preserving summer II

As the beginning of autumn and cool nights trickle in, my garden is slowing down, but there are still squash, peppers, a few tomatoes and early fall raspberries. I usually end up with a few behemoth zucchinis that seem to grow from a few centimeters to baseball bat size overnight. My family's favorite uses for these are zucchini pancakes with mint and feta, or zucchini bread from the old Silver Palette Cookbook.

 

 

Zucchini Bread (Silver Palette recipe)

1 tablespoon sweet butter
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups grated unpeeled raw zucchini
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup shelled walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9 x 5 loaf pan. (*I usually divide the mixture into two 9x5 pans)

2. Beat eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla until light and thick. Fold grated zucchini into oil mixture.

3. Sift dry ingredients together. Stir into zucchini mixture until just blended. Fold in the walnuts.

4. Pour batter into the buttered loaf pan. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. Cool slightly, remove from pan, and cool completely on a rack.

Note: For best flavor, wrap the breads when cool and let stand overnight before serving. With its sugar, spices, and nuts, this is a tea bread, almost cakelike.