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Zucchini

spiceplace

spiceplace

Administrator
zucchini.gif


Zucchini - also known as summer squash - is a favorite for many. It makes an excellent side dish, goes well fried with onions and garlic as an add-on to sandwiches or sausage, stuffed with any kind of dressing/stuffing as a main dish, can be used in soups, and also baked in cakes, muffins and other desserts!

Since it's late August, you'll find lots of garden fresh zucchini at farm markets and stands.

The little zucchini don't always have to be peeled when preparing as a veggie side dish or used in soups - but the large zucchini usually get peeled.

Mildly flavored, zucchini go with just about everything!
 
Farm markets and stands? Are you kidding? At this time of year the zucchini bandits are out in force, and if you leave your car unlocked overnight you're likely to find a bag of them on the back seat come morning.

Anyway, here's a slightly fancy way of preparing them. BTW, all the summer squashes are interchangeable in recipes:

Summer Squash Timbale

4 cups summer squash, shredded
Salt
2 tbls olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped fine
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbls fresh herbs, minced
5 eggs, beaten
2 cups heavy cream
Black pepper to taste
butter
1 cup dry bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350.

Sprinkle squash generously with salt. Set in colander and let drain 30 minutes. Gather squash and squeeze to release moisture (I use a tea towel and wring it well)

Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and saute until soft. Add garlic and saute one minute longer. Remove from heat and toss with squash. Stir in minced herbs. Add beaten eggs and cream and season to taste.

Butter bottom and sides of six individual ramikins or pudding cups. Dust mods with bread crumbs. Fill with squash mixture.

Transfer to a deep baking pad and add hot water to reach 2/3 up the sides of the molds. Bake, uncovered, about 45 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Loosen with a sharp knife and unmold onto platter. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

You can eat these as is or ring the changes on toppings and sauces. I particularly like them with a roasted red pepper coulis spiked up a bit.
 
Think Outside The Zuke

What to do with runaway zucchini? You know, those squash that hide in the foliage. Today they're as big as your index finger. Tomorrow they've become baseball bats.

Use those large zukes as a pasta substitute. Slice them ultra thin (a mandoline really helps for this), lenghtwise, working from each side towards the middle. Discard the central core and seeds.

Use those slices in lieu of the pasta to make a vegetarian lasagna. Or they can sub for pappardelle in many recipes.

Divide the slices into thin strips, blanch until tender, and top with your favorite pasta sauce. Zucchini linguini is a whole new taste treat.

Oversized zukes also work well in recipes that require shredding. The classic, of course, is zucchini bread. But try zucchini patties as a side dish, or zucchini croquettes.

If you're a home canner, the larger ones can be used to make pickles. There are specific recipes for zucchini pickles. But, in point of fact, you can substitute zucchini for cucumber in virtally any pickle recipe. Try bread & butter pickles made with those oversized cukes.
 
I am looking for a stuffed Zuchinni recipe called Kusa Mkhshi. I believe it is Moroccan in origin, and an old friend of mine used to make it, but never left the recipe with me.
 
A great way to grill zucchini is to marinade it for 1/2 hour in simple Italian salad dressing, then grill for 4-5 minutes being careful not to burn since the dressing has oil in it. This is a real simple delicious side dish.
 
I am not quite sure, or I would know how to make it. I think it is seeded halves, face up filled with a cheesy paste. I don't remember. The Lebanese version would, of course imclude cinnamon.
 
Kousa Mihshi merely means "stuffed zucchini." So the full recipe would have a tag describing what the stuffing is. For instance, Kousa Mihshi Bi Laban is Stuffed Zucchini with Yoghurt. Kousa Mihshi Bi Bandoura is Stuffed Zucchini with Tomato Sauce. Etc.

"The Lebanese version would, of course imclude cinnamon. "

Did you mean to say "Morracan" rather than "Lebanese." My Lebanese recipes do not contain cinnamon.

Here's one version:

Kousa Mihshi Bi Laban

2 lbs evenly sized zucchini
Cold salted water

Meat Stuffing
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tbls clarified butter or cooking oil
1 tbls pine nuts (optional)
8 oz ground lamb or beef
1/4 cup short grain rice
1 tbls chopped parsleyh
1/2 tsp ground allspice
Salt
Black pepper

To finish:

1 1/4 cups cold water
A quantity of Laban Mutboukh (cooked yogurt)
2 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried mint.

Wash the zukes well and cut off stem end. Using an apple correr, hollow out zucchinik, leaving rounded end intact. Try not to puncture sin. Soak in salt water for 10 minutes, then drain.

Gently fry onion in clarified butter or oil until transparent. Add min nutes to pan after ten minutes and cook with onions another five minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

Add pan contents to ground mneat along with the rice, parsley, spiece, about a teaspoon of salt and a good grinding of pepper, and 1/4 cup water. Combine ingredients thoroughly.

Fill zaucchini with stuffing. Do not worry about the rice expanding, because the meat shrinks, so you don't have to allow room for expansion.

Arrange zucchini in layers in a heavey-based pan, sprinkling layers lightly with salt. Add water. Invert a plate on top of the zucchini and ring to a slow simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 1 hour or until tender.

Meanwhile, prepare the Laban Mutcoukh. When it begins to boil add garlic, boil 2 minutes, and remove from heat.

When zucchinis are cooked remove plant and pour Laban Mutboukh over them and leave over medium heat for 10 minutes to boil gently. Cook uncovered until sauce is thick.

Crush the dried mint to a coarse powder and sprinkle on top. Cover pan and leave off the heat for 10 minutes before serving.

Laban Mutboukh (cooked yogurt)

2 cups yogurt
1 egg white
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp salt

Place yogurt in a heavy-based pan.

Beat egg white with a fork until frothy and blend into yogurt with the cornstarch and salt. Stir in the same direction until thoroughly combined.

Place pan over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. Heat until it begins to boil, stirring continuously in the same direction.

Lower heat and leave to simmer gently, uncovered, for 3-5 mintues until thick. Use as required in recipes.
 
Zucchini Crisp

6 medium zucchini
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 tablespoon butter melted
2 tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dill
1 cup cream

Slice zucchini as for shoestring potatoes.
Sprinkle with salt and add vinegar. Let set for 15 minutes.
Pour off liquid. Cook squash in butter stirring often for about 10 minutes.
Add flour and stir until smooth.
Add paprika, dill and cream.
Stir constantly until liquid is smooth and seasonings are well blended.
6 servings
 
Beer Battered Zucchini Chips:

  • 1 cup all purpose white flour.
  • 1/2 cup all purpose white flour.
  • 1/4 cup smoked paprika, regular will work too.
  • 1/8 cup garlic salt. (or 1/16 garlic powder and 1/16 kosher salt).
  • 2 tablespoons of black pepper.
  • Vegetable oil for frying.
  • Up to 1 can (12 oz) of beer.
  • Zucchini.
Heat deep fryer to 350 degrees.

Mix together the 1 cup of flour, paprika, garlic salt, and pepper. Whisk in the beer a little at a time until the mixture has the consistency of pancake batter. Drink the remaining beer.
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Lay out the 1/2 cup of flour on a separate dish.

Slice the zucchini thin, about 1/4 inch per slice. Dredge the chips in the flour and then add to the batter.

Working in batches, add them to the deep fryer and cook for about 4 minutes, turning half way through. They should be a dark golden brown when finished. They should be crispy when bitten into.
Click to expand...
Culled from a recipe on my site:

Jeffs Recipes » Beer Battered Zucchini Chips
 
Not -

NOT taken from your site - this recipe is from my recipe club - we share recipes constantly, so as far as I'm concerned it's Joanie's recipe.
 
Jafo - forget it! Joanie comes in as a guest - and she plants tons of zucchini every year and has a huge collection of zucchini recipes. She has the same recipe that you say is yours - she got it from a different site and not your site - and she called me to tell me to tell me to post where I got it from - not looking to see who posted the recipe - and yada yada yada - so I posted where I got my recipe from - (Joanie) - and she fouls up everything anyway! But - listening to her and not looking for myself - oh well!!!! I just posted a recipe from Joanie!

But anyway - the recipe that you say is yours - she got off another site - but it wasn't your site.

That's the sad part about posting recipes on line - you never know where they are going to turn up!
 
Ok, well the site she got it from may have gotten it from mine. Funny because I remember when I made that recipe. My mother in law dropped me off a ton of zucchini and I had no idea what to do with it all. I had recently purchased a new deep fryer so I basically threw that recipe together figuring it would work and it did.

I worked a deep fryer in a restaurant for years cooking seafood and learned a thing or two about it.

It was one of my "make it off the top of your head" recipes which is why I am a little shocked someone else has it word for word, but who knows... :)
 
Jafo232 said:
Beer Battered Zucchini Chips:

Culled from a recipe on my site:

Jeffs Recipes » Beer Battered Zucchini Chips
Click to expand...

I see a lot of recipes for beer as an ingredient, like beer battered ###### or beer cooked chicken, etc. I even have a recipe for a spagetti sauce with one or two beers in it (equal parts in the cook).
My question is doesn't it make a difference which beer you use? The wine rule - don't cook with it if you wouldn't drink it - surely applies, but there must be better beers to cook with, aren't there?
 
KYHeirloomer said:
Kousa Mihshi merely means "stuffed zucchini." So the full recipe would have a tag describing what the stuffing is. For instance, Kousa Mihshi Bi Laban is Stuffed Zucchini with Yoghurt. Kousa Mihshi Bi Bandoura is Stuffed Zucchini with Tomato Sauce. Etc.

"The Lebanese version would, of course imclude cinnamon. "

Did you mean to say "Morracan" rather than "Lebanese." My Lebanese recipes do not contain cinnamon.

Here's one version:

Kousa Mihshi Bi Laban

2 lbs evenly sized zucchini
Cold salted water

Meat Stuffing
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tbls clarified butter or cooking oil
1 tbls pine nuts (optional)
8 oz ground lamb or beef
1/4 cup short grain rice
1 tbls chopped parsleyh
1/2 tsp ground allspice
Salt
Black pepper

To finish:

1 1/4 cups cold water
A quantity of Laban Mutboukh (cooked yogurt)
2 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried mint.

Wash the zukes well and cut off stem end. Using an apple correr, hollow out zucchinik, leaving rounded end intact. Try not to puncture sin. Soak in salt water for 10 minutes, then drain.

Gently fry onion in clarified butter or oil until transparent. Add min nutes to pan after ten minutes and cook with onions another five minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

Add pan contents to ground mneat along with the rice, parsley, spiece, about a teaspoon of salt and a good grinding of pepper, and 1/4 cup water. Combine ingredients thoroughly.

Fill zaucchini with stuffing. Do not worry about the rice expanding, because the meat shrinks, so you don't have to allow room for expansion.

Arrange zucchini in layers in a heavey-based pan, sprinkling layers lightly with salt. Add water. Invert a plate on top of the zucchini and ring to a slow simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 1 hour or until tender.

Meanwhile, prepare the Laban Mutcoukh. When it begins to boil add garlic, boil 2 minutes, and remove from heat.

When zucchinis are cooked remove plant and pour Laban Mutboukh over them and leave over medium heat for 10 minutes to boil gently. Cook uncovered until sauce is thick.

Crush the dried mint to a coarse powder and sprinkle on top. Cover pan and leave off the heat for 10 minutes before serving.

Laban Mutboukh (cooked yogurt)

2 cups yogurt
1 egg white
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp salt

Place yogurt in a heavy-based pan.

Beat egg white with a fork until frothy and blend into yogurt with the cornstarch and salt. Stir in the same direction until thoroughly combined.

Place pan over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. Heat until it begins to boil, stirring continuously in the same direction.

Lower heat and leave to simmer gently, uncovered, for 3-5 mintues until thick. Use as required in recipes.
Click to expand...


Thank you, you were agreat help.
 
sourava said:
I see a lot of recipes for beer as an ingredient, like beer battered ###### or beer cooked chicken, etc. I even have a recipe for a spagetti sauce with one or two beers in it (equal parts in the cook).
My question is doesn't it make a difference which beer you use? The wine rule - don't cook with it if you wouldn't drink it - surely applies, but there must be better beers to cook with, aren't there?
Click to expand...

Between all the lite, dark, ales, stout - it has to be your choice. There are many recipes that call for a specific type of beer/ale. I love beer battered fish and onion rings - a bottle of Bud or Labatt's works fine for me. We are not drinkers - never had a drink in my life - but I have cooked with Bud or Labatt's (regular not lite) which I have to steal from a friends house - or trade a baked cake or pie for one! LOL
 
Zucchini squash casserole

One of our favorites. We use freshly grated Parmesan cheese when we make this.

2 to 3 tablespoons canola oil
3 to 5 zucchini (cut up)
1 large onion (shredded)
breadcrumbs
1 can tomatoes (or equal amount of fresh or in a pinch, 1 can tomato sauce)
Sugar, salt, pepper, garlic (to taste)
Parmesan cheese

Heat canola oil in a skillet. Add zucchini, onions, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until tender and liquids have cooked out. Add seasonings. Place the casserole and sprinkle with crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Bake in a 350° oven until crumbs are crunchy.
 
Zucchini cooked in skillet

More with Parmesan!

1 tbsp canola known oil
1 stalk celery, chopped fine
1/4 cup onion, chopped
3 medium zucchinis, quartered lengthwise, then cut into 1/2" thick pieces
2 small tomatoes (about a half pound), cut into eighths
2 tablespoons ketchup
dash of pepper
pinch of oregano

Cook celery and onion in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat in canola oil until tender (about five minutes). Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook 10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally until zucchini is tender-crisp. Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese. Makes 4 servings.
 
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