Zucchini

Holly Jacobs posted a blog a while ago about here garden http://community.eharlequin.com/content/garden. I tried that recipe for zucchini bread but it wasn't very moist(I think I over strained and over dried the Zucchini). And Donna Alward added chocolate zucchini cake.

Zucchini Chocolate Cake

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup oil

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini (peeled or unpeeled, your choice)

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

Blend dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl beat oil, sugar, eggs, add vanilla and zucchini.  Add the dry ingredients to it, and milk.  Bake in a greased bundt pan at 350 for an hour.

Donna

It was super good. I made them more like loaves than cake.

This is a recipe from More Food That Smecks by Edna Staebler

(Smecks – Mennonite word for “tastes good”)

HERBY ZUCCHINI TOMATO CASSEROLE

A wonderful late summer dish that you can stretch or diminish to fit your largest or smallest casserole. A great way to use those overgrown zucchinis.

l or 2 onions

2 tablespoons butter

Enough zucchini cut in 1/2-inch slices, to completely cover the bottom of your casserole

4 tomatoes cut in 1/2-inch slices

1 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

1 squashed garlic clove (optional)

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

Topping:

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup grated cheddar

1 teaspoon blended herbs

Peel and slice an onion or two and cook long enough in the butter to soften it. Place the zucchini in the bottom of your casserole; put a slice of tomato on each slice of zucchini sprinkle with softened onion, seasonings, and herbs. Put more zucchini slices, tomato slices, and well-seasoned onions until you have filled up the casserole. Cover and bake in a 300°F oven for about 20 minutes (we do this 35 minutes – our preference), until the zucchini is slightly tender. Take off the cover and bake another 10 minutes till some of the liquid has evaporated. Mix the cheese with the bread crumbs and herbs, spread them over the top and bake about 5 minutes longer until the cheese melts and the crumbs are a tempting golden brown. This is great with a tossed salad, or baked potatoes and country sausage or pork chops, lamb cutlets- any meat without gravy.

My comments: I make this in the fall when I have lots of tomatoes and zucchini. I usually make four corning ware casseroles full at the same time (use assembly line). I don’t put the onion or garlic in the dish as it is labor intensive when I am just trying to use up T and Z. I sprinkle with garlic powder instead. When the dish is bubbling I take 3 out of the oven and put the topping on only one dish and put it back into the oven. The other 3 dishes get cooled. Then they get put into the freezer dish and all. When they are frozen, I take them out and set them in hot water until I can pop the contents out. Frozen T and Z Popsicle which I then put into a freezer bag. These can be popped back into the dish and cooked as a casserole or used as a base for a vegetable tomato sauce or add them to homemade soup in the winter. If I do either of the last two I chop the Z smaller.

I just harvested my first 2 zucchinis of the year. I planted them late and then they got pounded into the ground by hail so I am grateful for them now. My tomatoes are starting too . Yahoo as there is nothing like a vine riped tomato. I think that goes for any fruit or veggie . If they are straight from the garden or orchard they are just so much better.

We had Nan bread warmed in the microwave spread with hummus and topped with thinly sliced zuchini and Black cherry tomaotes cut in half. So nice and light and delicious on a very hot night.

Did you know that you can use raw zucchini like cucumber in salads. My Dh can't eat cucumber so we use zucchini instead. We also put it into our chilies, spaghetti sauces, tacos,sloppy joes etc. We like to brown small diced zucchini and put it on our pizzas. We also use thin sliced zucchini in our sanwiches instead of lettuce as it doesn't wilt.

Haven't waved to you lately. I love your picture that you posted on another blog.

so yesterday I was on a baking frenzy yesterday. Ended up making 2 chocolate zucchini breads, 2 carrot-raisin bread, 1 carrot bread, 12 cherry/peach tarts, marinated carrots.

Cherries and apples are a good combo for pie too. Do you make the pie dough from scratch?

Before I was a vegetarian, I used to use my grandmother's recipe for pie crust.  It' calls for lard.  It was so flaky that none of the butter/shortening/margarine recipes taste right.  So, I buy prepackaged stuff now.  One extreme to other.

I am on my way into the kitchen now to get dinner going and it is ....yes....zucchini. My girlfried's dad is loading her up and her family is sick of it, so she brought a bunch to a meeting last week. Now I get fresh zuchini. My youngest dog things that anything planted in the yard is his to eat, so we finally gave up. Thank heavens for friends with non vege eating dogs!

I used to use lard in making a pie crust, but when I was a vegetarian that went out. I couldn't find anything that created as light and flaky a crust. But my sil came to the rescue. She uses an oil to make her crust. So, I now use a cannola oil and it is better than any thing I can purchase ready made and it is soooooooo easy.

Nicole, I LOVE my outdoor reading spot.

For an oil pastry, single crust 8" or 9" pan:

1 cup plus 2 tbsp of all purpose flour

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 cup of oil (I use a Cannola or Sunflower oil)

2 tbsp of cold water

Measure the flour and salt, then add the oil. Mix with a fork and sprinkle with water. If it looks too dry sprinkle on a little more water (and no I don't measure this). Form a ball.

I roll the dough between two strip of wax paper. I spread some flour on the bottom strip of wp and flatten the ball of dough, sprnkling some flour on it. Lay the top strip of wp and roll the dough out. Using as few strokes of the rolling pin as possible. Peel off the top wp, invert pie pan on dough and grab the edges of the wp (wax paper) and flip everything together. Press the dough (gently) into the pan and peel the wp off.

If you are baking the shell without filling, prick the bottom of the dough--bake shell 12 to 15 minutes, or until light brown. Oven temp 450 degrees F. (Does 232 C sound about right?)

Do not prick the dough if you are baking crust and filling together.

For a two crust pie, oven temp is 425 degrees F. (218 C?)

Lucky you to get those giant zukes!  I have a stuffed zuke recipe and need large zukes which are impossible to find at the grocery store.  My fave veggie stand closed so will have to look for another.  I don't have a veggie garden this year.

All of our squash plants drowned this year. We have had so much rain that our garden has failed miserably. Where most people around here have to give away their zucchini, we are going to go out and buy them this year.