101 Things to do with a courgette....Part 1
As I have planted eight courgette plants, (what? It's only a row!) it seems we have something of a surfeit...as is apparent from my beer fridge situation. Equally, as anyone who has ever tried growing them will know, that anaemic little winky that you refrained from picking yesterday can swell overnight into a great tumescence; a great courge or giant marrow. Now, either this can be seen a joyous miracle of Mother Nature's Bounty...
Or you can get quite jolly about great swollen monsters over a few beers!
That's if you have any beer left after your beer fridge becomes the marrow store...I'm not bitter! No, that should read, I've got no bitter... Anyway, I grant you the 'marrow as member' is childish, but it is funny... Look! Who hasn't made the connection? (And no! Before you all ask. This is not a picture of me!).
Right, so I'm going to have to get creative with these babies, as we're going to be seeing quite a bit of them. So far we have done three recipes, but naturally we started at the beginning (just like the Von Trapp children):
1. Steamed Courgette.
Half a dozen normal size courgettes, by which I mean, 6 inches long - (actually six inches is quite sufficient...I would say on the generous side of normal... anything else is unnecessarily ostentatious - in courgettes obviously) simply sliced into half inch wide discs, (if you are going to put up with my cooking stories, you'll have to get used to the fact that I do a curiously eclectic mixture of imperial and metric measurements, within which I don't do weight. No scales, you see...I may have to make an investment if my culinary adventures are not to prove impossible to replicate...I will consider it).
Where was I? Oh yes, place the slices in a bowl with a knob of butter, cling film over the top and microwave on full throttle for 8 minutes. Salvage the rest of your meal from burning. Then give your Pyrex (did I mention Pyrex? should have) bowl a good shake, and stick it back in for a further 5 minutes.
This is how anybody in their right mind ever cooks courgettes.
Here beginneth my culinary journey - among more marrows than you can shake a stick at!
Then there is the obligatory:
2. Stuffed Marrow
Yes stuffed! Stop sniggering at the back! Take a large (shall we say engorged) one, that is more courge than courgette...
Nope, this is not right! There's engorged and gorging! You are not getting this all at once! Stuffed Marrow has got to be "101 Things to do with a courgette....Part 2"
posted by Gavin Corder at 7:41 PM
22 Comments:
Stuffed Marrow! That brings back (childhood) memories...
Actually, I really, really loved it. Stuffed with a mixture of mince and sausage meat and then roasted. Scrum.
No need to put yourself back on ebay, Gavin.
You arrived here today apparently but I am ignoring you.
Hello Sarns! I'm not sure your childhood memories of stuffed marrows are entirely appropriate family reading!
Best ignored. You lay them down rough, ignore them and in time they prove tasty and valuable...
Or was that wine?
LOL!
I'll carry on with the ignoring bit then...
So - how's your oldest? Mine is currently working for a Trust Company here (took a week off to go to Turkey with a few friends).
He has a house lined up with 3 others for next year/term and is really enjoying the Uni experience and the course.
Re: your glut of courgettes - how about Rat a Tooey?
Blasted child is babysitting tonight, for filthy lucre! Hence, my marrow fuelled curfew!
That is, he's babysitting for OTHER PEOPLE'S children!
Cut courgettes into thin strips. Heat a small amount of virgin olive oil in a pan suitable for stir frying. Lightly fry a small chopped onion until tender, add finely chopped garlic, a small finely chopped chilli pepper and about half an inch of grated ginger root plus the strips of courgette. Stir fry for a couple of minutes. Eat. Then tell me there is no better way to serve courgettes.
Now when do I get the lowdown on how you grew those monsters or have you gone to Russia with Span for photographs too?
My childhood memory of marrows is my Dad making marrow wine in the loft, the whole thing had a longer gestation period than an elephant.
Mmmmn, sounds yummy Mags! That goes on the list!
It's not really a secret. You know the Corder patent JCB double digging method already, but the manure wot was dug in was rather special.
One of Mrs C's best mates happens to have a few acres on which she raises deer, a few Jacobs sheep and more importantly horses. Steeple chasers, hunters, ponies, you name it. She's been meaning to spread her dung heap on the deer park for five years but hasn't got round to it. That's right five year old stable manure! It's like mining chocolate brownies.
So in addition to the deep dressing across the site, which it needed since I dug right into the chalk subsoil, each plant got a generous bucketful in the hole it's in.
Growing like buggery now!
OOOOOOOooh marrow wine! Hadn't thought of that! Goes on the list!
I've had vodka watermelon , which involves slowly funnelling a bottle of vodka into a watermelon then eating the chilled slices. Happy days! Well I'm sure they were but I can't remeber much!
Gavin, you're photoes are a bit suggestive ! I remember eating stuffed marrow as a child.
mAKE LOADS OF ALCOHOL!!!!!!
Suggestive? Moi?
Oui, Vous Gavin !
Et toi aussi Curmi, je croix!
wonderful post and comments but overshadowed by the even more wonderful word: "tumescence" :-)
The first time I cooked for Nicky I made her stuffed courgettes. I hadn't realised until now just how suggestive that really was.
Yes I agree Span, great comments folks!
Six, Bless! I bet Nicky spotted it!
Stuffed corgettes, nicky spotting it?
Spot what??
Bloke speak that methinks, she would only have noticed the time and taken to prepare, the quality of the ingredients, the smell and taste and how good it all made her feel.
:)
Chop them up into dice, fry in olive oil with garlic and ginger, add a tin of chickpeas and a squeeze of lemon, and serve with basmati rice and a topping of natural yoghurt. A fantastic meal that cost about 27p to make during my student days and which probably still costs less than a quid.
oooh that's a goodie! Welcome to the blog Paul! You can come again! Do we take it from yours that you are a downsized journo?
I'm getting a bit behind with this courgette blogging thing...I think Part 2 has to encompass several dishes... crikey...
I too am looking for cougette recipes as I'm holding a party to celebrate the humble courgette, I'm calling it a courgette together, or the longer name is the carnival come cavalcade of courgettes extravaganza (yep I've got loads in the garden again this year)each guest must bring a an animal made of vegetables for a competition with strict rules and judging by an expert in the field, there will be pin the courgette on the donkey, spin the courgette, courgette wanging and all food/dips will be courgette based even the chocolate cake, I too have a fridge full of them, we have found that drinking real ale is the answer as this does not have to be chilled - hoping for more recipes, what about a slice of courgette in your Pimms? Madliz
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