Orange Poppyseed Zucchini Bread

Okay, so I know I said I couldn't make zucchini bread anymore this year because I used all the zucchini. I had frozen some, but I figured when I thawed it, it would be too juicy for bread. Turns out, it works amazingly well. I had chopped it finely in my food processor before freezing, so when I thawed it, all I had to do was let it sit and drain a while, pressing it every now and then. It actually might have worked a bit better than fresh zucchini, because I was able to squeeze most of the liquid out.

This bread is from Eat Cake For Dinner blog, and it was pretty good. I didn't follow her recipe exactly, of course, mostly because I wanted to use a whole orange. It turned out really well, but next time, I might add a bit more sugar since I didn't add glaze, and DEFINITELY a bit of almond extract, as it seemed like it would have been really good with the addition (like lemon poppyseed bread, but orangey). Also, if you have orange extract, you  might add a few drops, as the orange was a bit hard to taste in this.

Ingredients:
1.5 c. whole wheat pastry flour
.5 c. all purpose flour
 2 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder  
1 1/2 Tbl. poppy seeds
2 large eggs  
1/2 c. coconut oil, in liquid form (if it's solid, melt in the oven while it heats up)  
1/3 c. sugar (I'd use 1/2 c. next time)  
1 whole organic orange with the peel on
1/3 c. plain yogurt  
1 c. grated zucchini, squeeze some liquid out if possible

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  
Oil one loaf pan and set aside. 
Leaving the skin on, cut the orange in quarters and remove seeds. In a food processor or blender (or Ninja), blend until pulpy and finely chopped.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flours, baking powder, and poppy seeds
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs with a hand mixer until thick and lemon colored.  
Add the coconut oil and sugar and mix briefly with mixer to combine.  
Beat in the shredded orange, yogurt, and zucchini. 
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together just until combined.  Do not overmix.  
Pour into loaf pan & bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (It took 1 hr in my oven and cooked perfectly, but my oven is a bit slow).
Remove from oven and cool in pan 10 minutes. Invert to a wire rack and cool further. We like our bread warm, so I never cool it completely as the directions say. We ate this with cream cheese for breakfast and it was a big hit. It would have made excellent muffins as well. Just a hint of sweetness and orange flavor. Not at all overpowering, and definitely not a dessert. Some of the zucchini breads I've made have been cake, but this was not. Would be good with glaze (see original recipe for a glaze recipe) or frosting (I made an orange-cream cheese frosting for it so we could use it as dessert the second time).

My improvised Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 block cream cheese
2 tbsp. honey
1/4 tsp. almond extract
2 tbsp. orange juice

Soften cream cheese and mix all ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth.

Slow Cooker/Crockpot Bean and Kale Soup

This past fall, my mom had grown Jacob's Cattle Beans, and we made them several times. They are the most delicious beans ever! Our favorite recipe was one for a bean soup. Over Christmas, she gave me a jar of the uncooked beans, and I've been waiting to use them. I wanted to make a meal in the crock pot, so I threw the same ingredients together and cooked it all together. I used frozen peppers, tomatoes and kale that I'd put up from my garden this summer.

• 2 cups dry beans of your choice (Jacob's Cattle Beans are the best!) soaked overnight & drained.
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, chopped 
• 1 green pepper, chopped 
• 2-3 cups chopped tomatoes (canned, fresh or frozen)
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 cup brown rice
• 8 cups water 
• 1 bunch of kale leaves, chopped or sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

Red and Green Tomato Salad

I made this recipe 3 or 4 times this year, since I had a lot of green tomatoes to use up. I really enjoyed it, although a few people I served it to were less than enthusiastic. It is a bit on the tart side, but a good way to use green tomatoes and very pretty!

Ingredients:
2 large very ripe red tomatoes
2 large green tomatoes
1 small red onion
1 red pepper, chopped (optional)
1 recipe French dressing

Instructions:
Slice or chop red and green tomatoes
Thinly slice red onion and add to tomatoes (I sliced it once and chopped finely the next time)
Add French dressing and chill for several hours before serving
I added orange bell peppers because I had them the last time I made it, and they looked really pretty in it.

Red Beans and Rice--Slow Cooker Vegetarian Meal

Now that it's winter, I've finally dusted off the crockpot. I love soups and stews, but for some reason, I never use a crockpot in the summer. This is the second time I used it in the past 2 weeks, and I love it!

The recipe I found for beans and rice used sausage, but I didn't have any, so I made it vegetarian this time.

Here's what I did.

Ingredients:
1 lb bag dry small red beans
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
3 cloves minced garlic
2 bay leaves

2 tsp Creole seasoning (I use Tony Chachere’s)
2 tsp original Tabasco sauce
2 tsp salt
1 cup dry brown rice

Instructions:

1. The night before, add the beans to the crockpot and cover with water to about 2 inches above the beans, and let it sit overnight.
2. Drain beans in morning, cover with water to cover about 2 inches above the beans, and turn the crockpot on low. If you won't be around all day, add the other ingredients. I was home, so I left the beans on for about 4 hours before adding the other ingredients, b/c I like my vegetables a little firm.
3. If you'll be around, after 4 hours, open the crockpot and add all ingredients EXCEPT salt & seasoning. You'll also need to add 2-3 more cups of water.
4. Cook 4 more hours or until rice is soft. 
5. Add salt & seasoning and serve hot.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

 Today I made my very last zucchini bread of the year *sob.* I had a cup of leftover zucchini from the lemon blueberry bread I made, so I used it to make The Charm of Home's chocolate zucchini bread, since my last one was such an epic failure. Somehow, I hadn't made a chocolate one all summer after that, even though I love chocolate zucchini cake. Now that it's winter, I'm in more of a chocolate mood, so I chose this recipe out of all the delicious looking ones left on the list of 50. Below is the recipe for a whole loaf (I made a half-sized mini loaf).

Ingredients

2 large eggs

1/4 c honey
1/2 c coconut oil, in liquid form
1/2 c organic sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon non-aluminum baking powder
1/3 c cocoa powder (I use Hershey's Special Dark b/c it's more chocolatey)

1 c all-purpose flour
2/3 c. whole wheat flour
2 c shredded zucchini
1 c chocolate chips, save 1/4 cup for sprinkling on top of bread

Instructions:
Prepare a loaf pan & preheat oven to 350.
Combine in a mixing bowl eggs, honey, oil, sugar, vanilla
Add flours, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder and stir to combine
Add zucchini and chocolate chips and mix well.
Pour into loaf pan and spread 1/4 chocolate chips on top
Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes
Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack. I like the chocolate chips still melty, so I always eat it warm. 


This turned out really well! I would definitely  make it again. It tasted like my mom's from when I was a kid...not all dry and gross like the one I made earlier in the summer.

Drunken Pears, aka, Pears in Port Wine

 This was a wonderful recipe I took to my book club this fall. Our pear tree was loaded this year, so much so that we were giving away pears by the bag-full. Sadly, Fannie only has a few pear recipes. But this one was very good. Would definitely make it over and over!

Ingredients:

• About 1 lb. pears, peeled, cored and sliced in quarters horizontally. I was using drops, so mine weren't perfect quarters, but large chunks. 
• 1/2 c. water
• 2 tbsp sugar
• pinch of lemon rind, or dash of lemon juice
• Port wine/red wine

Instructions:

1. In a sauce pan, combine water and sugar and bring just to a boil
2. Add pears, cover and cook until tender but still firm
3. Place pears in a serving dish (I used my 8x8 pyrex bc I was transporting it to book club. A pie pan would work, too)
4. Pour wine over pears and let sit for at least 1 hr. Fannie calls for port wine, but I didn't have any, so just used a sweet red someone had given us that we had opened and not finished. 

It turned out great! Everyone loved it, even my mom, who doesn't drink wine. The pears really absorbed the flavor and were such a pretty color, too. It looked as good as it tasted. Now if only I can find my camera with the pictures on it...

Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Bread #2

 

 This is probably my last zucchini bread recipe of the year. I have a bit of grated zucchini leftover, though, so I may make a small loaf. I have loved making so many recipes for zucchini bread this year, but sadly, today I grated my very last zucchini, which has been sitting on the counter for months. I thought it might be seedy and hard or bitter, but it was tender and perfect. So I made lemon zucchini bread, which has such a delicate flavor that it needs a perfect zucchini.

I made a lemon blueberry zucchini bread recipe earlier in the year, so this is my second one. It's adapted from The Baker Mama's recipe.

Here is what I used:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup coconut oil, (or use 1 stick butter, softened, which I recommend)
1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1-1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1-1/2 cups blueberries (I used frozen, but fresh would be great, too!)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour two 9x5-inch loaf pans. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until well combined. Beat in the yogurt, lemon zest and 2 tablespoons lemon juice until smooth.
3. By hand, mix in the flour, baking powder and salt until just combined.
4. Mix in the zucchini, then blueberries.
5. Divide batter evenly between two prepared pans.
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I used coconut oil here, which didn't turn out to be the best idea. Coconut oil is either liquid or solid. It's very difficult, if not impossible, so get it 'softened.' So I used it more on the melted side, but it immediately congealed when I added cold ingredients. It was virtually impossible to mix or spread into the loaf pans. So I would definitely use butter for this one! I don't know why I didn't, as I usually only use coconut oil if the recipe calls for cooking oil. Oh, well. Live and learn!

German Pancakes

This is a really weird breakfast that is not actually a pancake. I'm not sure exactly what it is. It's pretty tasty, though. See pictures...it tasted a little like a giant fortune cookie.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1/2 c. whole milk
1/2 c. flour
2 tbsp melted butter


Toppings: lemon juice and confectioners sugar, maple syrup, butter, etc.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450.
Butter a large skillet or 4 small ovenproof pans.
Beat eggs in large bowl until well beaten.
Add milk and blend well.
Sift flour into the eggs and milk as you whisk or mix.
Add melted butter and mix until smooth.
Pour batter into pan and bake 15 minutes. If using one big pan, reduce heat to 350 and bake 10 more minutes.
Sprinkle lemon juice over pancake and top with sugar or maple syrup and eat immediately.
This was pretty strange, a bit stretchy, a bit sweet, a bit chewy, but tender. I thought it was good, but my son thought it tasted too eggy. It was an interesting breakfast experiment to make once, though.

Roasted Kale and Butternut Squash with Heirloom Jacob's Cattle Beans, Adobo Sauce and Feta Cheese

While researching the book I'm doing for NaNoWrimo, I looked for Puerto Rican recipes on Pinterest. This one, for kale salad, looked really interesting. However, I don't really like raw kale (I know, I know, I'm a freak of nature). I like the health benefits, though, so I thought I'd just cook the kale. The recipe was sort of strange, anyway, as it called for hot squash in a salad.

I have to say, making this was pretty time-consuming. I don't usually do 'fancy.' I do basic. So this made me feel quite accomplished. And it was sooo pretty (hence the photo overload) that I almost didn't want to eat it. It was really good though--and VERY filling. Even my husband couldn't finish a bowl full. It's a very fancy, filling vegetarian meal. The adobo sauce I made was good--I liked it heated up, although I guess it is supposed to be kind of the dressing for the salad. But it was a good seasoning for the dish, and I enjoyed it. I did sort of wing the adobo sauce, so if you're picky about that kind of thing, use canned stuff, or you can follow the link for my basic recipe.


Anyway, I adapted the recipe to make a vegetarian meal instead of a salad. Here's the full meal version.


Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed (1/2-inch pieces)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp red wine or apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1-2 tbsp adobo sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 cups cooked Jacob's cattle beans (any other kind would do just as well)
• 1 large bunch kale, stemmed and torn into small pieces
• 1/2 c. feta cheese

Instructions:

Wash, stem and tear up kale and place in a large casserole pan (mine was the big pyrex pan, about 9x14 I think.

Seed butternut squash, peel if desired, and cut into approx 1/2 inch cubes. Mine weren't too exact. Also, I don't peel mine because I grew them and they're organic. But if you're unsure, peel. The skins are very soft and edible, so feel free to skip this step. Spread over kale in the pan. Drizzle olive oil over the squash and kale, as evenly as possible.

Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes, until squash is very tender. If you're like me and your pieces aren't uniform, test the largest pieces. When they're done, so is everything else.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together 1/2 tsp. salt, vinegar, mustard, honey, adobo sauce, garlic slices, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.

When squash is done, pour sauce over it and toss in the casserole pan. Some of the kale may be crispy, and that's fine!

Add beans and mix well. Return pan to the oven for a couple minutes until heated through.

Serve topped with feta or other crumbled goat cheese.

Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Bread

This is yet another zucchini bread, this one from Married/Single Parent. She has a recipe for glaze as well, though I skipped that and didn't miss it a bit. This may be my favorite zucchini bread to date, though it's a tough competition with the lemon poppyseed zucchini bread. But this was the first one I've made that was cooked all the way through and not at all gummy. And those blueberries...soooo delicious.

Ingredients:
1 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour, as it's softer texture)
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 c. coconut oil
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. buttermilk
Juice of 1 lemon or 2 tbsp lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup grated zucchini
1 c. blueberries (I used frozen, but fresh would be great too)


Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 35o ⁰F. 
2. Grease and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan, set aside. 
3. In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder.
4. In the mixer bowl beat 2 eggs well. 
5. Then add oil and sugar, and beat on low until well combined. Add the buttermilk, lemon juice and lemon zest and blend everything well. 
6. Fold in zucchini and stir until evenly distributed in mixture. 
7. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and blend everything together, but don’t over mix. 
8. Stir in blueberries.
9. Pour batter into prepared 9×5″ loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. I had to bake 1 hr and 15 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes then remove to a wire rack and cool completely.
10. 

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup

This soup was not the most exciting bean soup I've had, but it was a fine meal and we ended up eating it all, so I guess I'd call it a success.

For this you will need,
4 c. cooked black beans (or 2 cans)
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp. butter
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 1/2 tsp dried mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
In a cast iron skillet, melt butter.
Add onion and celery and cook until onion is translucent, stirring often.
Put black beans and onion and celery through a food processor.
Return to skillet and heat, stirring occasionally, until simmering.
Add mustard, lemon juice, salt & a lot of black pepper.

Serve in soup bowls with sour cream, cilantro, cheese, or whatever topping you like.

You could also add a ham bone and/or chopped ham to this.

Green Bean Casserole (aka, Green Beans Au Gratin)

I made this to go with lamb chops. I've never made green bean casserole, but this was good, pretty much the classic recipe. I liked that the green beans were whole, but they were a little crisp still, so next time I may cook them a few more minutes beforehand.

Ingredients:
1 lb. raw green beans
1/2-1 c. bread crumbs
1 recipe cream sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400

Remove stems from green beans and boil or steam for 3-5 minutes
 
Butter a casserole and toss green beans with cream sauce, making sure they're well coated.
 
Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top
 
Bake about 20 minutes until sauce is bubbly

Lemon Poppyseed Zucchini Bread

I've been wanting to make lemon poppyseed cake for ages. It's my all-time favorite cake, and I've never made it. So when I found this recipe on the long list of zucchini bread recipes, I immediately went out and bought a lemon. I stuck it in the door of the refrigerator and promptly forgot about it for about a month. Sadly, when I went to make this, the lemon was a bit dry. So I had to grate the 'zest' on the largest setting of my grater to make anything come off. So, it was more like lemon rind slices than zest, but of course I did not let that deter me.

I've been getting up on Saturday or Sunday morning every week and making one of the zucchini bread recipes for breakfast (although it's usually more like brunch time when we eat it). While I always use whole wheat when baking, this time, I went for the decadent cake I remembered loving so much, so I used only organic white flour. So it was definitely more like dessert than breakfast this time around.

Ingredients 
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2-3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 teaspoons poppy seeds

 
Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
2. Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with yogurt, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in zucchini and next remaining ingredients. Spoon batter into a buttered loaf pan.
3. Bake at 325° for 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. (I had to bake it for 1.5 hrs). Cool in pans on rack 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool for 30 minutes more.

This bread was probably my favorite of the zucchini bread recipes I've tried so far. It's way better than the ones I've made before. I'm going to add more poppy seeds next time, but other than that, this was sooo good. We just ate it plain, without frosting or cream cheese or butter. It didn't need anything.

Warm Mustard Sauce for Fish, etc

This sauce would go well with any fish, but I've always used it for salmon loaf.

Ingredients:
1/3 c. prepared mustard
3 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. ground sage
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients in small sauce pan and heat over medium/low until hot but not boiling