Monday, May 9, 2011

Collecting Yellow Ruffles

The first time ever we eaten our first pattypan squash was last year and it was our own home-grown. I rarely found anyone which said that they like to eat pattypan squash. I heard complain about this vegetable a lot though. So to make sure that we know what true pattypan squash taste like, we decided to grow this vegetable last spring. Well, the cute photo of pattypan squash and it bright colours on the punnet seedlings tag were one of the main factor that made me bought it and grow the seedlings in our garden last spring. It was not in my wish lish and plan for warm season planting. I just came to know about this vegetable when we live in Australia, not a really popular vegetable I reckon since we hardly see them in market shelves unless it is in season. FYI, I don't hear any complain about pattypan squash in our house.
Pattypan squash was very prolific. It was one of the first vegetables that give us summer harvest. The blooming flowers are so big compared to the fruit waiting to be fertilised behind it. At the end of the season, we left one fruit to mature to collect seeds. When you left one gets very big and go to the stage of producing seeds, the plants will stop bearing other fruits.
We left one pattypan squash to grow on the plant for weeks until the plant died to collect seeds. We finally harvest this last pattypan squash together with other summer vegetables. Visit Daphne's Dandellion Harvest Monday to see what other gardeners all over the world is harvesting this week.
It was not easy to cut through the pattypan squash to collect the seeds as the skin has become very hard. We were happy to see many seeds to collect that we can sow for next spring. 
It will be a waste not to eat this mature pattypan squash, although usually it is collected for the kitchen used when it is young and tender to eat. CikManggis gave me an idea when I was looking at her angled luffa recipe. So I adapted her recipe, to make this pattypan squash dish and join in Wendy's Garden to Table Challenge (GTTC).
Ingredients:
One mature pattypan squash cut like an apple 1 inch thick.
4 mashed garlic cloves,
1/2 teaspoon of pepper (coarsely grind)
1 egg lightly beaten
salt
water
vegetable oil for saute
Optional: prawn, tofu, rice vercimelli or dried bean curd (pre-soak with water).

Heat oil and saute garlic. Add in water and pepper. Let it boil. Add in pattypan squash. When pattypan squash is almost tender add in egg and mix well. Then add in prawns, tofu, rice vercimelli or dried bean curd. Add salt.Cook until pattypan squash is tender. You may need to add in some water after you add rice vercimelli or dried bean curd because it soak a lot of water.


What did that pattypan squash tasted like? A bit nutty. Our 20months old family member seems to like this dish as he keep asking for more.

With the other summer vegetables that we harvested, I mix them with spicy sour dried salted fish with mango.
Any ideas how to prepare pattypan squash dish?

30 comments:

Mark Willis said...

Your Patty Pan Squash looks like a perfect example. I have eaten this veg in the past, but never grown it. I found the taste and texture to be very similar to Courgettes, which most people like, so why do people complain about PP?

~TastyTravels~ said...

I love patty pan squash. I think the reason people don't grow or like it because it's best eaten when it's smaller. It's a lot of work for smaller harvest when you can grow a traditional squash that's very productive with larger fruit and more meat.

I grew some last year but the slugs chomped on them so I only had a few to harvest. I like them because they're so unique and pretty. I have another variety I'm trying this year called Patisson Golden Marbre Scallop. It's a French heirloom and supposed to be yummy. I bought the seeds because it was pretty! I usually use them like regular squash sauted with garlic and olive oil. Your recipes look yummy!!!

http://rareseeds.com/vegetables-p-z/squash/summer-squash/patisson-golden-marbre-scallop.html

Eliza @ Appalachian Feet said...

Gorgeous pattypans! I love how you utilized the mature squash when you saved the seeds, too -- the recipe sounds delicious.

littlekarstar said...

YUM! Maybe you can stuff them and roast them? I do that with ours when we forget to harvest them and they get too big.

Kelli said...

I've seen the pattypat squash before and think it's very impressive and pretty. The dish you made looks delicious. Kelli

Daphne Gould said...

I've only grown patty pan squash once. And I only grew it for how pretty it was. I used to hate summer squash with a passion, but loved the look of the plants. So I would grow it anyway some years. Though I'm not a lover of summer squash, I don't mind it and in some things I like it. So now I try to pick it for taste and productivity. No patty pans though.

rainfield61 said...

Never eat this before. You must be a good cook.

cikmanggis said...

tak pernah lihat apa lagi makan pattypan squash.Cantik bunganya .Ada rupa labu nampaknya.Terima kasih sb sudi cuba resepi petola tu :)..hari isni yang sangat banyak kerja nak di siapkan:(

Daffodil said...

But pattypan squashes are gorgeous! I throw them into a curry or at the last minute into a stir-fry. They may not have much flavour, but they add colour and texture to dishes.

J.C. said...

The pattypan squash is pretty ~ if it is right to use this adjective on a squash. The vibrant yellow certainly brightens up the garden!

I have not tasted one before. Bet it is not so bad tasting if your little one is asking for additional helping.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

MKG,
We looooove pattypan squash! It's abundant at the Paddy's markets when in season. Mama would just stir fry it with a little bit of ikan bilis or udang kering, red capsicum, snowpeas, garlic, onion and whole peppercorns. A pinch of salt and a dash of oyster sauce. yummm.....we call it Mama's traffic light vege dish. purrr....meow!

CathJ said...

Never see that vege before.. mcm pumpkin oh.. :D

Kat said...

Wow, I didn't know squash got so big when they were mature! More used to seeing the tiny ones in the supermarket.

Stephanie said...

I have not stumbled upon this lovely squash yet here. I hope I will get to taste it one day :-D Thanks for the recipe.

kitchen flavours said...

I would really like to taste this pretty veggie squash! Am not sure whether the local supermarket sells them, will keep a look-out for these on my next visit.

Sue Garrett said...

We grow other types of squash but not patty pan. Squash skin does go rock hard in storage which I guess is why you can keep it for so long over winter.

kitsapFG said...

I think the biggest drawback to any summer squash is the over production that always occurs. A little bit tastes wonderful now and again, but alot is just overwhelming. Patty pan is a prolific and decent tasting summer squash. I have to refrain from growing mroe than two plants of summer squash though - as even that amount produces too much for us.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Mark~ I wonder why people complain about PP too when I think it taste almost like zucchini. I think it must be a childhood thing, when your mom ask you to eat this vegetable and you don't like it. So forever, the child have a bad memory of PP.

Holly~ The pattypan squash you are going to grow in your garden is very cute. Good Luck with this year and looking forward to see how you will cook it.

Eliza~ I guess we were lucky that the recipe turn out to be good for the mature squash.

Mrs Bok~ I never thought about roasting them. Good idea.

Kelli~ Pretty and prolific. I am not a good cook but I am proud with this one.

Daphne~ This pattypan squash does look ornamental in the gsrden.

Rainfield61~ Nah I am not a good cook but I am trying to expand my culinary skill to be more creative.

CikManggis~Terima kasih kongsi resepi. Adik-beradik labu.

Daffodil~ I mainly stir-fry them. Oh but I must try them in curry too.

J.C.~ The pattypan squash taste a bit "nutty". Some people are not fond of "nutty" taste like me and especially my first son. I always thought that any squash taste the same. Unfortunately not true, some are sweet and some are nutty.

Cat-From-Sydney~ Wow traffic light dish.

CathJ~Adik-beradik pumpkin tapi dikategorikan sebagai summer squash.

Kat~It was bigger than my palm.

Stephanie~I wonder if JUSCO sells it.

Joyce~Hope you find some supermarket that sells this veggie and share it with us.

Sue~I did wonder about it too since the pattypan squash has become rock hard, maybe I can keep it longer like pumpkin.

Chloe m said...

They look too pretty to eat. I bet they are tasty though!

Dianne said...

this was so interesting to read
and a pleasure to look at
I also enjoyed your more recent post - those little plants look like 4 leaf clover to me :)

annies home said...

love those yellow ruffles looks yummy come see me at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

KitsapFG~They do give so much produce. I agree 2 plants in a small garden will be sufficient.

Rosey~ Looks wonderful in the kitchen basket. Add some colour in stir-fry.

Dianne~Happy that you enjoy reading it.

Shopannies~Thank you for visiting.

Barbie~ said...

Beautiful. Not a summer squash fan, just begining to try to eat more zucchini. But the squash is certainly beautiful! Your dish does make it look worth trying at least. :-D

gardenvariety-hoosier said...

They are a beautiful squash. I grew Sunburst pattypan last year and am growing it again this year. Some of the squash were more green with a little yellow, some were mostly yellow. No two were the same. The flavor is very good and the meat more dense than zucchini. I slice them into steaks about 1/2 inch thick (centimeter?), coat them with olive oil and some herbs and put them on the grill at the edge of the heat. It takes 20-30 minutes to cook them this way. Delicious

tangledbranches said...

I haven't grown pattypan squash for a long time, but I think I had the light green variety. The yellow is so much more cheerful.

I used to hollow out the larger ones and stuff them with just about anything - rice or bread crumbs or meat or anything really - then bake in the oven.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Barbie~ We grow pattypan squash and zucchini for the first time last summer. I found zucchini has more taste then pattypan. But my youngest seems to tolerate this vegetable really well.

gardenvariety-hoosier~Thank you very much of the idea of making them like steaks so I can invite my vegetarian friends over for BBQ and not feeling much guilty of not having much food to offer. Sunburst seems like a good and interesting squash to grow. I would grow them if I can find some seeds.

tangledbranches~Sounds delicious and another method of eating pattypan squash that I would like to try.

Wendy said...

I think I will have to try growing this. I'm glad you showed and explained how to cut it up to use it - always wondered about that. If it's nutty like a squash, I'm sure I'll like it!

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Wendy~ I am looking forward to grow pattypan squash again after knowing several cooking ways to use it from inspiring comments from other bloggers. I hope you try growing it.

David Velten said...

It was fun to see the pattypan squash among your exotic (to me) harvest. I grow Sunburst every year and really like it. The flesh is nutty and not gritty, astringent or watery like most zucchini. I like to slice it up and use it for dips like hummus.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

David Velten~ Sunburst sounds good will give a try too. Thank you for sharing. We are growing the white pattypan squash this year.