Courgettes
Courgettes should be a
pleasure not a duty: small and freshly picked they are
one of the quickest vegetables to prepare and very delicious to eat. If
you grow your own the problem is that the plants never produce the right
amount at the right time: at the beginning of the season you only have
enough to harvest 2 or 3 at a time but once the plants get into their
stride the 5cm baby seems to turn into a 50cm monster overnight.
If you buy courgettes try
get them only when they would be in season locally, mid to late summer,
as imported and intensively grown ones really do not have the best
flavour. Courgettes should always feel firm, don’t choose a flaccid
courgette, and the skin should feel tender and look bright. Choose small
ones, no more than 15cm if possible, that is roughly 2 pinkie fingers
long - taking a ruler shopping is a step too far.
If you have to buy larger ones or you get biggish courgettes in a box,
use them as an ingredient in a dish rather than as a salad or lightly
cooked dish on their own; that way their lack of flavour won’t be so
noticeable.
Growing
your own gives you some control but avoiding a glut is
difficult. Every year when I have been overwhelmed I vow to grow just 2
plants the following year, only to find it is a cold, wet summer and the
2 plants do not produce enough for a decent dish. So I up the number of
plants again and am again struggling to use them quickly enough. I have
found that the best way to cope is to cut my losses, literally. I do not
necessarily try to eat every overgrown courgette at once because, by
doing that, I never get to eat the little ones before they, too, get
over large. So I cut and eat the little ones as I want but I also cut
and store the large ones because the plants will slow their production
of new fruits if they already have nice large, developing seeds. Don’t,
in despair, just leave the marrows on the plant.
Storing
Providing it is not bruised a large courgette develops a hard skin that
will retain moisture in the flesh for several weeks. Store it in a cool
place away from direct heat and don’t drop it. You can then use it, a
section at a time if need be, to add bulk to tomato soups and sauces, to
thicken stews or to roast with other vegetables. Peel off the hard skin
and remove the central pith and seeds if they have got big.
Freezing
Another way of keeping courgettes until later is to cook them in oil or
butter and, when soft, to put them through a food mill, or food
processor, to make a purée and then to freeze that. Because courgettes
contain so much water they do not freeze well and loose most of their
flavour, but cooking them in oil and/or butter transfers their flavour
to the oil which can then retain it even during freezing. The purée can
be used in sauces, soups and stews to add thickening and increase the
depth of flavour.
Enjoy
Courgettes come in many shades of green and in yellow and they can be
round as well as long and slim. Growing and using different colours
definitely increases their eye appeal. They are a versatile vegetable,
delicious in their own right and a valuable ingredient of many dishes.
The important thing is to use them as you want and not to become
obsessed with trying to cook every last one even when the family is in
revolt. It won’t be the end of the world if you have to compost one or
two!