Zucchini

May 17, 2018

Zucchini Basil Muffins

jspencer

  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil (for heart healthy I suggest canola)
  • 2 1/2 cups white flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 1 Tbs. baking powder
  • 2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
  • 2 Tbs finely julienned fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Grana Padano (or similar hard grating) cheese

Preheat the oven to 200°C/425°F. Make ready the muffin tins, by buttering them if they are not non-stick (here I used one regular-size 12-muffin tin, and 2 mini-muffin tins. The recipe makes about 24 regular size muffins, or 48 mini muffins.) Combine the eggs, milk and oil in a large bowl. Combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in another bowl and add to the liquid mixture in batches, stirring to blend. Don’t overblend! Add the zucchini and basil and stir to blend. Fill each muffin cup about 1/2 full. Sprinkle the top with the cheese. Bake for about 20-25 minutes for regular size muffins, 15-20 minutes for the mini muffins, until the tops are golden brown and puffy. Serve while still warm. As my review of this recipe they were good.. could use a quarter teaspoon less salt though or you could probably substitute out a bit of the salt for some onion salt or garlic salt… Yeah I know Brandy is nixsay on the garlicay!!

Zucchini Jam Aka Gummy Bear Jam (Common name Zucchini Jam just don’t tell the kids!)

jspencer

Place zucchini and lemon juice in a large sauce pan and bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat. Allow to boil for 15 minutes. Add, sugar, Jello and pectin and stir until dissolved. Continue boiling for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.

Zucchini Soup

klingoncat17

  • Zucchini – lots of big, still tender ones.
  • One or two sweet onions
  • One or two cups or sour cream, or yogurt, or cream cheese or any combination
  • Plus if you like some grated cheese to taste.

This is a very easy recipe that uses a lot of zucchini and not a lot of other ingredients, perfect for using those fairly large, but still tender squashes that everyone is always trying to give away. First pick one or two nice, zucchinis that are still tender, chop them into chunks about a half-inch square (can vary and don’t have to be neat since they will be pureed when soft). If the skin is not totally hard as a rock wash the squash before cutting and leave the skin on to color the soup a pretty light green. If there are any large seeds in the middle cut around them and discard, but it they are small and undeveloped, they will be fine, leave them in.

Chop one onion, (large if you have a lot of squash, medium for less). I use a sweet onion like a walla walla or a Vidalia since the squash has a mild flavor and you don’t want to overpower it. Put the onion and the squash in a large pot and add a cup or two of water – you don’t need to cover it, just enough to steam them without running dry, cover the pan and cook until the squash and onion are tender. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the veggies into a blender in batches that fill the blender about half-way, add a spoonful of sour cream and or other mixer from the list above and puree, repeat until all the veggies and mixers are smooth. It often has an almost “fluffy” texture when done. Add salt, pepper, and other spices to taste, just use care so you don’t over power the squash, try it with just a bit the first time and then play with it later. That’s it, it only takes about 20 minutes to make a big pot and tastes good reheated too.