Summer squash

I love squash. Right now the farmer's market is full of tiny tender crook neck.

I fix it several ways... squash casserole, fried up with onions, fried in bacon grease with onions, coated and deep fried.

Can y'all give me any other ideas on cooking squash?

Right now I've got two ways of cooking it, depending on how lazy I am and what I've got on hand.

The first is dead simple. Just cut it up and put it in a pan, salt it, cover it, and simmer, stirring periodically, until it's tender. It's actually pretty tasty this way -- I've had the missus ask me if I'd buttered it a few times when it was just a good batch of squash. One thing that sometimes happens accidentally, sometimes on-purpose, is that I'll just almost nearly burn the bottom of the pan. The resulting caramelized flavor really sets everything off.

The other way is to chop up a mess of carrots, onions, shallots, garlic, peppers, celery -- whatever you have that you like. Put some olive oil or butter in a hot pan, add the vegetables, salt, stir, cover and stir periodically while you chop the squash. Add the squash when the firmer vegetables in the pan are well on their way to being cooked. Then, of course, you cook the whole mess until the squash is done. You can throw in some chili flakes, grind some pepper into it, add some fresh chopped parsley or basil or what have you when it's all cooked. Some vinegar or lemon juice wouldn't be out of place here either, just enough to wake the vegetables up. And I'm still messing with my use of peppers in this dish. I don't like the way the skin gets after the pepper's been well-cooked, and I have mixed feelings about the semi-cooked texture of the peppers that aren't so well-done as to have nasty skin. Next time I'm using jarred roasted red peppers.

Mushrooms might be tasty in there as well, now that I think of it. Time for a trip to the store...

That squash sure sounds good. If you are looking for Recipes & Cooking Techniques, you might want to post in that section.

I like to slice it lengthwise, marinate it in Italian dressing and grill it.

If it's yellow squash, look for a corn and yellow squash pudding recipe. Fresh corn straight off the cob and sqaush baked with a bread crumb crust.

Check the web and I'm sure you'll find many recipes.

Man, that's great eating!

My favorite way is simply sliced thin and simmered with Cavender's seasoning.

I like it marinated in Italian dressing and grilled, and I've had it marinated in ranch dressing and grilled - it doesn't taste like ranch though.

Last week I had squash dressing for the first time - I could detect the squash, onions, celery, and Mexican cornbread and some sort of cheese- I don't know what else was in it but it was really good.

quote:

Originally posted by juleebella

I like to slice it lengthwise, marinate it in Italian dressing and grill it.

I got some advice here on grilling squash in another thread. I am better at it now, but still not great. In the summer, around here, several restaurants serve grilled summer squash, usually a combo of yellow and green, often with some grilled red peppers. They get great,bold grill marks, and tender squash without scorching or burning.

quote:

Originally posted by juleebella

I like to slice it lengthwise, marinate it in Italian dressing and grill it.

That works. I have done that for years.

My zuchinni and small yellow squash is now in abundance in my small garden. I slice it and put it in the pan with some olive oil and let it rip. I also use it on the grill. It is very very good.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

We have zucchini and will have some golden sunrise Patti Pan shortly (a few more days). Won't be long til we'll be giving the squash away. We tend to over plant for our own use!!

I keep it simple... slice it about a quarter inch thick, add some diced onion, salt, pepper, and cover with a little water.


Dennis in Cary

Take a potato peeler and peel the squash, long strips of squash, green, yellow, you can add a carrot. This will take time.
Saute in olive oil, garlic, parsley, white wine, cream if you want. Add to spaghetti. Great.

Zucchini as an ingredient in our sunday "gravy" Yum!

I just got zucchini out of the garden along with some yellow squash. I am going to slice them and put them on the grill with some olive oil and garlic with my burgers which will be split with cheese. That makes the burgers extremely juicy.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I grate it into oatmeal cookie batter and adjust the liquid as needed.

My wife decided to make a light sauce tonight with our Zucchini, adding sun-dried tomatoes,mushrooms and carrots and some canned tomatoes,lots of fresh garden basil and italian seasoning. Add red wine and crusty Italian bread, and an arugala salad, also from our garden!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by DLnWPBrown

I keep it simple... slice it about a quarter inch thick, add some diced onion, salt, pepper, and cover with a little water.


Dennis in Cary

Yeah... what Dennis said!

Thanks. That all sounds good. I never have grilled squash. I will marinate and grill a batch this weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by juleebella

I like to slice it lengthwise, marinate it in Italian dressing and grill it.

Another vote for this method!

Have you ever tried pumkin pie with squash? Well, okay, pumpkin is itself a squash, but still?

I like to make squash fritters/pancakes/patties: grate some fresh squash (yellow, zucchini or patty pan) in a bowl, add in a beaten egg, salt and pepper, finely diced onion, and just enough flour (can be self-rising) to make a loose batter. Drop by spoonfuls into a hot skillet with just enough hot oil covering the bottom of the pan. Cook a couple of minutes on the first side then turn over and cook a minute or so on the second side. Serve warm. Yum!

Grated summer squash also makes delicious, healthy quesadillas: grate some squash, salt, let sit, rinse salt off then wring out squash in a paper towel; place on one half of a flour tortilla with pepper jack cheese, diced tomato, extra jalapenos, diced red onion, salt and pepper - fold over empty half of tortilla and grill or heat on in a dry skillet until cheese is melted and tortilla is crisp, turning over the quesadilla while it cooks.

I plan to make some zucchini and mushroom enchiladas this weekend with the homemade enchilada sauce I have in the freezer.

Some nice recipe ideas...thanks...always on the lookout for more zucchini ideas!

My favorite way to do squash is also very simple. Take 6-8 medium (8-10 if small)zucchini and/or yellow squash. Cut in half and drizzle with a little EVOO. Sprinkle with some sea salt and give a liberal sprinkling of freshly-ground black pepper. Then sprinkle about 1/4 cup freshly ground parmesan cheese over the top. Bake at 375 F. until browned and easily pierced with a fork. Don't overcook. You can add your favorite seasonings to taste. This is a delicious summer dish and and goes well with any grilled meat. Don't forget to slice up some home-grown tomatoes and cucumbers to put on the table!

brush with o oil and garlic black bean paste (any store has it in the aisian section)then gill it. the bean paste is good on all veges,meatand
chic!!!!!!