Entries Tagged as 'zucchini'

Lemon Rosemary Zucchini Bread

October 3rd, 2011 · No Comments

This was the perfect summer bread. I had zucchini from the farmers market and a ton of rosemary growing on the deck.

Lemon Rosemary Zucchini Bread Recipe
From: Simply Recipes
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes

3 cups (390 grams) flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoons salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon zest
3 cups grated zucchini (from about 1 pound of zucchini)

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare two 4×9-inch loaf pans, either coating with butter or spraying with baking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and rosemary.

Beat the eggs in a mixer (or by hand) until frothy. Beat in the sugar. Beat in the melted butter and olive oil. Stir in the lemon zest and grated zucchini.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, a third at a time, stirring after each incorporation.

Divide batter/dough into two loaf pans. Bake in a 350°F oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Test after 40 minutes. If you gently press down on the surface of the loaf, it should bounce back, and a bamboo skewer inserted into the center should come out clean.

Remove from the oven. Let cool for a few minutes and then remove the loaves from their pans to cool on a rack.

Yield: Makes two loaves.

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Blueberry Zucchini Bread

August 7th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Stephanie and I made blueberry zucchini bread with blueberries and zucchini that we got at the farmers market that morning. Steph was in charge of the eggs, wet ingredients, blueberries and the Kitchenaid. I took care of the zucchini and the dry ingredients. The recipe we were following was for 4 mini loafs, but we were making one regular sized loaf so we halved the ingredients, which is why you’ll see below like 1 1/2 eggs. I wasn’t sure if the bread was going to turn out at all, but it came out perfect. So sweet and moist. I think the fresh zucchini and blueberries made all the difference.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Ingredients
1 1/2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. and 2 Tbsp. white sugar
1 c. shredded zucchini
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. fresh blueberries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease 1 loaf pan.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared loaf pan.

Bake 45 – 55 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

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North Avenue Beach

August 6th, 2008 · 2 Comments

On Tuesday, Stephanie and I went to the farmers’ market. I don’t know if she’d ever been to a farmers’ market before. She wasn’t too terribly interested. Vegetables are not cool, apparently. Although, I must admit that she did try some things I doubted she would. Thank you baba ganoush for all of that. Back at the cookie party, Steph tried baba ganoush and loved it. I don’t think she knew what it was. So now when she doesn’t want to try something I remind her that she would never have wanted to try roasted eggplant if she knew that’s what baba ganoush was. So at Whole Foods they had free samples of some kind of carrot parsnip cake and I took one. She said she didn’t want to try it because it sounded “ew” and I reminded her of baba ganoush. She circled back for a sample. I don’t think she liked it too much, but at least she tried. You never know. She ate raw zucchini slices today and liked it.

Anyway, back to the farmers market. We bought a bunch of stuff. I remember at one point Steph said something along the lines of “this vegetable looks like crap!” I had to remind her that the produce at the farmers market is fresh, natural, dirty, right from the farm. It was picked ripe. It didn’t travel 1,000 miles, get sprayed with coloring and wax and made to look pretty so people would buy it in some super mega store. I tried to teach her a bit about buying local and direct. I don’t know if it’s possible where she lives… but we talked a lot about all the reasons to love a farmers’ market.

For lunch we went to Turquoise Cafe, Roscoe Village’s Turkish restaurant, where Stephanie attempted to get her gyro on again. Turquoise didn’t have gyros proper, but when Steph decided she loved gyros at Retro on Roscoe I told her other names they go by sometimes so she could watch for them at home. Names like… schwarma. So for lunch she ordered the beef schwarma. I got the lamb wrap. When it came we split both half and half. The lamb was more gyro-like than the beef, which oddly kind of resembled a steak burrito. I definitely like the lamb wrap more there. I’ve had it on several occasions.


Hamlin Park, Lakeview, Chicago

We were rushing back from lunch so we could get to the Hamlin Park pool when it opened. .. which turned out to be never. There are tons of big trees down at Hamlin Park from the storm and one was on the fence off the pool. The pool was closed for the whole day. Since we already had swim bags packed, we stopped home quick just to check the swim report and then we headed to North Avenue beach for a few hours. It was nice. The water was fantastic. I don’t think I’ve actually gone into the water at any Chicago beaches. I mean, more than ankle deep. We had fun. And Chicago beaches always freak me out how you sit on wide sand beaches and the lake is so big you can’t see across it. Then you turn around and there are skyscrapers behind you.


North Avenue Beach, Chicago


Rachelle & Stephanie, North Avenue Beach, Chicago

Coming home Stephanie and I got off the bus at Roscoe and Damen at the exact moment that Dallas got to the intersection from his walk from the Addison Brown Line. Kind of funny. For dinner we grilled chicken sausages. Later on Stephanie and I made zucchini blueberry bread with zucchini and blueberries we got at the farmers’ market. More on that later!

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$36 Well Spent at the Lincoln Square Farmers’ Market

July 20th, 2008 · 4 Comments


Lincoln Square Farmers’ Market, Lincoln Square, Chicago


Lincoln Square Farmers’ Market, Lincoln Square, Chicago


Farmers’ Market Produce, Roscoe Village, Chicago

Back in Chicago means back at the Tuesday Lincoln Square farmers’ market. For $36 I brought home:

- 3 large portabello tops
- small portabellos
- raspberries
- blueberries
- cherries
- 2 sage plants
- green onions
- two types of zucchini
- yellow squash
- grape tomatoes (various colors)
- green pepper
- 5 ears of corn
- lettuce
- 1 free energy saver light bulb from the 47th Ward alderman Gene Schulter

Everything is so much better when you get it fresh from the regional farmers instead of shipped from who knows where at the supermarket. The berries were unbelievable. So flavorful. And the lettuce was so big and tasty. And the corn! So sweet and delicate.

I don’t think I wrote about this before, but I’ve spoken about it to a few people. I really like the guy in the mushroom stand. I’ve talked to him a lot about the different kinds of mushrooms he has. One day we talked about how portobello’s, the large ones, were actually a mistake. They were the little crimini mushrooms that were let go another 2 or 3 days and grew big, what we now know as portobellos. Then portobellos got to be so popular that they now refer to criminis as baby portobellos and sometimes charge more for them. This last time I was at the market the mushroom stand was crazy. Instead of the one guy there were 2-3 more people working the stand and giving out samples and stuff. They also sell a lot of canned mushroom dips, salsas and sauces that they give out free samples of. The mushrooms are grown in a greenhouse in Wisconsin.

I also went to Jewel later on to get a few more things so I could make this corn/avocado/tomato salad. We actually made this salad a lot when I was in Cape Cod and used the basil that Jessica’s uncle gave us. I don’t really have a specific recipe for the salad, but this is what’s in it. I just added enough of each til it looked good.

- 1 avocado
- 2 cobs of corn, cook & cut off the cob
- about a cup of tomato
- basil
- splash of olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- juice of one lemon

I’d gotten the corn and tomatoes at the farmers’ market and I grew the basil on my patio.

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