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Yellow Squash Hors D'oeuvre


Varmint

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My sister-in-law is coming for dinner and bringing me tons of yellow squash. I told her I'd use it in the meal, but my menu is done and I'm not using any squash.

Help me come up with a relatively simple hors d'oeuvre using yellow squash. I need ideas within the next 30 minutes. HELP!!!!

Dean McCord

VarmintBites

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Tonight's use of yellow squash in my kitchen is in a casserole which contains sauteed yellow squash, sauteed Vidalias and cornbread crumbs and eggs and cream .. not an appetizer so much as a damn fine southern recipe .. learned it from Aunt Fanny's Cabin restaurant in Smyrna, Ga. :rolleyes:

and then this:

Galette from DIY

Ingredients for dough:

1/2 cup milk

4 egg yolks

2 whole eggs

2 tsp. salt

4 cups flour

2 oz. butter, melted

6 Tbs. chopped chives

2 Tbs. chopped basil

Ingredients for tart:

2 zucchini, sliced

2 yellow squash, sliced

2 plum tomatoes, sliced

2 cups fresh Parmesan and Romano cheese, combined

Preparation:

Whisk milk, egg yolks and whole eggs together. Melt butter and pour into the egg mixture (make sure the eggs are room temperature). Add salt, chopped chives and chopped basil and whisk together. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the liquid ingredients. Form into a ball and knead for approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Wrap in plastic and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Slice zucchini and yellow squash and drop quickly into boiling salted water to blanch them, for approximately 2 minutes. Slice plum tomatoes into rounds. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, roll a little larger than the tart pan. Roll dough onto rolling pin and transfer to tart pan, pressing dough down on the insides of the pan. Roll across the top of the tart pan with the rolling pin to cut the dough. Place in 450-degree oven for approximately 5 minutes.

Remove tart from oven. Grate fresh Parmesan and Romano cheese together and sprinkle some on the bottom of the crust. Make a circle with the squash, tomato and zucchini rounds. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 10 minutes to melt the cheese. This dish is good served hot or cold.

Edited by Gifted Gourmet (log)

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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Slice it and top with goat cheese, boursin cheese etc.

Make mini pizzas. Slice and top with tomato sauce and cheese

True Heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic.

It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost,

but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. -Arthur Ashe

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Look up my mushroom squash recipe on e-Gullet. Use tiny ones for appetizers, or if they're large squash, use squash rounds.

Ruth Dondanville aka "ruthcooks"

“Are you making a statement, or are you making dinner?” Mario Batali

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Personally all I think they are fit for is the manure heap. However if you must

Soup in shot glasses

Depends how big they are. Baby ones can be marinated

Larger ones cubed or sliced. Treat a bit like eggplant. Cubes marinate then grill, slices brown on grill, and serve with tomato concasse, cream fraiche etc or use as a base for other things or build a tower etc

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Goat cheese. Hmm. Grill slices of yellow squash. Top with goat cheese and olive slivers? This is helpful. Keep the ideas coming, as I'm headed to the grocers in 10 minutes!

Dean McCord

VarmintBites

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Personally all I think they are fit for is the manure heap. However if you must

I agree that the ones I've had are less flavorful than zucchini, etc

but that isn't much of a help in your hour of need! :smile:

I have made a nice zucchini bruschetta that could be adapted to yellow squash perhaps-- cook chopped squash in nice olive oil with garlic, onions, parsely... before placing on bread-- annoint with grated parmaggiano.

(the oil, garlic and cheese should help perk up the flavor and the texture of these bruschetta is very nice)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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you can fritters too, shred up the squah and mix with an egg, tsp of baking soda, cup of flour and enough milk to make a batter. whip the egg white separately if you want it a bit fluffier. Spike with chili, oregano & goat cheese (which i think are good summer squash flavours but go with what takes your fancy). fry em up. Yoghurt makes a good dipping sauce.

"There never was an apple, according to Adam, that wasn't worth the trouble you got into for eating it"

-Neil Gaiman

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Basically they are carriers and extenders, fairly watery.

The flavour comes from other things - the cheese, the spices etc.

Its rather like the old Larousse recipe for crow. Do whatever you were going to do without the crow, then throw the crow away

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Its rather like the old Larousse recipe for crow. Do whatever you were going to do without the crow, then throw the crow away

You don't eat crow? :wink:

I'm too late to help Varmint, but a caterer I used to work for would scoop out blanched baby pattypan squash and fill them with tuna tartare. Of course, it wasn't really the squash that made this so delicious. But it sher was purty.

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I vote for simply using them as a crudite with whatever else looks interesting (scallions, endive leaves, etc)--maybe make a couple of flavorful dips (tzatziki, a spicy roasted red pepper dip) to serve with. At least it won't take long.

I wonder if there will be blossoms attached to the squash? That expands the show-off possibilities.

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I have had some delicious yellow squash, though the standard variety, whatever it is, is often flavorless. I think the key is to cook so as to minimize the liquid. Cut to maximize surface area to volume ratio, and cook by grilling, frying, or roasting. Nothing where it's covered and steams itself, or where it is stewed, god forbid.

Garlic.

"went together easy, but I did not like the taste of the bacon and orange tang together"

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I have had some delicious yellow squash, though the standard variety, whatever it is, is often flavorless. I think the key is to cook so as to minimize the liquid. Cut to maximize surface area to volume ratio, and cook by grilling, frying, or roasting. Nothing where it's covered and steams itself, or where it is stewed, god forbid.

Garlic.

Yellow squash (and zukes, too) are infinitely tastier if you salt'em and drain'em first, or shred them and then squeeze REALLY well to get rid of the water. The texture will be a lot better, and so will the flavor.

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Thanks for everyone's suggestion. I ended up doing a bruschetta with a fine dice of the yellow exterior of the squash. I sauteed that with onion, garlic, shiitake, basil, and a touch of balsamico. I spooned this onto grilled bread, topped with a mix of 3 cheeses, and melted under the broiler. It was pretty successful, so I appreciate all the great ideas. And my sister-in-law was happy, even though she ate but 2 bites (she's pregnant and food can suddenly turn disgusting to her!). I think she would have really liked it under different circumstances.

Dean McCord

VarmintBites

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Glad you reported back on what you made. Sounds good!

I appreciated getting the ideas from this thread.

About yellow squash and how good or bad it is on its own, often I agree that it's flavorless, but what is good with a delicious buttery flavor is homegrown, picked when they are babies, maybe about three or four inches long... immediately after picking, sliced and cooked in a little salted water for a very short time, and with a little added butter. It's just a simple sidedish that tastes like summer to me.

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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  • 2 years later...

I want to make a tiny little stuffed patty pan squash for an amuse bouche trio. Anybody have suggestions on fillings? (The other two items in the trio are a squash blossom stuffed with a white bean puree with anchovy and garlic, and a grilled zucchini "roll up" sort of thing with a filling of goat cheese, sundried tomato and thyme.)

My thoughts so far include something to do with chorizo, some combination of bacon and blue cheese, and/or something to do with red peppers, but I'm open to completely out of the box thinking.

Thanks!

Tammy's Tastings

Creating unique food and drink experiences

eGullet Foodblogs #1 and #2
Dinner for 40

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I can't get over how many people here are talking about yellow squash being flavorless. I have several squash dishes that my family liked so well the kids would even ask for them, as in "Mom, I've got a craving for...."

There was a Mexican squash recipe, southern creamed squash, an egg & squash and cheese dish...

I think I'll go hang out in one of the other yellow squash threads....

:cool:

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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This looks good. I'm planning on using it as a side for a dinner party next month.

Marsha Lynch aka "zilla369"

Has anyone ever actually seen a bandit making out?

Uh-huh: just as I thought. Stereotyping.

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