Whats Cookin'

It has been another day tethered to the kitchen range.  But again, I don't quite mind.  Luckily the weather is gray and cool.  It was a perfect day to oven-dry tomatoes, and simmer some vegetable soup on the stove-top.  The soup has tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, green beans, onions, and garlic from the garden.  WOO-HOO!  I will also be using some veggies from the freezer to make some Spinach & Artichoke Dip to go along with the Vegetable Soup for dinner this week.  Mmm- Mmm, good.  Good eats, and good for my freezers, cause I am running out of room folks!

Yesterday was a baking day.  Ground Cherry Squares, and Zucchini Brownies.  The squares are OK, nothing to write home about, though once brushed/glazed with a bit of Peach Butter, and topped with some cinnamon sprinkles, they are Mom, and kid approved.  Here they are before going in the oven, and again just after coming out.  (This is before my additions.)  They just seem to be lacking something....but they are unusual, check them out:

Then there are those brownies.  We have put quite a dent in them already, though that is not unusual in this house.  Baked goods just don't last long, especially when there is chocolate involved.

ZUCCHINI BROWNIES

from Simply in Season

1 C flour

3/4 C whole wheat flour
(I used King Arthur's "white whole wheat")

1/3 C baking cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Combine in large bowl.

2-3 C shredded zucchini

Stir in to flour mix.

1 egg

3/4 C sugar

3/4 C brown sugar

1/2 C plain yogurt 

(I used full fat sour cream)

1/2 C oil

1 tsp vanilla

Combine in a separate bowl and beat with fork.  Stir in zucchini mixture.  

Spread evenly into greased 9 x 13-inch pan.

1/2- 1 C semisweet or mint chcoclate chips

1/2 C nuts (chopped; optional)

Sprinkle on top of batter. Bake in preheated oven at 350F 35-40 minutes.

** My notes:  I did not bake this nearly as long as the recipe called for, I would say start checking after 20 minutes if your oven runs like mine.  Secondly, I used a bar of semi-sweet chocolate that I chopped up in place of chips.  No nuts.  Now, I am going to show you a picture of what I used for "baking cocoa", it is sweetened.  Not sure if this is exactly what the recipe called for, but when made with it, the results are good so I am going to go with it on all future z.b. bakes.

Also, I should plug this Simply in Season book.  I love it.  If you have room for one more cookbook on your shelf, run out and buy this one.  

Good Stuff

I guess I will start by sharing a new zucchini recipe I tried this week, it was wonderful and a nice deviation from the normal 'zucchini bread' fare. The recipe is for a savory zucchini-basil muffins, I made mini's and they disappeared very quickly. The recipe can be found here at Synergy Farms, they did a three zucchini bread recipe taste test, and this was the favorite, give it a try!

Next in line, today's CSA share. I am happy with the contents this week, but once again the condition of the produce was not good. Today's 1/2 share included the following:

• 2 pieces summer squash
• 2 cukes
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 apples
• 3 ears corn
• 1 lb. potatoes
• 1/2 lb. onions
• kale

The cold nights and mediocre days are doing a number on the garden.....the vegetables have not increased in size at all this week, and that is a bit worrisome. I have so many peppers and eggplants out on the vine, I would hate to lose them all to cold temps. Luckily a few things are still producing and don't seem to mind the evening's temperatures, here they are pictured below:

The Ground Cherry

I seem to have a faint memory of eating these out of someone's garden as a child. They were on my wish list for next year but I decided to throw caution to the wind and order some seeds up before it was too late........now I have to find a spot to plant my 'Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry' keeping in mind they are part of the Nightshade family. The seeds got a late start and have just sprouted. They hopefully will be well on their way to producing some tasty fruit for us this fall.

These small fruits are said to be a nice addition to fruit salads and ice cream but the hands down favorite seems to be pie. I have never had any myself but I am looking forward to trying one of the recipes below:

Amish Ground Cherry Pie- 2 C ground cherries, 1 C water, 1tsp salt, 1 C sugar, 4 T cornstarch,
1 T real lemon juice, additional C water, nutmeg, pastry for a 2 crust pie. Bring cherries, salt & water to a boil. Blend together sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, water, and nutmeg to taste; add to cherry mixture and allow to cool. Put in unbaked shell and top with crust. Bake until browned (no oven temp. given).

Ground-Cherry-Pie-II- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ground-Cherry-Pie-II/Detail.aspx

Also, the fruits can be dipped in chocolate or caramel using the peeled back husk as a handle. If not allowed to fully ripen they may have an off flavor and parts of the plant are poisonous, more on this below:

From Mother Earth News- "Expect this garden crop—which prefers medium-dry
soil—to sprout early and grow rapidly. It quickly puts out yellow flowers with
brown or purple centers, and will continue to bloom and bear until the first
frost. Around July, the fruit (which develops in a husk) will begin to drop to
the ground and—even though it's not fully ripe when it does so—you should gather
the cherries as they fall, since they're favorites of many animals and
birds."
"Inside the husk, you'll find a small berry—about half an inch in
diameter—with a tomatolike skin and, when ripe, a sweet flavor similar to that
of a strawberry. The color of the mature cherry will vary from species to
species: It may be yellow, red, purple, or brown. And (again, according to the
species in question) it can be poisonous when green . . . so be sure to let the
fruit ripen in the husk until it's soft and sweet. (I have often stored the
unhusked cherries for months. In fact, I was once able to prepare a fresh
ground-cherry pie for Christmas dinner!) "