zucchini fest

weapons-grade zucchini

squash gone feral

What happens when you leave the garden to its own devices for 2 weeks in July? I’ll tell you: weapons-grade zucchini. Lots of other things too: a tomato jungle lopsided under the weight of its unripe but rapidly expanding bounty; the hugest cucumber I’ve seen in my life; corn husks begin to mature; borage starts to blossom…  But most notably, you return to face enormous squash plants that in your absence have taken over the world.

When we arrived on Friday night, Barbara greeted us with a 15″ (or even 16″?) zucchini that she discovered earlier and saved for our amusement. A quick inspection of the garden in the company of my newly appointed basket girl/assistant, Michael (of Ewalt and Walker fame), revealed another impressive specimen, even larger than the first one, as well as a whole bunch of less shockingly sized members of the summer squash family. Needless to say, it was pretty much all we ate throughout the weekend. At that point it became a game of survival: either we’ll eat them or they’ll eat us.

Here’s a piece of slightly disturbing trivia I picked up recently, courtesy of Wikipedia:  “In a culinary context, zucchini is treated as a vegetable, which means it is usually cooked and presented as a savory dish or accompaniment. Botanically, however, the zucchini is an immature fruit, being the swollen ovary of the female zucchini flower.”  Did you realize that?  I hope this knowledge informs your future interactions with zucchini.

the basket girl's basket overfloweth

So, for our first dinner I cut one of the hyper-swollen ovaries in half, lengthwise, made a few 1/2″-deep incisions, seasoned it with herbs, onions, garlic & spices, brushed with olive oil, and baked in the oven, topped with a layer of sliced green tomatoes and bread crumbs.  About 20 minutes later I added some cooked curry rice, vegetarian sausage and a little grated cheese to the baking dish and baked it for a little longer.  It was a simple invention of the moment but looked and tasted rustic enough for the occasion, for better or for worse…  The green tomatoes with bread crumbs on top were my favorite part.  Not sure if I’ll ever recreate the entire dish but the green tomato component will certainly be added to my arsenal.

Next morning, as I was staking lopsided tomatoes in the garden, I got a text message from my friend Elena who was shopping at a farmers’ market in Chicago and asked for hints on what to buy.  I figured that if zucchini are in season in my garden, they gotta be in season everywhere, so I instructed her to get some and directed her to a recipe that I’ve been wanting to try: Zucchini With Almonds — a recipe from the Amateur Gourmet.  And while she ended up not having any space for zucchini on her agenda, thus ruining my hopes for a simultaneous distance cooking experience, we did make it for lunch.  It turned out super simple and super delicious, and I assume, it must be ridiculously healthful (“healthful” is my new favorite word from the Modern American Foodie Dictionary) despite its buttery  sumptuousness and indulgently rich texture…  I remember being impressed by this dish at the Red Cat in NYC several months ago and I’m not too shy to say that our version came out even better.  (A shout-out here to Vince for his slicing skills and to Michael for putting up with my micromanagement!)

Baker-in-chief Stacie and her loaves

And finally to the pièce de résistance of the zucchini weekend — the Zucchini Bread.  Pictured on the left is our baker-in-chief, Stacie, who masterfully adapted and executed this recipe which we got from Barbara and which Barbara got from her friend Ellen (not to be confused with my friend Elena).   In the heat of the kitchen, Stacie accidentally mixed up the amounts of baking powder and baking soda (Can you believe it?! And can someone explain to me why most recipes call for both?) but the loaves came out absolutely glorious!  The recipe below reflects Stacie’s scandalous accident as well as some minor adaptations.

Ellen’s Zucchini Bread by Stacie

• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg or mace
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Mix dry ingredients separate from the wet ones; combine and mix by hand in a large mixing bowl, adding zucchini and walnuts at the end
2. Grease (with butter) 2 loaf pans
3. Bake 1 hr. at F°350
4. Done and done!

The zucchini keep coming; so, if you have any favorite recipes, join the struggle!

PS: Lucy just emailed this link from Food & Wine Magazine: 10 Recipes for the Super Abundant Zucchini. Thanks, Lucy!