How to cook an enormous zucchini

I almost titled this "What to do with an enormous zucchini" but I was afraid of the inevitable evisceration by cilantro's emoticon.

Some of you may remember a similar question from last year.

So there I was at the Evanston farmer's market.

"Psssst," said the zucchini.

"Whoah!" I gasped.

"So?" asked the zucchini.

"But what would I do with you?"

"Read the sign," said the zucchini. (the sign read - '$1 - zucchini bread, grill or saute them'). "Besides," said the zucchini, "you know where to ask."

"Well," I said, "more fun than a lotto ticket."


I welcome suggestions.






While I await your responses, know that the enormous zucchini is not lonely. Its partner in crime is a very large cucumber from this week's CSA delivery

Hmmmmm. I had an Egyptian friend who used to stuff one of these things with a lamb+tomato+rice+zuccini excavations, and then invite every on on our side of Married Student Housing unit 17-M at Davis to a glorious Sunday communal dinner. This recipe sounds close, with lamb instead of beef.

Sorry you didn't get cilantro's emoticon!

Geo

That's merely large, not enormous.
I remember one season my parents' garden would daily deposit zukes of approximately Louisville Slugger stature.
They're not that tasty at that size, is part of the problem, but you feel stupid picking the small ones when there's Moby ones staring you in the face.

You can scoop out all but a 1/3-1/2" shell, chop finely and sautee with garlic, ground beef or lamb, chopped tomatoes and oregano. Stuff back into the shells, top with bread crumbs and/or parmesan cheese and bake until tender.

Grate them into zucchini pancakes. I don't have a recipe, but I think eggs, ricotta... sombody help here?


Note: I've been told there are places in the US where it's smart to lock your car doors in summer, to avoid having them filled with zucchini.

JoelF wrote:Note: I've been told there are places in the US where it's smart to lock your car doors in summer, to avoid having them filled with zucchini.

Note further that that never happens with tomatoes...

Geo

Zucchini pancakes can be made using a latke recipe - however, after grating, you want to salt your zucchini and let it sit for a bit, then put it in a kitchen towel and squeeze out the moisture well. Even better is a zucchini/potato combo.

If your zucchini is indeed too bigto be eaten comfortably, you'll know in two ways: the skin will get hard like a winter squash, and if you cut into it, there will be splits where the seeds are (and they also will be hard) Looks like your guy is still in the range of perfectly edible, so you can do whatever takes your zucchini fancy - cut it into planks and grill it (my fave, and probably the only way we eat zucchini these days) or make Ratatouille (I like that blog, BTW)

I remembered the beet, but had forgotten completely whose it was, and now I can put a face to the name, too! I love this forum!

Large zucchini often have tough skins, so you'll want to peel it. Remove all the seeds.

I usually make zucchini bread with the whoppers, but you can also cut them into ribbons and boil briefly as a pasta substitute, or make zucchini jam, zucchini soup or baked stuffed zucchini.

So what became of the zucchini?

I bow to JoelF's definition of enormous and Geo's suggestion for prep. I mostly used the proffered recipe as a guide.

Some variations. I used 3/4 lbs of lamb instead of beef. I browned half and stewed the other half with uncooked brown rice, the tomato juice from a drained 28 oz can and garlic crushed in a mortar and pestle along with salt. An hour more or less. OSalt and pepper to taste. I combined the two pans in a bowl (after draining a bit of lamb fat). Make sure this is tasty because your flavor will come from the filling rather than the zucchini. I refrigerated the filling and even have a bit left over. This was quite tasty.

Next day.

I cut and scooped the zuke:



The recipe called for soaking the now naked zucchinis in a mild brine for 15 minutes. I salted mine instead (no bowl quite this size) before rinsing and patting dry.

I lined the felled giants with a bit more rice and the sauce:



Instead of ghee, I dotted with butter (per a suggestion from the lone comment on the Epicurous recipe)



Baked at 400 for 40 minutes or so. It was mostly done, but the zucchini was still a little firm to my taste. I turned off the oven, put the tray back in and ran an errand.

2 hours later:



All in all, it was quite tasty. I think a fitting fate for such a large squash. Granted, it didn't really feature the zucchini. Maybe I'll buy another one and grill as suggested.

Stay tuned for the next episode of Enormous Produce Iron Chef.

Looks awfully nice gastro gnome! Bien fait! I think your mods are well-thought-out and effective.

Now all's I need is a giant zuke....



Geo

I'm glad to see this thread today. I went out into my garden last night and I found two monster zucchini's lurking under the leaves. I'll have something fun to try out with them thanks to the suggestions here.

Both Bobby Flay and Emeril have good recipes for grilled ratatouille. I'm visiting my daughter's family in PBGH, and they got a big one from their Sustainable Agriculture subscription. Also got yellow squash. I used the FoodTV recipes and got rave reviews.

The stuffed zucchini in Mastering the Art of French Cooking should not be overlooked. It involves chopping the flesh of the zucchini and combining it with almonds and cheese -Parmesan, I think, but any nutty cheese like Manchego would be good. The thing I like about Julia's recipe is that it enhances by working with the taste of the vegetable, rather than adding contrasting flavors like tomato or lamb. This permits you to eat a side dish of summer tomatoes in their raw, perfect state, sliced and salted, as the gods intended.

Many, many moons ago (fast vor drei Jahren) I wrote a post on this very topic...

viewtopic.php?p=44086#p44086

The 'baba meskeen' approach was quite successful.

'Dressing' and chopping the overgrown squash and baking it slowly in a tomato sauce with red wine and fresh oregano is something I did a few days ago to a zucca scappata -- one that somehow escaped timely harvesting -- and that preparation served as contorno to some Portuguese sausages which followed a first course of rice and beans. Gar nicht slecht.

Antonius

Lecker, lecker Antonius! Wilcommen wieder zuruck!

Geo

My garden has given me a number of zucchini already this year and some monster ones to boot.

I've gone the zucchini bread route and given loaves away to neighbors. I've also been grilling it on my grill whenever I throw some steak or chicken on, just brushed with olive oil, salt and pepper. It's pretty simple but it's really tasty, then if I have any left over I use it in a lasagna or pasta sauce.

Erzsi wrote:My garden has given me a number of zucchini already this year and some monster ones to boot.

Speaking of monsters in the squash family, here's a pic of one growing up the side of Tub Tim Thai in Skokie.

It appears to be the opposite of low and slow.

I was gifted (?) a gigantic zucchini. Since Sue isn't likely to help me eat it, here's what I'm doing with it.

Day 1: Sauteed with cheese
1 cup thinly sliced zucchini
1 clove garlic, chopped
Pinch salt
Pinch red pepper flakes
2tbs olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Heaping tsp farmer's cheese (ricotta, feta, boursin, gorgonzola?)

Heat oil in a cast iron skillet
Add garlic and red pepper, cook until fragrant
Add zucchini and saute until a little brown appears, turning regularly
Remove from heat, toss with lemon juice and cheese.

Salty, garlicky, creamy, good stuff

Hi,

In my other life, a friend in Moscow brought one of those. I guess from the look on my face, it was decided to demonstrate a reliable recipe.

They peeled, then sliced it into 1/2 inch slices, dipped it in seasoned flour and fried in butter. Once browned and cooked through, it was eaten with sour cream.

In my life, anything doused with sour cream is pretty good.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:... dipped it in seasoned flour and fried in butter. Once browned and cooked through, it was eaten with sour cream.

Yeah but flip-flops are good like that.

JoelF wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:... dipped it in seasoned flour and fried in butter. Once browned and cooked through, it was eaten with sour cream.

Yeah but flip-flops are good like that.

I liked it enough to make it a few times over. Sometimes the simple stuff is quite good.

Regards,
Cathy2

Day 2: Pancakes
About 4 inches, seeds removed, grated, salted and drained (about 2 cups before draining). A cup of almond flour (low carb y'know), 1.5 tsp baking powder, about a tsp of salt, a few grounds of pepper, 1/3 cup milk, 2 eggs, 1.5 tbs melted butter, all whisked together. Add a handful of chopped basil, the zucchini, about 1/4 lb double smoked rib belly from Gene's Sausage Shop, dunes and crisped. Put batter in 2 hot oiled pans, flip, serve with a fried egg each.

Day 3: only used up about an inch and a half, making marinated zuke in the style of Thai cucumber salad: palm vinegar, sugar, salt, shallot, cilantro, a few slices of serrano.