Cooking Class: Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

  

We were giddy when the first zucchini was harvested from our garden!  Huge, isn't it?   Immediately GMan yelled "Zucchini Bread" (a tradition each summer).    Rather than use my same old recipe, I decided to troll the internet for something better.   BOY, did I find it!   This recipe is GREAT!    


I'll walk you through it:


First, shred your zucchini (1 1/2 cups, which is about 1 medium zucchini)

Place 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil,  and 2 large eggs  in your mixer -- beat until blended.


Add 1 cup applesauce (I am convinced this is what makes the bread soooo good!)  and stir into mixture.  (Do you like my shameless plug for The Fresh Market?  We just got one close to us and I LOVE IT!)

Combine 2 cups all purpose flour with 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (yep, I was surprised by this ingredient, but it works!), 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Stir it well with a whisk.

Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, stirring until just moist.  

Add your zucchini

...and 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Be sure to reserve enough chocolate chips for cute children to snack on while the bread is baking!

Spoon the batter into a greased 9x5 loaf pan and bake at 350 for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  

This recipe came from Cooking Light, and I found it at Myrecipes.com.   I find a lot of great recipes at this site.  

Do you have a recipe that uses zucchini?  We are going to have TONS of them this summer and while I love the zucchini bread, I'd like some different recipes, too!!

Basil-Tomato Grilled Cheese - Some SERIOUS Goodness!

Although I'm not doing a recipe linky each Wednesday, I did want to share our recipe from this evening.    It was YUMMY!   And, it was EASY!      I hope you enjoy, because my family did!

Basil-Tomato Grilled Cheese

8 slices Italian bread (3/4 inch thick)

8 slices Mozzarella cheese

2 large plum tomatoes, sliced

2 tablespoons minced fresh basil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1. On four slices of bread, layer cheese and tomatoes: sprinkle with the basil, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Top with remaining bread.
2. In a small bowl, combine the oil, Parmesan cheese and garlic powder; brush over the outsides of each sandwich.
3. In a small skillet over medium heat, toast sandwiches until golden brown on both sides and the cheese is melted.

If you have a picky eater, you can just make plain grilled cheese without a lot of extra effort.  

*This recipe comes from Taste of Home Family Favorite Recipes.

Photo courtesy Taste of Home

What did you have for dinner?  

What's for Dinner? Roast Chicken with Wine & Carrot Souffle

I have a father-in-law who loves to provide me with kitchen gadgets and cookware... he is so sweet to bring me these things. Last week when my husband and I were sitting on his couch he told us to close our eyes and hold out our hands together - he put THIS in them:

What is it? - you might wonder. It is a wine chicken cooker, and it helps you make the BEST chicken you have ever tasted!! I looked up some recipes and decided to use this one from Wine Enthusiast. I didn't use expensive wine - I think it was just some Carlo Rossi in the jug... the cheap stuff my husband and I used to drink when we were first married.

It took about 10 minutes to prep the chicken, and an hour and half to bake it, but it turned out beautifully! If you like kitchen cookery and gadgets, I would recommend getting this - it would even make a great gift.

I chose not to put veggies around the chicken like suggested, because I had about 2 pounds of carrots that needed to be used, and my children LOVE carrot souffle, so I made that instead.

I couldn't find my trusted carrot souffle recipe, so I found one on Allrecipes, and it was EVEN BETTER than my old recipe. You can see it here. I made crescent rolls, and then served Jell-O Temptations dessert kit for dessert.... that dessert was a hit, and you can fix it in five minutes! My daughter and I put it in fancy pink crystal glasses, and my family thought I had fallen out of heaven!

Of course, the only thing I snapped a picture of was the chicken, because this was a labor intensive dinner, with fixing the chicken, peeling the carrots, using the mixer, etc... I totally forgot about my camera. The time was was well worth the effort, however, because the next day at church my sweet husband told some friends what a wonderful dinner I had fixed the night before. (I'll have to do that more often.)

Want to share a recipe today? Feel free to link up - all I ask is that you link back to this post, or mention Homegrown Learners in your post - you can grab the cute button in my sidebar as well!