Thursday Recipe - Zucchini Brownie Bundt Cake

This is another attempt to use up zucchini. It's based off this recipe, changed up to be my kind of recipe. It turned out very moist and fudgey and just all around delicious. Definitely one to make again sometime.

Zucchini Brownie Bundt Cake

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1/4 c. oil
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. cocoa
2 1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 c. flour (use half whole-wheat and half white if you want it healthier)
3 c. shredded zucchini
1/2 c. chocolate chips (optional)
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Stir melted chocolate chips, oil, and sugars together until mixed. Add eggs, vanilla, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Beat until well blended. Stir in flour and zucchini. Stir just until mixed and all flour is moistened. It may look dry when you first add the flour and zucchini, but don't add more liquid! Zucchini has a lot of water in it that will come out and moisten the batter.

Grease and flour a bundt cake pan. Pour half the batter into the pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 c. chocolate chips and nuts, if desired. Spread the other half of the batter in the pan.

Bake at 325° for 50-65 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. The cake should develop a couple of cracks on top, just like the good loaves of zucchini bread. Let it cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Turn it over onto a plate. Shake it gently to release the cake. Let it cool the rest of the way, then cover tightly and refrigerate. This cake is better the next day. Store any leftovers in the fridge.

Thursday Recipe - Zucchini Patties

Look at this! I have zucchini from my yard! I know what you're thinking: Why is she celebrating that? Everyone has zucchini in their yard. No one wants to take any more off my hands.

I have killed zucchini every time I planted it for the last twenty years. Seriously. I plant it and it dies. I haven't been able to grow it at all. Until now. New house, new yard, new gardening zone—everything is growing here. Except my oregano which died this week but I think that has to do with it being in a bucket and getting baked in the late afternoon and not getting enough water.

Back to zucchini. I picked the first two yesterday. I only planted three seeds, but they are huge and beautiful and producing already. I can't wait to have more zucchini than I can deal with. That will take a lot of zucchini. My freezer is still mostly empty and I *love* zucchini bread and zucchini cake and stuffed zucchini and zucchini patties...

Here are links to zucchini recipes:
Stuffed zucchini
Sautéed zucchini
Zucchini cheese pie
Minestrone soup
Zucchini bread and butter pickles
Zucchini bread/muffins
Zucchini fudge cake

Today's recipe also features zucchini. It's a cross between potato pancakes and egg foo yong, except it features zucchini. I like to serve them like pancakes, except with salsas instead of syrup.

Zucchini Patties

4 c. grated zucchini (larger grate rather than finer, you want big shreds)
1/3 c. grated onion
1/3 c. grated carrot
1 c. flour
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. dried oregano
2 eggs
1/4 - 1/2 c. milk
oil

Toss vegetables together. Add flour and spices. Toss to coat. In separate bowl, beat eggs until smooth. Stir in 1/4 c. milk. Pour over zucchini. Stir to coat. You want a really thick mess. If it is dry, add milk 1 T. at a time. It needs to be wet enough to stick together, but not thin enough to drip.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Scoop out 1/3 - 1/2 c. of the zucchini mixture. Drop into the pan and gently pat to spread it out into a patty. It will stick, so use your mixing spoon or another spoon. Fry for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Gently flip over and cook for another 3-4 minutes until browned well on the other side.

Serve hot with plenty of salsas and/or spaghetti sauce. Or just eat them plain, that's what I like.

*You can make this with gluten-free bisquick instead of flour and it works great! You can also substitute rice milk or almond milk or even water for the milk, just don't use the vanilla or chocolate flavor.

*You can add 1 c. of shredded sharp cheddar if you want a cheesy patty. Just toss it in with the vegetables.

Thursday Recipe - Zucchini Muffins

It's that time of year again. No not Christmas or back-to-school. Zucchini drive-by season! Lock your car windows! Hide behind closed drapes! Keep your children indoors! Monster zucchini have been seen in YOUR neighborhood!

I don't mind zucchini season. I can't grow the stuff. I know, zucchini is a weed. ANYONE can grow zucchini. Not me. Every time I plant it, it dies. I have a black thumb of death when it comes to plants. Except for one African violet that thrives on neglect and a mutant Christmas cactus. My yard is green because we let the weeds fill in the bare spots. And my kids take care of the yard, not me. My daughter plants the garden because any seed she touches will sprout and become a beautiful, healthy plant.

So I gratefully accept those baseball bat sized zucchinis and enjoy them. I've made two giant batches of these muffins in the last week. Most of them landed in the freezer for packing in lunches in two weeks, because yes, it is back-to-school season, too. These are moist and tasty, packed with vegetable goodness, low in fat, and lower in sugar than most recipes. Try them out. They're easy and good for you.

Healthy Zucchini Muffins (based loosely on a Betty Crocker recipe)

1/3 c. softened butter
1 1/3 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/3 c. milk or milk substitute
3 1/2 c. grated zucchini
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/2 c. oatmeal

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and milk. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add flour, oatmeal, and zucchini. Stir just until mixed.

Line 24-36 muffin cups with paper liners. Scoop batter into each cup, filling each one about 2/3 full. (I used an ice cream scoop - perfect size and very little mess!) Bake at 350° for 18 - 22 minutes, until muffins are set and lightly browned on the edges or until a toothpick comes out clean. They will be moist and a little bit gooey. Let cool IN THE TINS for at least 30 minutes. Remove to a rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy with cream cheese or butter or just plain.
Wrap well and freeze for up to three months.

My (tripled) batches made about 7 dozen muffins, so you should get at least 24 per batch. If you scoop them smaller, you will get up to 36.

Thursday Recipe - Zucchini Cheese Pie

This was our dinner tonight. It was gobbled before I thought to grab my camera. Sorry, I could take a pic of the empty pie tin for you but that would be depressing because it means the pie is gone. It was that tasty. And that easy. And it has lots of variations.

Zucchini Cheese Pie

2 c. diced fresh zucchini
3 eggs
1/3 c. milk
1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese
1/2 c. pancake or biscuit mix, dry
1 t. Italian herb mix
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper

Heat oven to 400°. Mix everything together and dump into a greased pie tin. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean from the middle. Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then serve. Sliced fresh tomatoes and bacon are delicious with this pie.

Variations -
1.  2 c. chopped broccoli for the zucchini and 1 c. shredded sharp cheddar for the feta
2.  1 c. shredded mozzarella for the feta and add 1/2 c. diced pepperoni
3.  Use goat cheese and gluten free baking mix (I used Bisquik's version) to make a cow-dairy free, gluten free version
4.  Add up to 1 c. diced mushrooms, peppers, onions, olives, or anything else you'd top a pizza with
5.  Use 1 c. chopped fresh spinach and 1 c. diced zucchini with 1/2 c. shredded Swiss cheese

Use your imagination and have fun with this easy recipe.

Thursday Recipe - Zucchini Bread & Butter Pickles with Pictures!

My kids love these pickles. I ran out of pints one summer and used quart jars. They still ate the entire jar at one meal. These go great with sandwiches, hot dogs, potato salad, ham, just about anything that goes with sweet pickles. It's also a great way to use those monster zucchini you always find in the garden.

Easy and fast, these take only an afternoon, and most of that is letting the vegetables sit in ice.

Zucchini Bread & Butter Pickles (makes about 6 pints)

4 quarts sliced zucchini - don't bother peeling it, just cut it into three or four sections, then slice it lengthwise and remove the seeds, and slice into thin pickle slices.

1 large onion, or 2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced

2 - 3 bell peppers, red is pretty but not necessary, sliced into small strips

1/2 c. pickling salt, use noniodized salt, not regular table salt. The iodine in regular salt makes the pickles turn dark brown.
1 c. water

1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. white vinegar
2 T. mustard seed
1 t. celery seed
1 t. ground turmeric

Mix zucchini slices, onion slices, and pepper strips in a large bowl. Mix salt and water, pour over vegetables, scraping out any extra salt. Cover the veggies with a layer of ice cubes. Place a heavy pot lid over the veggies, this is to hold them under the ice/salt water, and let the whole thing just sit for at least 3 hours.

Drain the veggies, squeezing out any extra water.
Mix sugar, vinegar, and spices in a big cooking pot. Bring to a boil, then add veggies. Bring the whole mess to a boil. Pack into jars and process. I usually do pints and 1/2 pints and process for 20 minutes, but I'm also at a high altitude. Larger jars require more processing time. Contact me if you have questions.

Picture version-

 Slicing zucchini...

 Slicing peppers...

 Slicing onions...

 Mixing the salt and water to pour over the veggies...

 Covering the veggies with ice...

I

 Using the other monster zucchini to weight it down...

The finished pickles, with a jar of pepper relish on the right. Aren't they pretty?

Thursday Recipe - Stuffed Zucchini

I'm noticing a trend with my recipes. Almost every one I post is a dessert. I love desserts, cookies especially. I also love fresh produce, picked from my backyard. But I discovered several years ago that I have a black thumb. I kill plants just by looking at them. This year, we have tomatoes, peppers, radishes, beans, eggplant, and popcorn. I think it's because I had nothing to do with planting them. My youngest daughter did. She can charm anything.

The one thing we can't get to grow in our yard is zucchini. My neighbors think I'm weird when I go begging for their extra zucchini. If you've ever grown it, you understand. Forget the zombie apocalypse; it's the zucchini apocalypse I'm worried about!

Anyway, here's one of my favorite ways to cook those really big zucchini you always find the day after you just picked the plants clean.

Stuffed Zucchini

1 large zucchini (at least 12 inches long)
2 T. real butter, melted
1 t. garlic salt
4 c. garlic croutons
1 c. sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

Split zucchini lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Discard the seeds. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the zucchini, cut side up, on the sheet. Brush zucchini halves with butter and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes, until squash begins to soften.

Meanwhile, lightly crush croutons until they are coarse crumbs. Toss croutons and cheese together. Fill the centers of the zucchini, mounding filling onto the cut sides of the squash. Bake another 15 - 20 minutes until the squash is tender and cheese is melted.

Slice each half into 6 - 8 pieces to serve. The skin of such a large squash may be too tough to eat, but the rest is delicious.