When Life Gives You Zucchini

     We usually catch and annual sale at Kroger when they sell fresh pineapples for a dollar. That's an amazing price, at least for where I am. Well either I missed that sale in the beginning of the summer, or else they didn't have it. I'm guessing that even though I checked weekly, I missed it somehow. But what we did have, was a very abundant supply of local zucchini. You'd be surprised what you can do with zucchini and when it comes to canning we've attempted quite a few science projects that have led to great successes. Some not so much, but we won't mention that here.
     I work with 100 Horticulturalists and in harvest season the amount of free fresh picked garden vegetables that get offered at work can mean you don't have to use what little real estate you might have to grow some things. We grew 20 tomato plants, jalapenos and plenty of basil this year. All things we use the most. Last season, I shared mine and in return I gained a freezer full of fresh garden green beans and more zucchini than we knew what to do with.
     This year we dehydrated some for the first time. We do enjoy zucchini bread and sometimes it's difficult to come by in the middle of winter. Rehydrate and there you go. It can be used just like fresh in breads and sauces. We also made our annual batch of sweet relish and also bread and butter pickles. Yes, I said that. For the last 3 years our bread and butter pickles have been made from zucchini instead of cucumbers. The secret is out now to those of my son friends who come over requesting to take a jar home. It's a popular item here.
     The new discovery we tried this year made up for the missed pineapple sale, and we made pineapple chunks from zucchini instead. It's quite simple and can be used however you would normally use canned pineapple. Personally, the texture isn't spot on enough for me to top my cottage cheese with, but it is so close that when used mixed in a recipe I don't notice at all that it's an impostor.

     Get the recipe here: Pineapple Zucchini

     It's a very easy process. Boil in some pineapple juice and can it up.

     Tonight this zucchini was going into sweet and sour chicken. I don't have measurements when I do any type of chicken stir fry. I don't even have a set ingredient list. It's a great time to open the refrigerator and dump whatever veggies you have on hand into the pan. Tonight was carrots, broccoli, onion, cauliflower and a little green bell pepper. Fry up some chicken that's been cut to bite size, add the veggies and keep stirring until everything is as cooked as you like.

     I've learned to move like a ninja in the kitchen, stealth and light on my feet. You have to when there is a beast that forever feels the need to lay right in the middle of the floor when I cook. He's not sleeping. Don't let him fool you. He's waiting in his own stealth mode for the moment chicken might hit the floor.

     Then for the sauce, which was amazing. I found the recipe on Allrecipes.com. I gave it 5 stars.

Wow! Sweet and Sour Sauce          

Recipe By:Nana Nat

"This is great sauce. Use for dipping or poured over rice and chicken."

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 (8 ounce) can pineapple tidbits, with juice (this is where I used our canned pineapple zucchini) 
• 2/3 cup distilled white vinegar

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon steak sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper hot sauce
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

1. Stir water, sugar, ketchup, pineapple, vinegar, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, steak sauce, and hot sauce together in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove 1/2 cup of the sauce to a small bowl; whisk cornstarch into the sauce in the bowl. Bring the sauce in the saucepan to a boil, stir the sauce with the cornstarch into the boiling sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before using.

     This little picture doesn't show you how amazing the recipe is. I cut the recipe in half, unsure if I'd like it, and this is what's left after covering my stir fry. We loved it so much that were going to break down the recipe and determine if it's safe to can and if it is, look out. There will be quite a few jars of this on the shelf if things go right. There is cornstarch in this recipe, but if I remove that and thicken after opening a jar, we might be good to go.

     See that chunk of zucchini in there? You'd never know it wasn't pineapple...

     If you like sweet and sour, you'll like this sauce. I give it 2 thumbs up.

Chat soon!

Penni