Zucchini Yeast Rolls

This recipe comes from my Simply in Season cookbook. I've been wanting to make these for a few weeks now, but finally had some time for it last week. These are so very yummy! And healthier than a normal roll. You really can't taste the zucchini... its a nice way to sneak in just a few more veggies! :) I got 25 rolls out of this (just larger than golf balls when I rolled them). I kept some out for fresh eating with meals and have frozen the majority of them. I'll update later with a picture once I upload my pictures.

Zucchini Yeast Rolls

2-3 cups shredded zucchini or summer squash
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup dry milk powder (left this out b/c mine was old and I threw it away)
2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon ground mace (optional... I left it out)
1 3/4-2 1/2 cups bread flour

Combine the zucchini/squash, water, sugar, oil, and salt in a saucepan and heat slowly until warm, stirring to blend. Or warm in the microwave.

Combine 1 cup bread flour, whole wheat flour, milk powder, yeast, and mace if using in a mixing bowl. Add liquid ingredients and beat well until smooth. (I used my KitchenAid mixer). Stir in enough additional bread flour to make a soft dough. Knead 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, turn to grease both sides. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 10 minutes. Shape into rolls and place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees until golden brown, 25-35 minutes. Brush with milk for a soft crust and let stand 5-10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

I also had time to bake a batch of blueberry zucchini bread tonight. It was a productive evening! I found this recipe on AllRecipes and it sounded too yummy not to try it. You can use your favorite zucchini bread recipe and just add the blueberries if you want, too. But this one is very tasty! I made some modifications to the recipe, which I've noted below. I made enough to freeze some, too... three mini loaves and one large loaf to freeze, plus one medium loaf to eat this week. We'll be lucky if it lasts a few days, as good as this stuff is! Carson LOVES it, so do Kevin and I... and Kevin doesn't normally care for zucchini bread... but the blueberries in this remind him of blueberry muffins, so its all good. :)

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil (use applesauce or grapeseed oil)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour (use 1 cup whole wheat pastry and 2 cups whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.

Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

***UPDATED 7/12/2010... I made this bread last night with healthier ingredients. I used grapeseed oil instead of canola oil. I also substituted 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour and 2 cups whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour. The bread was still super moist, soft, and delicious!

Oatmeal Apple Butter Bars

I tried a recipe from RecipeZaar for Oatmeal Apple Butter Bars. I wanted to find a way to use up some more of the apple butter I canned last year and these had good ratings and sounded tasty. They are very good. Very crumbly, but very good. I love the oats in them, though Kevin didn't. Carson liked them quite a bit, too.

Oatmeal Apple Butter Bars

2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened to room temperature
1 cup apple butter

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add butter and beat with electric mixer on low until mixture is crumbly. Pat half of the mixture, about 2 cups into baking pan. Spread apple butter evenly over crumb layer. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over apple butter and press down gently. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool completely. Cut into 16 bars.

Risotto Primavera

Tonight, we tried Ina Garten's Risotto Primavera. I saw it on one of her shows over the weekend and thought it sounded tasty - and I actually had all the ingredients in the house! Perfect! This was so very good! Definitely a keeper. We've decided we just love risottos. Good thing they're generally gluten free if we do end up finding out Kevin has a gluten sensitivity! :) I didn't make too many changes from Ina's recipe, other than the recipe calls for fennel, which I left out because I don't like it. It helped me clean out some things from the fridge and pantry - leeks, asparagus, mascarpone, parmesan, and chicken stock.

Risotto Primavera

1 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts, about 2 leeks (I used 3)
1 cup chopped fennel (left it out)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
2/3 cup dry white wine (left this out)
4 to 5 cups simmering chicken stock, preferably homemade (I used about 5 cups of my homemade home-canned chicken stock)
1 pound thin asparagus (I used a little more than a pound)
10 ounces frozen peas, defrosted, or 1 1/2 cups shelled fresh peas
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest, 2 lemons (left this out)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (left this out)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (left this out)
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, preferably Italian
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons minced fresh chives, plus extra for serving (left this off)

Heat the olive oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and fennel and saute for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender. Add the rice and stir for a minute to coat with the vegetables, oil, and butter. Add the white wine and simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until most of the wine has been absorbed. Add the chicken stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring almost constantly and waiting for the stock to be absorbed before adding more. This process should take 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the asparagus diagonally in 1 1/2-inch lengths and discard the tough ends. Blanch in boiling salted water for 4 to 5 minutes, until al dente. Drain and cool immediately in ice water. If using fresh peas, blanch them in boiling water for a few minutes until the starchiness is gone. (I just threw in my asparagus after about 10 minutes of cooking - I didn't feel like dirtying another pan to blanch it - and it turned out great!)

When the risotto has been cooking for 15 minutes, drain the asparagus and add it to the risotto with the peas, lemon zest, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Continue cooking and adding stock, stirring almost constantly, until the rice is tender but still firm.

Whisk the lemon juice and mascarpone together in a small bowl. When the risotto is done, turn off the heat and stir in the mascarpone mixture plus the Parmesan cheese and chives. Set aside, off the heat, for a few minutes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve hot with a sprinkling of chives and more Parmesan cheese.

Crockpot Corn Risotto

Last night I made some corn risotto from A Year of Crockpotting. I didn't really make it to have with our dinner, more for Kevin's lunches this week since he loved the sweet pea risotto I made a few weeks ago. We did taste it with our dinners last night, though. It was really good. Kevin likes it more than I do, but he likes creamed corn and it does kind of have a creamed corn flavor... with a little spice from the cayenne. Its not something I'd make often, like the sweet pea risotto would be, but its something to keep on file still, I think.

Crockpot Corn Risotto

1 1/4 cup arborio rice
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 tsp onion flakes
4 chopped cloves of garlic
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
package of frozen corn (16 oz)
1 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on taste

to add later:
1/4 cup heavy cream (I used fat free half and half)
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

I used my 4 quart crockpot - this really was the perfect size.

Put the tablespoon of olive oil into the bottom of the crockpot, and swirl the rice and the onion flakes in it.

Chop the garlic and add, along with the salt and cayenne pepper. Add the frozen corn and the broth. Stir well. Drop in a pat of butter.

Cover and cook on high for about 2 hours, checking every 45 minutes or so. This is done when the liquid has absorbed and the rice is tender.

Unplug, and add the cream and parmesan cheese. Cover for 5 minutes, or until cheese melts completely.

Serve.

Sweet Pea Risotto Gratin

When I saw this recipe for sweet pea risotto gratin posted in Rachael Ray's weekly menu planner (in my sidebar), I knew I had to make it. I didn't really expect it to be this week, but with the lack of substantial leftovers on Monday, I had the perfect opportunity to make it last night. I've been wanting to make some risotto for awhile now and this one was perfect because I had all of the ingredients in my pantry or freezer. I picked up some organic arborio rice in the bulk bins at Whole Foods Market a couple of months ago and it has just been sitting in my pantry ever since. Arborio rice isn't a whole grain, but its still a type of grain that I've never tried. So I was anxious to see how this would taste. It was AWESOME! Kevin and I both really loved it. Another keeper! I expected some complaints from Kevin, having had two meatless meals in a row, but he only had good things to say about this meal. Score! I only made half a recipe, as the original is for 4-6 servings, but Kevin was wishing I'd have made the whole recipe. This dish did take a little more active time that I usually like on a weeknight, but it was still a quick meal - about a half-hour. Just requires a lot of stirring, so you can't go far from the stovetop. The peas, chicken broth, butter, onion, and rice were organic.


Sweet Pea Risotto Gratin

One 10-ounce package frozen baby peas, thawed
6 cups chicken broth
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 pound arborio rice (this equals about 2 1/2 cups)
1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs

Puree half of the peas in a food processor and set aside with the whole peas.

In a saucepan, heat the chicken broth and keep warm. Grease a 2-quart casserole and set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Stir in the onion and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the rice and stir well to coat the grains with butter. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth to the rice, lower the heat slightly and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth in 1/2 cup increments, letting the rice absorb the liquid (about 3 minutes) after each addition, and stirring almost constantly, until the rice is cooked, 20 to 25 minutes. The finished rice will be creamy but still firm to the bite.

A few minutes before the risotto is done, stir in the pureed and whole peas. Turn on the broiler.

Remove the cooked rice from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and 3/4 cup of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Season with salt and pepper. Stir the remaining 1/4 cup of grated cheese and the bread crumbs together. Transfer the risotto to the prepared casserole dish and top with the bread crumb mixture. Place the dish under the broiler about 6 inches from the heat source and broil for about 2 minutes, or until the top is golden. Serve immediately.