The Evolution of the Dark Chocolate Zucchini Brownie

I've been in search of a good dark chocolate brownie recipe and at the same time, I've been searching for more ways to use up all the summer squash that comes this time of year. So, when I found a well reviewed zucchini brownie recipe, I thought I'd had it made. But I didn't care for the original recipe so I experimented a bit. My favorite version is at the bottom of this post.

The recipe I started out with can be found here.
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched. To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

I made this recipe the first time without any changes except skipping the icing. Also, I used the Special Dark cocoa powder. I found the brownies to be very good but quite cakey so I set about modifying the recipe for a more fudgey brownie. I researched what makes brownies more cakey versus more fudgey and found that reducing egg, flour and baking soda should do it. So, I went about it the scientific way and changed one thing at a time. First I reduced the baking soda to 1/2 teaspoon. This definitely made the brownies less cakey, but they were still pretty cakey IMO. Next, I reduced the flour to 1 1/2 cups. They helped a LOT towards making the brownies more fudgey. Still not as fudgey as some I've had in the past. Next, I reduced the baking soda to just a scant 1/4 teaspoon. Next, I added more cocoa powder, bringing the amount up to 3/4 cup. Now these brownies are pretty fudgey! So, the ingredients for my current recipe is:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Finally, I jazzed them up a bit by adding a cream cheese swirl. Wow! These are currently my favorite brownies! For the cream cheese swirl:
Cream Cheese Layer:

• 8 ounces (227 grams) full fat cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

Beat all the ingredients for the brownies together, minus the ingredients for the cream cheese swirl. After putting the brownie batter in the pan, beat the ingredients for the cream cheese swirl together until smooth and spoon the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie mixture. Draw a knife through it repeatedly to swirl it. Then bake as usual.

Zucchini Fritters

It's that time of year when a zucchini grower gets desperate to find new ways to make zucchini appetizing. Here is a recipe that is very popular with the entire family. It's quick and easy - fried zucchini fritters. I wouldn't call it overly healthy since it does involve frying the fritters in oil so we try not to do it more than once a week.
This is a rather loose recipe. A little more or less cheese can be used. Onion can replace garlic. It can be fun to play with and try new things.

Ingredients:
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Oil - I use olive oil


Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Put enough oil in the fry pan to be at least 1/4 inch deep. Heat the oil on medium high and then drop the batter by generous tablespoon fulls in the batter, flattening the fritter a bit with the spoon. Brown on both sides. Remove, let drain a bit on a paper towel and serve.

Mid Summer Garden Pasta Salad

It's the middle of summer and the garden is full of things that need to be picked and eaten. It's also hot out so something cool sounds nice. So, I decided to make my basic pasta salad, leave out the store bought olives and such and instead put in as many things out of the garden I could think of. I had lots of ripe cherry tomatoes, plenty of large sweet onions, the Corno di Toro peppers were starting to turn red, and the broccoli needed picking.  I put it all together and it turned out quite well!

This recipe makes enough for about 6 people.

1 13 oz box of shell pasta (Barilla Whole Wheat)
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish (home made)
1  cup mayonase
30 cherry tomatoes whole or cut in half
1/4 sweet onion minced
1 small or 1/2 large head of broccoli cut into small pieces
2 sweet peppers cut into small chunks
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta until tender and drain. Let cool. Mix everything together. Put in the refrigerator for a few hours to get nice and cold.

Shepherd's Pie

Now that winter is here, we make more suppers in the oven. One that my spouse makes is Sheperd's Pie. Traditionally, it's made with ground lamb, but we don't often have ground lamb so we use ground beef instead.

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef - we use 93% lean
2 eggs
1 cup oats
1 cup milk
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 teaspoon Better than Bullion
onion

cheddar cheese
enough mashed potatoes to cover the top

Stir the beef eggs, oats, milk barbecue sauce, bullion and onion all together like you would a meatloaf. Put this in the bottom of a 9 inch glass pie plate. Cover with a layer of cheddar cheese slices. Cover this with enough mashed potatoes to cover the top. Usually this is 6 medium pototatoes, smashed with some milk and a couple tablespoons of butter. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 300 and bake another 15 minutes.

This year we had some roasted sweet peppers and put a layer of those between the meat and cheese. That was excellent!

This feeds six people.

My Best Zucchini Bread

Zucchini bread is yet another great way to use surplus Zucchini or other summer squash. As usual, I had quite a surplus so I experimented with different recipes and also varied recipes to see what I liked best. This particular recipe is my favorite and is also well liked by my family and friends. It is tasty, very moist and has loads of fiber.

ZUCCHINI CARROT BREAD

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups brown sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups shredded zucchini, packed
1 cup shredded carrots
3 cups flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Beat 3 eggs. Add vegetable oil and brown sugar. Beat together until smooth. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking power, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Add everything else and mix well.

Pour into 2 greased bread pans and bake at 350°F until done - about an hour. Use the toothpick test.

Zucchini Broccoli Cheese Quiche

If you grow broccoli and zucchini, chances are you have too much. Here is one way I found that uses both in a way that the family really likes, and is easy to make as well.
This year I grew yellow summer squash instead of zucchini, but I found that they are indistinguishable in the quiche except for the color.

1 store bought pie crust or homemade pie crust
1 clove garlic or 1/4 chopped onion - which ever you prefer
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups broccoli
3 small zucchini sliced
1 cup milk
5 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
dash of pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Put the crust in the pie plate and prick the bottom to prevent the bottom from bubbling up. Put the plate in the oven for 5 minutes to set the crust.
While the crust is cooking, grate the cheese.
Beat the eggs, salt, pepper and milk together. Add the garlic or onions.
When the crust has cooked for give minutes, remove it. Sprinkle the cheese on the bottom, add the broccoli then top it with the zucchini slices.
Pour the egg mixture over the broccoli and zucchini.
Bake for 10 minutes at 400, then turn down the temperature to 350 and bake for another 30 minutes or so until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
For a variation, try putting the cheese on top instead of the bottom.