courgettes

Dear Mom,

Zucchini as the "octomom" of the garden?  I suppose it is because the plant tends to produce a lot of zucchinis?  The more I think about that, the more it grosses me out.  I am generally not impressed with the woman they call the "octomom," and I am also slightly concerned for the well-being of her offspring.  Considering how healthy and bountiful zucchini usually is at the farmer's markets, I would assume that the zucchini plant is a far better "parent" to its little fruits than the "octomom." In other words, don't insult the zucchini!

I happen to love zucchini, its versatile, colorful, and tasty.  I even love the word zucchini, it's fun to say.  So is courgettes, by the way, which is the french term for them.  (Another random fact, is that I called them fruits above, because they are fruits not vegetables.)  Next time you're in the kitchen and you want to impress the people you're cooking for, you can refer to the lovely green fruits you're cooking as "courgettes."  You can fry, saute or grill zucchini; you can layer it into a quiche or a galette (then call it a courgette) or on top of a pizza (in that case, zucchini).  You can even bake them into bread.  I just happened to do the latter last week, with this tried and true recipe also from Cooking Light magazine for Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread.  Yes that's right, not only chocolate zucchini bread, but chocolate chip zucchini bread.  This recipe is absolutely delightful.  In fact, it is so good that when I brought it into work last week it was gone so fast, I only had the time to photograph one slice! 

I highly recommend eating a slice almost right after you take it out of the oven, when its still warm and the chocolate chips are still gooey.  It's also delish at room temperature or toasted so that the chips are gooey but the bread is a little crusty from the toaster.  I would recommend no butter, but if you are a chocoholic like me, you could spread some Nutella on it.  Unfortunately, it has never lasted long enough in our kitchen to make it to Saturday breakfast where it could be transformed into french toast.  This is such a brilliant idea I really need to strive to save a slice or two for Saturday morning, I will keep you posted.

chocolate chip zucchini bread

3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup applesauce
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1-1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups shredded zucchini (about 1-1/2 medium/small sized zucchini)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I usually over flow the measuring cup a little)
cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 350.  In a large bowl stir together the sugar through applesauce.  In another bowl, stir with a whisk the flour through salt until well combined.  Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and stir until moist.  Fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips. 

Pour the batter into a loaf pan coated with cooking spray.  Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. 

cosmo's notes:  For shredding the zucchini, I just use a cheese grater.  I have a mandolin that could make a finer shred, but I actually like seeing little bits of green in the bread (it makes me feel healthier). 

Also, I highly recommend instead of buying a big jar of applesauce, just buy those little cups of applesauce.  Just like what Mom used to put in your lunch box that you immediately traded away for a bag of chips or a Hostess cupcake...  (oops!  sorry Mom!)  Anyway, you can just leave these little shelf-stable pups in your cupboard until your ready for your next loaf of zucchini bread (or chocolate chip cookies with applesauce, which is a recipe for another day).  They're the perfect size, and you're not worrying about the science project that has started growing in the applesauce jar that has been in the fridge for 6 weeks.