So, how many zucchini breads have you made lately?  Too many? If you don't know what to do with all that zucchini that's coming out of your garden right now, how about zucchini + chocolate?  Great combination, really.  This cake uses quite a bit of grated zucchini, which keeps it moist and absolutely delicious, but you can't really tell there is zucchini in the cake.  Ask my kids. 

Before I get on with the cake, I wanted to thank Saveur for the nice surprise this past week in being featured on Saveur's "Best of the Web".  They featured my post on Marcella Hazan's Roman Style Artichokes.  If you are not a regular reader of the magazine, check out their web site.  It's very good and has all kinds of great content.  

As for the cake, I've made this a couple of times in the past two weeks because our friend, Brian, dropped off more tomatoes and zucchini from his garden. I made Sicilian Estratto (tomato paste) again from the tomatoes, like I did last year and then I made this chocolate zucchini cake from one of the large zucchini that he gave us.

And then, just to make you smile, look who I am babysitting this weekend.  Bet you can't look at her and not smile.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

adapted from Saveur

serves 8-10

for a printable recipe, click here

2 medium zucchini, trimmed and grated (I grated mine on the medium holes of a box grater)
9 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
2-3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted
1-1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk *
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

*if you don't have buttermilk on hand, which I frequently do not, simply add 1/2 tablespoon vinegar to 1/2 cup milk (whole or lowfat) and let sit for 15 minutes. Works.

Working in batches, put a small mound of the grated zucchini in center of a large square of double-layer cheesecloth (I used a thin tea towel).  Gather corners together and squeeze out as much water as possible from the zucchini.  Transfer zucchini to a bowl and set aside.  (I had about 2 cups of this squeezed zucchini. Do not obsess about the amount, though.  This is a very forgiving recipe when it comes to the amount of zucchini.)

squeezing out the liquid from the grated zucchini

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Butter a deep 9" cake pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together into a mixing bowl and set aside.

Beat together the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, 3-4 minutes.  Add oil, beating well. Beat in one egg at a time, add vanilla, reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture and buttermilk in 3 alternative batches.  Stir in reserved zucchini.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes (Start checking after 1 hour - baking time could be faster.)  Remove from oven and set aside to cool for 15 minutes.  Invert onto a rack to cook completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

A few people have asked me why I haven't been posting every week this summer. Well, to be truthful - I've been busy enjoying summer.  As Brian says, "life's short and the clock's running".  There's been a lot to do around here, we've had lots of company and I've been trying to keep up with my garden:

And probably doing a little too much of this:

 
Well, actually, I don't think you can do too much of that. 

I did want to give you an update on my fig tree status.  Back in April, I showed you my little fig trees that I ordered.  They are the Chicago Hardy and I am attempting to grown them here in Michigan.  I know people who have been successful with this variety in colder climates.  Here are pictures of what they looked like in April and one of them this week:

 I think it likes it here, don't you?  Maybe I will actually get some figs next year.  I'll keep you updated.

One of the great things, of course, about summer is all the great fresh produce. We are lucky enough to have a family who grows terrific sweet corn right across the road from our subdivision.  I wanted to share this really great recipe from Andrew Carmellini, the great mind behind Locanda Verde in NYC and the author of one of my favorite cookbooks, Urban Italian.  I absolutely love his cooking style and this recipe is terrific.  The combination of really fresh, sweet corn and the banana pepper and pine nuts is really different but is just right.  Give it a try.  It's simple to make and a perfect side dish for some grilled meat.  It cooks up in less than ten minutes.

Spicy Corn with Hot Banana Pepper and Pine Nuts

from Urban Italian by Andrew Carmellini

for a printer friendly recipe, click here

serves 4-6

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced, about 3/4 cup (I used red onion)
1 hot banana pepper, sliced (about 1/4 cup)
6 ears of corn, cleaned and kernels sliced off the cob (about 5 cups)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup pine nuts, roughly chiopped
1/4 cup chopped basil
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Heat the olive oil and the butter together in a large saute pan.  Add the onion and cook until soft, 1-2 minutes. Add the banana pepper and cook for 1 minute.

Add the fresh corn to the pan and stir.  After 2-3 minutes, add the salt. (Don't put the salt in any earlier: you want tht ecorn to retain its moisture.) Continue cooking until the corn is cooked through and takes on some spice from the peppers, about 5 minutes total.  

Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle with the pine nuts, basil and parsley. Serve immediately.

Here's a great little concoction to keep the party going - espresso shots!  An icy blend of Kahlua, Cointreau, tequila and espresso will give you that extra bit of energy.  Place a whole bunch of these pretty shots on a serving tray and pass them around.  It will pick up your party a notch or two!

Espresso Shots

adapted from Colin Cowie

for a printable recipe, click here

makes 4 shots

1/4 cup orange juice
1/8 cup sugar
2 ounces tequila
1 ounce Kahlúa 
1 ounce Cointreau
2 ounces cold espresso

Place the orange juice and the sugar in two different shallow prep bowls.  Dip the shot glasses first in the orange juice and then in the sugar.

In cocktail shaker full of ice, mix the rest of the ingredients.  Shake well.  Pour into shot glasses.  

What?  You haven't got that ice cream maker out yet?  Seriously?  You think it's a hassle to make fresh ice cream, right?  Well, think about this - you make a mixture on the stove in the morning, chill it in the fridge all day and when you want ice cream after dinner, you simply pour it into your machine and 30 minutes later you have the freshest, creamiest, most delicious ice cream you've ever tasted.  So don't be a wimp - make some fresh ice cream and impress your family!   There's no fillers, no additives - just the best ice cream you'll ever eat.

I made this ice cream with a little Chambord (raspberry liquor) to give it a depth of flavor but also to help keep any leftover ice cream from freezing so rock hard. The master of ice cream making, David Leibovitz, adds liquor to ice cream to help solve this problem.  I also served it in cute little espresso cups that a friend gave me (thanks, Yvonne!).  

Raspberry Chambord Ice Cream

for a printable recipe, click here

6 ounces fresh raspberries
1 vanilla bean
2 cups half n half
1 cup cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon Chambord liquor
mint leaves for garnish 

Puree the raspberries in a food processor and set aside. If you don't have a food processor, just mash them as finely as you can.

I use these little Bistro espresso spoons to serve with the ice cream

Cut the vanilla bean in half with a small, very sharp knife.  Take each half and slice down the middle of the vanilla bean, exposing the "caviar".  Take the tip of the knife and scrape out the caviar.  

In a saucepan, gently heat the half n half, cream, sugar and the vanilla bean caviar over medium low heat. I also add the vanilla bean pod, so I make sure I get all the vanilla out of the bean. Stir with a wire whisk to make sure the vanilla bean gets blended well.  Heat the mixture until just hot, not simmering - enough to just dissolve the sugar well.  Remove the vanilla bean pod. Turn off the heat and add the pureed raspberries and whisk.

Pour this mixture into a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup (this will make it easy to pour into your ice cream maker later. If you don't have a Pyrex measuring cup, just pour the mixture into a bowl). Place in your refrigerator to chill.  Give the mixture a stir every once in a while, to promote the chilling and to make sure the raspberries don't stay at the bottom.  The mixture must be well chilled in order to make ice cream.  This takes several hours.

When you are ready to make ice cream, just pour the chilled mixture into  your ice cream maker and process for about 30 minutes.  Garnish with mint. Any extra ice cream can be frozen in a plastic tub and covered with plastic wrap.  Make sure the plastic wrap is pressed right onto the ice cream to create an air tight seal.

tip:  keep the freezer bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer and you will always be able to make fresh ice cream.

From one year ago:  Slab Pie for the Fourth of July

Puff pastry is your friend.  And if you don't know that yet, let me introduce you by making this quick and easy summer appetizer.

Frozen puff pastry is one of the greatest things you can keep in your freezer.  You can make last minute appetizers with it, desserts, breakfast pastries and use it to top pot pies.  You can certainly make your own puff pastry, but it is very time consuming and the commercial version in the grocery store is very good. I like making these very easy appetizers with puff pastry.  You just lay out a sheet of the pastry, top it with cheese and a vegetable and bake.  

In this version, I used cherry tomatoes.  I have made this tart with very thin raw asparagus, just laid on top, whole.  It is very pretty.  And I have joined two sheets of puff pastry together to form one long rectangle and trimmed it to fit perfectly into one of my favorite rectangular serving platters.  See how adaptable it is?  It's so easy to use.  And any leftover trimmings can be put back in the freezer and used for something else (how about nice little croutons for your soup or salad?).  

When thawing frozen puff pastry be sure to give it time.  Do not try to lay the flaps out until it is thawed, or it will crack.  You can thaw the sheets, wrapped, overnight in the refrigerator or just lay it out on the counter for about 30 minutes. If you are in a rush you can put them in a very slightly warm oven (I use the "proof" setting on my oven) to just take the chill off.

You can use any cheeses you like with this recipe.

Cherry Tomato Puff Pastry Tart

serves 6

for a printable recipe, click here

1 sheet of frozen Puff Pastry (I used Pepperidge Farms)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
olive oil, salt, pepper 
1/4 cup chopped herbs (I used basil and oregano)
1 tablespoon good quality mustard of your choice (I used one that had horseradish in it)
1/3 cup  shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup  grated Gruyere cheese
1/3 cup  grated Parmigianno Reggiano cheese

Thaw the frozen puff pastry by either putting it in the fridge overnight or laying it out on the counter, wrapped, for about 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Meanwhile, cut the cherry tomatoes in half and toss in a bowl with some olive oil, salt, pepper and the chopped herbs. 

Place a sheet of baking parchment (or a Silpat) on a baking pan.  

Place the thawed puff pastry on a lightly floured counter.  Unfold the flaps.  Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the pastry and, with a rolling pin, just slightly roll the dough so the seams are not so prominent.  Transfer the dough to the baking sheet.

With a very sharp small knife, score the puff pastry all along the sides about 1/2 inch, to just make a small border.  Inside the border, dock the pastry with a fork. Very thinly spread the mustard on the pastry. Sprinkle the cheeses on the mustard and top with the tomatoes (make sure the cut side of the tomatoes are all facing up so that their juice doesn't make the pastry too soggy).

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden.

Want to try some more great puff pastry recipes?

Apple Tart from The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Plum Tart from The Cooking Photographer 
Asparagus Tart from What's Gaby Cooking
Apple Turnovers from Simply Recipes

We sure bake a lot of bread in this house.  I used to make focaccia bread a couple of times a week, but lately this incredibly easy artisan bread has been on our dinner table most nights.  I wanted to get out of that rut and thought I'd make these easy herbed flatbreads for a change.  I hadn't made these in ages but they are easy and fun to make and can be also used as an appetizer.

This delicious bread is sort of a cross between a cracker and a bread.  It's a great excuse to break out your pasta rollers, if you have them.  The dough is divided into small pieces and passed through pasta rollers to make a nice flat bread.  If you don't have pasta rollers, just roll them out by hand but the pasta rollers make it so much easier and faster.  These little breads don't have to be a uniform size or shape - it's kind of rustic anyway if they are not.  

Parmesan Rosemary Flatbreads

adapted from Martha Stewart Baking Handbook

for a printable recipe, click here

1 cup warm water
3/4 teaspoon instant yeast 
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil,  plus more for bowl and plastic wrap
15 ounces (about 3 cups) all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons coarse salt, plus more for sprinkling
2 teaspoons honey 
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for sprinkling
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves

Sicilian salt and silver salt spoon from The Meadow

In the bowl of an electric mixer, stir the water and yeast together.  If using a stand mixer, attach your dough hook.  Add olive oil, flour, salt, and honey and mix on low speed for 1 minute.  Switch to medium speed and mix until dough is soft but not tacky, about 2 minutes.  Add cheese and mix for 1 minute more.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface; knead four or five times, forming into a ball.  Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap; let rest for 10 minutes.  Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1 hour or overnight.  Meanwhile, line two baking sheets with parchment.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface.  Divide dough into 16 equal pieces.  Using a pasta machine, pass dough through the widest setting a couple of times and then pass the dough through the next two thinner settings.  (The thinnest I passed my dough through was #3).  If you don't have pasta rollers, just roll out thinly with a rolling pin.  Transfer pieces of dough to prepared baking sheets.  In a small bowl, whisk the egg with 1 tablespoon water; brush over dough.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and additional cheese and top with sprigs of rosemary.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until crisp and golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.  Repeat with remaining dough.  Bread can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

We all love cheesecake, right?  But it does take time and effort.  You have to make the crust and bake it, then make the filling and, if you do it right, bake the cheesecake in a water bath.  Well, I'm going to show you how to make cheesecake without any baking at all.  It's a deconstructed cheesecake and you layer it in parfait glasses. The cheesecake filling doesn't have any eggs - that's why you don't have to bake it.  These are so easy and you can even make them up ahead of time and refrigerate them.

Brian and I had our 25th wedding anniversary last week and I cooked a special dinner.  He loves strawberry cheesecake but at the same time, I had these fun new little glasses from World Market I had bought and I was dying to make something in them.  I had pictured using them for parfaits.  One thing led to another and . . . deconstructed cheesecake parfaits! No baking, just layering.

Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits

for a printable recipe, click here

makes 4 large parfaits or 6 smaller ones

This recipe is flexible - e.g., if you just love the graham cracker "crust" then double the amount and make more.

1 pound of strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter
12 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons Amaretto
1 cup heavy cream
mint springs, for garnish

Slice the strawberries into a bowl and sprinkle with one tablespoon of sugar.  Toss and set aside.

Mix the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and one tablespoon of sugar.  

Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the sour cream, confectioners' sugar and Amaretto and beat until combined. 

In another bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks form.  Fold into the cream cheese mixture. 

Assemble Parfaits:

Place about a tablespoon of the graham cracker "crust" in the bottom of your glasses.  Layer some of the cheesecake filling in the glasses, then some of the strawberry topping and sprinkle some more of the graham cracker on top. (Amounts will vary according to how many parfaits you are making, so just adjust accordingly). Repeat layers and top with mint.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Like to see another parfait recipe?   How about Chocolate Peanut Butter Parfaits?

I love puff pastry.  If you keep some in your freezer, you can make a lot of great things with very little notice. It only takes about 30-40 minutes to thaw and is so versatile.  Napoleons are usually desserts made with squares or rectangles of puff pastry and layered with pastry cream and fruit.  I'm going to show you how to make savory asparagus napoleons but you can make napoleons with any filling you like.  Get creative.  I'm using asparagus because it's in season here now.

Napoleons are great as a first coarse because they make such nice single servings.  

Asparagus Napoleans with Goat Cheese, Chives, Lemon Zest

for a printable recipe, click here

serves 6

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed about 40 minutes at room temperature
1 egg, beaten with about 2 teaspoons water
24 asparagus spears, cut to a length of about 6 inches
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt, pepper
8 ounces goat cheese at room temperature
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives plus 12 chive sprigs for garnish
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons honey
large pinch of coarse salt 

Bake Puff Pastry Rectangles:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Lay the thawed puff pastry on a lightly floured surface.  When you unfold the puff pastry, the sections between the fold lines should be about 3 inches wide each. The measurement the other way should be about 10 inches - if it isn't, you can take a rolling pin and lightly roll it out a little. The whole sheet should be about 9x10 inches.  Take a pizza cutter or knife and cut right down the two fold lines and then once down the entire length of the pastry sheet - you will have 6 rectangles of about 3x5 inches each.  Don't fret too much about the measurements - they should just be uniform.

Place the rectangles of puff pastry on a sheet of parchment paper (or a Silpat) on a baking sheet. Brush the tops with a little of the egg wash.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until the pastry is nice and golden. Place baked pastry rectangles on a cooling rack.

Roast Asparagus:

Remove the parchment paper or Silpat from baking sheet. Line with foil.  Place asparagus spears on sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Make Filling:

In a small bowl, mix soft goat cheese, chives, lemon zest, honey and salt.  

Assemble Napoleons:

Slice each puff pastry rectangle horizontally. Divide filling between the six bottom sections.  Place asparagus spears on top of filling and place puff pastry tops on. Garnish with chive sprigs.  

 tip:  I love this little gadget from King Arthur Flour.  It's nice when you have to measure just a tablespoon or two of honey.

Other asparagus recipes:  Asparagus Frittata and Asparagus Risotto
 

Once you know how to make this easy Pâte à Choux dough, you can use it to make a number of different things. Pâte à Choux is cream puff pastry and is used to make cream puffs, gougeres, and even beignets.  I love it because it is simple, fast and I can make it ahead of time.  You can make these beautiful cream puffs and fill them as a dessert with ice cream or whipped cream.  You can make them and fill them for lunch with crab or chicken salad.  You can add cheese to the dough and make savory little gougeres for appetizers, which I will make for a future post.  You can make the cream puffs ahead of time and then simply fill them right before serving - I love recipes that can be made ahead of time, and this one is one of the best and most versatile.  Once you have this basic technique in your cooking arsenal, you will be ready to make all kinds of goodies.

Don't be intimidated about making these.  You will wow your friends and family with these and they will never know how easy they are.  You heat your liquid ingredients on the stove, dump in the flour all at once and stir until it forms a dough.  You then stick that in your stand mixer (or food processor), add eggs and mix until it is a paste.  You pipe it or spoon it onto baking sheets and bake. That's it.  The dough takes less than 10 minutes to whip up and it's all ingredients that you already have in your pantry and fridge. And they are not fussy - they are pretty forgiving and easy to make.  

One of the fun things to do with this recipe is to make a dessert bar.  Instead of a sundae bar, set up a cream puff bar - set out baked and split cream puffs, different types of ice creams, different flavors of whipped creams and sauces and toppings.  I like filling some with Nutella and whipped cream. Let everyone go at it, assembling their own cream puffs.  

Now let's make some.

Cream Puffs/Pâte à Choux Dough

for a printable recipe, click here

Makes 12 - 13 medium sized cream puffs

1 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup flour
5 eggs (4 for the dough and one for an egg wash)  If you are not sure about your egg size (especially if you get eggs from a farm) I weighed my eggs after I broke them into a cup and they weighed a little over 5 ounces. Don't worry, though, this does not have to exact.

Heat the first four ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium high heat just until the milk starts to boil. Lower the heat to low and then dump in all the flour and stir with a wooden spoon.  The dough will pull together.  Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring the ball of dough around, so that it dries out.  Remove the dough and place it either in the bowl of a stand mixer or the bowl of a food processor and let the dough cool off for a few minutes.

Line a baking sheet with either a Silpat or parchment paper (I like parchment paper because I can just throw it away).  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

With the mixer running, using the beater blade, add the eggs one at a time.  It's important that you let each egg incorporate fully into the dough before adding the next one.  The dough will look curdled and weird - don't worry about it.  After all four eggs are added, mix until the dough forms a nice paste consistency.  It will be very loose, not at all like a bread dough.  (If you do not have either a mixer or some kind or a food processor, you can beat in the eggs one at a time with a spoon.  It just is a little more work).

Pipe the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large tip (I like using a star tip).  If you don't have a piping bag, you can use a gallon size zip-lock with the tip cut off of one corner or just use a spoon to place the dough onto the baking sheet. Pipe the dough into mounds about 2 to 2-1/2 inches wide. Beat the egg for the egg wash with just about a tablespoon of water.  Brush the mounds of pastry dough lightly with the egg wash. 

Bake at 375 degrees F.  for about 25 minutes, or until the puffs are a nice golden brown.  Turn off the heat and open the oven door a few inches and let the puffs sit in the turned off oven to dry out for about 30 minutes.  

If you want to use the cream puffs with a savory filling, like chicken salad, just cut back or omit the sugar.

Homemade Chocolate Sauce:

1 cup cream
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat the cream and chocolate just until it scalds (bubbles will form on the outside perimeter of the pot).  Turn off heat, add extract and whisk until smooth.

This sauce can be kept in the refrigerator a few days - just bring to room temperature to serve because it firms up when it is cold.

Homemade Whipped Cream:

1 cup cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or a teaspoon of any flavor liquor you like - Amaretto, Grand Marnier, etc)

Whip cream until soft.  Add sugar and extract or liquor.  Whip until firm.  Refrigerate.

Cream Puffs can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days.  They can also be frozen for several months.