Pickles by Brian Crane for September 30, 2012

When I was a kid, I thought zucchini just appeared on the doorstep…or in the back of your car after church. Kind of like “spontaneous generation.”

My grandma made a pie with zucchini that had the flavor and texture of apple pie. Using brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, along with lemon juice, which adds the right tartness. Not being a fan of zucchini, that’s one of the few ways I’ll touch the stuff!

I have a recipe for stuffed zucchini that my grandson and his entire high school football team eat with glee and abandon. As a result, I seldom have very much leftover zucchini. Here it is:

Ingredients4 medium zucchini1 pound ground beef1 pound Italian sausage1 small onion, chopped1/2 cup dried bread crumbs1 egg, beaten1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup1 cup water

Directions1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C). Grease or spray a 13×9 inch baking dish.2.Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out the seeds. Chop and reserve about 3/4 of the seeds for the stuffing. In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, sausage, chopped onion, bread crumbs, egg and the reserved zucchini seeds. Place the meat mixture equally into all of the zucchini halves; mixture should be piled up over the top. Place the filled zucchini halves into the prepared baking dish.3.In a bowl, stir together the crushed tomatoes/sauce, tomato soup, and water. Spoon the tomato mixture over the filled zucchini, liberally. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes. You may want to place foil or a cookie sheet underneath the baking dish because it tends to bubble over and splash. If using disposable foil pans I highly recommend a cookie sheet beneath.

NOTE: For the Italian Sausage, just buy Italian sausage links and remove the casings and crumble it up like loose sausage. While you can use regular sausage I advise at least trying the Italian once. The flavor is MUCH better, whether you use sweet or hot Italian sausage. You can even sprinkle on some oregano before baking as an added touch – gives them sort of a pizza bent. Play around with it and customize it with spices and things. I always put banana pepper rings over it before baking it for me as I love their flavor. You can also add Parmesan, Romano or other cheese over the tops.

My grandson and his football team buddies can eat these BY THE DOZEN.

Cut Zucchini into 3 inch segments, dip into a batter and deep fry untill golden brown. serve hot with dipping sauce. your sports fan will clean them up in one game.

Well I suppose she’s learning from prior year’s failures, but wouldn’t it be best to plant less? Or better yet none at all?

We plant one zucchini plant, and laugh at the new gardeners that tell us they planted 6 of them. We just say, Oh, wow, you are going to have a lot of zucchini, while laughing to ourselves.

bread the zucchin with 1) flour salt pepper and cayenne,(let rest) then egg wash, the a mixture of Panko and parmesan, let rest (1/3 hour in’fridge) deep fry and serve with ranch dressing.

Slice a zucchini and an onion, put in a pot and cover with milk or half-milk, half-broth. Bring to a simmer and cook until tender. Blitz with a stick blender, season to taste. Good hot or refrigerate for a very refreshing cold soup.

1 plant is too much zucchini.-—————————————————-Personally I don’t trust a plant that doesn’t sound the way it’s spelled. It should be zoo-che-nee. …..a great name for a gangster!

My local Food Bank will only accept canned goods from the public. They say that they use the money donated to buy produce and other unsecure items from reliable sources.

my mother in law used to make Zucchini bread with it and it was good and tasted alot like Pumpkin bread.

A fellow near us just puts a wheelbarrow out front with a FREE sign piled high with zukes.

And yet, price zucchini in a grocery store…it is outrageous.

Yes…. Sssssssssh!

LOL xxx

You can make eggplant parmesan useing zucchini instead of eggplant.

Beware the Zucchini Monster.

As soon as they started getting into disguise, I knew where this was heading! :-D

I love zucchini!

Shred zucchini, shred other veg. (eggplant, oninon, garlic, peppers. Add parmesan, breadcrumbs, firm tofu,herbs of your choice, spices your choice, a little olive oil. Mix all together in a large bowl. Use your hands it’s easier. Put in large lasagne pan mound it up it will cook down, settle it but don’t pack it. 375 degrees oven for 1-2 hours. I call it Veg Moosh. It really uses up the summer squash. I cut into servings wrap in waxed paper and freeze.

we had a runaway okra crop one year.

They should go to the farmer’s market and barter for things they may be able to use. Or just make extra $!

You can julienne zucchini and sauté w/ olive oil, garlic, and white pepper, and it makes a killer pasta sauce that’s nice and light! Otherwise, I can’t stand ’em (but chocolate zucchini bread is awesome)…

Andrew Cheadle: Is there enough demand at a farmer’s market to cover the booth price? Even reliable contributors to food banks are not permitted to bring produce. We even have to tie up open-sacked french bread we get from a supermarket in order for them to be able to accept it. (Yes, they know what we are doing.) It isn’t their rule, but they have to obey it or get closed down.

As they say: How can you tell when someone doesn’t have a friend in the world? You see him alone in the produce aisle buying zucchini.

I anticipated the punch line for this one. (Why else would one disguise oneself?) I love zucchini with pasta and fresh herbs, plus zucchini fritters are delicious.

First year we grew zucchini we threw the leftovers in the compost.

Guess what the compost bin looked like next season!!!

Did they leave that darned fruitcake on my step at Christmas?