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The CookingBites recipe challenge: courgette/zucchini
- Thread starter Morning Glory
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JAS_OH1
Forum GOD!
Yeah, I'm ok with zucchini but I don't crave it. My DH doesn't like it much at all. He used to grow it and I've no idea why! Glad he stopped lol.
The problem with courgettes/zucchini is that they are a very mild tasting vegetable (technically a fruit). At best they have a grassy fresh taste and toasting/charring the skin can add a lovely umami edge to offset that. At worst they are bland, floppy and insipid! A plus point is that they can look very pretty.
So, that is why I quite like this challenge. I'm having fun thinking up ways to use them in the best possible way!
JAS_OH1
Forum GOD!
I've eaten plenty of them, that's for sure. Growing up my mom and other relatives cooked them in butter with onions. A few times I made them sliced thin with seasoning and parmesan cheese, then baked them, and that was probably my favorite way to prepare them, but I'd rather eat something else. I've even breaded and fried them. Just not in love with them.
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Nor me. But that is the challenge for me personally. I like to experiment and try out new ideas and courgettes are cheap enough to do that with. If I fail its not going to cost me a fortune.
medtran49
Forum GOD!
Craig came up with a casserole side dish that uses zucchini, yellow squash, ritz crackers, onions, and butter. It sounds like it would be really bland, but it's not, has a good flavor, goes great with a roasted protein, which is a win-win since they can be roasted together. I'll have to try and make it because there's no recipe since you can make as much or as little as you like, with only a change in how long it takes to bake, plus I need a picture to explain the Ritz cracker part. Craig and I will both eat just the casserole by itself, so there's rarely any leftover.
That’s how my mom and grandmom (and really just about everyone around here) prepared them when I was growing up - thin slices dredged in seasoned flour and flash-fried in bacon grease.
Sounds good to me.
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Looking forward to that! I like the idea of a recipe that can be thrown together with variable ingredients.
Everyone liked it…except me and my dad.
JAS_OH1
Forum GOD!
I like to experiment and try out new ideas as well, but I have to be fond of the ingredient. That's why I was able to come up with 3 different recipes with the lamb challenge. If a light bulb goes off for zucchini I will post something, but I am sure there are going to be plenty of other people who iike zucchini well enough to submit. I have a feeling that there is going to an avalanche of entries for this one!
Here's another entry, then; and I've got another 5 in the wings. Catalan coca with courgettes, basil and almonds
A coca has nothing to do with that white, powdery stuff; this is a Catalan variation of a pizza. Basically the same dough, but treated slightly differently, and served in a rectangular, or oblong shape.
Another difference is that the coca is topped with two or three items; no gooey cheese, no tomato base, just simple ingredients in a fairly basic form. I've eaten a few (but never made one until yesterday). Grilled red peppers and Iberico ham comes to mind; sardines with capers; artichokes with garlic and parsley.
The topping on this one was inspired by a recipe I've got for a courgette, basil, almond and Gruyére tart.
Was it good? Yes, it was, but next time, I'd use more courgettes (and probably try to find the baby ones - more flavour) and tweak the pastry recipe a bit. I'll have to investigate a bit more.
A coca has nothing to do with that white, powdery stuff; this is a Catalan variation of a pizza. Basically the same dough, but treated slightly differently, and served in a rectangular, or oblong shape.
Another difference is that the coca is topped with two or three items; no gooey cheese, no tomato base, just simple ingredients in a fairly basic form. I've eaten a few (but never made one until yesterday). Grilled red peppers and Iberico ham comes to mind; sardines with capers; artichokes with garlic and parsley.
The topping on this one was inspired by a recipe I've got for a courgette, basil, almond and Gruyére tart.
Was it good? Yes, it was, but next time, I'd use more courgettes (and probably try to find the baby ones - more flavour) and tweak the pastry recipe a bit. I'll have to investigate a bit more.
One of the recipes I was considering is very similar to this. Looks good!
teamfat
Senior Member
A few years ago I had a plot at The Grateful Tomato Garden. This was a site run by Wasatch Community Gardens. It was 4 foot by 50 foot, a LOT of room for everything! It was located about a block from my house, an easy walk, back when I could walk a block without pain. I was over there tending my plot of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and various other veggies one day when some kids from one of WCG's programs, City Sprouts I think it was, were also there. One kid, maybe 8 - 10 years old, looked around for someone, and spotted me. He and some of his fellow young gardeners immediately came over to where I was working. He held out his pride and joy, a huge, maybe half a meter long zucchini. He proudly proclaimed "Look what *I* growed!"
I did not correct his grammar. I did not tell him his prize was too big, it would be tough and bitter. I oohed and awwed and appeared suitably impressed by his achievement. He was so proud, so happy to have accomplished something! I think that when I went home, I added another 5 bucks to my monthly contribution to WCG, having witnessed first hand what their youth programs produced in kids.
On another note, one woman my wife and I know is a singer/songwriter of sorts. One summer evening we were at their house and she sang a song she had written about zucchini. Her husband had forbade her from planting and growing that overly prolific veggie, so she secretly planted one plant around the corner of their house, hoping her husband wouldn't spot it. She kind of forgot about it one week, went back to check and found a GIANT zucchini. Which was big enough to hollow out to make a canoe that she and her husband paddled along the Jordan River. Pretty fun tune!
Anyway, I should have an entry soon.
mjb.
I did not correct his grammar. I did not tell him his prize was too big, it would be tough and bitter. I oohed and awwed and appeared suitably impressed by his achievement. He was so proud, so happy to have accomplished something! I think that when I went home, I added another 5 bucks to my monthly contribution to WCG, having witnessed first hand what their youth programs produced in kids.
On another note, one woman my wife and I know is a singer/songwriter of sorts. One summer evening we were at their house and she sang a song she had written about zucchini. Her husband had forbade her from planting and growing that overly prolific veggie, so she secretly planted one plant around the corner of their house, hoping her husband wouldn't spot it. She kind of forgot about it one week, went back to check and found a GIANT zucchini. Which was big enough to hollow out to make a canoe that she and her husband paddled along the Jordan River. Pretty fun tune!
Anyway, I should have an entry soon.
mjb.
badjak
Legendary Member
My dad grew his out to become big.
I liked them, we would hollow them out. Use the soft meat, together with tomatoes and ground beef and it would go into the oven
(Dad's beet root washuge as well. It had to be cut in 4 to even get into the pressure cooker
)
I liked them, we would hollow them out. Use the soft meat, together with tomatoes and ground beef and it would go into the oven
(Dad's beet root washuge as well. It had to be cut in 4 to even get into the pressure cooker
)