Zucchini - 7 ways in 7 days.

Our veggie patch has been bountiful this summer, although we seem to be getting bumper crops of one thing at a time. At present, it is zucchini (courgette). Not only are they coming in what feels like the hundreds, they are sizable specimens to say the least. It is not uncommon for this sight to greet me on my return home from work each day...

So, after we had already exhausted the old faithful 'zucchini slice' and 'zucchini and mushroom pasta sauce', and with the zucchini's taking over every usable surface in our fridge and kitchen, it was time to get creative. Here a few a ideas recipes I tried or created for dealing with the abundance.

Ribbon Zucchini Salad
This fresh summer salad can be made a few hours early, as the dressing softens the zucchini as it sits and waits for you.

3-4 medium zucchini (smallest and freshest you can find, and if you can get a few different varieties that adds to the aesthetics)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/4 cup shaved, good quality Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp Fresh herbs, finely chopped (whatever you have handy, I used chives and mint-basil)
Pine nuts/ pistachios to garnish

1. Thinly slice the zucchini, lengthwise, into ribbons (I use a vegetable peeler, but you could use a mandolin. I cut the zucchini in half and do shorter ribbons, as I like a little green on either side).
2. Whisk together oil, juice, zest and season with salt and pepper
3. Stir half the cheese, herbs, and dressing through the zucchini (use your hands is easiest).
4. Garnish with remaining cheese, herbs and lightly toasted nuts.

Zucchini Chocolate Cake

This has actually been the dark horse of the week. This cake turned out so delicious that I've just made it for a second time in 5 days. It makes an immense amount of cake mix, so I have had some slight mishaps in sizing the tin correctly (thus resulting in a very small chocolate volcano in my oven on one occasion) but I now have it sorted... I think. Despite the little overflow, this is one of the yummiest chocolate cakes I have had.

Recipe courtesy of thehillcountrycook

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 ¾ cups white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 ½ cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup cocoa

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup soured milk (add 1 tsp vinegar to milk and let sit for 10 min)

2 cups peeled, grated zucchini

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 175°C
2. Cream butter, sugar and oil 
3. Stir in eggs and vanilla
4. In a separate bowl mix together dry ingredients
5. Alternate by adding the dry mix and the soured milk to the butter mix
6. Gently fold in zucchini
7. Pour into a greased and lined tin. What the hillcountrycook recommends equates to 23cm x 30cm, but having had two slight mishaps myself due to poorly misjudging my tins, I would say a 22cm spring-form tin would be a good way to go.
8. Sprinkle with choc chips
9. Bake for 35-40 min, or until a skewer comes out clean (do not be deceived by melted choc chips masquerading as uncooked batter!)

Zucchini and Haloumi Fritters

2 cups grated zucchini 

1 corn cob (kernels only)

2 tbs fresh herbs (I used mint-basil and oregano)

2 spring onions, finely sliced

90gm haloumi cheese diced small or grated

1 cup SR flour

1 egg beaten with 1/2 cup of milk

Salt and pepper

Butter and oil for frying

1. Combine zucchini, corn, cheese, herbs, onions and flour in a large bowl.
2. Add the egg and milk to form a batter.
3. Season well with salt and pepper. 
4. Leave stand for about 10 minutes.
5. Fry in batches in a large frying pan with a little butter and olive oil, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through (2-3 min each side). 
6. We had them with avocado, bruschetta mix (fresh tomato, spring onion and basil) and a green salad.

Zucchini and Sun-dried Tomato Muffins

1 ¾ cups self raising flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 milk

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 medium zucchini, grated
1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
Tbsp each fresh chopped chives and oregano

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Mix all dry ingredients (flour, cheese, zucchini, tomatoes, herbs) in a large bowl
3. Lightly beat eggs and milk in a jug and season with salt and pepper
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients
5. Pour into well greased 12 hole muffin tray.
6. Bake for 25 min

Yummy with butter, or cream cheese and chives.

Salmon and Potato Cakes

2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

400gm tin of pink salmon

1-2 spring onions, finely sliced

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1 med zucchini, grated

1 slice preserved lemon (rind only) very finely diced (discard flesh. 1 piece is usually about a quarter of a lemon, if you don't have these lemon zest would do)

2 eggs, beaten

Tartare Sauce

Mix together:

1/3 cup Mayonnaise

1 tbsp capers, finely diced

1 tbsp gherkins, finely diced

1 tbsp parsley

1. Boil the potatoes for 10-12 min/ unit tender, drain them and then mash slightly and set aside
2. Gently combine salmon, zucchini, onions, parsley and lemon in a large bowl.
3. Stir through potato and season well with salt and pepper
4. Stir through eggs.
5. Form mixture into palm sized patties (will make about 10) and refrigerate for 30 min.
6. Fry in batches in butter or oil until cooked through. (The first batch I cooked fell apart a bit, so I cooked the rest between two sheets of baking paper in the George Foreman Grill, then fried them off briefly prior to serving to brown them up and this was much more successful).
7. tartare sauce.

So there you have it, a week of zucchini. If anyone is still reading at this point, thank you, and I have spared you the recipe for zucchini slice and the pasta as they are quite unexciting.

I also had the great pleasure of attending a preserving workshop last week with some amazing women from the Surf Coast area, where I reside. I was witness to, but not directly involved in, the making of a delicious zucchini pickle, but I will save that for another time. 

You can check out the GreenMums3228 blog for more details about this group of gals and their endeavours to make our corner of the world a brighter place. 

xx

Home grown

My husband has a green thumb and I, unfortunately, do not. He loves his little veggie garden made up of a collection of veggie boxes he potters about in, and an assortment of pots and baskets, growing a variety of treats from beetroot to basil. The beauty of our situation is that what he loves to grow I get to cook. He does, however, occasionally throw a spanner in the works by growing a few things I either don't particularly like or don't know what to do with. Enter the broad bean. I've had these as tasty little morsels, and also as bitter little misfortunes depending on how they've been treated. We currently have them in a bit of abundance so I decided to make them into a dip, and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.  

The down side of broad beans is to get them tasty you have to get them first out of their pod, then out of their outer skin. This is best achieved by boiling them for 5-10 minutes or until they swell, then soaking them in cold water until the outer skin shrivels, then just peel it off.

The cheese in this dip gives it a nice creaminess, and the lemon and herbs give a fresh finish. The quantities below are approximate, so adjust them all to taste. It makes quite a lot of dip too so halve it if you just want a small amount.

For the dip:

• Philadelphia cream cheese (1/2 a cup)
• Danish feta (1/2 a cup)
• 2 cups cooked, peeled broad beans
• 2-3 segments preserved lemon, finely diced 
• 3 tbs mint basil finely chopped
• Olive oil

1. In a large bowl, mix together about the feta and cream cheese

2. With a stick blender or in a food processor pulse the broad beans, preserved lemon, and mint basil with a good splash of olive oil until combined (leave as chunky as you like, I like it quite smooth). Add a few tbs of chicken stock or some more oil if it looks a bit dry.

3. Stir the bean mix in with the cheese mix and season with salt and pepper. 

Veggie Shepherd's Pie

This was a little creation of my own.

Ingredients:

• Pastry sheet (optional)
• olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, cruches or finely chopped
• 1 small onion, diced
• 10 button mushrooms, quartered
• 2 small zucchini, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• Handful of green beans, cut into inch pieces
• Can of chopped tomatoes (I like the one with garlic and basil)
• tomato paste
• Worchester sauce
• bay leaves
• rosemary
• Red wine
• a few handfuls dried red lentils
• 2/12 cups of stock (I used chicken stock)

Topping:

• Pumpkin (I think about 350gm) peeled and cut into pieces
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• wholegrain mustard
• tasty cheese, grated
• parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)

1. Chop up peeled pumpkin and potato, and place in a medium size saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil until soft and mashable.

2. Meanwhile, heat a splash of olive oil in a large saucepan, then cook onion and garlic until soft. 

3. Throw in the zucchini, mushrooms, carrot, and beans, season with salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes, stirring so it doesn't stick.

4. Add tomatoes, a good splash of Worchester sauce, about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, a cup of red wine, and 2 +1/2 cups of stock. 

5. Stir in a teaspoon or so of rosemary, 4 bay leaves and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add more salt and pepper if required.

6. Stir through about 4 handfuls of dry red lentils (maybe a cup or so) These will soak up a lot of the liquid.

6. Simmer until thickened or until the potato and pumpkin have finished cooking in the other pot.

7. Drain the potato and pumpkin and mash well with a fork. Add a little butter if you so fancy, then mix in 1 heaped teaspoon wholegrain mustard, and the grated cheeses to taste (maybe a handful of each) and season well with salt and pepper. Add egg and stir well (I've made something similar before and my mash turned to mush in the oven, however the egg just seems to bind it, and help it keep it's form).

8. If you like, lightly grease a pie dish and line with a sheet of pastry then top with the lentil mix and then the mash. If you want a lighter version, forget the pastry and just pop it in a casserole dish and top with mash. My dish was about 25cm square and maybe 6cm deep so you can gauge the size.

9. Bake in the oven until golden on top and pastry is cooked (if using it).

10. Enjoy with a nice glass of red wine and some warm crusty bread. Quite a nice, easy winter warmer.

xx

Roast vegetable and polenta stack

When Aaron said to me a year ago "I'm going to be a weekday vegetarian" I was a little taken aback. Being the one who cooks most of the meals it meant that I was, by default, a weekday vegetarian also. I think we both quite like this dietary change for both the physical and the environmental benefits. This change has also helped me to expand my repertoire of vego friendly meals. Here is my latest effort.

Oven roasted mushrooms, zucchini, capsicum, onion and cherry tomatoes sandwiched between layers of polenta.
I was surprisingly happy with how this turned out, particularly as this was my first attempt at cooking polenta, and the recipe I used didn't actually include a recipe for the polenta just called for '1 portion creamy polenta'. So I used a recipe I'd seen elsewhere:

• 1 cup milk, 1 1/2 cup stock (I used chicken) and 1 1/2 cups water brought to the boil
• 1 cup of polenta stirred in over the heat until soft (3 minutes for me as I used instant polenta)
• 1 cup parmesan stirred in at the end with a little salt and pepper 

Once cooked, spread the polenta mix on a lined baking tray and refrigerate until firm (which took about as long as it did to roast the veggies). It was easier to handle than I expected when cooled, so I could easily slice the polenta sheet into three sections.
The first layer went onto a lined baking tray then was spread with basil pesto, some ricotta cheese and half the veggies. Repeat with the next layer, then top with the final polenta strip and grated parmesan, then back in the oven for about 20 minutes.
I was really pleased with how this turned out, especially the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
xx

Spiced chickpeas with haloumi...A little something of my own

I will whole heartedly admit that in the 4 weeks we've been home I have allowed myself to slip into a lazy post-holiday slump, completely neglecting my poor blog. Somewhere amongst all the friends having babies (all boys), getting back into work, and catching up with family and friends I have had plenty to relish, and selfishly shared nought with you. In the vain hope you won't abandon me completely, and so you know I like to cook as well as eat, here is a little something we rustled up last night. 

This was my first cooking experience with dried legumes (as we are trying to cut down on our rubbush following a film night put on by my ecowarrior husband's gang at Surf Coast Energy Group), and while they required a little more cooking than their tinned friends, I was pleasanlty surprised.

Here you see garlic and onion sauteed until soft, then mixed with cumin, turmeric, chopped tomato, chickpeas and some fresh spinach wilted in at the end. Served with pan fried haloumi, and some crusty Turkish bread it was a delish  and speedy little Tuesday night dinner.