Thursday, August 29, 2013

Gadzukes!!!

You're going to start to wonder why I didn't call this blog "Real Zucchini. All day. Every day." and for someone who has been luke warm to the zuke before this year, I am surprised at my own enthusiasm for this favorite summer squash.
So today, for the last time (I promise), I have just a couple more zucchini recipes to share.
The first is a basic chocolate zuchinni cake. You can Google chocolate zucchini cake all day long (and I encourage you to explore), but here's one of my old faithfuls, if you don't want to spend any time searching. Best Ever Deep Dark Chocolate Zucchini Cake
I used the proper Dutch cocoa from the Bulk Barn and it does add a little extra element of flavour.  This is not an overly sweet cake, but my favorite kind of chocolate is the 70% cocoa, dark kind, so it suits me just perfectly.  For my less enthusiastic dark chocolate lovers, I made a quick ganache to go on top, that I just dipped the cupcakes in and let sit until cool.  My ganache was basically just what I had on hand, which was 2 oz. of bittersweet chocolate and as much cream as I could skim from one jug of our jersey milk (sorry I can't be more specific on that measurement, but a good splash of cream will do it.)  Melt together and let sit until cool enough to not drip, but warm enough to dip. Add a pinch or two of sugar if it's not sweet enough for you.
Jen mentioned freezing zucchini, pre-shredded in the right measurements and that's a fantastic way to take this diverse ingredient into the cold, short days of winter.  And if you think these cupcakes look good now, imagine how great they'd be about mid-February! 

For my last zucchini recipe, it's one I threw together myself, so the measurements, again, will be lacking.  (Sorry Jen, I know that makes you crazy. haha.)  I made it a kid project in the hopes that they would be more interested in eating them, with some success.  They certainly enjoyed helping cook them at least.

Crispy Zuke Pucks

Zucchinni, sliced into discs, at least 1/4 inch thick.
Bread crumbs, or crushed organic cereal
Spices of choice (cayenne, paprika, dill, salt, pepper, garlic, etc. etc....let your spice rack speak to you)
1 egg, beaten
Dip of choice (we used tomato sauce)
Slice, dip in egg, dip in bread crumbs, fry until crispy on the outside, and soft when pierced.

My only tips would be to make sure you have a hot pan to ensure good crispiness and to slice them thick enough that they have time to get crispy without getting too mushy in the middle.  And don't be afraid of lots of seasoning.  There isn't much about zucchini's nature flavour to conflict with other flavours, so have fun with the bread crumb mixture.  And the finer the dry mixture, the better.   A food processor is one of my favorite kitchen tools.


I can't wait for next week. I've got an awesome broccoli recipe that uses the whole head, stem and all that I want to share.
Enjoy the zucchini now because although when it rains it pours with zukes, there does come a dry season when you just might find yourself missing them.

-Sally

  

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