Courgette crazy

MANDY EVANS

Last updated 05:00 19/05/2012

VARIED VEGE: No matter what kind of courgettes you grow, there are plenty of ways to cook them

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Like me, courgette plants aren't keen on cold weather.

My plants turned up their toes at the first frost. That's okay; we've had courgette on the menu a lot lately and it's almost time to give it a break, much as I enjoy it.

In the past I've cooked courgette and carrot cakes and other exotic offerings, including a delicious courgette and lemon concoction that can be used as a spread or a dessert topping.

This year we've had plenty of fruit to provide sweet treats from the kitchen so the courgettes have taken more of a savoury role in my cooking. As well as the usual stir-fries and courgette quiche, steamed courgette topped with a touch of sesame oil or oyster sauce has become a staple side dish. You don't need much of the sauce as the courgette takes on the flavour quite readily.

There are a lot of good recipes for courgette pickles, chutneys and relishes but my recipe of choice this year uses up marrows nicely.

At the peak of the season, the only difference between a courgette and a marrow is a couple of days of being too busy to check the plants and that happens a lot in this household, especially when there's a lot of other garden produce to harvest as well.

In the interests of copyright I can't copy out the recipe here, but for anyone who's interested, it's in Digby Law's Pickle and Chutney Cookbook and is called marrow pickle. It has a subtle curry flavour and can be eaten immediately or left to mature.

I've also tried roasting courgettes but didn't like them very much, probably because I overcooked them. Grilled or barbecued courgette slices are delicious just lightly cooked so they still hold their shape but when you bite into them the flesh is sweet and mushy.

I find it's always useful to Google cooking suggestions for a vegetable, even one I've been cooking with for years. In this way I recently found another simple way of cooking courgettes on a blog by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall that's fast becoming a favourite with me, partly because its so easy, and partly because it's so tasty.

If you've got any courgettes left to use up give it a try.

Gently saute garlic and courgette in a little olive oil with a dash of salt added. His proportions were different but about one clove of garlic to each medium-sized courgette suits me and just a very small sprinkle of salt but you can use more or less to your taste. Cook until the moisture that comes out of the courgettes has evaporated and the mixture is thick enough to need stirring to avoid sticking to the pan. Hugh suggests using this mix as a toast topping, soup base or pasta sauce base but it also tastes great just as it is.

Another recipe I'll put aside until next season was in an online gardening forum where someone suggested substituting courgette for gherkin in a sweet pickled gherkin recipe, which sounded interesting.

Courgette plants take up quite a bit of space, so pulling them out made a gap in my planting. I haven't filled it yet because the yams are growing alongside that part of the garden and I'm planning to dig them out next weekend so I'll plant both areas together, probably with a combination of fast-growing Asian greens that will help keep us and the chooks in vegetables over winter.

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While I never tire of courgettes, we have eaten quite a few recently and I suspect the other half may be almost over them for a while. The dogs, too, while they don't complain, will most likely be glad to see the back of courgette season and be glad to see one of their favourite veges, pumpkin, on the menu. While I feed them mostly dry food, I often boil up a blend of porridge and vegetables to supplement their diet.

This mix might not be to my taste but they seem to like it and always know when I'm cooking up their food. Taking the pot off the stove generally involves stepping over a large dog or two who just happen to have decided the kitchen is a comfortable place to sleep.

What to plant in May:

Garden guides recommend broad beans, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, Asian greens, lettuce, peas, snow peas radish, spinach and miners lettuce.

Try fast-growing greens like rocket and giant mustard to pep up winter salads and stir-fries.

mandyevans.co.nz

- The Marlborough Express