Random moosages as I see fit.

I continue to have too much stuff and need to find ways to get rid of it before it spoils.  This time, zucchini.  I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Costco-sized bag of zucchini.  Mind you, it would only be me eating this zucchini and I’m hardly home long enough to cook.  So of course, I had this massive amount of zucchini that was starting to go soft and I really needed to get rid of it.  And thus I made a whole bunch of berry zucchini bread and foisted that off on people.

I made a version of this recipe that I found and it’s pretty good.  I had people hoarding slices for breakfast the next morning.  I bet it would make really good French toast.  Anyway, it’s definitely something I will make again when I have too much zucchini.

Here’s my adaptation.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1.25 cups white sugar
• 3 cups shredded zucchini
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 0.25 teaspoon baking soda
• 0.25 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pint mixed berries
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
4. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated and then add 1/2 the zucchini and mix until incorporated.  Repeat ending with the dry ingredients.
5. Fold in berries and walnuts (if using).
6. Transfer to loaf pans and bake for 70-80 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
7. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Notes:

• I might do a mix of granulated and brown sugar next time for a hint of a molassesy flavor.
• I increased the shredded zucchini to 3c, which is about 2 medium zucchini (you don’t understand, I made A LOT of zucchini bread).
• I’ve made it with and without the walnuts.  I think I prefer the texture with walnuts.
• I don’t remember how big my loaf pans are, but the recipe yields 2 larger loaves (as opposed to 4 mini-loaves).  But I did have to increase my baking time to about 70-80min.

I’ve been playing in the kitchen a lot more.  Have you noticed?

I like pies a lot.  I really like pie for breakfast.  Pie and coffee go really well together.  Normally, this means some kind of fruit pie, but how about a savory pie for breakfast?  It still goes really well with coffee.

Awhile back, I came across this recipe for a ham and egg pie.  A brief gander at the ingredient list told me that this pie could taste really good.  A brief viewing of the demonstration further solidified that belief.  So I decided to try it out for myself over the weekend.  I had a friend coming over for brunchfast and I already had pot pie tins and mini sheets of puff pastry on hand.

And here was my result.

Notes:

• So with the ingredient list, I could already tell that this recipe had the potential to be delicious.  And it is.  More than what I had imagined.  It was REALLY good.
• Like I said, I modified the recipe to make individual servings instead of a whole pie.  I used a slice of ham on the bottom, eyeballed the amount of green onions, cheese, and salt and pepper, cracked an egg on top, and then layered another slice of ham on top.  I made four of them and it still takes 30min in a 400degF oven.
• I made some with and without the red pepper flakes.  I think I actually prefer it without the red pepper flakes and have Tabasco on the side (either the original or chipotle).
• I think some sharp cheddar in place of the parm would also taste really good.
• While the individual serving sizes were a lot of fun and nice to serve up, it would probably be more efficient to make a normal pie for larger groups.
• I tried the pie both hot out of the oven and after it had cooled to room temperature.  I think it tastes best hot out of the oven.