It's been hot here this week. Really hot....and humid. Really humid. My sewing is upstairs in an area that stays quite stuffy during the day when it's this hot out. So in lieu of sewing, I've been downstairs in the kitchen, with the oven running. I can assure you that that too, is hot. But the results have been tasty.Last Wednesday the girls and I went with some friends to pick blackberries at Crabtree Farms. There were enough berries for a batch of jam and this blackberry crisp. Oh my. I typically see cobbler recipes for summer fruits and to be honest, I don't really love cobbler that much (although if you bring me some, I will gladly eat it). I'd much rather have a pie or crisp. Oh how I love the topping on a crisp! Butter, sugar, nuts - good stuff. I used this Martha recipe and altered it slightly. Instead of 1 1/2 cups of white flour, I did half white and half wheat. I also added some chopped pecans to the topping and when I do it again, I'll probably also add a few tablespoons of ground flax seed for good measure.
The zucchini in my garden are coming in faster than I can feed them to my non-zucchini loving family. I'm sure everyone was thrilled with my choice of squashes for the garden, but hey, when you can turn it into yummy bread, what's not to love? My neighbor made this bread for us last year and it was so good, I knew it was the recipe I needed. If you think you might need it as well, here it is......
Zucchini-Pineapple Bread
Beat until fluffy:
3 Eggs
2 Cups Sugar
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Cup vegetable oil
Add:
3 Cups Flour (reserve 1/2 Cup to mix with nuts & raisins)
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Cup Crushed Pineapple
2 Cups Grated Zucchini
Mix with Flour and Add:
1 Cup Nuts
1/2 Cup Raisins (optional)
Spoon into two greased & floured loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 1 hour.
Yes, the good news is you'll get TWO loaves. I was nice and shared with the neighbors. I know, pineapple sounds like an odd ingredient, but it gives the bread a sweetness. I reduced the sugar to 1 1/2 cups and also split my flour 50/50 white and wheat. Even with the reduction in sugar, there is plenty of sweetness and the wheat flour is not overpowering. I think the best review I got was from Sarah, our non-vegetable eating vegetarian who loved it and declared "I don't even taste zucchini!". Anyone have any other zucchini recipes that don't taste like zucchini?
Zucchini-Pineapple Bread
Beat until fluffy:
3 Eggs
2 Cups Sugar
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Cup vegetable oil
Add:
3 Cups Flour (reserve 1/2 Cup to mix with nuts & raisins)
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Cup Crushed Pineapple
2 Cups Grated Zucchini
Mix with Flour and Add:
1 Cup Nuts
1/2 Cup Raisins (optional)
Spoon into two greased & floured loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 1 hour.
Yes, the good news is you'll get TWO loaves. I was nice and shared with the neighbors. I know, pineapple sounds like an odd ingredient, but it gives the bread a sweetness. I reduced the sugar to 1 1/2 cups and also split my flour 50/50 white and wheat. Even with the reduction in sugar, there is plenty of sweetness and the wheat flour is not overpowering. I think the best review I got was from Sarah, our non-vegetable eating vegetarian who loved it and declared "I don't even taste zucchini!". Anyone have any other zucchini recipes that don't taste like zucchini?
And then there was today. No wheat flour, no flax seed, no reduction in sugar. Just my girls and their Easy Bake Oven. Oh how I do not love the Easy Bake Oven. I absolutely will not pay $3 (or more) for a cake mix that will make one four inch cake, so I looked online and found this recipe for chocolate cake. Don't you love a recipe where everything is in teaspoons? Add to that the fact that they wanted to make layer cakes.... and each their own. We were easy-bakin' it for almost an hour and a half. The first two can out poorly, but salvageable and their cakes were iced, sprinkled and partially eaten.........
I wouldn't let them eat it all - can you tell why?
1 comment:
Hey Colleen,
I am a crisp-gal myself. ;) Here is one of my favorite recipes. Came up with it last year after a visit to the Flanagans when we found they had stashed a bag of zucchini in the van!
Obviously you could use fresh corn and it would be even more amazing...
Summer Quesadillas
approx 1 lb zucchini, shredded/grated
2 Tb salt
1 can corn
1 can green chilies
2 cans black beans
24 oz. grated cheese
1 small red onion, diced
10-12 burrito sized tortillas
olive oil
salsa
sour cream
In a large bowl, combine the shredded zucchini and salt.
Place the black beans in your colander and rinse off the bean goo. Dump in the green chilies, but no need to rinse. Dump in the corn.
After 15 minutes or so, squeeze the water out of the zucchini and place the zucchini in the colander.
Dump everything into a large bowl and mix with the cheese and onion.
Heat a large skillet to medium heat while you brush one side of each tortilla with olive oil (you really only have to do two at a time).
Place a tortilla, oiled side down, in the skillet.
Add the zucchini mixture quite thickly. Mine were about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.
Top with another tortilla, oiled side up.
When the cheese is all melty and the bottom of the bottom tortilla is crispy and golden brown, carefully flip the entire thing and let the other tortilla cook.
Turn out onto a large plate or pan and cut into 6 or so pieces. Serve with salsa and sour cream.
These are really filling and we couldn't even eat an entire quesadilla per person! If you have leftover filling, try adding to your morning eggs.
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