Is there any way to preserve zucchini?
Jamie J. Ferguson
I have TONS of zucchini and would like to preserve them somehow,
but I can't find any way in the books I have. If anyone knows
how to do this I would really appreciate some information.
Thanks,
Jamie
Jamie J. Ferguson
I only have 4 zucchini plants, but I've come to respect them.
Its amazing how many zucchini one plant can produce! I would
like to preserve some but so far I haven't found any way
to do so. I'm open to new uses for zucchini, but if anyone
knows how to can/pickle/freeze/whatever zucchini it would
really make my life easier. I'm running out of people to
give them to...
Thanks,
Jamie
Nicole Okun
One way I preserve zucchini is to make bread and butter pickles with them
(won first place in the local fair last year). Of course, it may be too
late for you to do that, because they have to be SMALL zukes, about a
finger-length and maybe an inch in diameter.
I have also substituted zukes for cukes in dill pickle recipes, and while
they taste great, they do get a little soft (I cut them into spears).
I haven't tried it, but they probably would be good in any ripe cucumber
pickle recipe.
When all else fails, don't think about preserving them -- just deposit them
on neighbours' doorsteps (after dark).
-- Nicole
Scott Hayman
> I'm open to new uses for zucchini, but if anyone
> knows how to can/pickle/freeze/whatever zucchini it would
> really make my life easier.
My wife makes a great zucchini bread (sorry, I don't have the recipe
here) and what we do to preserve zucchini until she makes it is this:
wash it, grate it, bag it in the appropriate quantity for the recipe,
and then throw it in the freezer. Works great!
This reminds me that we have zucchini in the freezer and I haven't had
an zucchini bread in a while. Maybe I'll get some this weekend ;-).
Scott
Corey Steffen
>Scott
Wow, two wives with the same ideas. My wife also makes a great
zucchini bread (and muffins) and preserves it in the exact same
manner - wash it, grate it, bag it, freeze it.
Sorry Scott, just had some fresh zucchini bread last week...now I'm
feasting on some fresh apple strudel muffins. ;^)
Corey
Mike Stallcup
Ferguson) wrote:
> I'm open to new uses for zucchini, but if anyone
> knows how to can/pickle/freeze/whatever zucchini it would
> really make my life easier. I'm running out of people to
> give them to...
This is not really preserving, but it's a novel (and great) way to use
them. Try making them into "Zucchini Apple Pie" (recipe posted to
rec.food.recipes). I didn't believe it until I made one, but you can't
tell it from the real thing. The great thing about this recipe is that it
uses the monster zukes that hide in the back of the zuke forest.
- Mike
(How could I speak for NASA? I can barely speak for myself!)
Tricia Jones
Here's one way that nobody has mentioned yet: use a dehydrator and
make zucchini chips! In the past, we've just sliced ours fairly thin,
added some spices [the dehydrator book suggests garlic salt+sesame seeds,
we've also used Old Bay Seasoning for zippy chips], then put them one
to dry. An article in the latest Organic Gardening suggests blanching
the "quarter inch thick rounds for a few seconds", which I guess I'll
try if I get around to drying any this year.
[My friend who is hypoglycemic really appreciated the zucchini chips,
since she can't eat potato chips.]
Tricia Jones
tri...@Umich.edu
Steven R. Tobin
>From: k...@inel.gov (Jamie J. Ferguson)
>Subject: Is there any way to preserve zucchini?
>Date: Thu, 1 Sep 94 16:24:07 GMT
>Thanks,
>Jamie
I tried drying zucchini a couple of weeks ago, and it is really good! My
intent was to use them as a potatochip substitute for salsa, dips and such,
but they are good just plain as a snack. Go figure...
It is real easy because they aren't juicy. Cut them into 1/4" slices. I used
young to medium fruit, but older giants may work. If you don't have a
dehydrator, you can use your oven. I think you could lay out the slices
directly onto the oven racks due to the lack of juices. Prop the oven door
open slightly (electric stove) and dry at about 125-135 deg F. until dry,
almost crisp. If the oven won't go that low, turn it on and off manually. It
doesn't take long to dry, about 4 - 6 hours.
Here's one that might help. Seems like a lot of work and expense, though.
Zucchini Relish
12 C coarsely chopped zucchini
1 1/2 C chopped onion
1 C chopped green pepper
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 T plus 1/2 t salt
ice water
1 C water
5 C sugar
3 C vinegar
2 t mustard seeds
2 t turmeric
2 t prepared mustard
Combine zucchini, onion, green pepper, garlic, and salt in a large bowl; add
ice water to cover. Let stand 3 hours; drain well. Combine 1 C water, sugar,
vinegar, mustard seeds, turmeric, and mustard in a large dutch oven; bring to a
boil. Add zucchini mixture, and boil 10 min. Quickly ladle hot mixture into hot
sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, and wipe jar
rims. Cover at once with metal lids, and screw on bands. Process in boiling
water bath 10 minutes. Yield : 4 quarts.
Steven R. Tobin
>From: k...@inel.gov (Jamie J. Ferguson)
>Subject: Is there any way to preserve zucchini?
>Date: Thu, 1 Sep 94 16:24:07 GMT
To quote a thread from another group:
========================================
>From: dkl...@pluto.njcc.com (Dorothy Klein)
>Subject: Re: Things to do with Really Large Zuccini
>Date: 29 Aug 1994 22:54:20 -0400
>u4im...@apollo.wes.army.mil (Harry Boswell) writes:
>>Another post got me speculating about Really Large Zuccini (RLZs). What
>>can you do with them? Here's some idle ideas:
>Hm, this could make a nice little novelty cartoon book for gardeners...
>>1) Keep them by your bed in case robbers break in during the night.
>>2) Paint it red, put wheels on it, and hire out as the Armour Hot Dog man.
>>3) Throw it up as high as you can and watch SAC go on alert.
>>4) Build non-PT, organic raised beds using RLZs as the frame.
>>5) Adapt the Scottish game of Tossing the Caper to Tossing the RLZ.
> ^^^^^
> Caber (~= telephone pole)
>6. Split it lenghtwise, scoop it out, and make a pair of home-made canoes
>7. Easily-carved totem pole
>8. Shellac it, put it on a plaque, and hang it next to the Big Fish on
> the wall in the den. The RLZ _IS_ "the one that got away."
>9. You can feed the multitudes with the zucchini bread.
>10. Sell it as a prop for "Attack of the Killer Zucchinis"
>Anyone else?
>Dotty Klein
>
11. Paint it pink, put a collar and leash on it, and pretend it's a pet pig.
12. Build a zucchini-a-pult (instead of catapult) and bomb the neighbors who
wouldn't take them when they were small.
13. Drive them into the ground for fence posts.
14. Sell them as parking lot bumpers.
15. Use them as speed bumps for 747's.
Steve
Gary Yandle
Zucchini Chips. Wash zucchini, do not peal. Slice the zucchini into 1/8
inch thick chips. Sprinkle salt and pepper, or season salt, or Heinz
57, or barbecue sauce, or garlic salt, or onion salt, or what ever is
your favorite spice on top
of one side of the zucchini. Then dry the zucchini until crisp. Can be stored
in a zip lock bag for several months in a dark place. These make a
different kind
of snack from potatoe chips, definitely lower in fat.
Another recipe I have probably doesn't belong within this group, but it
does use
zucchini. Stuffed Zucchini. Allow one or two of your zucchini to get
up to 4 inches wide. ( I usually never let mine get any wider that 1 to
1 1/2 inches
wide, but for stuffed zucchini I let a couple get bigger ). And then there is
always that zucchini that you missed the last time you looked at your plants.
1 4 inch wide zucchini
1 cup of cooked rice ( I like using a mix of white, brown and wild rice ).
1 7oz. can of ham
2 medium tomatoes ( peeled and sliced )
1 small onion ( chopped )
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 clove garlic
1 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Glass baking dish large enough to hold the zucchini
Wash zucchini. Cut in half lengthwise. Now the zucchini needs to be cooked
just long enough to make it just soft enough so that you can scoop out
the center.
I like to use my microwave for this. The whole idea is not to over cook
and make
the zucchini soft. Once cooked, scoop out the center reserving half of
the pulp.
Set the zucchini in the glass baking dish. Chop reserved pulp.
In a fry pan on med/high heat fry onion and garlic in 1 tbls oil until
has just
turned clear. Turn heat down to med. Add rice, ham, tomatoes, parsley,
cinnamon, and zucchini pulp and possibly salt and pepper to taste. Heat
through
for about 2 to 3 mins. Add the grated cheese slowly until it is all
incorporated
into the mixture. Remove from heat.
Fill the hollowed out zucchinis with rice mixture. There will be more
rice mixture than what will fit into the zucchinis so don't be afraid to
pile it up
high. Place thin slices of cheese on top if desired. Place zucchinis into a
preheated oven at 375 degrees fahrenheit for 20 mins.
I have another recipe of zucchini relish but, unfortunately I'm at work and the
recipe is at home.
Don't know if this helps you much, but I thought I would try to help.
Gary Yandle
Middleton, Idaho
ga...@boi.hp.com
Jeanne Shaw
Someone said Zucchini chips--I made them one year, marinated them
in soy sauce before I dried them--YUM!
Don Hobsbawn
: In article <1994Sep1.1...@pmafire.inel.gov>, k...@inel.gov (Jamie
: J. Ferguson) writes:
: |>
: |>I only have 4 zucchini plants, but I've come to respect them.
: |>Its amazing how many zucchini one plant can produce! I would
: |>like to preserve some but so far I haven't found any way
: |>to do so. I'm open to new uses for zucchini, but if anyone
: |>knows how to can/pickle/freeze/whatever zucchini it would
: |>really make my life easier. I'm running out of people to
: |>give them to...
: |>
: |>Thanks,
: |>Jamie
: |>
From my experience, it doesn't freeze well. We shredded and froze some,
but it really went mushy and lost all of its textural qualities -
couldn't even use it for baking...
Good luck --
_____________________________________
Don Hobsbawn | It's your right to pay the minimum
Cyclic Business Advisory Ltd. | amount of income tax: it's your
Calgary, Alberta, Canada | only way to have a "tax revolt"!
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