Blueberry Zucchini Bread

This is my first ever post in this blog!  This can only mean one glorious thing: I've had time to cook, and the cooking has been good.

A friend of ours gave us a few zucchini from his garden - too many for us to consume in its pure form so I searched for zucchini bread recipes and found one from allrecipes.com that included blueberries - which we also just happened to have!  It was delicious and the blueberries proved to be a wonderful compliment to the zucchini bread.  Now, this recipe is for four mini-loafs, but I made one full loaf and one batch of muffins, so I had to sort of eye the cooking time and stagger them a bit.  Otherwise, I stuck to the original recipe and everyone who tried it (I brought the loaf into the costume shop because that much bread is just too tempting) loved it.  Next time I want to try to cut the oil and sugar by using applesauce, but this occasion was a "use-what-we-got-I-don't-want-to-leave-the-house-in-this-heat" kind of day.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread:

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.
2. 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 mini-loaf pans.
3. Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Irish Dinner

We had crock pot corned beef with potatoes, carrots and cabbage a few days before St. Patrick's Day because I knew we'd be too busy getting ready for the Pinewood Derby for such a big meal. But then I still wanted to make something green and Irish on Thursday, and I wanted to make some kind of soup with the leftover crock pot vegetables. I googled Irish soups and found a very yummy one called Fresh Vegetable Soup from a lady in Ireland.

I looked up Irish soda bread on allrecipes, and of course I had to choose the one called Brennan's Irish Soda bread. It's even spelled right:) It was the quickest, easiest, yummiest bread. Seriously, there is no yeast, no rising, very little kneading, and it only took 30 minutes to bake. It was so good.


The soup was fabulous, and I even had some fresh chives that survived the winter to put on top.

And every holiday is a good excuse to make Ethel's sugar cookies.
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Fresh Vegetable Soup From the kitchen of Mary LydonDunsany, Co. Meath, Ireland
2 tablespoons butter (I doubled everything except the butter, oil and onion)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 leek (I used lots of extra cabbage instead)
1 carrot (I used more)
1 potato (I used more)
1 onion
2 stalks celery
1 tablespoon frozen peas
3-3/4 cups chicken stock
1 bouquet garni *
salt and pepper to taste
Several of my soup recipes call for bouquet garni, which is a bundle of herbs tied with string that is removed before serving. I prefer to tie it up in cheesecloth so I have no stray herbs in my finished product.
Wash, peel and chop vegetables. Heat butter and oil on medium heat. Add vegetables and saute for 5 minutes (do not brown).
Add stock, seasonings and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer gently for 30 minutes until vegetables are soft.
Remove bouquet garni and puree with blender or electric mixer (don't overfill the blender, and hold the lid down tight. Mine exploded all over the kitchen). Serve in warmed soup bowls. Garnish with chopped chives or parsley if desired. Yield: 4 servings.
*Bouquet Garni: 1 bay leaf, 3 sprigs of thyme, 4 large sprigs of parsley (including stalks), one 4 inch piece of celery stalk with leaves, two 4 inch pieces of leek (green part) and 5 whole peppercorns.
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Brennan's Irish Soda Bread
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
Stir the milk and vinegar together, and allow to stand until curdled, about 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking sheet. In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Gradually stir the soured milk into the flour mixture until the dough just comes together, and turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Knead a few times, and shape into a round. Place the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. With a sharp knife, cut an X shape into the top of the dough to release steam and help the bread keep its round shape.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 30-45 minutes. (I baked it in a cast iron skillet with a lid. I preheated it in the oven and took off the lid for the last few minutes so it could brown on top. Yum!!)

3C bread

I wanted to send this recipe to a friend, so I figured I might as well post it here. We usually make it around the holidays, since it looks so festive with the cherries. I especially love the flavor from the mace, but you can use nutmeg instead if you don't have it.

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mace
3 beaten eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cub sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Mix remaining ingredients in a separate bowl, then add all together. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. However I usually like to use 3 mini loaf pans instead and cook it 45-50 minutes. Make sure you don't over bake! If you wait until a knife inserted comes out clean, you cooked it too long. You want there to a be a few crumbs on the knife, but not doughy.

Indian Food Extravaganza

On New Year's Eve, I coordinated an Indian food feast for my family in town at the time. This included: 10 adults and 16 children including 2 teenagers. Naturally I was intimidated by this many people and planned a lot of food. Also naturally there was no way I could have done this all on my own. I had a lot of helpers and I was almost more like the supervisor. So, along with rice, here is what we made:

Palak Paneer 

1/3 cup ghee (clarified butter- we used oil so Brennan, who is allergic to dairy, could eat it)

1 bulb garlic - I think we used one bulb but had doubled the recipe

1/2 tsp toasted cumin seed

1 6 oz can of tomato paste

fresh ginger - I have no idea how much we used. It says a 3 in piece

1 tsp garam masala - a spice you should be able to find in a regular grocery store

1 tsp salt

1 onion, chopped

1 cup water or as needed

fresh spinach - when I made this for just me, I would use 1 1/2 - 2 bags

1 lb paneer or queso fresco - a non-melting cheese, you can make it if you are feeling really ambitious

Melt ghee in large saucepan and saute the garlic, cumin seed and onion. Add the tomato paste, ginger, garam masala, salt and water. Stir until tomato paste dissolves then simmer for 1 hour, adding water if necessary. 

Stir in spinach, a little at a time, and cook until spinach is wilted. Mix in the paneer just before serving. You can garnish it with cilantro but I always seem to forget that part. 

Lamb Madras Curry

This one is pretty spicy. The recipe calls for a make your own curry paste. I wasn't able to find the ingredients for the paste so I used a powdered blend of madras spices. Some day I want to actually make the paste. For now, to the best of my recollection, this is what I did.

1 1/2 tsp tumeric

2 1/4 lb lamb meat cut into 1/2 inch cubes

few T Madras Spice Blend - we bought it at the Asian food market but it was also at the regular grocery store but more expensive

1/4 cup oil

4 onions diced (or just a bunch)

1 can coconut milk

2 cups water, divided

1 tsp fennel seeds

10 cardamom pods

1 cinnamon stick

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp sugar

3 T warm water

Sprinkle tumeric over the lamb. Toast the fennel seeds and set aside. In a dutch over, over medium, saute the onions in the oil. Add the meat and spice mix and fry for a minute. Stir in 2/3 of the can of coconut milk and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. 

Stir in the rest of the coconut milk and 1 cup water along with the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and fennel seeds. Cover with the lid ajar and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender. Stir occasionally and thin if needed.

When the lamb is tender, stir in the garam masala and sugar. Cook 5 minutes longer or until the sauce thickens. Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods before serving. 

Butter Chicken

diced onion

swirl of oil

2 T butter

2 tsp lemon juice

1 T ginger garlic paste - I just use chopped ginger and chopped garlic in equal amounts

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 cup half-and-half

1 cup tomato puree

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or to taset

pinch salt

pinch pepper

oil

1 lb chicken thighs cut into cubes

1 tsp garam masala

pinch cayenne pepper

Heat oil and saute onion. Stir in butter, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, garam masala, chili powder, cumin and bay leaf. Cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add tomato puree and cook 2 minutes while stirring. Stir in half-and-half and yogurt and simmer 10 minutes on low, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Heat oil in large skillet and cook chicken until lightly browned. Reduce heat and season with garam masala and cayenne pepper. Stir cooked chicken into sauce. (Emily, did we add the cornstarch to this one? I didn't think so but wasn't too sure.)

Aloo Matar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

chopped onion

1 T ginger garlic paste

1 bay leaf

4 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 cup frozen peas, defrosted (or the amount that gives you the proportions you like)

1/2 cup tomato puree

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 T cilantro

Cook the potatoes. Heat oil and saute onion (are you sensing a theme?), ginger garlic paste and bay leaf. Mix in potatoes and peas. Add tomato puree, garam masala, paprika, sugar and salt. Continue cooking until it's all mixed through. Add cilantro before serving. 

Roti

flour

salt

swirl oil

water

Stir together flour, salt and oil. Add the amount of water that makes it the consistency of bread dough. Kneed it on a floured surface a few times. Take a small handfull of dough and roll it out onto a floured surface. In a dry pan heated over medium heat, cook until it begins to bubble up (if the heat is too low, it won't bubble up and if it's too hot, it will burn in places). Flip. It should bubble more. If the first side needs more browning, flip again. 

To eat, tear it into pieces and pick up the food with it. This can be messy but really is better. For amounts, Jason and I will eat between 2 and 3 roti per meal depending on how big they are. 

This all probably sounds very intimidating. For a regular dinner, I will often make two meals: a meat and a vegetable. Also to remember, while Indian food has a lot of ingredients, the process isn't usually too bad. I do recommend chopping everything before you start cooking. I have overcooked a number of spices because I was still working on chopping something.