Wednesday, July 18, 2018

It’s The Time of the Zucchini


I had two zucchini plants that were out of control since I planted them on the dirt/manure pile out in the horse field this year.  It started out as a pile of top soil about 7 feet high & 20 feet in diameter, scraped off to level the area for the barn a decade ago.  We put all the horse manure, shavings, & old hay next to it.  I pile it up with the front end loader every few months.  I turn & mix the entire pile every year or two.  It hasn’t shrunk even though I use a fair amount.   

The plants are running wild and keeping down the weeds with very little care.  I haven’t even watered it, but I’ve never seen such big plants.  The cantaloupe plants are covering the top while one zucchini plant is front & center.  New manure & shavings are off on the right side.

huge zucchini plant

I wasn’t sure if the horses would leave it alone.  They did for a while, but Tango is a young (4 year old) Thoroughbred we rescued and he’s curious.  He likes to ‘help’ me a lot which can be a trial.  He snuck up behind me while I was pruning the plants & found that zucchini leaves are fun to hit the other horses with.  The fruits make great toys, so the plants are pretty beat up now.  Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Despite Tango’s pruning, we’re feasting on the zucchini now & struggling to figure out what to do with it all.  My wife cooks dinner most nights.  Her stomach is bad, so she just slices one up & microwaves it for a few minutes.  She eats it plain, but I usually put butter & some sort of all-purpose seasoning on it.  There’s way too much for us to eat it all like that, though.

Over the years I’ve tried a lot of different things with it.  It can be used like a cucumber, so bread & butter pickles made with it are good.  I thought I’d discovered something new, but Mom said I’d been eating them for years.  She just never mentioned it & I never knew.  

 I don’t like to cook, so any recipe I make is simple & forgiving.  My two favorite dishes are Zucchini Bread & Garden Lasagna. 

Zucchini Bread
3 cups shredded zucchini (2-3 medium)
1-1/2 to 2 cups sugar
2/3 cups Vege oil (or 3/4 cup butter)
2 - 3 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
(Optional) 1/2 cup nuts &/or raisins

Preheat oven to 350 & set rack so top of loaves in center.
Mix all together & pour evenly into 2 greased loaf pans.
Nuts & raisins are best put on last & cut in lightly else they'll sink to bottom.)

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a knife is not quite clean when testing. Bake lower & slower, if anything.  Center tends to be wet & heavy, so it needs to be cooked without burning the outside.
Cut sides free & dump out immediately when done.  Let cool on rack, base down.  (Yes, I left the top down once & it stuck badly.  Live & learn.)

Depending on the base, the amount of sugar can vary by a lot (1 cup to 2.5 cups) & it still tastes good.  I’ll use less with bananas & carrots than with squash, of course.

Quick (batter) breads are both simple & forgiving.  Once you get a feel for about how thick the batter should be, you can use most anything in place of the zucchini.  I’ve used yellow squash, carrots, & over-ripe bananas, although I usually only get a few of those, so I cut this recipe in half to make one loaf per 3 bananas.

Garden Lasagna
9x13" baking pan, preheat oven 350 degrees
2 med zucchini sliced fairly thin - can cook out water first or use raw
1 lb ground beef
45 oz jar spaghetti sauce
16 oz cottage cheese
16 oz shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 tblsp parsley
2 beaten eggs
Seasoned bread crumbs

Frizzle beef
Optional: microwave some of the water out of the zucchini.
Beat eggs, beat parsley in & then mix well with cottage cheese.

Layer zucchini in 3 layers - (if uncooked, add a thin layer of bread crumbs to soak up excess water.)
- Zucchini (about half)
- Beef
- Sauce
- Zucchini (about 1/4)
- Cottage cheese
- Sauce
- Zucchini (about 1/4)
- Sauce
- Mozzarella cheese
- Top with some bread crumbs.  Not too many or the top crust gets too hard.

Bake 30 to 45 minutes until top cheese browns.  Let stand 15 minutes or so.

This year, I used about 2 lbs of zucchini (2 medium sized ones) & microwaved each one about 4 minutes then set them aside to cool.  I thought that would have cooked out enough of the water, but it didn't.  I think I'll nuke them an extra minute each next time & still put some bread crumbs on the bottom anyway.


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