Wednesday, June 5, 2013

BIG zucchinis, First Medium-Sized Tomatoes, Recipes

We have one variety of zucchini (Sweet Zuke) on which the fruits seem to to successfully hide among the stems and leaves of the plants until they get VERY BIG.  You can see a younger one at the top of the photo.  The big ones have lost their gloss, but the skin still seems tender.  You also need a knife to pick this one, as it often breaks at the neck if you're not careful. 

Anybody have a good stuffed zucchini recipe?  Microwave recipes welcome for hot weather.  Otherwise, the big ones are good for zucchini bread and zucchini pancakes, either fancy gluten- and dairy-free ones or make them more like traditional (grated) potato pancakes.    David's Mom uses a little Bisquick with the zucchini.  There are also recipes which add cheese, corn and other ingredients.  A slice of tomato on top might be nice.  Aunt Virginia used to serve sliced tomatoes with (unsweetened) French Toast. Wonderful. 

We've been picking cherry tomatoes, Yellow Perfection and Garden Peach (from purchased plants) for a while now.  Garden Peach is a small, non-shiny pale yellow tomato with a faint "fuzz" that wipes off.  Nice sweet flavor with a little acid, but not too much "tomato" flavor.   Slightly fruity in flavor.

Our first medium-sized tomato, slightly bigger than Yellow Perfection, ripened about May 28.   Fourth of July is the variety.  Makes sense, as it is a very early one.  Tough skin, but easy to peel and nice tomato flavor and red color.  Others followed right away - Big Beef, Aunt Ginny's Purple (actually rosy pink - the name makes me think of Aunt Virginia)  and not-so-giant Belgium Giant.  David says the last one tastes like the tomatoes his grandpa used to grow.  Picked a couple of dark Nyagous with green shoulders, too.  Both had a crack at the shoulder.  Uncharacteristic of this variety.  I was surprised to get them right after Fourth of July, as this is supposed to be a later tomato.  Had some smokey flavor, but Fourth of July had more "tomato" flavor.  

We also got a Little Lucky (yellow and blush bicolor).  Sweet, not too flavorful, but the first tomatoes are often not representative.   I picked an Indian Striped tomato yesterday.  It still had green shoulders, though it can reportedly be picked when it looks ripe, unlike many other dark tomatoes.  It has a crack in the shoulder.  I'll let it sit for a couple of days before we eat it. 

We've had several days at or above 100 degrees already.  There have been some spider mite-related foliage problems already.  Next year, I'll try to start seeds in mid-January and plant them out soon after March 15.