When I have to wade through these monster plants to get to the zucchini, is it any wonder....
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This 4-pound monster, peeking out from behind the crooknecks and strawberries, got away from me?
What to do? I don't need any more zucchini bread. I have enough zucchini relish to last me a lifetime. I can hide the smaller ones by grating them into my coleslaw, but four pounds? I think not! I know, let's try Zucchini "Apple" Crisp! It has rave reviews on Taste of Home, and I trust most of the recipes they publish, so I'm game!
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8 cups peeled and sliced zucchini (cut like apple slices). I removed the spongy seed cavity, and only used the firm outer part.
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Place sliced zucchini and 3/4 cup lemon juice in a large saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is tender, about 15 minutes.
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Add 1 tsp. nutmeg, 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon
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Blend until sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat.
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Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. (I used 3 small baking dishes....one to eat and two to freeze).
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Combine 1-1/3 cups packed brown sugar, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup rolled oats and
2/3 cup butter, softened.
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Mix with a fork until crumbly.
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Sprinkle over zucchini. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until topping is golden brown.
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I baked mine for 40 minutes, and I think 30 might have been long enough for these small containers. Luckily they weren't as dark as they appear in the photo.
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The taste test.
Conclusion: Not bad, but the "apple" filling was a bit too tart for our liking. I would make it again, but increase the sugar to 3/4 cup. The crunch topping is delicious.
Zucchini Apple Crisp
Yield: 12-16 Servings
8 cups sliced zucchini (cut like apple slices)
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
TOPPING:
1-1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup butter, softened
Whipped cream or ice cream, optional
Directions
Place sliced zucchini and 3/4 cup lemon juice in a large saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is tender, about 15 minutes. Add nutmeg, sugar and cinnamon; blend until sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan.
For topping, combine brown sugar, flour, oats and butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over zucchini. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream if desired. Yield: 12-16 servings.
Nutritional Facts
1 serving (1 cup) equals 219 calories, 8 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 20 mg cholesterol, 87 mg sodium, 36 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 2 g protein.
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While I was out in the garden taking a picture of the squash patch, I noticed the butternuts were getting nice and big....larger than my size 7 1/2 foot!
I see a few nice sized cantaloupe developing, too!
Looks good! That is a long butternut! Is it Waltham?
ReplyDeleteRay, that is a Waltham. I love them!
DeleteI had someone suggest to me zucchini apple pie and I thought it sounds interesting. Similar enough to your crisp I suppose. No apples mixed in huh? I would have thought they would be mixed. I would try that ;)
ReplyDeleteNo apples, Shawn Ann. I did have a couple of spare apples in the fridge, but that big zucchini ended up being exactly 8 cups after it was peeled, seeded and diced. I was really just trying to get rid of the monster!
DeleteCool idea for the zucchini! Ours is all dead now. Waiting for someone to come clean out all of the dead plants for me. Any takers?
ReplyDeleteI took one of them over to my youngest son tonight, and he just called to ask what was in it. He couldn't believe it was just zucchini! He also said it was sweet enough for him, and he loved it. I guess it's a winner.
DeleteHey Granny, you could start a new trend, "Body Part Thursday" where gardeners compare their produce to feet and hands and arms and stuff like that...look this zucchini is as big as my foot, this cantaloupe is as big as my head...oh wait, maybe not such a good idea, ha.
ReplyDeleteThe recipe looks delicious, thanks for posting it. Doing that with zucchini, what a great alternative to apples. As God is my witness we WILL have veggies next year (and quite possibly this fall).
Haha...that zucchini was bigger than my butt!
DeleteYes, you will have veggies next year, and 2nd. Man can make Zucchini Crisp and Mock Pineapple (with zucchini). There is always zucchini relish (delicious, but I still have about a dozen jars). Zucchini bread, zucchini boats, zucchini slaw, zucchini hidden in soups, stews and meatloaf. Zucchini pizza crust. There's no end to the uses for zucchini! Oh, I forgot the zucchini fritters that taste like warm cinnamon-sugar donuts! I need to make some of those for a weekend breakfast! You grow the zucchini, and I'll send 2nd. Man my zucchini recipe file!
Haha...I like butts as a measuring tool. This thing is about one butt long, that one two and a half butts, etc. LOL.
DeleteBtw, that zucchini crisp reminds me of Ma Ingalls' green pumpkin pie. I was actually drooling when I read that, but of course the whole time I thought about apple pie since I couldn't imagine what green pumpkin pies would taste like. And now I'm drooling over your zucchini crisp. But of course I'm still thinking of apple pies. Very creative, both you and Caroline Ingalls!
And I didn't know cantaloupes started out dark green!
I've never heard of green pumpkin pie, but since I can't get away with making Mr. Granny a butternut "pumpkin" pie, I doubt it would fly in this house. He took one bite of the zucchini crisp, said it was OK, but didn't want any for dessert tonight....so I ate the whole thing myself! Just the smallest one, not the other two. After it cooled off it tasted sweeter than when it was hot out of the oven. It's a winner, I'll make it again. After I spend the next couple of days watching my diet to make up for tonight's indiscretion :-)
DeleteYour squash plants are huge, and look at the size of your winter squash! I love how a person can watch them swell day by day. Do you think you'll have a repeat of that huge harvest of butternut squashes like last year?
ReplyDeleteI planted the winter squash plants really late in June, who knows if anything will become of them.
Phuong, it might be an even larger harvest than last year. I counted at least 12 of them hanging on the fence, and have no idea how many more are actually on the ground! I am probably going to have to start cutting off the ends of the vines before they take over the entire garden. They are already obstructing one of my three garden paths, and my legs are all covered with scratches from trying to wade through them.
DeleteThat looks like a great idea to use if I ever grow enough zucchini to need to get rid of it :-( You really have the touch when it comes to growing squash of any kind!
ReplyDeleteNutmeg, I have more trouble giving it away than I do growing it ;-) Not the butternuts, though. We all love the butternuts, and the kids are more than happy to take them off my hands. Youngest son also likes the yellow crookneck.
DeleteAnnie's Granny,
ReplyDeleteIf too tart, just use more icecream, or a dollop of maple syrup! :-)
I cannot find the pattern in zucchini growth. One day they seem to triple the next they don't change. Like mushrooms. Perhaps they just appear sometimes.
Now, that would be a good idea, nBoer. Except it's bad enough that I ate that small pan of crisp all by myself, and if I'd added ice cream to it, I'd not be able to get into my jeans today! But you know what? A bit of maple syrup might have been a good thing :-)
DeleteHi Granny - I too, have had a zucchini or 2 get away from me this summer! I'm making all sorts of zucchini recipes as fast as I can. With the surplus, I've been shredding it on the fine shredder and putting it small zip bags, and into the freezer. I'll "hide" in soup and sauce in the coming months, long after the garden has stopped producing.
ReplyDeleteOh, Karen, I have so many bags of shredded zucchini in my freezer...from way back in 2008 right up through 2012! LOL, I admit it. I always bag and freeze a lot, but seldom use it. I don't know why I even grow it, as the only way my husband will eat it is sliced, dipped in egg then cracker crumbs and fried in butter.
DeleteThis one looks like a keeper! I saw the zucchini pineapple recipe, too and filed that one away for later use. You know, once I actually get my gills some other color and start canning my stuff!
ReplyDeleteBarbie, it was a tossup on recipes for the crisp. My second choice, which uses 2 more cups of zucchini and a full cup of sugar, is the one at:
Deletehttp://www.creationsbykara.com/2009/08/unbelievable-mock-apple-crisp.html
The jury is still out on the mock pineapple. I'll let it sit in the jars for a couple of weeks, then taste it again. It might taste a bit more like pineapple then. I still say the taste and texture is like diced pears in pineapple juice, but it's a pleasing taste/texture.
Wow I am still impressed by your squashes everytime I see them! We struggle with squash beetles and powdery mildew so my plants die before they ever get anywhere near that size.
ReplyDeleteVanessa, mine will get PM soon, but the butternuts will resist it (hopefully). By the time it hits the zucchini and yellow squash, I'll be so sick of them I'll be happy they are gone!
DeleteHi Granny - Your squash look great! Do you use your own compost or purchase a specific kind to amend your soil?
ReplyDeleteNichole, I'm pretty much a compost failure, LOL. When we lived out in the county, I had access to horse manure mixed with straw, and had a big beautiful compost pile, but here in the city, with little room, I mostly use chopped leaves from the neighbor's many trees and "dairy compost" that I buy at a nearby nursery. I do have a small bin in the corner of the garden where I dump leaves mixed with grass clippings, along with some kitchen scraps. I usually "trench compost" most of the kitchen scraps, and they break down quickly in the soil.
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