Gad Zukes!

One summer’s end, not so long ago, a friend brought me a zucchini from his garden. It was as mega as a teenager’s leg. I could have used the seeds to make a necklace. Sure, cooks sauté these beasts; they make bread out of them; they Parm them; they christen them. Below, please find a few helpful recipes (some mine) in case a friend (“friend”?) of yours shows up with a jolly green giant, too.

Recipes: Of course, Ratatouille is the perfect plan if you’re cradling a zucchini in one arm. When the other arm’s free, prepare Long-Cooked Vegetables. This is the best and most appreciated recipe that I’ve developed with which to cook a sizeable zuke.

If grilling this weekend (who ain’t?), add slices of zucchini to this recipe for All-Vegetable Grilling. Here’s a very old, very fab recipe from Jewish Roman cooking (cucina ebraica), Concia di Zucchine.

“Quickles” will help eat up some of the cornucopia of that fading garden. And for a terrific turn on varied vegetables (for years, a recipe that always wins at my table), try this Indian recipe for Subji.

Labor Day Grilling Ideas: Grills just wanna have fun—and this weekend might (sadly) be their last chance to dance, what with school kicking off and all. Here are tips on Grilling an Entire Meal; applying that great grate heat to my favorite cut of beef, The Flat-Iron Steak; my favorite prep and finishing sauce for chicken or pork, DiSanto’s Marinade; and some Grilling Myths Busted so that you’ll venture to the fire with aplomb.

Ask Bill: Tom O. wants to know “what to do with a flat of peaches” that he picked up at a fundraiser. His sitch may be the pits, but here’s a peachy answer.