I have been experimenting with the concept of dehydrating zucchini to add it to Alternative Ice Cream and Oat Cakes (hint: it works, but one should not mess with known parameters such as the ice cream maker or the baking time for no *** reason. Whatever happened to ceteris paribus, Brute?)
Meanwhile, the garden continues to produce a steady stream of gourds. We have reached the point in the season where I lift leaves and let loose strings of profanity as I witness the damage. Zucchini waits for no one. Busy? Rainy day? Oh it will grow while your back is turned. It will grow.
So I rolled up my sleeves and tried what seemed like a reliable trio of recipes:
James Beard's Zucchini Bread. I could not leave well enough alone and tweaked the spices a bit (2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t coriander, 1/4 t allspice, three Mississippi's worth of grated nutmeg). Simple, delicious. It had been a while since I had made an oil-based, truly "muffin method" batter.
The Kitchen Paper's Coconut Zucchini Bread. This is gorgeous. I found myself wishing it were sweeter, which is at least partially a function of the shredded coconut used. No matter, though: I had leftover coconut butter from some coconut-lemon truffles for a care package. Softened enough to spread on top of the bread, with a drizzle of honey? Yes please.
Triple Chocolate Zucchini Cookies from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. I am not sure I quite did these guys justice. Following the recipe exactly, these came out too soft to the point of being hard to handle. I popped some, but not all, back into the oven to bake further (to varying degrees). Those that reached a desirable doneness later proved too dry. Fans of the whoopie pie, rejoice - these are fabulous as a sandwich for cream cheese frosting (which some of us just happen to have on standby in the freezer. don't hate.)
Browsing zucchini recipes, I found myself wondering whether the measurements applied to the zucchini prior to or after squeezing out the moisture (and how much should be squeezed). For reference, my zucchini weighed 120 grams per cup after squeezing. 150 grams seems to be the default weight for 1 cup, but you can pack it in enough to reach almost 200 grams if you try.