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Post by woodeye on Aug 6, 2022 4:15:29 GMT -6
Yeah, I imagine so. But for some reason he doesn't care for apple pie, so I'm sure that would be one reason behind it. The only pies I've ever heard him say that he likes are pecan pie & rhubarb pie.
As for me, I'm an equal opportunity pie eater, bring 'em on, one and all...
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Post by chrysanthemum on Aug 6, 2022 10:15:38 GMT -6
Those are some beautiful squashes, woodeye . I’m impressed. My one zucchini outside looks like it is succumbing this morning to squash vine borers. I think it’ll head to the weed tea bucket or the newest compost. I had a replacement inside, but the last couple of days it has not been looking so good. My husband just carried it outside for me last night, and I gave it some water and fertilizer. I have it in a shady spot to try to harden it off. We’ll see if it improves, or if I just need to let it go, too. I also looked up “zucchini pie” on Google. It looks to be a savory sort of thing, kind of like a quiche. I have a spinach pie recipe with eggs and Swiss cheese, but I’ve never made a zucchini pie.
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Post by woodeye on Aug 6, 2022 19:15:50 GMT -6
Thank You, chrysanthemum, as the thread title indicates, it has indeed been a struggle, and at times I have been tempted to pull the plants and call it a year. I'm merely a fledgling seed saver and true to my usual form, this has not been a good year to start. Many people are sick of squash by this time of the year, but they have helped me maintain my goal of continuing to learn to be self sufficient. It requires lots of patience, of which I have always had very little. But my will to learn is not fading, so I know I can do it.
My zucchinis haven't done well this year at all compared to past years. Back in the 90's I tried a Lean Cuisine brand, Zucchini Lasagna, from the freezer section of a grocery store. I really liked those, I read the ingredients on the package label and set out to make my own. I bought all the little disposable foil pans, lasagna noodles, cheese, spaghetti sauce, etc. I used the excess zucchini squash from my garden and made about 50 of them for my freezer. To me they were the ultimate use of zucchinis to put in the freezer. Of course grated zucchini for zucchini bread is a good use too, but by volume I used much more for the zucchini lasagnas, and storing the maximum amount of zucchinis was my goal.
I've also made fried squash for the freezer. Used the same batter as usual, but only fry them about 1/2 done, then drain them and let them cool on paper towels, then put several layers of them in 2 gallon freezer bags, with parchment paper between the layers.
This is the fried squash I made and it is ready for the freezer.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Aug 7, 2022 20:50:06 GMT -6
I’m a pretty fledgling seed saver, too, Woodeye. You look like a pretty advanced zucchini and squash grower, though. 50 frozen zucchini lasagnas. Wow! I’m impressed.
Your fried squash looks great as well. I sautée yellow squash with onions, but I’ve never battered and friend it like okra. I have done tempura zucchini, though, I think, but it was just when I had an assortment of vegetables to cook up because I didn’t have enough of any one vegetable to use that entirely.
This year has been a complete squash failure for me so far, and I’m not optimistic about it getting better. I did at least give a few pumpkin seeds to the neighbors, and they’ve got one Seminole Pumpkin turning orange in their garden.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 7, 2022 21:38:30 GMT -6
Woodeye, That was a wonderful example of how to put your surplus zucchini to work for your winter freezer. The fried squash also looks delicious. Thanks, for sharing that.
Summer is just not Summer without a batch of fried yellow squash, some fried okra, and a few thick slices of vine ripe tomatoes. Unfortunately, the grasshoppers ate every last squash vine that I had this year and most of my ripe tomatoes too. Grasshoppers are not too fond of okra for some reason though, so maybe in a week or so, I'll have some tender pods to fry up.
How do you process your fried squash for freezing, so that it is not mushy when you thaw it out? I don't think I would ever have thought of freezing fried squash. I learn something on this website almost daily. Thank you all for freely sharing your gourmet and gourmand secrets.
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Post by woodeye on Aug 7, 2022 22:13:16 GMT -6
heavyhitterokra, for fried squash going into the freezer, I don't do anything differently except for only frying them part way done. For the batter I add 1 egg per cup of milk, then dredge them in Wheat Montana all purpose flour, then deep fry them in corn oil.
By the way, I prefer to use that brand of flour for homemade biscuits. Makes some awesome flaky biscuits.
Fry the squash pieces long enough that the batter sticks well, then drain them and let them cool. In the 2 gallon ziploc bags I put 4 layers of squash pieces with parchment paper between the layers. Then froze them. I wouldn't say that they are as good as they were fresh, but when we are in the dead of winter and the squash cravings hit, they are pretty tasty. When i fry them for a meal in the winter or whenever, I drop them in the deep fryer frozen, just like french fries. The batter stays on that way and I haven't noticed them being overly soggy.
I do the same thing when I grow potatoes, I deep fry the french fries about half way done, then drain and cool on paper towels, then freeze on cookie sheets for a few hours, then bag them, they don't stick together that way. You'll end up with twice fried french fries which are much more crispy. Twice fried french fries are the best way to go even if you are not freezing them, in my opinion.
I'm sure happy that the grasshoppers left your okra alone! Yes, you are right about the okra, tomatoes, and squash. I wanted okra, cowpeas, tomatoes and squash this year. It didn't all work out, so I had to settle for tomatoes and squash this year, but hope to have all of them next year...
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Post by chrysanthemum on Aug 8, 2022 6:16:31 GMT -6
When I make French fries, I do double fry them, first at 325 degrees, then at 375 degrees if I recall correctly. I agree about that technique working the best. I don’t have any squash right now, but I might just have to give batter-fried squash a try some time.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 10, 2022 15:26:51 GMT -6
Woodeye, and Chrysanthemum,
Thanks for sharing the twice-fried squash and potato techniques. I do a similar thing with smoked pork. I buy Boston Butt roasts on sale in bulk, about 20 or 30 pounds at a whack. I marinate them in soy sauce while the fire is getting ready (about an hour). Then I season them with fajita seasoning (salt, pepper, powdered garlic, powdered onion) and place the meat in the smoker for about two hours (half-cooked). Then, I set the pieces aside to cool and reload the smoker. It's an all-day process, rotating meat in and out that way.
When all has cooled, I bag them in gallon-size freezer bags, about 2 or 3 pounds per bag. Then, I freeze them for Winter.
Anytime I want one, I pour about half a gallon of water into the crockpot, add a cup of soy sauce, and set it on high from noon until 5:00 pm. The last hour or so, I add 7 sliced potatoes and a little onion. It comes out fall off the bone tender and tasting of hickory smoke. I get about 10 freezer bags of meat per episode. That will last me for about two and a half months if I cook one up every Friday afternoon.
When I do that, it frees Saturday up for chores without having to stop to cook dinner. Good, hot, smoked pork sure is a good thing to see after a cold day of cutting firewood.
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Post by woodeye on Aug 10, 2022 17:31:22 GMT -6
Oh mercy, heavyhitterokra, that sounds fantabulous! Reading your posts about good eats at suppertime is like going to the grocery store hungry...
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Post by woodeye on Sept 8, 2022 7:38:34 GMT -6
The scallop squash refuses to give up. With the exception of the Early Bulam Korean squash that's on the trellis, it's the last squash standing...
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 8, 2022 8:33:57 GMT -6
Since scallop squash retains its firm texture after being cooked, my wife grates it up and bakes pies with it. She uses a basic egg custard recipe, similar to pecan pie. The texture closely resembles shredded coconut, as the shredded squash mostly floats to the top, also similar to how pecans do, the flakes crisp up on the surface as it bakes.
I also use it as a carrot substitute when baking carrot cake. Then, there's also fried scallop squash, that's good too. Scallop squash is just an all-around good thing to have growing in the garden. They make cool looking little UFO shaped, white Jack O'Lanterns in October if you use a Dremel tool on them and they keep well too!
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Post by woodeye on Sept 8, 2022 9:05:34 GMT -6
Your squash uses sound great on all counts, heavyhitterokra. This scallop squash plant definitely won the blue ribbon in my backyard this year, its competition fell out of the running long ago. As a side note, the grow bags are still all in the backyard, and each one of them had at least one big white icicle radish that continued to grow. In addition to the radish leaves, the radish itself stuck up out of the grow bags several inches, white icicle radishes always do that when they get older. I hadn't watered them, but they got enough rain on them to stay alive. That was until the deer made a few passes and pulled all the radishes and ate every last one of 'em. The radish thieves hit after the rains came and everything everywhere was green as could be.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 8, 2022 10:08:58 GMT -6
Woodeye,
I've grown Daikon radishes here in the Autumn before. (Some people call them groundhog radishes). They grow up out of the ground, like you mentioned the icicle radishes did in your grow bags. I don't know if deer eat them? I'm guessing probably nothing is deer-proof, I think they'll eat anything that doesn't eat them first.
The Monks at Clear Creek Monastery grow them and let them decompose in place to break up the soil and give it more tilth. The biomass is already in place when the roots die underground, providing a really good place for good soil bacteria and other critters to grow.
Daikon radishes won't survive the coldest part of Winter, but they do survive light frosts and if you like a good radish, they are plenty big for several people to enjoy, plus it's just plain old fun to pull up a foot long radish as big around as a baseball bat.
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Post by woodeye on Sept 8, 2022 10:19:03 GMT -6
I'm sure I'd like the Daikon radishes. My favorite way to eat radishes is sauteed, but I'll crunch around on a raw one occasionally. I don't believe my deer are fussy eaters, they're really into turnips and radishes around here, so I'm sure they'd like 'em too. Although, next year the radishes will be in the enclosure, so the drooling deer will just have to window shop. I'll plant some and give them a try...
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Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 8, 2022 19:27:21 GMT -6
Those look just great, woodeye. My mom never grew them when I was growing up that I recall, but she’s been enjoying them in recent years. Here’s a picture she just sent the other day, and she told me that there were more that didn’t fit on the table.
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