zucchini, how big is to big??

After being out of town for 9 days I checked the garden and there were 4 HUGE (the size of a mans arm) zucchinis ... will they taste o.k.??

My neighbor gave me some that weigh over 8 lbs each. He said they are fine to use and eat. Good thing, as he gave me about...ohhh, 60 lbs worth. I sense zuke bread and relish, dehydrated zuke and...who knows what else! coming from my kitchen this week...LOL!

They will do fine in most recipes if you remove the seeds.

*chuckle* If you sat and watched them overnight, I'm sure you could SEE them grow.

For instance, THIS one is too big. Turned my back for 5 minutes. ;o)

It made an excellent double batch of zucchini bread, which I shared with my neighbors, and now the whole apartment building is hoping for another monster for sweet bread.

(Who am I kidding? There's a monster sitting on my counter waiting for me to shred it up and get the oven going.)

Virginia's Dad's Zucchini Bread Recipe

2 cups sugar (turns out good with 1/2 white and 1/2 brown)
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoon cinnamon
(Add some nutmeg?)
3 beaten eggs
2 sticks margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla
2-3 cups grated zucchini

***********************************************
Mix all ingredients well and pour into 2 well-greased and floured loaf pans.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45-55 minutes OR until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Zucchini pickles: http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,pickled_zucchini,FF.html Zucchini relish, too.

My mom used to cut them into 3" slices, take out the seeds, and fill the seed cavity with a ground meat mixture such as that you would use for stuffed peppers, then bake them. This is very good.

Zucchini can be used in so many ways that there's no such thing as too big or too many. LOL.

Karen

That bread recipe looks yummy. Do you think it would work with yellow zucchini?

I've never had yellow zucchini but the recipe should work for any kind. Try it out and see what you think.

I want to try the stuffed zuke thing too, glendale. Might even try it with my yellow squash.

indy,

The stuffed yellow squash should work, I would think. The stuffed zuke is one of my favorite dishes. I've let them get large on purpose just so I could fix it. Just make it as if you were baking stuffed bell peppers.

Karen

The zucchini bread recipe will be fine with yellow squash, though you may have to adjust the ingredients a bit to accommodate the "juicier" texture. My recipe for the ZB is different, and I can't remember the exact amounts or ingredients. I think we added 2T more of flour when we used the yellow, but I can't swear to that. I know everyone loved it though.

That stuffed squash recipe sounds awesome...never occurred to me me to try that. Maybe I'll get luck and my zukes or patty pans will decided to produce for me sometime in the near future. Sigh - they are sure taking their sweet time. So many male flowers...and so many bees having their way with them!

And don't forget your zucchini/squash pancakes. Sooooo good!

I have a friend that had a saying, "If you won't take any of my zukini,s don't ask me for any corn when it's ready"

I use to love having some big zucchinis around growing up. We'd slice them, dip them in egg and flour, and fry them in butter. They'd be as big as a pancake! We'd also stuff them with mixed veggies and ground beef, everyone would have their own bowl! Now I can only find the small ones in the stores, I miss the old home grown size!

You have to grow them to get the big ones. Everyone who buys theirs only in stores think that the big ones are no good so they won't buy them. Dumb, huh?

Karen

Every once in while, when I post a photo of my "haul", I get responses about "leaving them on the vine too long"... I have to snicker. They may be "aged" for steaming or dipping, but they're still plenty good for soooo many dishes!

Sequee,

I have to agree totally. Anyone who says that doesn't know zucchinis.

My mom once made zucchini bread for a teenage group. She told them it was spice bread. My daughter (age 13) finally just HAD to let the cat out of the bag. One boy then declared he didn't like zucchini. Mom told him it was too late as he had already eaten three slices. LOL.

Karen

They have a nuttier flavor when they get bigger...this whole conversation is making me hungry!
:D

Last year I brought 3 jumbos home from my brothers garden in Ohio. I shaved them lengthwise through the mandolin and used the wide ribbons instead of noodles to make my lasagna. Boy was it delicious! No pasta at all!

Oh, what a clever idea! That sounds wonderful!

Karen

Try this one...

Choclate Zucchini Cake

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups zucchini, grated
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts
Directions
1 Cream butter then add oil and sugar; mix.
2 Add next 8 ingredients; mix well.
3 Fold in the chips and nuts by hand.
4 Put in a greased and floured 9 x 13 pan.
5 Bake at 325° for 1 hour or until done.

I don't remember using buttermilk, but I may have. It was really good. I did it in a 9x13 pan, and froze 3/4 of it. It was still good every time i took it out :)

catmad,

Oh, that does sound good indeed! I've copied it off for future use.

Karen

I don't care much for chocolate, but I think if I left the choco chips out, it would be fabulous!

Now I must go outside and give a little enouragement to the zucchini plants!!! (Go, team! Go, team! Goooooo team!!!)

I just LOVE chocolate -- always have. Now, I've become allergic to it. So, now I'm allergic to two of my favorite things -- chocolate and black/white pepper. Aaaaargh!! This recipe doesn't have very much chocolate, maybe I can get by with it, or else I can use chocolate-flavored chips.

Sequee,

The butterscotch or vanilla chips would be good, too.

Karen

I use butterscotch chips as replacements in my cookies and brownies, and thet wrk fine! This one has such a small amount of chocolate that I think if I just drop the chips, it will be great. The butterscotch might be too sweet, in my opinion. Oh, but I am starting to salivate, just thinking about it! ~:[)

My mom never put chips in her zucchini cake or bread -- used chopped walnuts. So, if you like nuts you can use them instead. Of course, the zucchini cake or break is great without either -- just plain.

Karen

LOL - I'm a nut...I put them in EVERYTHING!!!

Oh, me too. I love nuts in everything.

Karen

*G*....Okay, I'll confess. I'm not much of a chocolate eater either. Change the sugar to brown, and the chips to butterscotch, and it's wonderful:). I even used rum flavor for vanilla one time....
This year I'm going to try it with Trombocino (zucchino rampicante) if I can stand to not cook it fresh. It's got more substance to it than "regular" zucchini, so we'll see.