summer

Summer Zucchini Bread

~ agustinaskitchen ~ 2 Comments

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Zoooooochini Bread! A little while back this recipe popped up on Smitten Kitchen’s Instagram feed, I knew I had to make it.  I had a few zucchini sitting in the fridge, and I didn’t want them to go bad, bud I didn’t really feel like using them in anything.  Cue: Zucchini Bread.  Like Banana Bread is to bananas when they are starting to go past due, Zucchini Bread is to zucchini when it’s on its final days.

This recipe yields 2 loafs, which I love because you can keep one loaf for yourself and gift the other to friends, family, neighbors.  My brother lives really close, so I called him and told him there was a loaf of zucchini bread wrapped up and ready for him to pick up when he could.  A couple of hours later, he popped by and happily took his loaf home with him, to keep as a snack for his long hours studying and working.  It’s a win – win because I got to see him for 10 minutes and he got a loaf of bread.  Who wouldnt love that? Right? In fact, I think I’m going to get a few zucchini at the store this afternoon solely to make this bread again tomorrow…

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INGREDIENTS:

3 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons  vanilla extract
3 cups  all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1 cup raisins or chocolate chips (I used about half a cup of chocolate chips and half a cup of raisins)

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Grease two 8×4 inch loaf pans.  I always take about a tablespoon of butter and smudge it all over the pans, then I sprinkle some flour over the butter, and pat it around to make sure the pan is greased well, and that the bread will fall out when it’s done.  There’s nothing worse than taking the time and energy to bake something delicious and then not be able to get it out of the pan!! Please tell me it’s happened to you too, no?
  3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Mix in the oil and sugar, then the zucchini and vanilla.
  4. Combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Add the nuts, raisins, and/or chocolate chips.  I added a combination of raisins, pecans, and chocolate chips, totaling almost 2 cups worth.
  5. Mix these dry ingredients into the wet egg mixture. Divide the batter into the prepared pans.
  6. Bake the loaves for about 60 minutes.  I start to check it around 50 minutes, then let it bake for another 10-15 before I take it out and let it cool.

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Cheers!

 

A Summer Basil Vinaigrette

~ agustinaskitchen ~ Leave a comment

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Basil is the herb of summer.  It’s refreshing, light, and has that wonderfully cool scent – perfect for a late summer evening. You can throw it in a salad, top it on pizza, turn into pesto for pasta, even put in water with sliced strawberries to drink. Recently, I saw it turned into a vinaigrette,  and immediately had to give it a try!

We went through two batches in one week. Currently, I have a bunch more basil sitting in the fridge that I’m going to turn into this vinaigrette to use for dinner tomorrow. We used it as the sauce for pizzas (it was better than pesto!) I also drizzled it over salmon a couple of weeks ago, and used it for a mozzarella tomato panini.  It’s so easy to make, versatile, and so good for these summer months.

Without further ado:

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INGREDIENTS:

2-3 heaping cups of basil

2 garlic cloves

1 shallot

juice from 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup olive oil

*salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Place all the ingredients in a food processor/grinder/chopper/blender until it comes out smooth – about a minute or two.

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 Cheers!

Lemon Curd For the Win

~ agustinaskitchen ~ Leave a comment

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At some point in my early life I fell in love with lemon desserts.  I’m not sure when it happened, which dessert it was, where I was… I’ve always loved lemon desserts.  Lemon curd straight up, or served on anything, lemon bars, lemon pound cake, lemon icing, lemon cake, lemon with blueberries, lemon bundtinis.  I even cook with lemons! In chicken, fish, dressings… you get the idea.

The other day I needed a quick little something to help me say “Thank You” and show my appreciation.  I had heard through the grapevine that they enjoyed lemon curd as much as I do, so I decided to whip some up since it’d been a while.  I used this recipe as a guidepost. I added a little twine and a quick “Thank You” stamp on some cute paper.  That evening, after Chris came home, we put the kids in the car and drove out for our little delivery.  Nothing like a drive to get the kids to sleep, get a Thank You out, and have a little one on one quiet time to chat and connect – everyone wins!

P.S. This takes 5-10 minutes to cook!

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This is how I “strain” it after it’s cooked, in case you were wondering! *See recipe below
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This is how you want the curd to coat the wooden spoon, and you’ll know it’s done

INGREDIENTS:

3 large eggs

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest

½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. I used a double boiler, but you can improvise by putting a heatproof bowl over a pan of water. Cook the eggs, sugar, and lemon zest and juice, by whisking it until it becomes thick (like in the above photo, where the curd coats the wooden spoon). This should take no more than 10 minutes, be sure the water is hot hot hot – boiling even!
  2. Remove from heat and strain the curd (as seen in the picture above). Add the butter, cut into pieces, and whisk until it’s melted and mixed in.
  3. Cover, by placing saran wrap right on top of the curd, and refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
  4. Enjoy! Especially, on pound cake with a cup of tea 😉

Cheers!

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A Smoothie Green St. Patrick’s Day to You

~ agustinaskitchen ~ Leave a comment

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! On St. Patrick’s Day everyone is Irish!  Except, I didn’t wear green.  Nope.  Every year I “forget” to wear green.  Mostly I’m too lazy.  You see, I don’t have a lot of green in my wardrobe.  I just don’t.  Don’t judge.  Maybe next year, alright?

That said, I always love to consume something green or “Irish” on this fun day!  Today it was so incredibly hot out, that by the time we got home this afternoon, all I wanted was a smoothie.  Do you remember making smoothies on hot summer days when you were a kid?  I would make my smoothies with strawberries, milk, and ICE CREAM! And I called it a smoothie!? More like a milkshake!  So, I made myself a smoothie sans all the dairy…

I pulled these ingredients right out of my fridge, and within minutes voila!  What I most like about this smoothie, is that the banana really masks the spinach, yet you still get all the great health benefits of the spinach.

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INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 c. ice

1 large banana

2 large handfuls of fresh spinach

3/4 c. almond milk

INSTRUCTIONS:

I always put all the ingredients in the blender in that order. And give it a good long blast until it’s smoothie delicious! Pour it into a fancy schmancy glass. Add a straw and enjoy!

*Makes about 2 cups

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Summertime Strawberries in a Pie

~ agustinaskitchen ~ Leave a comment

To me, summertime means STRAWBERRIES! Among other things, but mostly strawberries.  Their sweet scent, deep pink – red color, abundance at every farmer’s market across the state, and sheer yummy yummy yumminess – who can resist?! Actually, my son for one. He won’t eat them – but that’s something we’re working on.  Hence this Strawberry Lattice Pie:

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Cute sous chef: optional 😉
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Yes, those are my wedding and engagement rings. I tend to take them off when dealing with sticky messy dough…

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I got the recipe from Joy the Baker – her recipes are genius.  At least, all her recipes I’ve ever made.  Which, doesn’t always happen – I tend to have many kitchen failures.  However, thanks to Joy, this one was a winner! Be sure to place the pie on top of a lined baking sheet (as she states in the recipe) because the juices will spill over, and you wouldn’t want to clean up that oven mess!