Tag Archives: Zucchini

Today’s Harvest Basket

Posted on July 13, 2016 by | Leave a comment
Today's Harvest Basket

Three squash: light green Clarimore, Golden Dawn yellow and dark green, almost black, Raven zucchini.

“Pot of Gold” Chard, 3 kinds of zucchini, Chinese cabbage.

 

Soon to be Green Rice, Zucchini cake, and Chinese chicken salad.

 

  • Chard, sweet, mild

This deep green chard with golden stems, is tender and never bitter. Plus, it is beautiful. I’m a chard fan and prefer it to kale. A favorite chard recipe is green rice. It is easy to double the recipe, make two casseroles and freeze one for fall.

Substitute chard for spinach in any recipe. Many versions of this old classic are on the internet. I’ve made many versions of what I call Green Rice Casserole.

Spinach-Rice Casserole inspired by the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. Serves 4 – 6

4 cups cooked rice (white or brown)
2 cups raw, chopped chard
1 or 2 cloves minced garlic
3 tablespoons butter (or, coconut oil)
4 beaten eggs
1 cup milk (or almond milk or, soy milk)
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar
1/4 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs like parsley, chervil, basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Saute’ onions and garlic, in butter (or oil). When onions are soft, add spinach or chard or kale and salt. Cook 2 minutes. (Or use drained, frozen chopped spinach, thawed)

Combine the onion mixture with the  rice, eggs, milk, cheese, herbs, nutmeg,  and chopped nuts. Spread into a sprayed casserole.

Bake, covered, 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes.

This is Container Chard, “Pot of Gold,” an exclusive from Renee’s Garden Seed. Chard is packed with vitamins A, C, and K, as well as magnesium, potassium, and iron.

  • Ah, Zucchini!

Zucchini, I’ve discovered, is much easy to keep at reasonable sizes if you growIMG_1357 container varieties. Look for specially bred zucchini plants designed container growing. Tender, small squash are perfect for lightly grilling or roasting.

Thin skinned, baby zucchini are tasty eaten raw. Perfect to include in a fresh Pasta Primavera.

  • Chinese Cabbage

Nappa Chinese CabbageChinese Cabbage will be a main ingredient in Chinese chicken salad, Kim Chee, cole slaw. Thanks to the milder summer weather and plenty of rain, I still have a couple for cabbages to harvest. It’s very unusual to have these plants so late in the season.

7/13

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Posted in Harvest Basket, Herbs in the garden, Look for this plant, My kitchen, Plants From Seed, Recipes

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Today’s Harvest Basket

Posted on July 7, 2016 by | 1 comment

Zucchini and cucumbers, plus fresh dill

The July zucchini explosion is here

Three kinds of zucchini - I know - what was I thinking?

Three kinds of zucchini – I know – what was I thinking?

At last, I picked cucumbers today, three long, thin-skinned English cucumbers. They are my favorites English Cucumber, “Chelsea Prize”, which is an exclusive from Renee’s Garden Seed.

Cucumber season is never long enough. When the little cucumbers finally arrive in a couple of weeks, I’ll make a few pickles. But, these slender, sweet fleshed Chelsea Prize cukes are best for fresh eating.

Visit Zucchini Everything on Pinterest or try this simple cake to use up a big zucchini.

One recipe makes three cakes zucchini, carrot or apple  Yes,  the recipe really calls for 4 cups of zucchini (!), carrots, or apples. It is a beautiful cake with flecks of both zucchini and carrots.

While I have plenty of zucchini and carrots, I’ll make a couple of these cakes to freeze.

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Today’s Harvest Basket

Posted on June 24, 2016 by | Leave a comment

Early summer harvest

Red and white onions, hard neck garlic, two varieties of zucchini, Chinese cabbage.
6/22

IMG_0642

Napa or Nappa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis or Brassica rapa Pekinensis Group) is a type of Chinese cabbage. In the kitchen, cabbage becomes Kim Chi, slaw, stir-fries and Chinese chicken salad.

I pulled up the garlic today. It is probably half the harvest of last year and the bulbs are a lot smaller. My guess is that the garlic bulbs just didn’t get enough water. It is Chesnok Red Hardneck Garlic.IMG_0717

How to grow and harvest organic garlic

Chesnok Red is the best baking garlic. Not a hot garlic, Chesnok is easy peel and will keep for about 6 months.  To stretch the harvest, I roast garlic and freeze it in little cubes. Also, I pickle small jars of peeled bulbs to use later in the year.

The big bonus to growing your own garlic, is that I have plenty of garlic on hand for salsa, spaghetti sauce, dill pickles, soup and pesto.

pickled garlic

How to store and use homegrown garlic and onions

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And so it begins

Posted on June 15, 2016 by | Leave a comment

Zucchini season

It's Zucchini season

It’s Zucchini season

Be prepared for the summer squash explosion. My Pinterest has amazing zucchini recipes.

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Zucchini, courgette, summer squash

Find the best zucchini cake recipe on Zucchini Everything at Pinterest. And you have to try the Zuni Cafe zucchini pickles.

If you make just one zucchini recipe, Zucchini Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze by David Lebovitz is a must. Can you believe, this guy has to BUY zucchini to make this cake?  See Zucchini Everything

lemon glazed zucchini cake

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Posted in Herbs in the kitchen, My Gardens, Plants From Seed, preserving the harvest, Recipes

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Sneaky Zucchini

Posted on June 23, 2015 by | Leave a comment

They’re baaack….

I’m growing three different kinds of zucchini. Before you ask why, let me just say I love zucchini. To me, it would be like growing only one kind of tomato.

As production picks up, I get creative. Chocolate zucchini cake is a favorite. Details and the recipe are on my Hub Pages.

Soon, there will be days when I wonder why I planted so much. What was I thinking? Well, it’s a test. Which is the best, the earliest, most squash bug resistant, is attractive, has the longest shelf life and, most important: best tasting.

Recipe for zucchini pickles is on my Pinterest page

Recipe for zucchini pickles is on my Pinterest page

Most of my recipes are gathered on Pinterest: Zucchini Everything – Zucchini, courgette, summer squash
baby zucchini

Baby Clarimore zucchini

Zucchini belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo. The yellow variety is slightly sweeter. The round, “Eight Ball” or “Ronde de Nice” are bred for stuffing.

Clarimore is a pale green and slightly speckled. It has an almost creamy texture. Like most summer squash, no need to peel these fresh, young vegetables.

Dark green (almost black) Raven  and Golden Dawn yellow zucchini and  are the long, straight varieties we most often see when we think of zucchini.

IMG_9606

Pick zucchini at it’s best, 6″ to 8″ long.

I like Green Tiger, a European hybrid is named for its light-colored stripes. It has a mild and sweet flavor with a tender crunch. Green Tigers slightly nutty flavor is good cooked or raw in recipes. Not as straight and cylindrical as other zucchini and is best when served small.

 

Too many zucchini?

Zucchini prevention tips

To control heavy production, early risers can pick the flowers

Raven zucchini. Zukes are sometimes sold in farmers markets with the blossom still attached to baby zucchini.

Raven zucchini. Zukes are sometimes sold in farmers markets with the blossom still attached to baby zucchini.

for stuffed zucchini blossoms. Pick them in the early morning (or at night) when the flowers are closed. The closed blossom makes the perfect vessel for stuffing.

Try Pan Fried Squash Blossoms stuffed with ricotta, herbs and lemon. Most recipes call for deep-frying a stuffed, tempura batter coated flower. Always remove the stamen to prevent bitterness.

 

 

More blog posts about summer squash:

 

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Today’s Harvest Basket 7/23/14

Posted on July 26, 2014 by | Leave a comment

July 23, 2014

zucchini, tomatoes, mixed carrots, red onion

Tomatoes, squash, carrots, onions

Tomatoes, squash, carrots, onions.

Tomatoes and zucchini are picked every day. This is the secret to keeping the zucchini crop under control.

Pick zucchini every day or every other day.

Pick zucchini every day or every other day. The small ones are tender, no need to peel.

Onions are the first thing planted in the garden every year. Planting time is 4-6 weeks before the last average frost date. The garlic was planted last fall. So, onions are the first and last thing planted in my garden.

Most of the onions were lifted a couple of weeks ago. I found a few more of the sweet red onions today. These few onions were planted near cabbage and carrot companion plants.

The only alium remaining in the garden are leeks. I’ll just pull them up, as needed. Leeks can be harvested anytime.

 

Onions

Red Torpedo Tropea: Sweet, red, and mild flavored.

Torpedo shaped onions from Italy.

Torpedo shaped onions originally from Italy.

These open pollinated torpedo shaped sweet onions have a keeping potential of about three months.

This sweet onion comes from Tropea, Italy. Tropea is known for exquisite cooking and locally grown red onions. In Italy, 5 or 6 onions are braided together and tied on a nail for display.

Tropea don’t last long because they are so sweet. We use a lot more onions when we have plenty on hand. These are good cooked in recipes or raw in salad dishes.  To stretch out the Red Torpedo Onion season, make a jar of pickled onions to keep in the fridge.

Pickle these red onions in good white wine vinegar and end up with a jar of pink pickled onions. A perfect side served with sandwiches.

The pink onion flavored wine vinegar is the best thing to happen to homemade salad dressings. Add it to potato salads and coleslaw as well as topping cooked greens like spinach and collards.

Find pickled onion and pickled garlic recipes on my Pinterest page: canning, preserving, smoking.

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They’re Back! Zucchini season

Posted on May 20, 2013 by | Leave a comment

The management and care of home grown zucchini

small zucchini

Space saving summer squash. Container grown zucchini from Renee’s Garden. photo courtesy Renee’s Garden

People are paying premium prices for squash blossoms at Farmers Markets. If you grow zucchini, (or any summer squash) you have access to one of the most popular summer food trends anywhere.

Stuffed, fried squash blossoms are a gourmet delight. It also solves the problem of too many zucchini. Eat those gorgeous flowers before they become a squash problem.

I have a gazillion recipes for zucchini on Pinterest. My favorite is chocolate zucchini cake. I sprinkle the top of the cake with mini chocolate chips before baking. I make two cakes in 8” square foil pans. One to eat as soon as it is cooled. When the second cake is completely cooled, cover it with foil and put it in the freezer. It’s a no-frosting-needed kind of cake. Perfect for picnics, the foil pan makes it very easy to bake and take.

You’ll have to try to believe it, but the zucchini pickles are great.

For all the joking about squash gone wild, I honestly have never had too many zucchini. I love it and only plant what I and the neighbors will eat. Then there are the squash vine borers that will suddenly end the steady supply of zucchini.

Save any extra seed by taping the packet closed or put it in a ziplock. Keep it in a cool, dry, dark place until next year.

Renee’s Garden has a little bush variety that can grow in a container. They have a quick return when you order seeds. There’s still time to grow a zucchini or two.

Obligatory zucchini joke

I have good news, and I have bad news. 

One day two zucchinis, were walking together down the road. They stepped off the curb and a speeding car came around the corner and ran one of them over. The uninjured zucchini called 911 and helped his injured friend as best he could.

The injured zucchini was taken to emergency at the hospital and rushed into surgery. After a long and agonizing wait, the doctor finally appeared. He told the uninjured zucchini, “I have good news, and I have bad news. The good news is that your friend is going to pull through.” “The bad news is that he’s going to be a vegetable for the rest of his life.”

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Posted in Look for this plant, My Gardens, Plants From Seed, Trials

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My Garden Bloggers Food Day

Posted on August 16, 2011 by | 1 comment

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day shows off all the blooms in my garden on August 15 2011. Even more than blooming, this month is about what happens after the bloom. The produce, fruit or seed that is created after the flower.

Rosa Bianco eggplant, tomatoes, Clairimore zucchini

I am trying to stay ahead of the of the zucchini production by picking them small, like the two little ones on the right. The blossoms are still attached to these Clairimore variety. The bigger ones became chocolate zucchini cake or zucchini and black walnut cake with lemon glaze.

This year, is not a good year for my garden. I couldn’t water enough to keep up hardy production.

Rosa Bianca Eggplant

Rosa Bianca Eggplant, a mild italian eggplant

The garden plants are stressed and more suseptible to insects and disease. Flea beetles are eating up the plants faster than the plants can produce eggplants.

I only got in a couple of pickings  of green beans before a gang of bug thugs moved in and trashed the bean patch.

I’ve planted a few more beans, hoping to get in a late crop of  haricots verts (skinny and tender French

Flea beetle damage. The little tiny holes in leaves and roots.

green beans) And a couple more cucumbers and squash to replace the ones killed by insects. It’s just a gamble to see if they produce before a killing frost. The space was empty and I had extra seed. We shall see.

Tomato plants did not set blooms because it was so hot. So, I will have a smaller than anticipated harvest. I’ll make some tabouli and a batch of gazpacho. Plus, I have enough to share with neighbors.

I won’t have enough to can or put up as salsa. But I did have enough for a couple of taste testings with the nine different varieties of heirloom tomatoes.  I’ll eventually review them all in my HubPages. There is a lot of good tomato information.

Best Home Garden Tomatoes: Paul Robeson

Best Home Garden Tomatoes: Royal Hillbilly

Next year, I’ll grow a few of the best tomatoes from this summer. And, I’ll grow some heirlooms I’ve never tried before.

The real reason I grow thin skinned, rich flavored, juicy heirloom tomatoes is simple:

BLT

Sourdough bread, crisp lettuce, oven baked thick sliced bacon.

Bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches and

Insadada Caprese

Heirloom tomatoes, mozzerella cheese, balsamic vinegar, olive oil.

Insadada Caprese.

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Posted in Herbs in the garden, My Gardens, My Homeplace, Oh Grow Up!, Ozarks Travel Examiner

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Zucchini Heaven

Posted on July 25, 2011 by | 2 comments

Zucchini Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze Recipe by David Lebovitz adapted from Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen by Gina DePalma.

Zucchini Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze photo PBH

And of course, I made some changes too. Adapting David Lebovitz’ recipe, I changed the nuts to Black Walnuts, a sustainable product grown in Cape Girardeau, Missouri USA.

  • Replace: 1 cup (135 g) almonds, pecans, or walnuts, with ½ cup of Black Walnuts.
  • Reduce: vanilla extract by half. Use only 1 teaspoon of vanilla
  • Add: zest of 1 lemon. Stir zest into the cake batter with grated zucchini.

I won’t rewrite the recipe here. Davids recipe is well written and beautifully explained. His blog is fabulous. Go To: Zucchini Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze While this cake is baking, check out his website. (Key Words: Chocolate, Paris, need I say more?)

My version of the Crunchy Lemon Glaze:

  • Juice of 1 freshly squeezed lemon
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (140 g) powdered (confectioner’s) sugar (start with ¾ cup, add more powdered sugar if desired.) I think any fresh squeezed citrus juice and zest would be good.

More zucchini Recipes

Speedy Zucchini
1 cooler or ice chest
1 floppy garden hat
1 pair of big dark sunglasses

Directions:
Fill the cooler with zucchini. Drive around till you find an unattended pickup. Put the zucchini in the truck bed. Or, if it is too heavy to lift, check to see if the passenger door is unlocked. Check to see if there is a dog in the cab. (actually do this before you open the passenger door.) Quickly leave the scene, but not so fast as to call attention to the back seat full of coolers.

Or, wrap the big zucchini in swaddling clothes, leave it at the door step of a church (not yours – someone might recognize you.) or a hospital or day care. Run. Hide. You may want to stick around and watch this.

Revisit Black Walnuts
This native tree is grown by Martin Walnut Tree Farm this will change your mind about Black Walnuts. These nuts are mild flavored. Not the over powering flavor of days gone by. Call 573-243-3210 (ask for Mike) .

Buy very mild flavored black walnuts at the Jackson and Cape Farmers Markets-Tuesday night in Jackson and Thursday afternoon in Cape. Or buy walnuts by calling Mike at 573-450-6701. Email mike@martinwalnuttreefarm.com to have the walnuts shipped.

These new black walnuts are a developing market, so these are really bargain prices. When word gets out, I am sure the price will increase. Buy some, keep them in the freezer until you are ready to use them.

Cost: The cost is $5.00 for an 8 oz. bag, $10.00 for a 1 Lb. bag (plus shipping if needed.)

If you want to invest in your children’s future, Mike sells these amazing walnut trees.

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Posted in Herbs in the garden, Herbs in the kitchen, My Gardens, Oh Grow Up!

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Zucchini. Stuff it.

Posted on July 19, 2011 by | 1 comment

I just saw my neighbor run inside and turn out the lights. It was quite a sight. She is 90 and I had no idea she could move that fast. I think she saw me coming over with a basket of zucchini. I was going to leave it on her doorstep but I was afraid she would trip over it and fall down. In my head I hear, “You killed my mom with zucchini!”

Tatume – a Mexican variety favored in Texas, Raven – a traditional variety, and Clarimore, a Mediterranean squash.

So when Jules came home from work, he asked what’s for supper.

“zucchini casserole and zucchini slaw with pickled zucchini!” I said.

But we had toasted zucchini bread for breakfast, Jules whined.

“with zucchini jam!,” I reminded him.

Well, what’s for desert? he said.
“My famous and delicious chocolate zucchini cake!”

I was thinking that if I sounded excited about it (hence the exclamation marks) he would be excited about eating our fresh from the garden bounty.

Tomorrow, let’s go out to dinner, he said.

“I can’t! I can’t leave the zucchini that long. They will be two feet long by the time we come back.”

Last night, he put his foot down when he came into the kitchen and saw me with a recipe for making zucchini wine. (We went out to dinner.)

This is the first year I can remember having too much zucchini. Usually the squash bugs and squash vine borers attack the plants well before the zucchini get into peak production.

Clairimore is a Mediterranean squash, a nutty flavorful variety with pale green skin.

We have a house rule, if it’s too big for one person to carry into the kitchen,  just roll it over to the compost pile.

Does Ripley’s Believe it or Not! have a zucchini record? If so, I think I have a contender.

 

Here are some real suggestions on how to manage your harvest.

Local Cook suggests “Hide it in desserts, such as Zucchini Brownies. Chocolate, like cheese, makes everything taste better! This brownie looks good enough to eat.

There’s an app for that
Just go to the iTunes store or Android marketplace or search for “Produce Converter”

You can’t go wrong with a Julia Child recipe. Julia Child’s Grated Zucchini sautéed in Butter and Shallots From Food.com

My bountiful harvest is from seed I got at  Renee’s Garden. She just posted Zucchini pancakes recipe AND a photo contest.

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Posted in My Gardens, My Homeplace, Oh Grow Up!

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