Magical Zucchini!

I had always heard jokes about people slipping excess zucchini in unlocked cars and on front porches.  Even in mailboxes.  I never believed it until last night.  My son came home from child care with a MONSTER zucchini.  It was huge.  He told me that someone had placed it in his cubby.  He wasn’t sure where it came from.  I thought maybe it came from the school garden, but really didn’t think it was all that strange.  Then today I spoke with someone at child care, and found out that my youngest may have picked it up himself to bring home (someone was giving it away—no, he didn’t steal it!). The funny part to me—is that we have a huge zucchini plant that is producing a large amount of produce.  I have pounds of shredded product in the freezer to use this winter.  We DID NOT need another one—much less a HUGE one!  Oh my!  What to do.

I picked a few more from our garden this morning, and decided it was zucchini day.  I made three loaves of zucchini bread and a loaf of yeast bread.  The Zesty Zucchini Twist recipe I had never made before, but it intrigued me.  Yeast bread and zucchini—sounds OK!???  So I made bread.  Flour was everywhere.

How did it turn out, you wonder?  Pretty well!  It rose beautifully, and smelled great.  It even tastes fine.  I am not sure that my family is hip on grated zucchini in yeast bread—but they can get over it!  As always, the quick bread was great.  I gave two loaves to child care.  Someone there deserves a warm slice of zucchini bread!  If you have extra zucchini, I’d share it with a friend/relative/co-worker/mailman/etc….  I truly believe one can have too much zucchini!   If you have a favorite zucchini recipe—I’d love to have it.  I am always looking for tried and true recipes.  Attach it in the comment section, and I’ll post it.

Zesty Zucchini Twist

Recipe from Red Star Yeast

Garden vegetables combine with wheat and oats for nutritious, moist and delicious bread.

See a blog post featuring this recipe on Thyme In Our Kitchen: http://www.thymeinourkitchen.com/2012/07/zesty-zucchini-twist.html

This recipe makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

Buttermilk, room temperature		2/3 cup
Vegetable Oil		1 TBSP
Bread Flour		3 cups
Oatmeal, quick or regular		1/2 cup
Zucchini, grated and drained		1/2 cup
Green onions, chopped		2 TBSP
Red Pepper, chopped		1/4 cup
Romano cheese, grated		2 TBSP
Sugar		2 TBSP
Salt		1 tsp
Lemon pepper		1/2 tsp
Active Dry Yeast		1+1/2 tsp
Wash
Milk		1 tsp

 

Directions

Bread Machine Method

Place room temperature ingredients in pan in order listed. Select DOUGH setting. Check dough consistency after 5 minutes of kneading. The dough should be in a soft, tacky ball. If it is dry and stiff, add water, 1/2 to 1 TBSP at a time. If it is too wet and sticky, add 1 TBSP of flour at a time. See our Bread Machine section for more helpful tips and information. When cycle is complete, remove dough from pan. Continue with Shaping, Rising and Baking directions below.

(Or select BASIC cycle for untwisted version.)

Traditional Method

Combine yeast, 1 cup flour, oatmeal, lemon pepper, salt, sugar and cheese. Heat oil and buttermilk to 120°-130°F. Add to flour mixture. Beat 3 minutes on medium speed. Add pepper, onion, and zucchini. By hand, stir in enough remaining flour to make firm dough. Knead on floured surface 5 to 7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in lightly greased bowl; turn to grease top. Cover; let rise until dough tests ripe.

Shaping Rising and Baking

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; punch down to remove air bubbles. Divide dough in half; let relax 5 minutes. Roll each part into an 8- inch rope. Overlap two ends; twist ropes together. Pinch ends to seal; tuck under. Place in greased 8 x 4- inch loaf pan. Cover; let rise until indentation remains after lightly touching. Gently brush risen loaf with 1 tsp milk. Bake in preheated 375°F oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from pan; cool on rack.

You can substitute Instant (fast-rising) yeast for Active Dry Yeast. Traditional methods- replace 1:1. Expect your dough to rise faster; always let your dough rise until ‘ripe’. Bread Machines- use 1/2 tsp Instant yeast (or 3/4 tsp Active Dry yeast) per cup of flour in your recipe. Visit our Lessons in Yeast & Baking for more information.

 

Pineapple Zucchini Bread

Recipe from Betty Crocker

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup shredded zucchini (1 small)
• 1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained, reserving 1 tablespoon liquid
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

 Glaze

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• Reserved 1 tablespoon pineapple liquid
• 1 teaspoon corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon