Oh no not zucchini!-rec.

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I should post my recipe for Beet Stuffed Zucchini! :-p

Seriously, I love pickled beets, and I love zucchini any way, shape, or form! Did you know that August 10th is "Leave a zucchini on your neighbor's porch day?" You might want to clear some room on your porch before then Scotch! :LOL:

:)Barbara
 
1st cycle at school we were given a zucchini practical!
i love the stuff with just butter/seasalt/pepper!

hi!!!!!!!!!!!!barb!!!!
 
I made some very well-received stuffed round zucchini last night. Very quick & impromptu to accompany a baked smoked turkey breast.

I cut the "8-Ball" zucchinis in half lengthwise & gently hollowed them out, leaving a 1/2" shell. Since they were relatively small & seedless, I chopped the innards & sauteed them in some extra-virgin olive oil along with some chopped red bell pepper, garlic, & onion. I then added 2 small handfulls of Pepperidge Farm Herb-Seasoned Stuffing & stirred it around until it had soaked up that fragrant oil. Raised the heat a bit & slowly added dollops of Swanson's Chicken Broth until the stuffing mix was the consistency I wanted - softened, but still firm. NOT soupy. Stuffing was piled into zucchini shells & placed around the smoked turkey breast in a baking dish. Covered the dish snugly with foil & baked for 40 minutes. Uncovered, topped stuffed zucchinis with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, recovered, & baked for an additional 10 minutes.

They turned out wonderful. Cooked through but with shells perfectly tender yet still firm enough not to fall apart. I'll definitely be making this again.
 
Stuffed Zucchini

The big ones are good for stuffing! You slice them in half lenthwise, coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place upside down on cookie sheet and bake until almost tender. Then you scrap the goodies out and mix with other ingredients and return to the shell of the squash and bake. YUMMY! I tried Paula Deen's recipe and they are great. Hubby even likes them and he doesn't eat much squash of any kind. Go to foodnetwork.com and search her recipes for Spinach Stuffed Zucchini. It's really...really good!
 
In a domestic environment, how about a wood-burning bread oven outdoors? I fancy one of those but will get my partner to build it - the prices charged by companies I've seen on-line are ridiculous.

A while back I read a novel (possibly by Annie Proulx, but I couldn't swear to that) set in a rural area somewhere in North America. The house had two kitchens, one inside the house (used most of the year) and another in a small building of its own for use only in the summer. That way the rest of the house didn't heat up in summer. This intrigued me. Did houses like this really exist?
 
Snoop - yes, many houses in the south had an outdoor kitchen for summer cooking. However, a lot of southern homes had their kitchens detached from the main house anyway. ALL cooking was done separate from the main house.
 
Snoop - yes, many houses in the south had an outdoor kitchen for summer cooking. However, a lot of southern homes had their kitchens detached from the main house anyway. ALL cooking was done separate from the main house.
all my older aunties had italian kitchens in the basement. they cooked and ate in the basement. they never used the upstairs "company" kitchen, where coffee, tea and dessert was served only to company.
 
Thanks for the info guys. Not sure why my message came up in this thread - should have been in "Kitchen without air conditioning" in General Cooking Questions. I guess I must have had the zucchini thread open while replying and just filled in the wrong box. Still, a question answered is a problem solved. Thanks again.
 
Yes, they were very common, even fairly recently. In the south, a separate kitchen was actually the norm in some places, not just to keep the house cool, but to separate the fire hazard from the rest of the house. Mom, not all that many years ago, kept a convection oven, electric skillet, slow cooker out on the back porch (actually what was called the "Florida room") to help keep the a/c bills down. Even now a fair number of old timers around here have an outside "summer kitchen, " especially if they have large extended families to cook for. So when the heat and humidity hit highs that make even grilling out a chore, you could put some meat and veggies in the pot (what is the other one? A Nesco roaster? Something like that), close the door, and a few hours have a large meal. In that era many men insisted on a hot meat-and-potatoes type meal when they came home from work, no matter if it is 98 degrees with 90+% humidity. This was a good way to provide that hearty meal without dying of heat prostation in the process.
 
Here is a hot weather recipe we all love..I'm not a M/w cooker, but do make this for the kids and they gobble it up.
Slice 4 cups of smallish zukes and put in a glass casserrole and cook in m/w about 5 min or to your tooth...Drain well and then in large bowl, beat 2 eggs well add 1-c. mayo,1 onion finely minced,1/4 finely chopped red bell pepper, 1-c. freshly grated parmean, now add the zukes and return to casserole. Combine 2 teas. butter that you've melted and 3 Tab fresh bread crumbs and salt and pepper sprinkle over casserrole and cook about 5 min more or til bubbly.. Enjoy:)
kadesma
 
Last night I made the following to accompany some spicy baked catfish filets & "Southwestern" rice. Husband cleaned his plate & said he definitely would enjoy it again. The squash should come out tender, but still with texture - not mushy:

1 handful (about 8-10) tiny baby pattypan squash (I used a mix of yellow & green), halved
1 small zucchini, thickly sliced
2-3 tablespoons butter
1 large shallot "clove", peeled & chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled & chopped
One 14-1/2-15 ounce can stewed tomatoes, any type/brand
Approx. 1 teaspoon dried Italian Seasoning
Dash of crushed red pepper flakes or to taste

Melt butter in medium skillet over medium heat & saute shallots until just starting to soften. Add in squash & continue sauteeing until squash is "just" starting to brown around the edges a very little bit - but not so long that your shallot burns - about 2 minutes. Add garlic & saute for about a minute more. Add stewed tomatoes & dried Italian Seasoning, & heat through until a bit of the liquid evaporates. Add crushed red pepper flakes to taste & serve.

(Variation: if you have one on hand, a small sliced yellow squash would work well in this too!)
 
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