I participated in the second round of Operation Baking GALS sending cookies and baked goods to the troops. I heard about this through the Daring Bakers boards, and it seemed like a good reason to bake a bunch of cookies. Dorie Greenspan recently did a post about the group that you can read here. The cookies that I baked went to LT Eric Olsen, who is stationed on the USS Lincoln. You can click here to see the other bakers on Team Steph Chows that sent cookies to LT Olsen and his crewmates. I tried to use recipes that would hold up well while the cookies were being shipped.
I baked this recipe for Chocolate Cookies featured on RecipeGirl.com. I didn’t grind the oatmeal and it was definitely noticeable in the cookies. They were still good but next time I would probably go ahead and break out the food processor. I am hoping that the lemon juice in these will act as a kind of preservative.
I also baked Tyler Florence’s recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies but instead of chocolate chips, I added dried cranberries and pecans. I love this cookie recipe, and I though it came out even better with the cranberries and nuts. I will definitely make these again, and I know from experience that they will last a really long time if stored in an airtight container.
If you are interested in participating in Operation Baking GALS Round 3, check out the blog located here.
Coconut Zucchini Bread (in the wild), originally uploaded by jasonrr.
Coconut Zucchini Bread
Based on this recipe from About.com
3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used olive)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oatmeal (not instant)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Beat eggs until light and foamy; add vegetable oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Mix lightly but blend thoroughly.
Mix together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon; mix lightly. Add dry ingredients to first mixture, stirring to blend. Stir in 1/4 cup of coconut flakes.
Pour batter into two loaf pans 9×5x3-inches in size. Top with a small amount of coconut. Bake at 325° for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near center of a loaf comes out clean.
Next up our zucchini dinner…
Zucchini Cakes, originally uploaded by jasonrr.
Zucchini Cakes
1 cup grated zucchini, this should be well drained and firmly pressed
1 tsp finely chopped onion
1 egg
3 tbsp all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground pepper
a few tbsp olive oil for pan frying
Combine the zucchini with egg and chopped onion. Stir in the flour and salt and pepper until the mixture is well combined.
Heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a skillet. I found that this made enough for four evenly sized cakes of about a ¼ cup each. Cook until brown on both sides, pressing down slightly to release and extra moisture. Drain on paper towel and top with a pinch of kosher salt.
My original intent was to serve this with poached eggs and ham. But I only had two eggs and was out of ham. So, we had this with scrambled eggs with a bit of cheddar cheese. It was still really good. If I had a potato, I would probably add it to the cakes in the future. I think it would give them a slightly firmer texture, more like a latke.
Peach Yogurt Parfait, originally uploaded by jasonrr.
1 White Peach per dish, sliced
1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt per dish
2 tablespoons granola (recipe below)
1/2 tsp honey
I layered each element and topped it with a bit of honey to sweeten the yogurt.
For the granola:
1 cup whole oats
1/4 chopped pecans
4 tbsp honey
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cinnamon
Combine these until the oats are covered with honey and butter. Spread in an even layer and bake until golden at 350. This will take about 20-25 minutes. You will want to keep an eye on the pecans to prevent them from burning.
Zucchini and Squash Gratin, originally uploaded by jasonrr.
Ingredients
1 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
1 medium squash, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
1 small chopped onion
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2/3 cup milk
1 tbsp flour
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 tsp fresh thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 pepper
1/2 cup grated swiss or gruyere cheese
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Sautee the onion in olive oil. Add the zucchini and squash an sautee lightly.
melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in flour. Continue to stir for 30 seconds and whisk in mlik. add salt pepper and chopped garlic. Allow the sauce to simmer for about 5 minutes.
In two small baking dishes (or 1 large one) alternate layers of zucchini, squash, fresh thyme and sauteed onions. Spoon enough sauce over the top to almost cover the vegetables (the amount will vary on your dish but I used about 1/3 cup per dish. Top with grated gruyere and parmesan. Bake at 350 until is it is bubbly and browned on top.
Triple Berry Cake Slice, originally uploaded by jasonrr.
Preheat the oven to 350. Stir together the wet ingredient and mix in the sugar. Combine the flour, baking, powder and baking soda. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet alternating with the milk. Pour into a greased and floured cake pan and bake for about 35 minutes.
While the cake is baking slice 1 cup of the strawberries. Simmer the strawberries. Blueberries, lemon juice and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a rolling boil and remove from the heat. This may be chilled in the refrigerator.
In a large mixing bowl or a standing mixer whip the cream with the vanilla and sugar. Add the finely crushed raspberries when the cream is still very soft. Combine until the color is even throughout. Refrigerate this until the cake is ready to be assembled.
When fully cooled, slice the cake in to even layers. For a neater presentation, you may slice the top off the risen cake. To assemble, brush the bottom layer with the sauce using a pastry brush. Place a layer of the raspberry whipped cream and on top of this a layer of sliced strawberries. Put the top layer of the cake on and brush with the glaze. Evenly frost the cake with the remaining raspberry whipped cream and decorate with berries.
Serve with a spoonful of the remaining glaze.
Blueberry Clafoutis, originally uploaded by jasonrr.
Zucchini Fingers with Pasta, originally uploaded by jasonrr.
1 zucchini
1 cup of white whole wheat flour
1 cup of buttermilk
1 egg
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp fresh thyme
salt and pepper
2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Cut the zucchini in half and the into wedges about 3 inches long.
Set up an assembly line of flour, egg and buttermilk mixture and panko mixed with the herbs and salt and pepper.
Coat them in flour, then coat in the the buttermilk and egg mixture. Press them into the panko and herb coating.
Shallow fry in olive oil until they are golden and grate fresh Parmesan top while they are still hot.
We ate these with spaghetti with a simple tomato basil sauce. I just heat canned crushed tomatoes with tablespoon of oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 tsp of chopped parsley, a handful of fresh basil and a pinch of salt. It just takes 5 minutes, and it is really good.
I realize that this is my second post in a row calling for panko, but I love using it. If you haven’t given it a try, you really should.
Lemon Thyme Chicken Nuggets, originally uploaded by jasonrr.
To make these I cut 4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts into nugget size pieces. For the breading I used about 3/4 of panko mixed with 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme (I would probably use even more next time), 1 tablespoon of lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 ground pepper.
Dredge chicken in flour, then egg wash, then press it into panko mixture.
Shallow fry in olive oil until it is golden brown on both sides.
We ate this with some lemon honey mustard. I just mixed dijon mustard, honey, lemon juice, pepper and thyme until it tasted right.
