Zucchini Recipes

I knew I was going to be swimming in zucchini and yellow squash, but I guess I really didn't realize just how much of it I was going to have. I've been harvesting roughly two large squash per day for the past month. Since my family is not particularly fond of squash plain or in casseroles I had to come up with some creative ways to use it. Luckily I found a book that's filled with recipes for just about every vegetable under the sun. It's called From Asparagus to Zucchini and it's put out by the Madison Area CSA Coalition. Both of these recipes were taken from this book and have been a huge hit at my house. The chocolate cake is simply scrumptious, even without icing, and it's hard to believe the apple cobbler doesn't have apples in it.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake by Scotch Hill Farm
3/4 cup oil (I did half applesauce)
1 1/4 cup sugar (half white and half honey granules)
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 T cocoa
1/2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t each cinnamon and cloves
2 1/2 cups flour (half all-purpose and half freshly ground hard white)
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees; grease a 9-by-13-inch pan. Mix all ingredients and bake 30-35 minutes. You can also make these into muffins. I think they took about 25 minutes.

Mock Apple Cobbler by Inn Serendipity
Filling Ingredients:
3 pounds peeled, seeded, and chopped zucchini (about 8 cups)
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg

Crust Ingredients:
4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 t cinnamon

Combine zucchini and lemon juice in large saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; simmer 1 minute longer. Remove from heat. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 9-by-13-inch pan. Combine flour and sugar in a bowl; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir 1/2 cup of mixture into zucchini mixture. Press half the remaining crust mixture into pan. Spread zucchini mixture over it, then crumble remaining crust mixture over zucchini. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake until golden and bubbly, 35-40 minutes.
*I misread the directions and put 1/2 the crust mixture in with the zucchini and spread the other half in the bottom of the pan, not reserving any for the top. I thought it tasted great and my husband actually likes a thicker crust. Try it both ways and see which one you prefer.

Sandwich Bread, Perfected!

I finally did it! My girlfriend gave me a wonderful recipe for whole wheat sandwich bread and my family loved it enough that they said I could stop buying store-bought bread. For now, I'm using King Arthur's Whole Wheat flour for half of the flour and will gradually increase the whole wheat until it's 100%. This loaf comes out light, soft and with a wonderful flavor.

Michelle’s Sandwich Loaf

¼ c milk                                      2 T honey

2 T. butter                                   3+c flour (I used hard red winter wheat)

2 T. oil                                        1 ½ t. lecithin

¾ c water                                    ¾ t. salt

1 ½ t. yeast    

1. Microwave first four ingredients 30 seconds. Pour into mixing bowl, add yeast and honey. Add lecithin and half of flour and mix with beater attachment 5 minutes, cleaning the sides of the bowl as needed, followed by a 5 minute rest period.

2. Add remaining flour and salt and knead with dough hook 5 minutes, adding more flour as needed, until dough is shiny and cleans the bowl.

3. Allow to rise 1 hour until double. Preheat oven to 400˚. Punch dough down, pat into a rectangle and shape into a loaf, turning edges under. Allow to rise in greased pan 20 minutes.

4. Transfer pan to oven, turn down to 360˚, and spritz with water every 3 minutes for first 10 minutes. Check internal temperature after 20 minutes. It should read 185˚-190˚. Allow to cool completely before slicing. *Mine took about 25-30 minutes.