You could roast them. Toss squash in a bit of olive oil and (fresh) herbs of your choice, S&P. Spread on baking tray, roast at high(ish) temps in oven until done. Shouldn't take long.

Serve with dog biscuits. :)

Or toast baguette, brush one side with olive oil and pile roast squash on top.

Or toss roast squash with boiled pasta.

Or sprinkle grated cheese over roast squash on baking tray when squash is nearly done and leave another minute or so to let cheese melt and go golden brown.

Enjoy!

how about a variation of puttensca sauce:

saute onions, garlic and anchovies until golden add chopped up squash until golden then add tomatoes and red wine. Simmer for 30 minutes: Serve over pasta

pasta bake

saute onions, garlic and squash until golden.
cook pasta. whip up as many eggs to bind mixture of saute mixture and pasta. whip up all cooked ingredients put in a baking dish, sprinkle with cheese and cook in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes

Thank you so much, ladies, for those ideas!
Will go with the roasted version tonight (while baguette is still not rock hard) and puttenesca tomorrow...
BUT, this gives me an idea.....as I have SO many squash, ...do you know that eggplant in olive oil stuff you get at delies? Great for antipasta...

Thought I might try that with my squash, but not sure of method...would I slice then salt? Then grill/bake/pan-fry?
Then into a jar and submerge in olive oil, with a coupla cloves garlic and dried chillies? What would be the best way of cooking those squash slices? Methinks grill to within an inch of their lives, but not really sure...anyone done the eggplant thing?

Regards,

Shax

Hard boil the eggs, cool in cold water. Shell (easiest way for me is to chop the egg in half with a big sharp knife on a wooden board and scoop out each half with a teaspoon), then chop coarsely into a bowl. Add a few anchovies, chopped coriander, ground pepper, then set aside.

Grate some cheese to use later for topping. Prepare some dressing for the anchovy eggs by mixing a little olive oil with lime juice.

Cut open the stale baguette three-quarters of the way, open up and toast it both sides in a dry frying pan (or in a lightly oiled pan), then set aside.

Add a little Olive oil to the pan and saute onion slices until they caramelise (a pinch or two of brown sugar helps), then push to the side of the pan while you lightly saute the squash (either slices, or small wedges, or grill the squash instead). Only cook enough to soften the squash and keep its beautiful colour. Season with ground pepper and salt.

Pour oil and lime dressing over the anchovy eggs and mix lightly.

Assemble the opened baguette with onion rings, anchovy eggs, sauted/grilled squash, and garnish with grated cheese.

I think it would taste great delish.... mmmmmm

PP

Oh, God, Patrina...that recipe makes me want to...um...try it!

Thanks!

Shax

You're welcome Shax, I love creating food dishes! I forgot to say to accompany your Anchovy Egg & Squash Bagette with Caramelised Onion Rings with a glass of your red wine of course, hehe

PP

About the squash version of eggplant, I'd cook the squash only very lightly, until just tender, then store in oil with garlic or whatever. Cooked too much they will simply fall apart. I did this with carrots once, lovely sweet ones, and ate them later with a chermoula sauce - fantastic!

I'm wondering whether the water content of the squash would cause it to fall apart under oil.

You may be right Finbar. The only ways I've heard of for squash in long storage are whole, frozen and dried!

I reckon you're right about the water content, finbar....may try and grill a few slices tonight to see how dry I can get 'em....
bit of a bugger, as I have a whole crisper drawer full of the squash (these are the ones that grew too big to sell in town...the restaurants only want the baby ones...)

Regards,

Shax

PS Patrina's recipe was last night's dinner...magnificent! And I did take her advice about a glass of red (or 2) on the side...

I think you'd need to pickle the squash Shax, treat them like gherkins, I think they'll go rotten if you put them in oil. Otherwise you'd need to bottle them under pressure, they're very low in acid so a boiling water bath wouldn't be enough.

Shax, glad it turned out! Many years of having to make something out of whatever's in the house makes for interesting meals at times. My children have often complained that I only make things once, so that even if they really like a meal there wasn't much point asking for a repeat. The likelihood of having exactly the same ingredients in the house next time was usually pretty low.

The down side of this style of cooking is that following a recipe without additions or substitutions is extremely challenging for me!

PP

Patrina,
we obviously follow the same school of cooking....so many fabulous meals that demand an encore I cannot provide...

As for my multitude of squash...am thinking maybe mash and make smoothies! (Have to hand-mash, as my solar power won't run a blender...) Add chillies, garlic, a coupla anchovies, litre of milk and.....? Fish milkshakes!
Leave in the sun a day or two and ...tasty cheese!!!!!

Regards,

Shax

Shax, do you have a dehydrator? If so, it might work with what you were trying to achieve in the antipasto idea.

For example, you could slice the squash in half horizontally so that the flesh is exposed to the air, sprinkle with sea salt (to draw out moisture and for preservation), and dehydrate them just to leathery stage, not to crisp stage.

When they're done, stir them in a little vinegar and let them soak it up for 5-10 minutes or however long it takes them to soak it in, then pack them into jars and fill with oil. The salt and vinegar act as preservatives but I'd store them in the fridge anyhow, plus I'd try to use them up within 3 months I reckon. If you use olive oil, it solidifies in the fridge tho. But I've made some tomatoes like this and they are delicious!

I'd be tempted to pickle a few cloves of garlic with some dried chillies in vinegar for a few days and then add one to each jar, plus a sprinkle of dried herbs maybe?

Mmmmmmmm..... chillies!

PP

Shax, I forgot to say that dehydrating them will mean you can fit so many more into one jar, plus it will concentrate flavours, so it should turn out pretty yummy, imo.

PP

Patrina,

I really do live a pretty Spartan existence...don't think I could afford a dehydrator and severe doubts as to whether my solar power could drive one anyway...
My dehydrator consists of 2 framed flyscreens, sandwiching the preferred produce, left atop an old 44 gallon drum outside in a Mudgee Summer...successful last year with about 5 kilos of tomatoes and 3 shoe-boxes full of dried chillies!

Like you, I have one litre bottles of olive oil, one each with chillies, toms, rosemary, garlic...another with garlic and fetta cheese (yum!).

The sqash are outside sunning themselves as we speak...and wouldn't you know it, thunderstorms predicted for next 4 days! Still, rather have the rain than the dehydration (cough, cough...).

Regards,

Shax

Shax
Real sun-dried tomatoes taste better and it has been done that way for hundreds of years. You just have to make sure the critters can't get to them. Shame we can't get a couple of good sunny days in Melb...hang on, one nice sunny day would be good.

Pepino,
absolutely on the money!!!
I tried drying produce in a very slow gas stove, but NOTHING in taste compared to the real thing (sun).

Where in Werribee is your place? I lived in Yarraville for 7 years before returning to Mudgee and taught horse show-jumping in Werribee for 4 years...was looking for a good block in Lara before deciding to go the whole hog and grab the 100 acres here...

Regards,

Shax

I'm not surprised you noticed the difference in taste.

I live in residential Hoppers Crossing, near Bellbridge Dr if that means anything to you, but I have a block off Derrimut Rd which is about 1.25 acres. We plan to build there one day. Unfortunately we don't have that lovely red, deep soil they have down in Werribee. It's reddish but not deep at all.

Pepino....
I know both Bellbridge Dr AND of course, Derrimut Rd...great market gardening area....that red soil, plus added organic matter, will give you some of the best vege growing conditions in the country! Try the Werribee Equestrian Centre for horse poop/straw/hay... Great spot you've chosen...

Regards,

Shax

Well I've had to revise my previously rather low opinion of Golden Squash. As there is nothing in the garden except cabbage & tomato, & I didn't think I'd get away with feeding the kids cabbage again, I bought some golden squash at $7.98 a kilo!!!!
And what do you know, the whole lot's gone, Sam's friend ate all his before I sat down! So they'll be on the grow list for next year, any chance of a few seeds Shax?

Sarah,
happy to send you seeds if anyone can tell me best way to save 'em...HOWEVER, my plants were all grown from seedlings I bought at the local nursery, and may well be hybrids, so seed would be useless.

Before next Spring I'll hopefully be getting some heirloom varieties (if I can source some), which I will happily share with you!

Will keep you informed...

Regards,

Shax

I've just had a look at the Eden Seeds site (yes I know, any excuse) & they have a few different button squash including yellow so they shouldn't be too hard to get hold of.

BTW I think having the Taste Fest in Mudgee nest year is a good idea, but may be too far for the southern chapter?

I'd be reluctant to drive so far Sarah. In fact, with cheap airfares, I'd be more interested in Melbourne (less humid than Sydney at this time of year). It takes me ages to recover from long drives.

PP

I'm not wild about squash (as in summer squash), apart from zukes, and even that's a recent thing. They always taste insipid and watery to me. Must admit though, the only ones I've ever tried have been store bought so maybe there are some good tasting varieties out there.

Shax, saving squash seed is dead easy. Just let the thing mature on the vine, way past eating stage, until the stem begins to dry out. Pick it, extract the seeds, give 'em a good rinse, and let them dry, out of the sun and bingo, squash seeds for next season.