Zucchini Bread

This was definitely the only way that my mother could get me to eat zucchini when I was little. For some reason, adding lots of sugar made it taste so much better -- and though I do eat zucchini now as an actual vegetable, I haven't lost my love for this moist, wonderful bread. I didn't have my mom's recipe, sadly, but I used one from one of my favorite blogs instead, which from the tastes of the batter I tried seems to be nearly as good.

Zucchini Bread (from smittenkitchen.com)
Adapted from several sources

Yield: 2 loaves or approximately 24 muffins

3 eggs
1 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini (if you have a BEAUTIFUL new food processor like Zoe does, this takes 10 seconds
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 cup dried cranberries, raisins or chocolate chips or a combination thereof (optional)
(Personally, I like the traditional bread with no additions)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans, liberally. Alternately, line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Mix in oil and sugar, then zucchini and vanilla.

Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts, chocolate chips and/or dried fruit, if using.As someone without a dishwasher and an inherent dislike for doing dishes, I only used one bowl and added all this after -- just make sure you mix very thoroughly.

Stir this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into prepared pans.

Bake loaves for 60 minutes, plus or minus ten, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake far more quickly, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.
This only improves over time, so it will be even better the next day!

Zucchini Pancakes

I am so lucky to have roommates who appreciate food. Last night, Hilary, Zoe and I made a fantastic (and vegetarian) dinner for a couple of friends. We started off with zucchini pancakes, which I had eaten before like breakfast pancakes, but I had never had a savory version. Luckily, the Barefoot Contessa is here to help.

Zucchini Pancakes (from Barefoot Contessa at Home)

2 medium zucchini (about 3/4 pound)
2 tablespoons grated red onion
2 eggs, lightly beaten
6-8 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
unsalted butter and vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grate the zucchini into a bowl using the large grating side of a box grater (we didn't have this, so we just julienned it very finely) Immediately stir in the onion and eggs. Stir in 6 tablespoons of the flour, the baking powder, salt, and pepper. (If the batter gets too thin from the liquid in the zucchini, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour.)
Heat a large (10-12 inch) sauté pan over medium heat and melt 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1/2 tablespoon oil together in the pan. When the butter is hot but not smoking, lower the heat to medium-low and drop heaping soup spoons of batter into the pan. Cook the panckaes about two minutes on each side, until browned. Place the pancakes on a sheet pan and keep warm in the oven. Wipe out the pan with a dry paper towelm add more butter and oil to the pan, and continue to fry the pancakes until all the batter is used. The pancakes can stay warm in the oven for up to 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Makes 10 3-inch pancakes.