We have one of those "Eight Ball" type zucchini plants (the fruit is round, like mini pumpkins) and they are just as freaking productive as regular zucchini. I've already pickled 12 pints of them in the last week - and that doesn't include what we are eating fresh and sauteed. ACK! I refuse to waste perfectly good food and the chickens don't much care for them, even cut up. Sooooooo, is there any other way I can preserve them?
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SF Bay Area
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Sat, June 14, 2008 - 8:46 PMWhirl them up in the food processor, then freeze in cubes to add to soups. You can also juice them and use the resulting liquid in breads and pancakes. -
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Sun, June 15, 2008 - 4:23 AMTry drying . -
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Sun, June 15, 2008 - 7:37 AMWe had this 'problem' last year. Volunteer squash that threatened to take over the garden and kept producing and producing. They were the star burst kind, pale green. Very tender and good.
My two best uses were cream of zucchini soup and chow chow (both use a lot!). We ended up making chow chow two or three times and that was a good thing. We gave a lot of it away, people loved it and asked for more. That was a very popular item with friends an family. So much so that we ended up purchasing seed to what looks like the same squash (we forgot to save seed last year) to plant more this year!
Let me know if either recipe interests you and I'll post. -
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Sun, June 15, 2008 - 6:14 PMThey both sound good. I'd love the recipes! -
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Sun, June 15, 2008 - 6:28 PMI got this recipe from my mom. It originally came with dairy cream, she left it out and it was good. I added the miso and sometimes I add blended tofu if I want extra protein. Make sure you add the bay leaves in the saute step.
Cream of summer squash
Green sunburst squash (a basket full)
2 large baking potatoes
2 large yellow onions
4-5 bay leaves
vegetable broth (1 quart or 2-3 tbsp in water)
Water as needed
silken tofu 20 oz - you can also use regular tofu or dairy cream (optional)
Chopped fresh dill
2 tbsp light yellow miso
1 tsp white pepper
olive oil for sautéing
add salt to taste
Coarsely chop onions, potatoes and summer squash, sauté in hot olive oil and add bay leaves – sauté for a few minutes and add broth, water. Cook until all veggies are tender and allow to cool. Add the rest of the ingredients, remove the bay leaves and blend to a smooth thick soup. Add optional tofu or cream. Add more water or veggie broth if it is too thick. Add salt to taste and white pepper.
(if you have an immersion blender, remove the bay leaves and blend warm or hot, careful!)
This can be served cold or hot, so heat the soup if you want to serve warm. -
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Sun, June 15, 2008 - 6:43 PMI got this recipe from one of the veggie yehoo groups. It is called chow chow, millionaire's relish, or picadilli, depending on where you are from.
The changes I made:
I added hot peppers (of course)
I did not do the pickling salt soak and rinse step. I just salted the veggies a bit and cooked them right away. I did not want to leach the vitamins out, this is why I omitted this step. It did turn out very good
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Recipe: Millionaire Relish
MILLIONAIRE RELISH
Makes 24 1/2 pints and can be halved
3 quarts (12-14cups)zucchini
3 large onions
3 red peppers
3 green peppers
Put vegetables through a grinder w/course blade or finely chop after
peeling and seeding. (I left the skin on the zucchini)
Cover with 1 1/2 cups pickling salt and 16 cups cold water.
Let stand overnight or for several hours. Drain and rinse well with
cold water.
Add:
4 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp tumeric
2 Tbsp mustard seed
1 Tbsp celery seed
4 cups vinegar
Mix well and cook for 5 mins. at a bubbling boil.
Mix 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup vinegar and add to mixture to thicken.
Continue to cook another 5 mins.
Pour into sterilized jars and process in hotwater bath for 5 mins. If
you use larger jars, process for 10 mins.
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Sun, June 22, 2008 - 12:19 PM>Whirl them up in the food processor, then freeze in cubes to add to soups.
Cool idea!
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Sun, June 15, 2008 - 8:39 PMWhen I have one of those giant zucchini that escapes my attention until it's the size of a small island, I cut it up, seed it, then cook it in the slow cooker with chicken stock and fresh herbs until it's soft, peel off the skin, puree it, and add a splash of dry white wine at the end. It's really good and freezes well. You can serve it with fresh cream or pesto at the table. -
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Mon, June 16, 2008 - 9:02 PMI have a coworker that will stuff the overgrown zukes with the fixin's you would put in stuffed peppers and then bakes it. She says it's pretty tasty.
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Mon, June 16, 2008 - 10:58 PMIn a stock pot Saute one onion (medium chop) and 3 - 8(depending on your taste) cloves of garlic(minced) in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a medium skillet, when the onions or soft and translucent add three to 4 medium tomatoes (skinned, seeded and rough chopped) and a large chiffonade of fresh basil then turn off the heat and add one pound of sliced zuchinni stir it enough to cover the squash with the tomato sauce. Allow to cool and portion into canning jars and hot water or pressure cook can. This will have a nice summery taste in the middle of winter. Most of the cooking of the squash will be in the canning process so it should still be fairly firm.
You can also peel, seed and slice the zuchinni and and make mock apple pie filling and can that.
Zuchinni is in a vegetable that takes on the flavor of the foods it's cooked with it. Shredded zuchinni can be added to ground meats to stretch a meatloaf. You can gring some zuchinni in with meat when making canned meatloaf. Add it to stews you can. That's just a few ideas off the top of my head. I hope you find them helpful. -
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Tue, June 17, 2008 - 5:32 AMI grate up some of mine and freeze for use in chocolate Zucchini bread and muffins:
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup veg oil
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
*Microwave chocolate until melted, stir until smooth. In large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil, zucchini, vanilla and chocolate, mix well. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, add chocolate chips. Pour batter into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake in preheated 350* oven tor 60 -70 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Makes a very moist bread.
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Tue, July 8, 2008 - 2:53 PMshred it and freeze it . . .
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Tue, July 8, 2008 - 2:54 PMoh, also, slice them and dehydrate them . . . -
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Fri, July 25, 2008 - 9:52 AMI add summer squash to pretty much every dinner recipe, such as chili, spaghetti sauces and lasagna, stir fry, casserole, etc. I make a huge quantity, then freeze portions. The squash gets frozen along with all the rest, and I have to cook half as often! -
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Fri, July 25, 2008 - 10:34 AMOddly enough I'm not getting enough zukes this year to can, but plenty of yellow crook neck squash. We can our zukes with tomatoes and onions, using a either a hot water bath or my wife's new pressure canner (much faster). We blanch the tomatoes first, pop the skins, slice the zukes any which way we please, add yellow or red onions and some garlic, a pinch of kosher salt, some pepper corns, and pack it all in quart jars. Then it's into the water or pressure canner.
In the winter we just unseal and warm it up for dinner.
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Fri, July 25, 2008 - 10:40 AMAbout two years ago I had to much Zuchinni and I made really good relish, in fact I still have some, it used up a lot of zuchinni, I got the recipe from Countryside magazine, I looked but that issue is not on line. Also I have seen mock apple pie's with Zuchinni but have never tried it. -
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Mon, July 28, 2008 - 6:29 PMZucchinni will take on the flavors of whatever you cook it with. That is why it is so versatile. You asked for recipes other than pickles so I didn't include this one but I will now.
Cut zucchinni length ways and deseed then slice zucchinni thinly and lay in one layer on a paper towel on a shallow pan and salt liberally with pickling saltcover with another paper towel. After the squash has been leeched of much of it's moisture drain and rinse off the salt and dry in a salad spinning. In a sauce pan bring 2 cups of rice wine vinegar ro a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and can a cup of cane sugar and a pinch of salt. put zucchinni in a jar and cover with the warm sweeted vinegar and place one slice of peeled ginger in the jar and seal. This makes a sweet and sour pickle with a bite of ginger that is a cooling side when eating hot spicy food or with sticky rich as a flavoring agent in the Japanese method. -
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Re: Preserving Zucchini other than pickling?
Fri, August 1, 2008 - 9:11 AMnot a preserve, but very good....
Yellow squash hummus
3 medium yellow squash, raw - straight neck, cut into coarse pieces
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 cup pulverized toasted almonds (toast in 275F oven until light brown)
1/ 2 cup mixed seeding cilantro and fresh parsley (or just cilantro)
1/2 cup myers lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil, and as needed for frying cumin
salt to taste
1 tsp cumin seed, fried in olive oil
1 tsp pulverized chile chipotle or chile morita (or use smoked paprika)
Pulverize almonds in food processor first. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth and creamy.
This is good on dark toast and with steamed green beens, or pita bread.
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