Zucchini Ice Cream

Zucchini is always so abundant in the summertime!  I struggle with making it fun to eat.  And to use it in creative ways.  Recently, I have wanted to make everything into ice cream.  I think it is because I have a great, wonderful, delicious vanilla ice cream recipe that I can use as a base and safely add almost anything I want. (I'll let Chris come up with something un-appetizing to add to ice cream.  He's always good at that. :-)

Here is my zucchini all grated up and my homemade vanilla in an old frank's bottle.  and some vanilla spilled on the counter.  :-)

My vision was zucchini bread as ice cream.  I love zucchini bread and I love ice cream.  and I love eating them together.  So, this must be a perfect match!

I came up with my recipe by poking around a bit on the internet. (Actually, I googled "zucchini ice cream" and clicked on the first link that came up.) I looked at the recipe, took away what I needed to know, and came up with my very own version.

Zucchini Ice Cream
1 egg yolk
2 cups cream
1 cup milk
1 TBS arrowroot, tapioca starch or cornstarch
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup (or so) zucchini
2 TBS alcohol (I used brandy, and I quite like the pairing with the cinnamon and raisins.)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup raisins

Mix all ingredients except zucchini and raisins. add in zucchini and raisins.  pour into ice cream freezer.  stand impatiently by until it is finished. (or go read something, or do the dishes, nurse the baby, etc.)

One note about the alcohol-- you don't have to use it; it is to help the ice cream stay soft in the freezer.  You know how store-bought ice cream stays all soft and homemade gets hard as a rock?  Well, they put anti-freeze in ice cream to help it stay soft!  Alcohol does the same thing. And I personally would choose it any day over anti-freeze.  :-)

Things I would do differently: grate zucchini finer, use smaller raisins.  or maybe currants.

Enjoy!

Zucchini... Series, Part IV

I used my zucchini in a new and exciting way tonight for dinner! 

New to this series?  Check out the rest here, here, and here. :-)

Ok, so the actual prep on the zucchini itself is not a new concept.  But the combination of ingredients was weird and different, and... good!  So I will share it with you. 

Here is what I stacked on our plates for dinner tonight, starting from the bottom, going up.

Breaded, pan fried zucchini
Leftover pasta tossed in leftover vegan alfredo sauce (that's a post for another day!)
A slice of tomato
A fried egg

Let me tell you, it was definitely a weird combo, with the egg on top, but I thought the zucchini, pasta and tomato needed something.  And we like eggs.  And it just seemed to fit.  And, it did!  The flavors went really well together, and the three 'serious' eaters in the house (my husband, myself, and Benjamin) ate all of ours, and liked it. 

Do you have a new and exciting way to prepare zucchini? Please share!  I still have seven in my fridge! :-)

Zucchini... Series, Part III

Wondering what to do with all that zucchini?  Catch up on my other posts here and here!

Zucchini Patties -- These were inspired by this recipe for corn fritters. We ate them with our hands, but you could even serve them as a hamburger replacement-- on buns, with all the fixin's!
1 medium zucchini, shredded
1 cup (about) coarse bread crumbs (I used bread I had on hand and cut it into tiny pieces)
(1 egg) -- again, I would have used it if I'd had one!
1 1/2 cups millet flour, masa harina, or corn meal
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp salt
garlic powder
-- beat the egg. mix the zucchini, bread crumbs and egg together.  mix the flour, water, salt and garlic powder together. this is where it gets messy. scoop out some zucchini mix with your hand (about an ice cream scoop's worth) and plop it into the flour mix.  then turn it over in the flour mix to coat the other side. then plop it into a heated cast iron skillet with some oil or palm shortening covering the bottom of the pan. flatten the blob into a patty looking shape. fry until golden brown and flip. fry the other side until golden brown.
-- this is messy.  don't say I didn't warn ya!  But it is good.  everyone liked them, and gobbled them all up!

Zucchini... Series, Part II

We had a good friend over for dinner last week, and I had  made these the night before for dinner.  We ended up not eating them, so I used them the next night.  I don't usually make recipes I haven't at least tried once for people who come over for dinner, but since it was a vegetarian meal, and she's vegetarian, I thought I would just go for it.  Other than the 'meat' balls falling apart because I tried to toss them with the spaghetti sauce, they were really good.  I even surprised myself on this one!

We also had fried eggplant (from our CSA!) with this meal and Chris said, "This is the first eggplant I have ever eaten that I didn't think was gross."  .... I'll take that as a complement!

Zucchini 'Meat' Balls-- okay, for these, I'll be honest.  I'm not sure exactly what I did.  I will try and tell you and then also tell you what I would have done to make them better.
1 medium zucchini, shredded
1 1/4 cup millet flour (masa harina or even corn meal would have the same affect)
1 1/4 cup water
(1 egg) I would have added, if I had any that day!
1/2 tsp salt
some basil
some garlic, or garlic powder
-- mix everything together except the zucchini.  fold in the zucchini.  grease 24 mini muffin pans. (this could also work on a greased cookie sheet, they just might spread out a bit).  spoon a small cookie scoop amount of dough (2 tsp? 1 TBS?) into each cup.  Bake at 350* for 30 minutes, or until they start to brown around the edges.  Serve as you would meat balls.
--DO NOT mix these in with the sauce. I did that, and they kind of fell apart.  I made them with spaghetti, but I think they would work in the place of sweedish meat balls too!  Just ladle the sauce on at the table, so they don't fall apart.

Zucchini... Series, Part I

what do you do with it all!??!

So, here are some things that I have done with my zucchini in the last few weeks.  I was going to make a mini-series about it, but with my blogging history, I better just put it all in one post and then you'll actually get to read about it!  :-P (While I was typing this post and it was getting longer and longer, I decided to split these recipes up!  Stay tuned all week as I share them with you!) 

Zucchini Oatmeal Coffee Cake -- made it this morning for breakfast.  I used 1/2 cup sugar for cake and topping, instead of the called-for amounts. Plus, I probably added 3 cups zucchini.

Zucchini Pancakes -- use a basic pancake recipe and add a cup of shredded zucchini.  Or however much you like.  I always add a lot.  OOOh, and add some raisins.  I forgot when I made mine, but that would be so good!  Like zucchini bread but in little round cakes on your plate for breakfast!
--Here's my basic pancake recipe.  Taken from Betty Crocker, but off the top of my head, so it might not be perfect. :-)
1 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 TBS baking powder
1 TBS- 1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. milk or water
2 TBS oil or melted butter
1 egg
--mix everything together and add whatever you want that sounds delicious.  be creative.