Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

I'm still thinking about gardens, and vegetables - especially summer squashes.

I found the following in the Smith and Hawken 'Gardeners' Community Cookbook' (a great recipe book!)

Summer Squash with Spinach Filling

For the Squash:

Boil 2 large or 4 medium, whole Summer Squash until they can be easily pierced by a knife tip, but are still firm. Allow to cool slightly, and then split them lengthwise, and remove the seeds with a spoon. Set Aside.

Spinach Filling for Summer Squash

1 large bunch spinach, using leaves and tender stems, coarsely chopped and well-drained (3/4 lb.)

(often I just buy bags of baby spinach for this, and steam them slightly in the microwave.)

4 T butter

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp. red wine vinegar

Salt

Wilt the still-moist spinach in an ungreased, heavy saute pan over medium heat, or in a microwave bowl at high heat. Drain briefly and then squeeze dry and set aside.

Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and stir until wilted, about 3 minutes.

Add the spinach, sour cream and vinegar, and salt to taste. Stir to blend.

Spoon the spinach mixture into the hollows of the squash halves. Place in an oven proof tray and bake at about 350 degrees until heated through and the squash tender.

Filling can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator overnight.

(I've also seen similar recipes that add some cheese to the spinach mixture; I think Parmesan would be great.)

Another summer squash recipe is one that I found in the Martha Stewart magazine many years ago; I thought it looked so nice, I even bought the little oblong pan from a specialty store, to make it. (But you don't need that; it can be made in any tart pan with a loose bottom; depending on the size/shape of your pan, you may have to increase the recipe and get creative with the 'lattice' effect.

Looks fancy, but is easy to make and turns out lovely for a special occasion:

http://www.marthastewart.com/344192/summer-squash-lattice-tart

Lastly, a quick sauce for steamed zucchini:

Mustard Sauce for Steamed Zucchini

(Low Fat, but you can add butter :-)

Mix in a saucepan:

½ C. Chicken or Vegetable Broth

1 Shallot or Scallion, minced

1-1/2 tsp. fresh Tarragon

2 T. Dry White Wine

1 T. Arrowroot (or cornstarch)

1-1/2 tsp. Fresh Tarragon (or ½ tsp. dried))

1/8 tsp. Black Pepper

Cook uncovered 2 or 3 minutes. Melt in 1 T. butter, if desired.

Serve over steamed vegetables; especially good with Zucchini.

-JT

[Stand Watch Listen]

stuffed zucchini

INGREDIENTS:
3 zucchini
1 pound pork sausage
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup chopped basil leaves
pinch Italian seasoning
pinch of sage
1/3 cup red bell peppers

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Trim stems from zucchini and slice lengthwise.
Scoop out seeds and put in bowl. Mix seeds with sausage, garlic, bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, sage, peppers and parmesan cheese. Stuff squash with sausage mixture and place in 9x13 inch baking pan. Pour sauce over squash and cover pan with foil.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until sausage is cooked. Remove foil and cover with mozzarella cheese. Cook until cheese is melted

.................Hints / Options:
• The basic recipe is great for all sorts of adaptations. I've made it with a ground beef "stuffing", using taco spices and a salsa top, with cheddar and jack as the cheese topping. Another variation I've tried is with chopped chicken and mushrooms, and an alfredo sauce topping, and asiago/parmesan for the cheese topping.
• advice of others and precooked the meat, parboil zucchini OR precooked the zucchini in the microwave for 3 min (Just salt and pepper them and add a splash of olive oil to the hollowed-out zucchini)
• Decrease the amount of breadcrumbs some (original recipe was 1 cup) I also recommend adding roasted red peppers (chopped), fresh basil and sundried tomatoes (chopped) to the stuffing along with crushed red pepper flakes (about 1 tablespoon).

[V K Lee]

Living in the past. Still a novice to this particular system. Posted this to a thread of a few weeks ago so will once again post it ...this time to a current thread

As you are so fond of pickled anything, sharing this with you. Way back in 2004 there was once a site called Picklenet.com It can still be found with comments, recipes and ideas on where else LOL the Wayback Machine at Web Archive. A click below will take you directly to the Wayback Picklenet site for a month in the year of 2004. WARNING you might find some broken links or perhaps nothing at all as you work your way thru the years on each time the site was saved. Enjoy your read.
http://web.archive.org/web/20040714003634/http://www.picklenet.com/

The following URL you might wish to plug into the Wayback system just to see what might be found on it as well.
http://picklenet.com/sections/recipes.htm

Enjoy
VK

[V K Lee]

mrs smith, replied to an earlier thread and wanting to be certain you see, will once again repost it here Still attempting to learn this particular board.

Hello Again, Mrs Smith. Today the ‘roundtoit’ at last appeared. Your recipe for Pineapple Wacky cake was made and here to let you know that IT was FABULOUS. Just a hint of the citrus, pineapple, very moist with the edges a nice crisp. It was not near as sweet as a pineapple upside down cake...which was great for my taste. Those are usually too sweet. It will definitely be a keeper.. Not only was it so good to eat, it was so fast and simple to make. BTW, DH is now a fan as well. A most important goal in the household: to keep him happy. :) The only thing he would prefer would be pineapple chunks to replace the pineapple rings so he would have a bit in every piece/bite of cake. Perhaps one day will improvise and make him happy in attempting his suggestion. Thanks for sharing. Did your Wacky Spice Cake turn out well? Must go back to the site and print some of those recipes before they vanish.

VK

[V K Lee]

COOKBOOK WRITTEN BY SUPER COMPUTER

Article seen on Drudge
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/11533765/Fancy-a-tasty-byte-Cookbook-written-by-supercomputer.html

[Jamestown1630]

Yes, Summer Squash is wonderful! And tonight, I tried another recipe.

I need to lose 10 to 15 stubborn pounds, and Springtime has inspired me to just ‘git ‘er done’.

Awhile back, someone on FR reminded me of a great low-carb website; and tonight, I tried Linda’s ‘Creamy Squash Casserole’. It’s a great recipe, whether you are into low-carbing, or not:

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/creamy_squash_casserole.html

(Every time I’ve encountered this website, I’ve been amazed at the time, effort, and ‘smarts’ that have gone into it.)

I took Linda’s advice, and used about 2 oz. extra cheese - I had a tiny bit of KerryGold cheddar left (Thanks to those of you who clued me toward KerryGold!)

It’s a very good recipe!

-JT