What to do with a zucchini?

[Mace MacLeod]

A couple more to go along with the veggies and lamb:

 

Mrs. Mace's "So easy a monkey could make it and yet so good even Mace's eternally snobby and pissed-off mother approves" New Potatoes

 

Preheat oven to 375 F.

 

Wash and scrub 4-5 new potatoes per person (generous portion), then, without peeling, cut the new taters into cubes roughly 1" big. Set aside.

 

Take a large enough glass/pyrex baking dish and pour in 1/8 cup veg oil (canola, olive, sunflower, take your pick) then add 1 1/2 tsp paprika. Stir in the spice until all clumps are gone and the oil has a uniform (now reddish) colour. Then add 1 tsp dried sage, 1 tsp dried rosemary and 1 tsp dried parsley. Stir spices in the oil for a few seconds, then dump in the potatoes. Stir until the potatoes are evenly coated in the spice/oil mixture, then bung it in the oven. Cook uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until the potato bits are golden brown, stirring (gently!) once or twice to ensure even cooking. Boom, that's all there is to it.

 

And if you're expecting a lot of dinner guests:

 

Mace's "Raise an army so you'll have someone to feed all this to" Mega Meatballs.

 

Combine in large mixing bowl:

 

1 lb each: ground beef, ground pork, ground lamb. As lean as you can get. Buy the good stuff; don't skimp.

 

2 1/2 Tbsp dried parsley

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp dried oregano

2 1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried mustard

1 Tbsp seasoning salt or steak spice (Mrs. Dash or equivalent also work here)

1 egg

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper (or to taste)

4 cloves of garlic, chopped as fine as you can get

1/8 cup finely diced onions

 

Mix all these together, squishing the mixture between your fingers as much as possible. I just like doing it. Anyway, when all ingredients are mixed, grab small handfuls of the mixture and form it into balls 1-1 1/2" across. Pan fry over medium-low heat, rolling the balls with a spatula to ensure even cooking. You'll probably go through 2-3 panfuls of meatballs, as this recipe makes a LOT. Goes well with marinara sauce over your favourite pasta, or alternatively with sweet-and-sour sauce for dipping.

[Maverick5770]

another good Zuchini recipe is Zuchini crisp. Just do the regular recipe for apple crisp, then instead of apples, use the zuchinis. It will taste exactly the same.

[stingerhs]

well, i'd have to admit that zuchini isn't something i've cooked with very often. however, i do remember from my mother that the best way to cook a zuchini is to treat it like any type of squash: slice it up and fry it in your favorite cooking oil.

 

if you need to add some flavor, try a mild spice and a touch of salt. if you want a sweeter flavor, you could always use a baster to put some pineapple juice onto the slices while they're being fried up.

 

well, that would be my two pennies, anyways.

[CSI]

Can somebody tell me what a Zuchini is? This confuses me...

[Jae Onasi]

You all are making me drool.

ChAiNz--I'll have to give those a try tomorrow. The cake looks great.

ET--my kids, who are not zucchini fans, might be willing to try that one.

Mace--the lamb chops look divine. *Jae prods Jimbo to pull out the grill*

The Doctor and Emperor Devon--It's nearly impossible to gross me out, though you both seem to be giving it a good try.

DI, cutmeister, stingerhs--if I catch some of the zucchinis before they grow into the monstrosities that are now all over my kitchen counters, I'll try the sauteing in rosemary or pineapple juice, too.

Darth333--Je parle francais (except I can't figure out how to make the accents/cedillas on my keyboard). I'll have to pull out my Harrap's dictionary for a couple things, but I was happy to figure out the majority of it on the first read. And anything with Gerard Depardieu is A Good Thing. I've shredded several up already and put baggies of them in the freezer to make zucchini bread later on in the year. I only had 2 plants this year, and I still have a zillion of the things.

maverick--I would never have thought of zucchini crisp. I almost couldn't believe you could do such a thing.

john--a zucchini is a summer squash--the green ones.

I appreciate all the ideas!

 

Here's the Zucchini bread recipe--I use the one out of The Milk-Free Kitchen by Beth Kidder and adapt a couple things here and there.

 

cutmeister--this is a really easy recipe. If you can saute things, you'll do just fine making this, too.

 

2 cups grated zucchini

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil (can use 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup water)

1 teaspoon vanilla (you can never have too much vanilla)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan (I find spraying with Pam works great). Scrub the zucchini but do not peel. Grate coarsely.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt together. Stir in the zucchini. In another bowl, mix together eggs, oil (or oil and water), and vanilla. Pour this completely into the dry ingredients. Stir just until the dry particles are moistened--there may be flour lumps left and that's OK. Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake for about 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Let cool in pan, serve warm or at room temperature.

 

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I haven't tried it, but my grandma sent it and said it was good, and she's usually right.

 

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup cocoa

1/2 cup nuts (optional)

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 2 9x5 loaf pans. Beat eggs. Add in oil, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well, add zucchini. Mix together in another bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cocoa, and nuts. Add the dry ingredients to the other ingredients. Mix until moistened. Pour into loaf pans, bake for about 40-50 minutes. (I would not be surprised if it takes longer). Insert a toothpick in the center of the bread when it's close to being done. If it's not done, the toothpick will have batter on it. If it comes out clean, it's done).

 

Enjoy!

[St. Jimmy]

Oh yeah, we Iron cheffin' it here at the Lucas Forums!

First of all to everyone who suggested frying them up, also, try B.B.Qing them.

 

Stuffed Zucchini of death.

Ingredients.

Zucchini

Cooked rice

Grated Cheese

Tomato

Chopped Bacon

 

Remove the zucchinis middle. Then mix up the scooped out zucchini with the tomatoes, cooked rice and BACON! Smack some grated cheese on the top and "bake in a moderate oven for fifteen minutes".

 

GREEK ZUCCHINI PANCAKES (or pancakes gone wrong)

Okay, grate up three normal sized zucchinis, whack about a teaspoon or two on the zucchini mess, and leave it alone for half an hour. Then add 3 eggs, 3 Table-spoons of flour, half a table-spoon of mint (make it fresh if you can) 1 cup of feta cheese, crumbled. Mix up the trainsmash and fry it up in a little olive oil!

 

And then of course there's allways the trusty vegetable slice. You'll note that the only dairy in here is the cheese and if you really have to, you can do without that.

[Emperor Devon]

The Doctor and Emperor Devon--It's nearly impossible to gross me out, though you both seem to be giving it a good try.

 

 

Je parle francais

 

Il est impoli lui parler dans francais chez un anglais forum.

 

Excuser mon francais, je suis non tres aise tojours.

[CSI]

john--a zucchini is a summer squash--the green ones.

 

Ah...Sort of Pumpkin. Doesn't look delicious to me. But those receipts looks delicious to me.

[Darth InSidious]

DI, cutmeister, stingerhs--if I catch some of the zucchinis before they grow into the monstrosities that are now all over my kitchen counters, I'll try the sauteing in rosemary or pineapple juice, too.

 

Have you tried roasting them?

 

Or serving them in stew or curry?

 

They don't go brilliantly well in either, but they're not abysmal in them...

 

What about mashed potatoe with courgette in?

[St. Jimmy]

Who says you have to eat them? You could set up a target kinda thing and practise improving your throwing hand eye co-ordination! Any railways nearby? You could lay them on the tracks and watch them go splatty. We used to do the same thing except with oranges. Also, (I don't know where you live but) If you have chickens you could feed the zucchini to them... hey, that way it's not a complete waste!

[Arátoeldar]

Puree the zucchini into a soup. (freezable)

 

Zucchini Parmesan (freezable)

 

If it was earlier in the year you could slice them along with Yellow Summer Squash. Add fresh diced tomatoes and onions in a large skillet. You will need a little water to keep everything from burning. Add seasoning if you wish.