Fun at the supermarket!

Andy said:

Have a dinner plan tonite for stuffed jumbo shells and decided on a side
of fried zucchini.

I never touched zucchini except at a block party a few years ago that
married whole hog's pulled pork to fried zucchini with provalone on a
bun with juice. Awesome stuff.

Today at the produce market I decided I'd shop zucchini.

So I go in and don't know zucchini from eggplant from peppers from
whatever.

Two nice ladies are picking through the produce next to me. So, not
being the proud moron afraid to ask for directions without a map, I ask
them, "This is squash? I need zucchini. Is this the same thing?"

They nod yes, then one asks, "What are you making?" I said I wanted to
make fried zucchini.

The plot thickens. One of them asks me how I'm going to prepare the
fried zucchini. I blurted out "cornmeal then fried."

Momma (from here on out) told me to use the green squash, but then more
agony as she asks "How do you slice it?"

Grief, in the form of red blood running from my cheeks, I said, "in
coins"??

She grabs the zucchini out of my hand and tells me to slice it in
lengths, not coins. And now we're becoming chums, there at the squash
bin.

She further tells me to take the slices and salt them and let them rest
in a collander for 30 minutes. Then "take the slices and dip them in AP
flour, then into egg, then into hot oil."

She said that's the Italian way to do it.

We met up at the checkout. We talked about the procedure again, and what
was I cooking. I said I was making stuffed jumbo shells with 3-cheeses.

They both asked "when is dinner ready?"

I said "Well I was planning on 4pm, but whenever you're ready!"

If you've never seen two sweet Italian women blush...

For a brief moment in time, we were related!!!

Too nice.

Andy

Nice story. Too bad your new friends didn't really come for dinner
and for another zucchini lesson. :o)

Margaret Suran said:

Nice story. Too bad your new friends didn't really come for dinner
and for another zucchini lesson. :o)

They had shopping carts full of their own dinner plans.

We'll meet again.

Andy

Andy said:

Have a dinner plan tonite for stuffed jumbo shells and decided on a side
of fried zucchini.

I never touched zucchini except at a block party a few years ago that
married whole hog's pulled pork to fried zucchini with provalone on a
bun with juice. Awesome stuff.

......snip......

I lived beside a small Italian grocer store for a year when I was first
married. One day I went in to get some lasagne noodles, parmesan, cottage
cheese, tomato sauce, mozzarella. When I got the the checkout the lady asked
if my wife was making Lasagne. I told her I was. She told me I had all the
wrong stuff. She went around the store with me, put everything back, got
DeCecco pasta, a different kind of tomato sauce, had the butcher grate some
fresh mozzarella and Parmesan and she told me to use the recipe on the box.

We had a Bouvier des Flandres at the time and she used to spend a lot of
time in the back yard. At 9 months she already weighed well over 100 lb. I
went next door to do my grocery shopping and after I got the meats I asked
the butch if he had any dog bones. He grabbed huge thigh bone and as he
stood in front of the band saw, and to figure what size pieces to cut, he
asked what kind of dog it was. I told him it was the dog next door. He
turned off the saw, wrapped up the bone and handed it to me.

I still love shopping in the local Italian grocery stores.

"Dave Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I lived beside a small Italian grocer store for a year when I was first
married. One day I went in to get some lasagne noodles, parmesan, cottage
cheese, tomato sauce, mozzarella. When I got the the checkout the lady
asked
if my wife was making Lasagne. I told her I was. She told me I had all the
wrong stuff. She went around the store with me, put everything back, got
DeCecco pasta, a different kind of tomato sauce, had the butcher grate
some
fresh mozzarella and Parmesan and she told me to use the recipe on the
box.

We had a Bouvier des Flandres at the time and she used to spend a lot of
time in the back yard. At 9 months she already weighed well over 100 lb.
I
went next door to do my grocery shopping and after I got the meats I asked
the butch if he had any dog bones. He grabbed huge thigh bone and as he
stood in front of the band saw, and to figure what size pieces to cut, he
asked what kind of dog it was. I told him it was the dog next door. He
turned off the saw, wrapped up the bone and handed it to me.

I still love shopping in the local Italian grocery stores.

Bet you never had my experience in them, though. When I was poor and
pregnant and living in Greenwich Village I shopped at a Bleeker Street
greengrocer, who used to pat my bulge and then give me a piece of fresh
fruit for the "bambino". He was down the street from the "pork store" where
they would give me leftover ham bones to make soup. I can only hope their
children are now running the same stores and being as user-friendly!

Felice

Andy wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
....(snip forward to Momma's zucchini recipe)

Quoted message said:

She grabs the zucchini out of my hand and tells me to slice it in
lengths, not coins. And now we're becoming chums, there at the squash
bin.

She further tells me to take the slices and salt them and let them
rest
in a collander for 30 minutes. Then "take the slices and dip them in
AP
flour, then into egg, then into hot oil."

She said that's the Italian way to do it.

You must let us know how the zucchini turns out. I make it only about
once a year, using Marcella Hazan's flour-and-water batter, but I'm not
really crazy about that recipe.

And I just loved this story!!

Chris said:

You must let us know how the zucchini turns out. I make it only about
once a year, using Marcella Hazan's flour-and-water batter, but I'm not
really crazy about that recipe.

My wife usually slices the zucchini into roughly 1/4 inch rounds, par boils
them and then fries then in butter and adds a sprinkle of freshly grated
Parmesan cheese, a quick, easy and delicious way to do them.

Dave Smith said:

Chris said:

You must let us know how the zucchini turns out. I make it only about
once a year, using Marcella Hazan's flour-and-water batter, but I'm not
really crazy about that recipe.

I peel them, cut them into thin "coins", dust in flour, and pan fry.

I do the same thing with cucumbers, yellow crook-neck (summer) squash,
green tomatoes and dill pickles.

They only have to cook a couple of minutes ( the toms a bit longer). Don't
fry too hot.

You can make a batter, but, usually I just coat in flour.

You can fry them to any degree of "crispy".

Yum.

Elaine, too

"Elaine Parrish" wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Dave Smith said:

Chris said:

You must let us know how the zucchini turns out. I make it only about
once a year, using Marcella Hazan's flour-and-water batter, but I'm not
really crazy about that recipe.

I peel them, cut them into thin "coins", dust in flour, and pan fry.

I do the same thing with cucumbers, yellow crook-neck (summer) squash,
green tomatoes and dill pickles.

They only have to cook a couple of minutes ( the toms a bit longer). Don't
fry too hot.

You can make a batter, but, usually I just coat in flour.

You can fry them to any degree of "crispy".

Yum.

Elaine, too

Sounds good! For variety, I slice the zucchini and/or lengthwise, then cut
into julienne strips and marinate them in Italian salad dressing. I then
grill them. Tasty. (Hmm, must try that with cucumbers - and dill
pickles?).

Dora

Andy n said:

For a brief moment in time, we were related!!!

Too nice.

Andy

Nice! Thanks for the story.

modom

Only superficial people don't judge by appearances.
-- Oscar Wilde

"limey" wrote in message >

Quoted message said:

Sounds good! For variety, I slice the zucchini and/or lengthwise, then
cut

Oops - should've said zucchini and/or yellow squash lengthwise, then cut.

Dora

<n> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Have a dinner plan tonite for stuffed jumbo shells and decided on a side
of fried zucchini.

*
**Good story snipped.**
If you ever have a craving for fried eggplant, do them the same way. (But
you'll probably want to peel them first.) Also, try that strange grated
cheese in the cardboard cylinder on the final product.

Pablo

limey said:

"Elaine Parrish" wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Dave Smith said:

Chris wrote:

>
> You must let us know how the zucchini turns out. I make it only about
> once a year, using Marcella Hazan's flour-and-water batter, but I'm not
> really crazy about that recipe.

I peel them, cut them into thin "coins", dust in flour, and pan fry.

I do the same thing with cucumbers, yellow crook-neck (summer) squash,
green tomatoes and dill pickles.

They only have to cook a couple of minutes ( the toms a bit longer). Don't
fry too hot.

You can make a batter, but, usually I just coat in flour.

You can fry them to any degree of "crispy".

Yum.

Elaine, too

Sounds good! For variety, I slice the zucchini and/or lengthwise, then cut
into julienne strips and marinate them in Italian salad dressing. I then
grill them. Tasty. (Hmm, must try that with cucumbers - and dill
pickles?).

Dora

Thanks for the info. I'll try that. It sounds good. We see a lot more
yellow crook-neck than zucchini around here, so I don't experiment with it
much, but I'll try this.

The fried cucumbers are really good. They are real sweet. They are better
than crook-neck, even. Put just a little oil in a pan and fry them in a
single layer; turn once. They only take a couple of minutes. This is a
good way to fix those too-big cukes that aren't real good raw.

The fried dill pickles are all the rage now with restaurants as
appetizers in the Southern, US.. They are the little, thin sliced,
"hamburger dills" that
restaurants buy in 5 gallon pails. They are tossed in a little
flour/cornmeal and deep fried for just a couple of minutes. The BBQ joints
are especially fond of offering them. I don't care for dill pickles -
fried or not - but I have family members that do.

Elaine, too

Andy said:

I never touched zucchini except at a block party a few years ago

That's nothing short of weird. How did you manage to glide through
life without touching a zucchini??? Were you a picky eater?

sf <[email hidden]> wrote in news:sm4ra1pbr6p4sr35lpp8g9bpjqbs3srbd7@
4ax.com:

Quoted message said:

Andy said:

I never touched zucchini except at a block party a few years ago

That's nothing short of weird. How did you manage to glide through
life without touching a zucchini??? Were you a picky eater?

I certainly WAS!!! I ate bread and butter, chicken and hamburgers
(plain) and milk, oh and spagetti with butter (no cheese!). Mom took me
to the doctor about my eating, doctor looked at me and said, "eh, he's
getting all the right proteins, don't worry."

I'm the tallest one in the family, ever!

Didn't eat my first egg until I was 18. That give you the picture!???

😉

Andy

--
"Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles!"
- Ed Sullivan (1964)

Andy said:

Have a dinner plan tonite for stuffed jumbo shells and decided on a side
of fried zucchini.

I never touched zucchini except at a block party a few years ago that
married whole hog's pulled pork to fried zucchini with provalone on a
bun with juice. Awesome stuff.

Today at the produce market I decided I'd shop zucchini.

So I go in and don't know zucchini from eggplant from peppers from
whatever.

Two nice ladies are picking through the produce next to me. So, not
being the proud moron afraid to ask for directions without a map, I ask
them, "This is squash? I need zucchini. Is this the same thing?"

They nod yes, then one asks, "What are you making?" I said I wanted to
make fried zucchini.

The plot thickens. One of them asks me how I'm going to prepare the
fried zucchini. I blurted out "cornmeal then fried."

Momma (from here on out) told me to use the green squash, but then more
agony as she asks "How do you slice it?"

Grief, in the form of red blood running from my cheeks, I said, "in
coins"??

She grabs the zucchini out of my hand and tells me to slice it in
lengths, not coins. And now we're becoming chums, there at the squash
bin.

She further tells me to take the slices and salt them and let them rest
in a collander for 30 minutes. Then "take the slices and dip them in AP
flour, then into egg, then into hot oil."

I've never seen fried zucchini in lengthwise slices, only rounds. I
like it dipped in egg and then finely-crushed soda cracker crumbs, and
fried flat in a skillet, like fried green tomatoes. It's really good.

N.

sf <[email hidden]> wrote in news:dq9ra11ji6bkrk53ckukfu45on38sltm2r@
4ax.com:

Quoted message said:

Andy said:

Didn't eat my first egg until I was 18. That give you the

picture!???

Quoted message said:

It most certain does! Kinda ironic that you're participating in a
food related ng after a childhood of hating food, isn't it?

The story goes, when I was two I had eye surgery. After the surgery I
had patches on my eyes and couldn't see what I was eating, so I
basically just stopped eating everything. Prior to the surgery, I ate
anything.

By 25, there wasn't a food on the planet that I wouldn't eat (except
lima beans [I did try them]). But zucchini was never on the menus in my
circles I guess.

It took a visit to Amsterdam and eating some magic mushroom before I'd
eat ordinary mushrooms. I always hope they're magic!

All the best,

Andy
Gourmet chef to the 5 and under crowd

Quoted message said:

I've never seen fried zucchini in lengthwise slices, only rounds. I
like it dipped in egg and then finely-crushed soda cracker crumbs, and
fried flat in a skillet, like fried green tomatoes. It's really good.

You must not have a tv. You can't watch two cooking shows in a row
without seeing someone taking long-sliced zukes, slapping on a buncha evoo,
and tossing them on the barbie or under a broiler. Frying is passé.

nb

On Mon 13 Jun 2005 08:40:19a, wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

Andy said:

Have a dinner plan tonite for stuffed jumbo shells and decided on a side
of fried zucchini.

I never touched zucchini except at a block party a few years ago that
married whole hog's pulled pork to fried zucchini with provalone on a
bun with juice. Awesome stuff.

Today at the produce market I decided I'd shop zucchini.

So I go in and don't know zucchini from eggplant from peppers from
whatever.

Two nice ladies are picking through the produce next to me. So, not
being the proud moron afraid to ask for directions without a map, I ask
them, "This is squash? I need zucchini. Is this the same thing?"

They nod yes, then one asks, "What are you making?" I said I wanted to
make fried zucchini.

The plot thickens. One of them asks me how I'm going to prepare the
fried zucchini. I blurted out "cornmeal then fried."

Momma (from here on out) told me to use the green squash, but then more
agony as she asks "How do you slice it?"

Grief, in the form of red blood running from my cheeks, I said, "in
coins"??

She grabs the zucchini out of my hand and tells me to slice it in
lengths, not coins. And now we're becoming chums, there at the squash
bin.

She further tells me to take the slices and salt them and let them rest
in a collander for 30 minutes. Then "take the slices and dip them in AP
flour, then into egg, then into hot oil."

I've never seen fried zucchini in lengthwise slices, only rounds. I
like it dipped in egg and then finely-crushed soda cracker crumbs, and
fried flat in a skillet, like fried green tomatoes. It's really good.

N.

Most places seems to serve the rounds, but I used to go to a restaurant who
served it in "stick"s. I think I liked those better, but it m ight have
just been that their breading was better.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

Quoted message said:

I've never seen fried zucchini in lengthwise slices, only rounds. I
like it dipped in egg and then finely-crushed soda cracker crumbs, and
fried flat in a skillet, like fried green tomatoes. It's really good.

N.

We eat zucchini often, (only we call them "baby marrows"😉 - great with
stir-frys... in fact we are having them tonight.... but I have never
tried fried green tomatoes... think I should try some. We eat fried
"ripe" tomatoes all the time... Do you find the green ones taste better
than the "ripe" ones? Just curious.
Cathy
--
I don't suffer from insanity - I enjoy every minute of it