100 Ways to Use Zucchini

I can't believe it has been over two months since I posted here. We'll blame it on the Northeast Hop Alliance, Twitter, and Facebook. I only seem to be able to balance about three Web 2.0 tools at a time. We're still eating at least 85-90% local - either from CNY Bounty, our own farm, or the Hamilton farmers market. I have to admit that we have swayed a bit lately by eating out (lobster on Friday at Empire Brewing Company - but it was served with local sweet corn and local salt potatoes). And I have bought a few things like bananas and shrimp which I have had cravings for. But all our beef, pork, chicken and eggs, all our vegetables, all our bread and flour, most of our pastas, nearly all our dairy products, and all our condiments are from local sources.

We planted just a small garden this year and we still have TOO MUCH SQUASH. We have had grilled zucchini, zucchini salad, stewed tomatoes and zucchini, and tonight, zucchini lasagna. On the list for next week, sweet fried zucchini, zucchini cake, and zucchini parmesan. Well, I guess that is only about 7 ways, but it was about all I could think of on my own. So, I went to the Internet and searched for 100 Ways to Use Zucchini . (Yes, there was actually a site with that name and I think they really had 100 ways to use zucchini.) I'm adding zucchini rolls and stuffed zucchini to my list. I also found a vegan site dedicated to zucchini that has some beautiful pictures. Add Mexican zucchini soup and zucchini creole on polenta.

This recipe has to be about the most interesting one I've found and it looks like a great way to use up a lot of zucchini (I think I'll use the yellow zucchini for this so it may even look like orange marmalade.)

Gingered Zucchini Marmalade
Makes 4 8-oz jars

2 oranges
2 lemons
3 tbsp chopped gingerroot
5 cups shredded peeled zucchini
1 tart apple, cored and grated
4 cups granulated sugar

Use vegetable peeler and remove peel from each orange in one long strip. Cut into thin strips and place in a large deep saucepan and set aside. Remove white pith and skin and pith from lemons. Set fruit aside. Place orange and lemon pith and lemon peel and gingerroot into a cheesecloth and tie to make a spice bag. Add to saucepan.

Working over saucepan to catch juice, separate orange and lemon segments from membrane. Place segments in saucepan and squeeze membrane to remove as much juice as possible, collecting it in the saucepan. Discard membrane and seeds.

Add zucchini, apple and sugar to saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil hard, stirring frequently, until mixture reaches gel stage - about 45 minutes. Skim off foam and remove spice bag.

Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids.

Ladle hot marmalade into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim, center lid, and screw down band until resistance is met, then increase to finger tight. Place jars in canner, making sure they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove, cool and store.

Give as gifts to non-suspecting friends to see if they can guess the "mystery" ingredient.

SOURCE: Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.