Zucchini Chips

The zucchini glut is so dire at the moment that I couldn't even GIVE them away at the market!

I'm not bothered though. I am happy to store up my zucchini for the winter too.

We talk about zucchinis a lot here on SJ but for a recap, my soup recipe is here and the minted roasted zucchini here or refer to my cook book on pages 20 &21 which also includes the zucchini slice recipe.

So besides sticking them into every unsuspecting chocolate cake and freezing huge batches of soup, dehydration is another sterling idea.

Wash and cut into uniform-ish sized pieces and place in the dehydrator for about 7 hours depending on the size. The resulting "chips" can be used as lunch box snacks for the vegetably-inclined but they are a great addition to the slow cooks and casseroles of winter.

Store them away in an air tight jar in the cupboard.

Both our freezers are chock-o-block. Just look how much space you save. A large coffee jar would easily be equivalent to 10kg of fresh zucchini.

At this moment communities here are still struggling with the effects of the latest bushfires and Qld is in the midst of another terrible flood. Even if your house is not burnt out or flooded, you can still be affected by power outages for extended periods. It's a good idea to store your food in a number of ways. If you preserve and bottle and dehydrate, you will still have food sources if your electricity should fail and spoil your freezer load.

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Reminder that the Living Better group meets this Thursday 31 st Jan.

details in the side bar or email me.

I will be doing some talks and demos at the Kiliecrankie Nursery open day on the 3rd Feb from 10.30-2.30

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Over-run With Squash?

Here is a chutney recipe for those in the depths of a squash glut...

1kg of marrow or squash, peeled cored and cut into 2cm cubes

2tabs salt

2 large onions coarsely chopped

300g carrots coarsely grated

100g of crystallised ginger coarsely chopped

2 red chillies finely chopped

2 tabs black mustard seeds

1 tabs tumeric

750ml apple cider vinegar

250g sugar

Sprinkle the marrow or squash with a tab of the salt and let it sit and draw for an hour then rinse and dry.

Put it in a preserving pan with the rest of the ingredients except the sugar and salt.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 25-30mins till just soft.

Add the sugar and remaining tabs of salt and stir to dissolve.

Simmer for another 1 hour or more until most of the liquid has evaporated and the chutney is thick.

Ladle into hot sterilised jars and seal.

Chutney is ready and the flavours developed in about a month.

This should keep for a couple of years and will be a great little gift to have on hand so don't forget to label them and make some pretty for giving.