this before and failed.  This time it worked!  SO GOOD.  Sprinkled with sea salt and fresh squeezed lemon juice.  I left all of the flowers that weren't attached to a squash for the bees.  

 

This was yesterdays pick

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

22 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I know I say this every year, but this year takes the cake.  We planted 4 squash plants (2 yellow and 2 zucchini) this year which is less than we usually do.  They grew HUGE.  I'm literally picking 8-12 squash a day from ONE plant and like 3-6 from the others.

 

Those look great.    If you (continue to) pick them at 2 to 2 1/2 inches, you shouldn't be too swamped.    At that size, they are excellent grilled, even in a frying pan, a shower of Maldon salt ad eaten like popcorn.   

[heidih]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

 

When you do this, do you individually oil the phyllo leaves? I made a phyllo "pizza" last night with roasted summer vegetables, and the hardest part to me was the peeling the leaves apart and brushing each with an egg/oil/water mixutre. Maybe I'm too impatient. If there's an easier way, please let me know. 

 

Oh I gave that up long ago. Work quickly. If filling hs oil/fat - no additional fat at all. Crispy & flaky and smiles. It is Just a dough - not a needy child. I've made it. Will post it when it turns up.

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

 

When you do this, do you individually oil the phyllo leaves? I made a phyllo "pizza" last night with roasted summer vegetables, and the hardest part to me was the peeling the leaves apart and brushing each with an egg/oil/water mixutre. Maybe I'm too impatient. If there's an easier way, please let me know. 

Usually, if you struggle to separate the sheets, it's because of a "cold-chain" issue. Either they've gotten partially thawed and then re-frozen at some point, or you thawed them too quickly (on the counter, typically) and condensation has formed and stuck them together. Your best bet is to stick the box in your fridge the day before you want them, and let them thaw slowly at refrigerator temperature.

[Kerry Beal]

I was given this by Maggie our Covid swabbing nurse - she admired her apartment neighbors garden and the next thing you know...

 

So I have instructions to make something with it and take a picture for Maggie.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

 

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

I was given this by Maggie our Covid swabbing nurse - she admired her apartment neighbors garden and the next thing you know...

 

So I have instructions to make something with it and take a picture for Maggie.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

 

 

First, portion it into maybe 3 parts.   You have a better idea of its size or the number of servings you look for.    So, #1, I’d make zucchini latkes.    #2, a Med stew, faux ratatouille, tomato, onion, garlic, red peppers if available, basil.   Serve room temp or as pasta sauce.   #3, cut into battons, fried as tempura.

[Kerry Beal]

4 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

First, portion it into maybe 3 parts.   You have a better idea of its size or the number of servings you look for.    So, #1, I’d make zucchini latkes.    #2, a Med stew, faux ratatouille, tomato, onion, garlic, red peppers if available, basil.   Serve room temp or as pasta sauce.   #3, cut into battons, fried as tempura.

excellent suggestions

[Katie Meadow]

Humble apologies are due. I haven't been terribly nice about summer squash, and now I beg the pardon of all yellow long squashes. I thing they taste better than zucchini. Tonight I made a recipe called "Summer Squash Gratin alla Juanita." Juanita More, I learned from five seconds of research, is a well known drag queen in San Francisco. Her recipe for a casserole is very simple and involves yellow squash, fresh tomatoes, shallots, garlic, cilantro and chile. I used some roasted poblanos from my freezer. I didn't pay too much attention to the ratio of squash to tomato, but the amount of tomato should be enough to keep the casserole moist, as there is no other liquid involved.

 

For the last couple of minutes after baking, the dish gets a snowfall of Oaxaca cheese and a brief turn under the broiler. I used less cheese than the recipe called for, since I didn't have that much in the fridge and I prefer less cheesy anyway. The tomatoes caramelize a little under the broiler. Really, although I expected more of a potluck sixties hippie thing, it was much better than that. Delicious. We had it over/on the side of long grain rice. I used a mix of dry-farm early girl tomatoes and sungold cherry tomatoes. As long as the tomatoes are flavorful I don't think it matters much what they are. Happily there are some leftovers, always a bonus for those of us becoming lazier by the day.

[David Ross]

Our monthly dinner club hasn't gathered since March, but now a few of us are doing a weekend morning coffee club outside at someone's home.  Last Saturday I took half a wild huckleberry pie and I received some wonderful jams, relish and other canned items.  And then I got this beast!  About 20 inches long and weighs 13 pounds, a monster zucchini.  I'm not big into canning, so I need some suggestions on how you freeze it and use it later.  I know freezing and then thawing will probably make it mushy, but that's ok, I'll be using it over the winter in stews, soups and probably a sort of succotash or something. A slice of huckleberry pie traded for this giant.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

17 minutes ago, David Ross said:

Our monthly dinner club hasn't gathered since March, but now a few of us are doing a weekend morning coffee club outside at someone's home.  Last Saturday I took half a wild huckleberry pie and I received some wonderful jams, relish and other canned items.  And then I got this beast!  About 20 inches long and weighs 13 pounds, a monster zucchini.  I'm not big into canning, so I need some suggestions on how you freeze it and use it later.  I know freezing and then thawing will probably make it mushy, but that's ok, I'll be using it over the winter in stews, soups and probably a sort of succotash or something. A slice of huckleberry pie traded for this giant.

 

 

I have never considered saving zucchini as such.    But I can easily see freezing cookies, breads and cakes, as well as putting up some pickles, sweet and dill.    You might even successfully freeze zucchini latkes.    

 

eta I suddenly love the idea of zucchini cottage cheese dill bread.

Edited September 1, 2020 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

[David Ross]

2 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

 

I have never considered saving zucchini as such.    But I can easily see freezing cookies, breads and cakes, as well as putting up some pickles, sweet and dill.    You might even successfully freeze zucchini latkes.    

 

eta I suddenly love the idea of zucchini cottage cheese dill bread.

 

My gosh the bread sounds good as do the latkes.  Might do some quick pickles too.

[heidih]

As noted the delicate sweet flavor is probably GONE in the beast. Shredded as the moisture in a zuke breadd or cake, but otherwise you may be disappointed. My experience.

 

editd to insert GONE

Edited September 1, 2020 by heidih (log)

[Okanagancook]

If you want to make pancakes then I would grate it onto a cookie sheet and spread it out.   Freeze and then you can scrape it off the sheet and put it in a bag to be used in various quantities. 
 

[Shelby]

I use the big ones in meatballs...shredded.  Adds a lightness.

[lemniscate]

35 minutes ago, David Ross said:

Our monthly dinner club hasn't gathered since March, but now a few of us are doing a weekend morning coffee club outside at someone's home.  Last Saturday I took half a wild huckleberry pie and I received some wonderful jams, relish and other canned items.  And then I got this beast!  About 20 inches long and weighs 13 pounds, a monster zucchini.  I'm not big into canning, so I need some suggestions on how you freeze it and use it later.  I know freezing and then thawing will probably make it mushy, but that's ok, I'll be using it over the winter in stews, soups and probably a sort of succotash or something. A slice of huckleberry pie traded for this giant.

 

@Shelby's Zucchini Butter?

 

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/145452-cook-off-63-summer-squash/page/10/?tab=comments#comment-2211184

 

[David Ross]

24 minutes ago, heidih said:

As noted the delicate sweet flavor is probably GONE in the beast. Shredded as the moisture in a zuke breadd or cake, but otherwise you may be disappointed. My experience.

 

editd to insert GONE

 

Hey I don't mind, I didn't want to toss the darn thing or leave it to the squirrels I figure I at least should attempt something.  When I was a kid and worked summers in a cannery they were chunked up for a frozen vegetable blend, which was horrible.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

It's definitely usable.   The/your question was how to preserve it for winter/later use.  

 

My sick sense of humor emerging, you pass it on to a friend, like you do fruit cakes, who passes it on, and the end-guy carves it into a Martha Stewart Jack--o-lantern.

[kayb]

Only way, short of pickling, that I've ever preserved squash successfully is to blanch it and freeze it. It does OK in squash casseroles, breads, etc., then.

[Shelby]

It's me again.  Don't know what happened since 2020--I definitely had squash in 2021 and 2022.  AND I definitely have it now.  We planted  3-4 Butterstick plants and 3-4 zucchini.  Yes, it's a lot but some years several plants die due to the dreaded squash bug.  Hasn't happened yet so we are drowning in them lol.  Everyone else around here must be too because we can't give them away.  So, I've started picking them when they are tiny tiny and that is helping.  It's been really hot and humid but if and when we get a break I'm going to make some breads out of some of the bigger ones.  We have AC but I don't want to heat the kitchen up.

 

As always I'm on the search for new ideas.  I had forgotten about the squash carpaccio so that's going on the menu when my pine nuts get here.

[liamsaunt]

Do you like squash noodles, either alone or mixed in with pasta?  I find that it is a good way to get rid of some.  My CSA gave me two summer squashes that were as long as my forearm last box, and I used them to make the noodles that I recently posted on the dinner! thread.  On their own they can be a little bland but I like them with spicy flavors.  Sometimes we do them with Indian spiced chicken and raita on top.

[heidih]

A few years ago I started making the Melisa Clark recipe outlined in this link from the referenced book.  https://www.glamour.com/story/dinner-tonight-zucchini-can-be

Very simple. Thin sliced zucchini. You can go cross-wise or length-wise. Toss in bit of olive oi, salt lightly. Then broil (side only) until just browning. Toss with minced garlic and torn mint leaves. Good warm or room temp.  

[lemniscate]

I just watched a Pasta Grammar video  which show a really interesting use of squashes as a flatbread.  Starts @ 16:30 time mark.   It's Sardinian coccoi flatbread.   I want to make this sometime.   It looks so good.

 

Here is the  non-video recipe .