It's that time of year. You know, the time when if you have a garden yourself, you probably never want to see another zucchini again. Or, if you are lucky, like me, the time when a coworker keeps bringing in zucchini because THEY never want to see any again. Enter blueberry zucchini bread! It's moist and delicious and uses a cup of shredded zucchini per loaf! This bread also freezes well, so feel free to stock up on the spoils of summer and enjoy this year round.
To make my version of Blueberry Zucchini Bread you will need:
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup oil (if you are watching the fat and calories you can substitute 1 cup of applesauce)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2.5 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups fresh blueberries
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2 bread pans by greasing them and giving them a light coating of flour.
Ina large bowl, mix together all of your wet ingredients, including your zucchini. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (I usually set aside a tablespoon of flour to toss with the blueberries before I add them at the end, it help to keep them all from sinking to the bottom of the bread).
Add your dry ingredients to the wet bowl and gently stir until a batter forms. Add your blueberries and stir until evenly distributed. Pour the batter into your prepared bread pans (batter will come about half way up the pan).
Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the loaves comes out clean. Set on a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes, then remove the bread from the pans and allow to cool completely before wrapping it up.
This recipe also makes great muffins, mine usually take 30 minutes or so to bake. If you like a muffin with an extra crispy top, just sprinkle the tops with a little bit of sugar, or cinnamon sugar before baking. Yum!
One of my favorite things about Fall and winter is that I can bake up a storm in my kitchen without making my house unbearable to be in. What better way to celebrate this than whip up some super yummy banana bread? This is a super easy recipe and makes a great addition to breakfasts at the holidays or any time of year, and who doesn't appreciate the gift of baked goods?
This recipe yields one large loaf pan of bread, or 2 smaller loaves (I used 2 of the aluminum loaf pans you can buy in 3 packs at the grocery store, they are great for gifting to people because you don't have to worry about asking for them back).
To make this Banana Bread you will need:
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
2 overripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp. milk
2 eggs
I start by pre heating my oven to 350 degrees and mixing all of my wet ingredients together in one bowl, and all my dry ingredients in another bowl. Mixing them both well separately ensures that everything is evenly distributed without over mixing the final batter. For the dry ingredients I often use a whisk for the mixing as I find it does a great job of evenly distributing my dry ingredients quickly, but a spoon will work just fine.
Next, combine the wet and dry ingredients together and mix until everything has come together, try not to overmix, but you don't want dry clumps in your batter either!
Pour the batter into greased bread pans, filled about half way each (you can fill them up to as much as 3/4 full, but this bread does rise a very fair amount when baking). Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes for 2 loaves, or 60 minutes for one larger loaf. If you prefer to try this as muffins, I would check them after 20 minutes or so.
Set on a rack to cool and serve warm with or without any toppings you choose. The husband and I ate a whole pan in an afternoon, but we're kinda shameful that way ;)
It's time for another easy entertaining food craft, with ingredients out of the garden! I love Summer if only for it's abundance of tomatoes (and the basil is in full swing now as well)! This recipe is great if you lack time and have to make an appetizer for a big group. You can even prepare your topping ahead of time and allow it to set overnight if needed.
Also, while I once again made my French Bread from scratch, don't feel bad about going to the local grocery store bakery or another bakery around town and grabbing a ready made loaf of bread, or baguette (or two or three).
For this version of bruschetta you will need:
1 loaf French bread, or Baguette
1 pint cherry heirloom tomatoes
2-3 oz. Chevre (you can substitute your favorite cheese, or leave it altogether)
4 leaves fresh Basil
1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 teaspoons Balsamic Vinegar
1 clove garlic, peeled
salt and pepper to taste
Start by slicing your bread into pieces about 1 inch thick, and arranging them on a baking sheet. Broil for 3-4 minutes on the top rack of your oven, until golden brown.
While your bread is toasting, slice up your cherry tomatoes and basil and toss them in a bowl with your oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. To cut up my basil, i generally roll the leaves up together and slice through to make long strips.
Once the bread is out of the oven, rub each piece with your garlic clove (you now have some yummy garlic bread--try not to eat it just yet).
Top each slice with a spoonful of your tomato mixture. Break up your goat cheese and sprinkle some onto each slice. Enjoy!
I'm a sucker for freshly baked breads, almost nothing is better than the smell of bread right out of the oven. Usually once Summer strikes, I kind of stop baking, not wanting to make the apartment any hotter than necessary, but I can thank this year's belated arrival of Summer and unseasonably cool weather for allowing me to make this tasty treat. There are very few ingredients, most of which you likely have on hand just about any time. Also, if you have a stand mixer it's pretty low fuss. Use it for grilled sandwiches, garlic bread, serve along side soup or salad, toast some into croutons, you really can't go wrong with this simple yummy recipe.
You will need:
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup very hot water
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 heaping tablespoon Sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the warm water and the active dry yeast. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes while you measure out your other ingredients (I usually use a 2 cup glass measuring cup and mix all of my wet ingredients together and add them at once).
In your measuring cup, or another bowl, combine the hot water, oil, sugar and salt.
Measure out your flour. Place 1 1/2 cups into your yeast mixture, then add your wet ingredients on top and mix slowly with a dough hook.
Add the remaining flour and stir until the dough is smooth and all flour is incorporated.
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
Stir and let rest for 10 minutes again.
Repeat rest and stir process three more times (for a total of five times).
Turn out your dough onto a floured surface. Press out to a rectangle, roll up (like making cinnamon rolls) and place on a greased baking sheet.
Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
With a sharp knife, make 3 diagonal slashes across the top of your loaf. Brush with egg white (optional, but gives the bread a deeper brown crust and a little crispness).
Bake in a 400-degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet to a cooling rack immediately to avoid overcooking.
I have always appreciated the finer things in life. Like carbs. So you can imagine, I go absolutely nuts over just about any kind of fresh baked bread product. These bagels are no exception. I'm going give you the basic recipe for plain bagels, just keep in mind that to this recipe you can add any extra ingredients you like (raisins, cinnamon, fruits-I recommend using dried or at least well drained fruits, cinnamon-sugar, sesame seeds, poppy seeds...really the list is endless).
You will need:
3 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. instant dry yeast
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups hot water (between 120-130 degrees)
For boiling the bagels prior to baking you will also need another 1-2 Tablespoons of sugar to add to the water.
If adding toppings, an egg wash makes things stick much better. I generally mix one whole egg with about a tablespoon of water and beat it together well. You may also use this if you like a really golden and shiny top crust on your bagels.
Now, on to the bagels!
I start by adding all of my dry ingredients (yes, even the yeast) into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Mix these together on low, and while the hook is still moving start to slowly add the water. This makes a fairly wet dough as far as breads go.
(If you have a large food processor, you could also use that and just pulse the water in.)
Once you have all of the hot water incorporated, I usually let the dough hook go a little to work up some tasty gluten in my dough before I set it to rise. About 30 seconds on high speed seems to do the trick. Then, just place your dough into a large, greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap and/or a clean tea towel to rise for about 1 hour. The dough should double in size.
Prepare your water for boiling around that one hour mark. I add about 2 Tablespoons of sugar to 6 quarts of water and bring it to a full rolling boil. As soon as I get my water on the stove I start to separate my dough and shape my bagels.
Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface. As I mentioned, this makes a pretty wet dough, but you will not need to add a lot of flour. You will separate your dough in to 10 pieces (or more if you want to make mini bagels) and roll the dough into "snakes" about 8 inches long and 1 inch thick. Then, loop the dough around your hand (I like a small hole in the middle rather than a large one so I only use 3 fingers to wrap my dough around. Gently roll the ends together to close your circle (the dough being wet really helps with this, but you can always bad some water on the ends like glue to help them stick if you need to).
Once all of your bagels are shaped allow them to rise an additional 10 minutes. I generally place mine on a bed of cornmeal so they don't stick to the surface and lose their shape/deflate when I pick them up to go in the boiling water.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Boil each bagel for about 1 minute, 2 to 3 at a time, turning each one about halfway through. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and place on a clean towel to remove extra moisture.
*If you are adding toppings, now is the time to do so. Brush each bagel with your egg wash and sprinkle with toppings.
Once all of your bagels have been boiled, place them on a greased baking sheet (or line it with parchment paper) and bake them for 20 minutes on the first side, then flip and bake another 10 minutes on the other side. This will get a nice golden color on both the top and bottom of your bagels.
Enjoy!
These make a very chewy on the inside, golden on the outside bagel. I like them with cream cheese (I just discovered a spinach and artichoke cream cheese that is absolutely delicious!) but you could use any topping you like. Also, if you like making bagels sandwiches or bagel pizzas, this is a great opportunity to shape your bagels without the center holes for your toppings to fall through! (I would boil the bagels a little longer if you are not going to have a center hole, just to make sure they cook all the way through.)
The best thing about this recipe is that it can be adapted to anyone's taste. What is your favorite bagel combination?
*Want more pictures to follow? Serious Eats has a very similar recipe with step by step photos.
