This post is actually about zucchini cheese bread
It’s my first year successfully growing zucchini. I admit, with embarrassment, that I appear to be the only person in human history who has planted that most fecund of plants for whom Z was not for zucchini. Z was for zilch.
(If you might, please click the heart-shaped “like” button, to keep zucchini growing in abundance everywhere.)
I grew a bunch of mildewed leaves and some promising looking yellow blooms. Even a small cornichon-sized zucchini emerged, looked around and decided to donate his body to the squirrels.
Having a gardener’s brain meant by this spring, I’d forgotten the failure. Little know fact: the expression “Hope springs eternal,” was originally “Gardeners are eternally full of hope in spring.” It was too much of a mouthful, so they shortened it, I guess. Heh.
The zucchini gods smiled upon me. Over and over. I finally understand all the jokes. Zucchini do appear out of nowhere. I tend to worry what is in my New Jersey soil, but turns out Jimmy Hoffa makes a good fertilizer. (Points to anyone who is old enough to get this joke.)
Today’s recipe is for an eggplant parmesan. Just kidding. It’s for a very cheesy zucchini bread.
NOTES!
I added a touch of lemon to give it some summery brightness. If you have some fresh rosemary, thyme or tarragon, mince it up and add a couple of teaspoons.
I use a mix of whole wheat and all-purpose flour, but you can use all all-purpose if you wish.
A word about zucchini prep: Shred the zucchini, pile it into the middle of a clean tea towel or cheesecloth. Roll up the towel and twist the ends like a hard candy and squeeeeeeeze (six e’s worth of squeezing!) as much moisture out as you can. Unroll the towel, rearrange the shredded zucchini and then roll it up and squeeze again.
Cheesy Zucchini Bread
Makes 1 loaf
What You’ll Need:
2 cups (325 grams) shredded, squeezed and packed zucchini
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (115 grams) sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/3 cup (35 ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 cup (120 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup (120 grams) whole-wheat flour 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (85 grams) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 cup (40 grams) grated Parmesan cheese (plus more for sprinkling temptingly on the top)
What You’ll Do:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a loaf pan.
If you haven’t already, shred the zucchini and squeeze the moisture out of it. Shred the zucchini, pile it into the middle of a clean tea towel or cheesecloth. Roll up the towel and twist the ends like a hard candy and squeeeeeeeze (six e’s worth of squeezing) as much moisture out as you can. Unroll the towel, rearrange the shredded zucchini and then roll it up and squeeze again.
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, olive oil, lemon zest and any herbs (if using). Fold in the zucchini.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the egg-zucchini mixture and the cheddar and Parmesan cheeses. Fold the mixture together until just blended. Do not over mix. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle a generous amount of Parmesan cheese on top and bake for 50 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then remove from pan. It’s best warm or toasted. It makes a great accompaniment to cool, summer soups like gazpacho.
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"Even a small cornichon-sized zucchini emerged, looked around and decided to donate his body to the squirrels." I love a well-written, descriptive sentence. I'm also old enough to know all about Jimmy Hoffa. And, I love zucchini. I'm retired and I live in an apartment but when I lived in single-family homes (6 of them across the eastern and southern states) I always grew zucchini and loved making zucchini bread. I'm not particularly creative when I'm baking (more so when I'm cooking), so I never thought of adding cheese. I can't wait to make this recipe.
If we plant zucchini it goes crazy and we DROWN in zucchini. So we don't plant the next year, but still get a fair crop because of random and spurious growth from seeds removed by squirrels or chipmunks. These surprises are always in the worse possible places, like between the garlic, or in the berry patch, but it makes life more interesting!
And then the next year, when we bank on the idea of random arrivals, and don't get any, we wonder if next year we should plant some. But we still have so much in the freezer from that year of plenty! :)