The Gifts of Fall Apples … and Zucchini
The Missoula community will be greatly missing Greg Patent, the Food Guys radio show and his recipes in the Missoulian. I will miss visiting with Greg and asking him to sign yet another cookbook gift for a family member or friend. It was quite a challenge to get any web work done during our meetings because our conversation would always turn back to ingredients and food stories.
The Gift of Brightly Colored Crab Apples
In our last meeting, Greg asked me to do a guest post about apples. The last batch of the little red red crab apples Greg and his wife shared with me from the tree in their front yard, are waiting to be cooked, mashed and suspended in a jelly bag. The juice is thick, tart and oh, so pink! It will make some lovely Turkish Delight for Christmas gifts to send to clients … another memory with Greg.
Several years ago, when Greg and I were supposed to be discussing his website, the conversation turned to Turkish Delight. I had tried a recipe with apple sauce and didn’t like the grainy texture. For the next batch, I was planning to use gelatin. Greg suggested corn starch to make it a vegan treat. So, we each decided to make ours and try them. Greg preferred the corn starch version, and I preferred the gelatin version, so we had each made the right choice!
The Gift of Tart Apples and Zucchini
A friend gave me a box of tart crab apples that were large enough to dice. Another friend gave me several sizeable yellow and green zucchini from their garden. My daughter gave me some farm fresh eggs. That sounds like delicious waiting to happen! With a little research, I found a recipe for Apple Zucchini bread to use as a starting point for creativity.
Instead of full loaf pans, I use mini loaf pans so I can share many ways. This recipe makes 8 mini loaf pans, perfect for 2 October birthdays and breakfast for visiting friends! The first time I made it, I was concerned because the apples were so tart, but there is a balance between the apples and the bread.
My Grandmother and Mother taught me at an early age not to peel apples or zucchini or a lot of things. “Most of the vitamins are in the peels. Don’t waste them.” Feel free to use this as an excuse to include the peels.
Apple Zucchini Nut Bread
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 5 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
- 2 cups diced apples
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt and nuts.
- Open eggs, one at at time into a ramekin to check. This makes it easier to remove bits of shell, if needed. After each egg, pour into a mixing bowl.
- Add oil, sugars, yogurt, vanilla, apples and zucchini.
- Preheat oven to 350
- Pour liquid ingredients over dry ingredients; mix well.
- Spoon into 3 greased 8x4-in. loaf pans or 8 small loaf pans.
- Bake at 350° until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 50-55 minutes for large loaf pans, 40 - 45 minutes for small loaf pans.
- Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Be sure they are completely cool before wrapping.
~ Nora, Greg’s Geeky Sidekick
This recipe was inspired by this online recipe.