Topic: patty pans

[aquilegia]

how big should patty pans be when I pick them?

Do you eat them whole like courgettes or peel and deseed like squashes?

[Mrs Ava]

Big or as small as you fancy Aqui. I pick mine small and cook whole, but you can peel if you like. They are soft skinned summer squashes for immediate use rather than storing.

[dingerbell]

I agree, they are beautiful steamed whole when tiny or microwaved. As they get bigger they can be sliced and like courgettes, have an affinity with butter and "Italian" herbs. One thing I do with the larger ones, which goes down well is to slice off the top, scoop out the seeds. stuff with Ratatouille, put the lid back on and bake. Remove from the oven generously grate Parmesan Regiano  over the top and grill till golden.  :P Happy cooking..Dinger

[aquilegia]

mmm - hungry now!

They are currently no bigger than eggs (well they were on Wednesday - after all this rain they might be huge now!) I will let them get a little bigger. Or maybe I'll just steam them like Dinger says. But then the stuffed thing sounds yummy too! Ooh decisions. It's sweetcorn tonight anyway, so we definitely won't be having the patty pans. Maybe tomorrow!

[Jill]

Just used my latest crop of custard whites to make River Cottage Chutters because I didn't have even two the same size and sons and OH would fight over who got the biggest if I stuffed them ;D.

[Yuet_Lee]

How come all mines were drop before I checked them was it big enough to eat ???They were not bigger then 4cm.
Also my mini pumpkin were doing the same all rotten. Please help!

[john_miller]

How come all mines were drop before I checked them was it big enough to eat ???They were not bigger then 4cm.
Also my mini pumpkin were doing the same all rotten. Please help!

Looks like some sort of bacterial infection. It may be preventing fertilisation as well as damaging the fruit and would lead to premature fruit drop. You may want to stop growing cucurbits for at least one season to try to interrupt the life cycle.

[Yuet_Lee]

Thank you very much John!
 yuet

[Black Forest Dan]

Hi all

Patty pans were my biggest success story this year (my first year 'proper' gardening), I have four plants on the go and they are incredibly prolific and seem to be pretty pest-resistant. We've picked them every size from tiny (table-tennis-ball size) to half a football (my biggest one was nearly a kilo) and they have been tasty every time. I still have dozens to pick and more coming, they really like the location along the edge of a raised bed. Up to the size of your fist, I don't do anything other than wash them. If you let them get bigger then you might prefer to remove the seeds. We have never bothered to peel them, even the big ones.

Our favourite cooking method is to slice them, around 1cm thick slices, and then fry them in herb-flavoured breadcrumbs (dip them first in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs) - delicious fritters both hot and cold - alternatively they make a great pancake filling or pasta sauce (dice them and fry them in butter with onions and mushrooms, add some S+P and cream and a bit of cheddar).

Fritters again tonight I think... yum!

[aquilegia]

Blimey Dan if you think tennis ball size is tiny, I don't know what you'd call mine! We had the first for dinner last night (roasted - yum!) but they were about 1in-1.5in in diameter at most. I got fed up of waiting! The plant is in a pot as I'd filled my veg patches by the time they were ready, so I suppose that doesn't help much!

[Black Forest Dan]

that was table-tennis ball....

my plants are enormous and look like they're sucking up half the rain from the raised bed (we have had plenty >:( of rain this year in this part of the world!). Do your plants also have spikes on the stems and underside of the leaves?

[aquilegia]

ah that makes me feel better. Well mine were half table tennis balls!

and yes they are very spikey. Gave me a nasty shock yesterday!

[Yuet_Lee]

mine were same tiny too. And it all dropped off naturally. :'(