It all started when Lin brought home some small zucchini -- not QUITE baby
zucchini, but "toddler" might be a decent description.

In one of Julia Child's TV shows, she said that zucchini flesh contains a
lot of water, and you can remove the water either by grating and salting the
zucchini or by boiling the zucchini whole. I saw that same advice in a Cooks
magazine article some twenty-odd years ago.

I've tried grating and salting zucchini; that's what led to the zucchini
gratin recipe I posted a month ago. Tonight I decided to try boiling the
zucchini whole. The reason I didn't want to grate these particular zucchini
was that they were quite young, and I was trying to retain whatever special
delicacy they might possess from that youth. I was flying blind a bit,
because in the Julia Child show that I saw she merely mentioned "boiling
whole" in passing; the remainder of the show focused on a grated-zucchini
dish. The Cooks article did the same thing, only mentioning the technique in
passing.

So I brought a pot of salted water to a boil and cooked the zucchini for
seven-and-a-half minutes, after which time they were still a bit firm.
(Mushy zucchini is not my favorite.) The zucchini were cooled for about ten
minutes, then sliced crosswise into chunks. The chunks were combined with
leftover roast chicken, some thinly-sliced spring onion greens, extra-virgin
olive oil, and some marjoram. It made a nice lunch.

Bob

"Bob Terwilliger" > wrote:

>It all started when Lin brought home some small zucchini -- not QUITE baby
>zucchini, but "toddler" might be a decent description.

6-8"? That's where I like them. I plant 8-10 plants for 4 of us.
I'll give it away if I have to, but I like to pick lots of little
ones.
>
>In one of Julia Child's TV shows, she said that zucchini flesh contains a
>lot of water, and you can remove the water either by grating and salting the
>zucchini or by boiling the zucchini whole. I saw that same advice in a Cooks
>magazine article some twenty-odd years ago.

Never heard of boiling them whole. I grate onto a towel & squeeze
dry. I salt later.

-snip-
>
>So I brought a pot of salted water to a boil and cooked the zucchini for
>seven-and-a-half minutes, after which time they were still a bit firm.
>(Mushy zucchini is not my favorite.) The zucchini were cooled for about ten
>minutes, then sliced crosswise into chunks. The chunks were combined with
>leftover roast chicken, some thinly-sliced spring onion greens, extra-virgin
>olive oil, and some marjoram. It made a nice lunch.

It sounds good-- but what about the water? Does it all run out when
you slice it? Does boiling whole affect the taste?

Jim

Jim asked:

>> It all started when Lin brought home some small zucchini -- not QUITE
>> baby zucchini, but "toddler" might be a decent description.
>
> 6-8"? That's where I like them. I plant 8-10 plants for 4 of us.
> I'll give it away if I have to, but I like to pick lots of little
> ones.

We're growing zucchini this year, but more for the blossoms than the squash
itself. These zucchini were about six inches long, and Lin got them from a
farmers' market.



>> In one of Julia Child's TV shows, she said that zucchini flesh contains a
>> lot of water, and you can remove the water either by grating and salting
>> the zucchini or by boiling the zucchini whole. I saw that same advice in
>> a Cooks magazine article some twenty-odd years ago.
>
> Never heard of boiling them whole. I grate onto a towel & squeeze
> dry. I salt later.
>
> -snip-
>>
>> So I brought a pot of salted water to a boil and cooked the zucchini for
>> seven-and-a-half minutes, after which time they were still a bit firm.
>> (Mushy zucchini is not my favorite.) The zucchini were cooled for about
>> ten minutes, then sliced crosswise into chunks. The chunks were combined
>> with leftover roast chicken, some thinly-sliced spring onion greens,
>> extra-virgin olive oil, and some marjoram. It made a nice lunch.
>
> It sounds good-- but what about the water? Does it all run out when
> you slice it? Does boiling whole affect the taste?

I think Julia and the Cooks author must have misstated the case: The water
was *not* driven out, but the zucchini was cooked through without being
mushy. I speculate that boiling whole somehow manages to cook the vegetable
without breaking the cell walls (which is what causes zucchini to become
mushy). I could be wrong about it; maybe if I'd boiled the zucchini longer
it would have become mushy, but I don't plan to conduct that experiment.

Bob

"Bob Terwilliger" > wrote in message
eb.com
> It all started when Lin brought home some small zucchini -- not
> QUITE
> baby zucchini, but "toddler" might be a decent description.
>
> In one of Julia Child's TV shows, she said that zucchini flesh
> contains a lot of water, and you can remove the water either by
> grating and salting the zucchini or by boiling the zucchini whole. I
> saw that same advice in a Cooks magazine article some twenty-odd
> years ago.
> I've tried grating and salting zucchini; that's what led to the
> zucchini gratin recipe I posted a month ago. Tonight I decided to
> try
> boiling the zucchini whole. The reason I didn't want to grate these
> particular zucchini was that they were quite young, and I was trying
> to retain whatever special delicacy they might possess from that
> youth. I was flying blind a bit, because in the Julia Child show
> that
> I saw she merely mentioned "boiling whole" in passing; the remainder
> of the show focused on a grated-zucchini dish. The Cooks article did
> the same thing, only mentioning the technique in passing.
>
> So I brought a pot of salted water to a boil and cooked the zucchini
> for seven-and-a-half minutes, after which time they were still a bit
> firm. (Mushy zucchini is not my favorite.) The zucchini were cooled
> for about ten minutes, then sliced crosswise into chunks. The chunks
> were combined with leftover roast chicken, some thinly-sliced spring
> onion greens, extra-virgin olive oil, and some marjoram. It made a
> nice lunch.
> Bob

Did you see Vilco's post today on Pasticcio di zucchine [zucchini
pate] with boiled zucchini, squeezed after boiling? Gotta try the
boiling trick!
Felice

On Thu, 12 May 2011 05:16:00 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

> We're growing zucchini this year, but more for the blossoms than the squash
> itself. These zucchini were about six inches long, and Lin got them from a
> farmers' market.

I envisioned them smaller. 6-8 inches is average grocery store
zucchini. I have to really hunt to find any worth stuffing.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

sf wrote:

> I envisioned them smaller. 6-8 inches is average grocery store
> zucchini. I have to really hunt to find any worth stuffing.

These were quite slender, also.

Bob

On Thu, 12 May 2011 18:58:34 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

> sf wrote:
>
> > I envisioned them smaller. 6-8 inches is average grocery store
> > zucchini. I have to really hunt to find any worth stuffing.
>
> These were quite slender, also.
>
Good!

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.