ZUCCHINI BREAD

ZUCCHINI BREAD

I love the smell of freshly baked holiday-style loafs and cakes, and this one is one of my all time favourites (right up there with bananna nut bread and carrot cake). There is just something about the sweet cinnamon & clove aromas that just say to me, "Thanksgiving is nearly here!" or, "Christmas isn't far off now!".

Kiwis don't celebrate Thanksgiving because it's really just an American tradition...or so I thought. Some of my formerly Canadian, now Kiwi, friends have pointed out that Canada actually has their own version as well. Good on 'em, I say!!! For those of you who don't really know what it means to us, it's basically a day to be thankful for all you have...your health, friends, family, and anything else you can think of. A common question I get regards gift-giving... We do not exchange gifts until Christmas, but usually the invitees bring something to go with the main holiday meal or else bring a dessert. Some folks bring salads or their favourite side dish, others bring the traditional pumpkin or pecan pies. The host usually roasts a stuffed turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy, however not being a huge turkey fan, I sometimes opt for a honey-baked style ham or a leg of lamb is nice provided it's prepared well.

In any case, for many Americans, Thanksgiving is just a test-run for holiday recipes before Christmas, as the feast is usually similar as are the guests often times. My grandmother was an amazing cook and came up with all sorts of goodies. Even when my family lived far away, we could always count on some christmas baking in the form of a black walnut & cinnamon Christmas tree-shaped stolen and some homemade fudge & divinity.

The loaf I made here, the Zucchini Bread, is a favourite with many Americans. To you Kiwis & Aussies out there unsure of what a zucchini is - you call them courgettes! This loaf is very similar to carrot cake or bananna bread, so don't be afraid to put veggies into your baking now and then.

In my own version here, I sometimes add carrots and various nuts (whatever I have in the pantry, usually), so this one was made with carrot and pistachios rather than only courgettes and/or walnuts. It's a thick batter and makes one large loaf or two medium loaves, so I usually split it into two just to keep my loaf pan from overflowing!

INGREDIENTS:

2 ½ Cups (315gm) High Grade Flour
1 ½ Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
½ Teaspoon Ground Cloves
¼ Teaspoon Ground Cardamom
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 ½ Cups (375gm) Sugar
¾ Cup Salad Oil
3 Eggs
2 Cups (500gm) Unpeeled Zucchini
1 Small/Med Carrot Peeled & Grated
1 Cup Finely Chopped Nuts (Walnuts, Pecans, Almonds, or Pistachios work well)
1 ½ Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) oil-spray loaf pan (22 ½ x 12 ½ x 7 ½ cm) then line with baking paper cut to fit pan. (Baking paper is optional, but I found it very clean & easy to use.)

Sift together – Flour, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a separate mixing bowl, with heavy wooden spoon or electric mixer, combine the sugar, oil and eggs and beat until smooth.

Slowly add in sifted dry ingredients until well combined and smooth.

Now add grated zucchini and carrot, vanilla extract and nuts.

Bread will rise, so carefully pour batter into prepared loaf pan/s leaving approximately 1 cm of space at the top, then bake 60-75 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean (I cooked mine 70 minutes).

Allow the loaf to cool in the pan at least 10 minutes prior to turning out onto cooling rack/wire bread rack.

Décor Ingredients (optional):

½ Teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ Cup Sugar
10 Walnut Halves

DECORATING IDEA:

If desired, before serving combine ½ teaspoon of cinnamon and ¼ cup of sugar.

Turn the loaf upside down to decorate edges with cinnamon sugar then use approximately 10 walnut halves to decorate the top.

This bread is lovely served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. It is also nice just served warm or cold with butter or margarine.

Enjoy!

PUMPKIN RISOTTO

Risottos are always a bit time-consuming to make, but this one it certainly worth the wait. The pumpkin is roasted with olive oil & sea salt first, then blended into the risotto to the point of nearly dissolving into a smooth and creamy delight.

I must mention once again that prior to moving 'down under' pumpkin was never on my radar. It's not a popular edible squash in America and is generally used more for decoration where I came from. Some people to cook the orange 'jack-o-lantern' pumpkins in the States, but most who really enjoy their winter squashes choose a less stringy and softer fleshed variety (such as the Dickinsons Winter Squash used for American Pumpkin Pie).

Here in New Zealand, the staples are the whitish-grey crown pumpkins (like the one I used) or the long neck butternut squash. I don't think I have yet seen an orange pumpkin here except perhaps in the mini squash bins.

This particular recipe is one that I originally saw on The Cook And The Chef with Maggie Beer and I thought it looked really nice at the time, so I wrote down all of the ingredients quickly, so as not to forget, then managed to remember how to fix it (pretty much) as she did. There are a few differences though...I didn't have any verjuice (on the shopping list) so I used a 50/50 lemon juice and water mixture instead. I also added a bit of garlic and extra Parmiggiano Reggiano because I find that both risottos and pumpkin can be a bit 'plain' sometimes. I then added some lemon thyme from my garden which gave the risotto (and the chicken) a lovely flavour, so perhaps mine is even better than Maggies??? Well, just as good, anyway.

Does the type of rice really matter??? Yes, absolutely! Just as with Sushi or with Pilafs, the type of rice makes a huge difference. I never liked rice when I was growing up...probably because I hadn't tried anything but instant or mushy overcooked rice for the most part. I guess I am pretty picky, but my family eats well as a result.

Let's dig in!

INGREDIENTS:

1.5 Litres (6-6.5 Cups) Chicken Stock

1 Large Onion (finely chopped)

3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

75 Gms Butter (approx 2.5 oz)
400 Gms (14 oz more or less) Pumpkin (cut into 2-4 cm cubes)

400 Gms (14 oz dry/uncooked) Arborio Rice

1 Cup Verjuice (or 1/2 C Lemon Juice and 1/2 C Water)

100 Gms (3.5 oz) Parmiggiano Reggiano Cheese (finely grated & FRESH)

1 Tbsp Lemon Thyme

1 Clove Crushed Garlic

Freshly Ground Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 200 C (400 F).

Cut up pumpkin into 2-4 cm (1-2 inch) cubes and arrange pieces in a baking dish in a single layer. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the pieces begin to go brown and caramelize.

Once caramelized, add a few tablespoons of verjuice (or substitute) to deglaze your pan and cook for a further 3-4 minutes before removing from the oven.

Save the pumpkin and the pan liquid (if any) for later use.

In a large chef's pan or other wide-bottom pan tha can hold 8 cups or so of cooked risotto...heat the oil & butter and start to cook the onions. Do not brown the onions, just cook until they start to soften. Adding a bit of salt now will help to sweat the onions.

Whilst the onions are cooking, you will need to boil the stock and keep it hot in a smaller saucepan until it's used up.

When the onion starts to go clear, add the rice and stir to coat well. It will almost look "glassy" and transparent on the grain ends when well mixed. Cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Now increase the heat and add the rest of the verjuice (or substitute) and stir until the liquid soaks completely into the rice.

Reduce the heat again and begin adding the hot stock to the rice pan one cup ad a time. Stir constantly and only add the next cup after the previous one has been absorbed into the rice. Repeat this until 2/3 of the stock is gone. This takes about 20 minutes - stirring constantly.

Now add in the pumpkin with any reserved juices, garlic, & thyme and then increase the heat once again.

Add the last 2 cups or so of the stock one cup at a time, as before and stirring constantly (about 10 minutes) until the risotto is smooth & creamy.

Taste for seasoning and check that the rice is cooked through.

Finally, remove from heat and stir in the parmiggiano and you are done!

You may wish to serve this with an extra drizzle of EVOO and cracked pepper, however I found that only the pepper was really necessary. I belive Maggie also topped hers with chopped parsley and more baked pumpkin pieces topped off with more cheese after that, but I prefer to keep it a bit simpler in my kitchen and it was really quite tasty. Even my picky daughter (who claims to hate rice) loved this one!

I also made a Lemon Thyme Chicken to go with the risotto and a bit of extra baked pumpkin I had. This would also be great with a fresh green salad. It takes a while to make, but it's SOOO worth it!

LEMON THYME CHICKEN

Lemon chicken and lemon pepper chicken are lovely anytime, but I have fresh lemon thyme in my back garden and I decided last night to put some of it to good use. I also made a very simple glaze for it, much like a sweet & sour (mostly sour) lemon sauce.

This is an easily customizable recipe that anyone can modify to suit their own taste. I made my pumpkin risotto first and served them together - great combo!

This is another recipe using verjuice (unripened non-fermented grape juice) but if you don't happen to have any, you can use a diluted vinegar solution or, my own substitute, 1:1 ratio of lemon juice to water.

Here we go...

INGREDIENTS - LEMON THYME CHICKEN:

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

600 Gm (about a pound) Chicken Breast Meat (boneless & skinless)

1-2 Cloves Crushed or Chopped Garlic

1 Tbsp Lemon Thyme

Salt & Pepper to Taste

2-4 Tbsp Verjuce

1 Tbsp Corn Flour (Corn Starch)

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

2 Tbsp Water

1 Tsp Sugar


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 175 C (350 F)

Rinse chicken & pat dry, then season with garlic, thyme, salt & pepper.

Oil the bootom of a baking dish (I used the one I roasted some pumpkin in), and arrange chicken pieces in a single layer.

Bake for about 18 minutes then deglaze with verjuice in the baking dish (cooking 1-2 additional minutes).

Remove chicken (once thoroughly cooked) and use the pan liquid to make a lemony glaze.

Heat the lemon juice and sugar with the liquid from the baking dish.

Mix the corn flour and cold water together to use as a thickening agent once the lemony liquid begins to boil.

Once you add the corn flour mixture to the hot liquid, quickly stir until the glaze thickens and remove from heat immediately.

Now serve the chicken with the glaze on top (a little goes a long way) and with a nice healthy serving of the pumpkin risotto. A lovely fresh green salad would be a lovely acompaniment and there you have a healthy and delicious meal!