A few New Year gifts shipping out tomorrow. I’ve been wanting to try this Curried Lentil Soup “Recipe in a Jar”. I made a trial batch for us this afternoon and it was really good. I used water instead of broth, so I added a touch more sea salt at the end.
Recipe I used can be found here
Testing out a soup recipe. Spice & flavor contents are 2 bay leaves, 1 dried chili pepper, 2 teaspoons turmeric, 1.5 teaspoons curry powder & 5 sun dried tomatoes… more to come.
Made 4 batches of pesto for the freezer. That’s a whopping 12 cups of basil.
The recipe I used can be found here.
Thanks to our garden - cucumber & tomato salads have been an ongoing side dish for us this summer.
-Cherry tomatoes
-Cucumbers de-seeded & diced
-Hungarian yellow peppers & chopped
-Chopped dill & parsley (or anything else that sounds good)
-50/50 Vinegar & Oil
-Lil bit of honey
Prepare & chill for a few hours or overnight
Sprinkle with feta cheese when serving.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
via kingarthurflour.com
You’d never know there’s zucchini in this ultra-moist, rich chocolate cake.
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (4 ounces) sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounce) Dutch-process cocoa
2 teaspoons espresso powder, optional but tasty
2 cups shredded zucchini (about one 10” zucchini, about 12 ounces)
1/2 cup (3 ounces) chocolate chips
1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips, for icing
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lighlty grease a 9” x 13” pan.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the eggs.
Stir in the sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt alternately with the flour. Then add the cocoa and espresso powder, mixing till smooth. Finally, fold in the zucchini and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, till the top springs back lightly when touched, and it seems set. Slide the cake out of the oven, sprinkle it evenly with the 1 cup chocolate chips, and return it to the oven for 5 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven, and use a cake spatula or rubber spatula to spread the chocolate chips into a smooth glaze. Cool on a rack. Yield: 24 servings.
Making dinner. Found some really great options for zucchini here. We picked the Corn and Zucchini Saute with Basil.
IngredientsMakes 4 servings
* 6 ears corn, husks and silks removed
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
* 1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar
Directions
1. Cut off tip of each cob. Stand corn in a wide shallow bowl; using a sharp knife, slice downward to release kernels. Discard cobs.
2. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high. Add zucchini and garlic and cook, tossing, until zucchini is bright green, 1 to 2 minutes. Add corn and season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing, until corn is heated through, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in basil and vinegar.
