What to do with overly large Zucchini?

[Homercidal]

Went to Chicago for a long weekend and neglecte to tell my daughter to water the garden and pick fruit. As a consequence, we have several very large Zucchini. Probably got large seeds inside them.

Any ideas on how I can use them deliciously? The best idea I got is to cut in half lengthwise, scoop the center and make Zucchini bowls out of them. Stuff them with meats, cheeses, etc.

 

[IslandLizard]

Zucchini bowls sound great!

The flesh is usually fine for any purpose, I like cutting them into spears and grilling them. You could cut/scrape out the centers if the large seeds bother you, and bake zucchini bread out of the scraped out pulp.

 

[Mainer]

Large overly-woody zucchinis work well for zucchini breads and zucchini cake. You grate them up really fine, so the texture's not as important.

 

[Mainer]

Also, if you scoop out the seeds and spear them, they're nice battered and deep fried as zucchini fries.

 

[Murphys_Law]

We had a rather large one ourselves and my wife made zucchini bread. It was wonderful. If you're interested I will get the recipe and send along. All I know is she used way more than most recipes call for and added walnuts and cranberries infused with cherry juice (Crasin brand, I believe).

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I'd bet your wife has an idea.

 

[Homercidal]

I'd bet your wife has an idea.

Indeed she does! She wants me to make those Zucchini Brownies again. They are really good. I'm just leery of getting bored with brownies. It doesn't take a lot of zucchini to make a batch, and I've got a lot of zucchini.

 

[Gonefishing]

I suppose my answer of burning them, burying the ashes deep and finally posting a hazardous materials placard isn't what you had in mind, huh?

 

[z-bob]

Most zucchini bread recipes use 2 cups of shredded zuke. This one uses 3:

Zucchini Snack Cake

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground allspice

3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup oil
4 eggs

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the eggs, oil, and zucchini and beat well.
Pour into greased 9x13 pan and bake in 325° oven for about 45 to 50 minutes.

 

[Yooper]

Make crab cakes! Without crab, of course.

You can dispose of the seeds, and make them. They are really good, especially with that ketchup/lemon juice/horseradish cocktail sauce.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/13938/connies-zucchini-crab-cakes/

I've done them quite a few times in the past and everybody loved it.

I don't buy Old Bay, as I have a ton of seasonings on hand so I mix up my own seasoning: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/homemade-old-bay-seasoning-recipe-52622321 (mine is most similar to the first one)

 

[Homercidal]

Good ideas! I really need to use these up. I still have frozen zucchini from last year to be ground into baked goods.

 

[brewcat]

Zucchini Beer. I would just do it like a pumpkin beer. Roast the zucchini and smash it. Add that to the heating mash water and continue mash as normal. Dependent on if the zucchini still has good flavor. Otherwise zucchini bread is good.

 

[Auger]

I made stuffed zucchini last night, which was delicious. Took a ~14" zucchini, cut lengthwise and scooped out the insides. Took the inside bits and chopped them up, mixed with 3/4 lb italian sausage, an egg, 1/2c parm cheese, 1/4c italian breadcrumbs and some minced garlic. Probably also would have been good with some chopped onion and grated carrots. Stuff the zucchini shells, bake for 45min at 350, cover with pasta sauce and mozz cheese and bake for another 10 min, serve over quinoa. Made for a tasty throw-together dinner with good leftovers for lunch.

 

[casualbrewer]

I picked a 3lb zucchini from my garden this year and made a really good casserole with it. Just removed most of seeds and went about it as normal. Tasted great

 

[Jayzon]

I cut the zucchini into spears and remove the spongy middle section. Bake it in the oven with some Parmesan, came out great.
Similar to this: http://damndelicious.net/2014/06/21/baked-parmesan-zucchini/

 

[Temptd2]

This is really good - gets rave reviews when I serve it!

Zucchini Pepperjack Casserole

1 pound zucchini, cubed in 1/4" pieces
2 strips cooked bacon, cut into small pieces
8 oz. grated pepperjack
2 green onions, sliced, white & green
1 small can (3 or 4 oz.) diced mild chiles (Ortega)
1 tsp. crushed dried oregano
2 tablespoons Bisquick
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. ground ancho or other mild chile pepper

Toss all these ingredients together in an 8" round casserole.

Mix together:

1/4 cup half & half
2 eggs
1/8 tsp. Tabasco

Pour over ingredients in casserole, stir well, then sprinkle top evenly with the following, mixed together:

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter

Bake at 350* about 45 minutes or til just browning and bubbling around the edges. Let cool slightly before serving.

Makes 6 hearty servings or up to 10 side servings

 

[Temptd2]

Zucchini pickles are really good too - you can do a Google search and turn up lots of recipes for them.

 

[imasickboy]

Lacto fermented zucchini pickles should be right up your alley.

 

[z-bob]

I made zucchini pickles once and they were way too soft. The flavor was good but I couldn't get past the texture. I should try it again now that I know a little about calcium chloride and pickling lime.

 

[benco]

Or ratatouille.

 

[thunderwagn]

If you have a dehydrator, you can make zucchini chips.

 

[Pkrd]

You could give them to your wife to grate and then fill the freezer with them so theres no room for your hops, even though you have fresh zucchini coming out your ears and you know you'll never ever use the frozen stuff. After three months throw them away.

Yeah, you could do that.


You could also make some zucchini parmesan fritters for the BBQ. These are always a hit.
https://www.mygourmetconnection.com/recipes/zucchini-parmesan-fritters.php

 

[kodiakken]

Zucchinni Relish is always good.

 

[triethylborane]

Zucchini slaw

http://www.homesicktexan.com/2012/0...gn=yummly&utm_medium=yummly&utm_source=yummly

 

[Homercidal]

I was able to give a bit away. Unfortunately, I forgot to give it to one person who lives a few hours away and we wont' see them for 2 weeks. My wife isn't as adventurous in the kitchen (at least for cooking) so not much has happened with it since last post. She made a stir fry with polish sausage last night.

 

[dyqik]

Big zucchini/courgettes are called marrows in the UK, and treated as a different vegetable, including in Indian cooking. Googling "marrow recipes" should help with some ideas.

You can hollow them out and stuff and bake them.

 

[Homercidal]

Well, I was busy on the roof all night, so my wife cooked again. She made Zucchini boats with Italian Sausage, Cheese, etc. It was really good!

I applaud her for stepping out of her comfort zone and trying something new. She's usually hesitant to make new things, relying on a few proven recipes.

I think she made about twice what we could eat, though. Hopefully it will reheat ok.

 

[HoppyDaze]

next time ....compost

 

[TasunkaWitko]

This is Hungarian - try it and thank me later.

http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/tok-fozelek_topic745_page1.html

Please forgive the dead photobucket links. There is some weird "stuff" going on at PB these days, but the recipe/method is easy to figure out from the text of the post. If you have any questions at all, let me know.

Ron

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Photos of my attempt can be found here: http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/tk-fzelk_topic1454.html. This stuff is really, really good.