Kitchen3N

Recipes and food fun from Apt 3N

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

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There is no rhyme or reason to this cake. It is neither healthy, nor a proper dessert. It is simply for chocolate lovers. It is a glorious use of a bland, high water content vegetable that lends it’s moisture to the crumb of this perfect snack cake. It’s blandness acts as a perfect palette for all the wonderful cocoa and brown sugar flavor to absorb.
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I’ve posted about chocolate zucchini cake before. This bread version is a bit heartier with whole wheat flour and almond flour – a little more substance to justify my classification of it as a snacking cake! I wasn’t happy with any of the recipes I found online for chocolate zucchini loaf, so I made my tweaks, including adding chocolate chips, and voila! Perfection.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or 1 cup AP flour/1 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup almond flour)
  • 1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa plus extra for coating chocolate chips(if using natural cocoa, swap the amounts of baking soda and baking powder)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 12 tbsp melted butter
  • 1 lb zucchini, grated
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and lightly dust a 9inx5in loaf pan with cocoa powder. Stick in the freezer while preparing your ingredients.
  2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Turn off heat and allow to cool down.
  3. Wash and cut off one end of zucchini. Grate, not completely finely, but not in huge slivers either. Place a large sieve over a bowl and place grated zucchini there to drain while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
  4. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl (everything except the eggs, butter and chocolate chips). Whisk to combine, breaking up any large clumps. Make a well in the center and add eggs and butter. Mix with a wooden spoon (Bengali alert: I used my hands to mix this batter!). Add all of the zucchini and stir until combined. In a small bowl combine the chocolate chips with sprinkling of cocoa (maybe 1/4tsp).  Toss to coat the chocolate chips with the cocoa. Add to the batter, gently folding in. Take the loaf pan out of the freezer and add the batter, spreading evenly across the loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out relatively clean.*
  5. Allow to cool completely before attempting to remove it from the pan.

*It won’t come out completely clean due to the moisture of this loaf. A few crumbs are ok. You just don’t want it to come out with wet batter.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

IMG_4847I was incredulous the first time I heard the words “Zucchini Bread” at my adopted Jewish grandmother’s apartment some 15 years ago. Her name is Sophie and she was my mother’s confidant, advisor, protector and friend for many years. She taught her the value of saving. She raised two children during the Depression. She told my mother, every week she set aside $0.50. She grew such a small sum into stake in a multi-million dollar company and a condo in a luxury apartment building in downtown Manhattan. IMG_4854So when she talked, we listened:

  • “Eat Romaine lettuce, not iceberg. It’s all water.”
  • “Ya ever tried zucchini bread? It’s delicious.”
  • “Take care of ya mother. She works hard.”

Right on all counts. Take it one step further with chocolate zucchini cake. I was skeptical when a mom brought zucchini brownies to a play date. But it had such deep chocolate flavor! And it was moist! And magical! I realize that zucchini’s blandness kind of works in its favor in baked goods. Between that and the water content, it’s the perfect vessel for delivering a rich, moist, chocolate crumb. I was nervous as I folded the 3 cups into the batter, that those eating the cake would see slivers of green running throughout, but it melted right into the cake. And with that much veg content, you don’t feel like the world’s worst parent when your kid (and husband) reaches for it throughout the day.

Adapted barely from King Arthur Flour.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt (next time I would try increasing this to 1 tsp!)
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt (I used buttermilk)
  • 2 1/2  cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa*
  • 3 cups shredded zucchini
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup heavy cream

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9″x13″ baking pan.
  2. Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Stir gently to combine.
  3. In a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer, beat butter at medium high speed until light and airy – about 1 minute. Lower the speed to medium low and gradually add half the sugar, then oil, then remaining sugar. Add vanilla, then eggs, one at a time, until incorporated fully. Stop to scrape down the bowl. Turn on the mixer briefly once more to incorporate everything.
  4. At low speed, add half of the flour/cocoa mixture. Then slowly pour in the buttermilk (or sour cream or yogurt). Add the rest of the dry ingredients.
  5. Remove bowl from stand mixer and fold in the zucchini with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. When fully incorporated, pour into greased pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool.
  6. Heat heavy cream in a saucepan until scalding hot (bubbles appear around the perimeter). Pour over the chocolate chips and stir until it becomes a spreadable ganache. Pour and spread evenly over cooled cake.

*Dutch process cocoa, though harder to find, is essential for that deep chocolate flavor. When you use a quality cocoa powder, it makes all the difference between a standard chocolate cake and a gourmet one. Can be purchased online.

Julia Child’s Ratatouille

IMG_1558So, I’ve renamed my blog! Kitchen3n.com is now your source for traditional Bangladeshi as well as updated American and Mediterranean recipes. Please spread the word!IMG_1549Also, we have a winner for our giveaway! Congratulations to @DistractedDebra on winning the $50 gift card to Sur La Table! Happy shopping!IMG_1550It wasn’t going to be long before I posted something from my copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking (thanks to the hubby for the perfect birthday present!). My first attempts were some of the omelettes, the techniques for which she describes in painstaking detail. I had always heard that eggs were to be cooked low and slow…but she cooks them over very high heat for just a few seconds. And with all kinds of jerking, shaking and flipping action. All of which I failed at, miserably. So, I tried my hand at the ratatouille. Mainly because I had most of the ingredients on hand (a little short on the green pepper so I subbed red pepper). Also, I’d never had ratatouille before and seeing as how I LOVE eggplant, didn’t mind trying it a new way. IMG_1571And yes, that is a ruler you see in the previous picture. She is very specific about cutting the eggplant and zucchini into 3/8 inch slices (if my zucchini looks funny, it’s because TJ’s ran out of regular zucchini and only had baby zucchini left). The total cooking time was 1.5 hrs (active). I’ve never spent that amount of time on a vegetable casserole. But I wanted to do something by the book, and I wanted to make sure I did it just right. I didn’t by the way. In the final cooking, after the vegetables are layered and are set over a low heat to mellow out for ~20 minutes, she says to take care not to scorch the vegetables on the bottom. I scorched the vegetables on the bottom. Like many others, I will probably be making my ratatouille in the oven from here on out. The main flavorings come from the slow stewing with the tomatoes, a little bit of parsley and garlic. I would probably remake in the summer, when the tomatoes are at their ripest and have a lot to offer to the dish.

Not to say that it wasn’t tasty. You can definitely taste all the TLC (tender loving care) that went into its preparation. I would probably add a bit more seasoning next time (increased salt and pepper, perhaps some herbs de provence, more garlic). I’m not sure how it’s traditionally eaten in France, but it was fabulous alongside a piece of baguette and yes, you guessed it, even rice.

From Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. eggplant
  • 1 lb. zucchini
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 lb thinly sliced yellow onions
  • 2 sliced green peppers or 1 red, 1 green pepper
  • 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves mashed garlic
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lb. firm, ripe, red tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and juiced (you can also use whole, peeled tomatoes in a can, just cut them across and squeeze gently to dispose of seeds and excess juice)
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 tbsp minced parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Peel the eggplant and cut into lengthwise slices 3/8in thick, 3in long, and 1in wide. Prepare the zucchini similarly. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and arrange on a wire rack over a baking sheet to let the excess moisture out (about 30 minutes).
  2. Heat up the olive oil in a 10 to 12in skillet over high heat. Fry the zucchini and eggplant, one batch at a time, for about 1 minute on each side until golden brown. Set aside.
  3. Add more oil to the pan and sauté the peppers and onion until soft (about 10 min). Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Slice the tomatoes into 3/8in strips. Place them atop the peppers and onion. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. Then, uncover and baste the vegetables with the juices rendered. I turned off the heat at this point, which is why my ratatouille was saucy, but the original recipe directs to cook until all the liquid has evaporated.
  5. Layer the casserole in a cast iron or other fire proof casserole dish (2.5 qt): 1/3 tomato/pepper/onion mixture and 1 tbsp parsley, then half the zucchini/eggplant. Followed by another 1/3 tomato mixture and 1 tbsp parsley. Then the rest of the zucchini/eggplant. Finish with the last third of the tomato mixture and last tbsp of minced parsley.
  6. Cover and cook at low heat for 10 minutes. Uncover and cook for an additional 15 min, basting occasionally with the juices rendered. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.