Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Zucchini Casserole - A Family Favorite

We have lots of fresh squash coming in from the garden right now.  We steam them with butter and onions and make a squash casserole that was famous at the Black Eyed Pea Restaurant.  One of the things that we like to do with zucchini is make a casserole that my grandmother, that we affectionately called Bumby, always made.  She'd pull this out of the oven and we would wolf it down in no time flat.  Tricia got her recipe and we think of Bumby every time we make it.
 
We have the normal dark green/black zucchini planted and I also grow another one shown below that I think is called a grey zucchini.  I can't figure out why because it doesn't look grey to me.  Anyway, let's get started.  
Grey Zucchini
First thing you want to do is get out the food processor and grate up the zucchini and dump into a big mixing bowl.  You'll need 3 cups of grated zucchini.

Grated Zucchini
If you look closely at the picture below, you can see the tell tale signs of a delicious recipe.  It is one that is hand-written on a 3 x 5 note card that is all stained up from dropping ingredients on it while fixing the dish.  That, my friends, is evidence of a good recipe.  The recipe calls for the following ingredients after the grated zucchini:
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped onions 
Combine the ingredients into the bowl with the grated zucchini. 

Stained recipe
 Adding the last few ingredients.
Grating some Parmesan cheese into the bowl
After it has been stirred up, spoon it out into a casserole dish and smooth it all out.  Now it is ready to put into an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes or until golden brown. 

Spreading out the squash mixture in a casserole dish
Look at this lovely sight!  It is golden brown.  The smell wafting from the oven beckons everyone to the kitchen.  Would you ever think that you could cook zucchini in a way that kids would be excited about it?  Probably not.
There's already a piece missing!
Here is the finished product paired with other delicacies fresh picked (or butchered) off of our land - homegrown okra stewed with heirloom tomatoes and fresh chicken livers pan fried in butter and topped with fresh Pico de Gallo.

Zucchini Casserole plated up
This casserole is perfect for bringing to a potluck dinner or 'Dinner on the Grounds' at church.  Everyone will love it, I guarantee it.  We never have leftovers.

No comments:

Post a Comment