Showing posts with label zucchini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zucchini. Show all posts

Thursday, August 6, 2009

THE Attack of the Killer Zucchini

What happens when you can't see under the zucchini plants? These two behemoths "went to the mattresses" to avoid detection and picking. While cleaning-up the garden and re-staking the tomatoes, I discovered them hiding under the massive leaves of my two zucchini plants.

Yes, I only planted 2 zucchini and now have so much of the yummy veggie that I had to place a call to all my friends to find new recipes that freeze well and task good.

So if you also find yourself with far too many zucchini plants and not enough friends to give them away to, let me suggest one of the following recipes. Properly stored, you can enjoy the fruits of your labors well into winter (and for those of us who do not live in sunny CA, that's a real treat!).


PINEAPPLE ZUCCHINI BREAD

3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 8oz can crushed pineapple,drained
3 cups flour,unsifted 2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp.baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon 1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup raisins,optional

1. Beat eggs, add oil, sugar and vanilla; beat mixture until light and foamy.
2. Stir in zucchini and pineapple.
3. Combine flour, soda, salt baking powder, cinnamon, nuts and raisins.
4. Stir gently into zucchini mixture.
5. Pour batter into a greaed and floured 9x5 loaf pan.
6. Bake 350( for 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pans.

CHERRY ZUCCHINI BREAD

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2 cups flour
2 tsp.baking powder
1 tsp.cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shredded unpeeled zucchini 2/3 cups dried tart cherries
1 Tbsp. grated lemon peel

1. Put eggs in large mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer on med.speed 3 to 4 minutes or until eggs are thick and lemon colored.
2. Add sugar, oil, lemon juice and water, mix well.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
4. Add flour mixture to egg mixture; mix well.
5. Stir in zucchini, cherries and lemon peel.
6. Grease and flour bottom of 8-/2 x 4-1/2" loaf pan.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan.
8. Bake in preheated 350( oven 55 to 65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
9. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.
10. Remove from pan. Let cool completely.
11. Wrap in plastic and store in refrigerator or Freeze.


ZUCCHINI QUICHE

4 small zucchini
1 cup & 1 Tablespoon bisquick
8 Tablespoons grated parm. cheese
2 Tablespoons milk
2 Tablespoons oil{liquid}
1 dash pepper
1/2 cup onion,chopped
4 eggs,slightly beaten
1/4teaspoon garlic powder {I use more}
2 tablespoons parsley flakes

Mix together all ingredients.
Pour into greased 9 x 13 x 2" pan.
Bake 350( for 1/2 hour or until light brown.

Here is one for Zucchini Casserole this is a new one for me too. A friend just gave this one to me,she said it is really good.

ZUCCHINI CASSEROLE

3 cups cornbread stuffing
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup sour cream
2 small zucchini, shredded
2 yellow squash, shredded
1/4 cup carrots ,shredded
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup{reg. or 98% free}

Stir stuffing and butter in large bowl.
Reserve 1/2 cup of stuffing mixture
Spoon remaining into a 2 quart shallow baking dish.
Stir soup, sour cream, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots and cheese into a med. bowl.
Spread the mixture over the stuffing mixture and sprinkle with the reserve stuffing mixture.
Bake at 350( for 40 minutes or until hot.

You can also use the zucchinis like an eggplant Make a parmigana instead of eggplant use the zucchini in its place or try making lasagna with it too.

And One last tasty choice:

CHOCO-ZUCCHINI CUPCAKES:

BATTER:
2 cups shredded zucchini (8 oz)
3 eggs OR 3/4 cup egg substitute
2 cup granulated sugar OR 1.5 cups Splenda
3/4 cups cooking oil OR 3/4 cups applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup milk chocolate pieces (optional)

FROSTING:
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup softened butter
1 Tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

PREPARATION:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 24 2.5 inch muffin cups with paper bake-cups or lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Stir together zucchini, eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla.
3. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and chocolate chips (if using)
4. Stir to combine
5. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each cup half full.
6. Bake about 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool in pan on wire wrack for 5 minutes, remove cups from pan and cool completely

Frosting Prep:

1. Beat 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/3 cup softened butter, 1 Tbsp milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
2. Gradually add 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, beating until combined.
3. If necessary, stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons additional milk until desired consistency

I eliminated the chocolate chips and did not frost the cupcakes and they still were wonderful. They're great with coffee, as a desert with vanilla ice cream, or in the morning as a snack. If you use the alternatives of egg substitute, applesauce, and Splenda they're also low calorie and low points.

They freeze well too!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Zucchini & Plum Crumble (or is it a Crisp?)

As I said in the last entry, which confusingly was also the first entry, I have personally created the following slightly kooky recipe to use up excessive amounts of zucchini in new and interesting ways.

I wouldn't replace the traditional summer fruit crumble/crisp recipe with this, but it might be a good one to use with kids who are picky about veggies. Or if you are being attacked by garden zucchini.

I wish I had a picture of the dish, but as noted, there was a lot of wine involved that day...

ZUCCHINI & PLUM CRUMBLE AND/OR CRISP

For the filling:
3 c. zucchini, finely diced or grated
6 plums
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. flour
1 tbsp. butter
salt

For the topping:
1 c. quick cooking oats
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c. raisins
1/4 c. sugar, I prefer brown
1/4 c. butter, softened
1 tbsp. pepitas or sunflower seeds (optional)

1. Saute zucchini in the butter and a dash of salt until it has softened. Remove from heat and pat out as much moisture as you can.
2. Combine the zucchini with the rest of the filling ingredients and let it sit for a half an hour or so, until the plums have made things nice and juicy.
3. In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit, in case you were wondering) and then set about combining the crumble/crisp ingredients. You should have a loose, chunky dough. If it's too dry add some ice water or a little more butter. If it's too dense and doughy, add a little flour.
4. Place filling in an 8x8 glass baking dish and cover with the topping.
5. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Serve hot, with vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt if you like that kinda stuff.

The First Time


I was a journalism major. For six weeks. So I'll use a little Reporter 101 to help you get to know us here at Attack of the Killer Zucchini a little better.

Who: Six family members (mom & dad, two grown-up daughters and their husbands). Some of us live in the Bay Area, some of us live in LA. And if the in-laws join in, we'll have Bakersfield and the greater Baltimore area covered as well.

What: A food, wine, gardening and overall lifestyle blog. Pop Culture-meets-Americana style.

When: We came up with the idea on a family vacation in the Sierras. A family vacation where everyone brought what was growing in their garden. Including almost three dozen zucchini. And we're talking mostly those big mothers that seemed to grow to the size of a small dog almost overnight.

So we were like, "Hmm, what the hell can we make with all this zucchini?" Things pretty much turned Top Chef Quickfire Challenge and we came up with an interesting array of food. There was a zucchini and plum crumble (which didn't actually suck). There were also zucchini pancakes, in the vein of potato pancakes, a zucchini stir fry and several other dishes as well. Oh yeah, and there was wine. Lots of it. Which led to chattiness, which turned into a "let's do a blog" "yeah, totally!" "OMG, I love that idea" conversation. And now, after lots of discussion about name, layout, content and other boringness, Voila!

Where: Here. Duh.

Why: We've got a writer, a photographer and a chef in the family, so we're hoping this site will actually look, read and taste great. And at the very least, it's a good way for all of us to keep in touch. Hi, Mom!

So, you know, enjoy.

(Oh, and PS - I'm obviously not the photographer, which is why my lovely photo of a zucchini drinking a beer is so, um, amateurish.)