Chocolate Zucchini Cake (I goofed!!!)

Chocolate Zucchini Cake (Photo from www.Penzeys.com)


I was in Shelby recently and my friend PJ made some delicious zucchini nut bread.  When I got home I noticed the bounty of zucchini at the Farmer's Market so I bought some.  Later while  looking through my Penzey's magazine, I found this recipe for chocolate zucchini cake, and I thought it the perfect recipe for using  the zucchini.

• 1/2 Cup margarine or butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 13/4 Cups sugar
• 1/2 Cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. PURE VANILLA EXTRACT
• 1/2 Cup buttermilk or sour milk (1/2 Cup milk plus 1 tsp. white vinegar = sour milk)
• 21/2 Cups flour
• 4 TB. COCOA POWDER
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. PENZEYS CINNAMON
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Cups grated zucchini, peeled if desired, drained (about 2 medium)
• 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 Cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 325° (for a glass pan) or 350° (for a metal pan). In a mixing bowl, cream together the room temperature margarine/butter and sugar. Add the oil, eggs, VANILLA and buttermilk and mix well. In a small bowl, combine the flour, COCOA, baking soda, CINNAMON and salt. Gradually add to the wet ingredients and mix well. Fold in the zucchini. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and nuts over the top of the cake. Bake at 325° for 45-50 minutes or at 350° for 35-40 minutes. Let cool before cutting. Prep. time: 20 minutes Baking time: 35-50 minutes Serves: 12-15 Gather your ingredients. Ingredients. Cream butter and sugar. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs,oil, vanilla, and buttermilk. Add wet ingredients. Mix dry ingredients. Dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients. Fold in grated zucchini. Fold in grated zucchini. Out of the oven. The cake has the consistency of brownies rather than cake.  Mine came out with the consistency of brownies---not light as cake should have been.  What went wrong?  As I looked back over the recipe I discovered that I had added baking powder instead of baking soda.  When I googled to see if it is possible to substitute baking powder for baking soda I learned that yes, that is possible, but when doing so one should add 4 times the amount of baking powder.  I had added only 1 tsp of baking powder and I should have added 4 tsps.  (Well actually I should have added baking soda as the recipe called for---must have been having a "senior moment".) Mistake number two:  When I was measuring the flour I discovered that I had only a cup of all purpose flour. Not wanting to make a run to the grocery store, I remembered I had some whole wheat flour in the freezer, so I substituted 1 1/2 cups of this in place of the all purpose flour.  After seeing that the cake was too dense, I thought perhaps it was because of the whole wheat flour substitution.  Sure enough, when I googled, I learned that when substituting whole wheat flour for plain flour use about 3/4 cup of whole wheat for each 1 cup of all purpose flour.  I didn't reduce the amount of whole wheat flour but used the full amount called for in the recipe.   Another "senior moment", I forgot to add the vanilla.  That didn't affect the texture, but it did affect the flavor.  There is cinnamon in the cake so the cake was flavorful but the flavor would have been better with the vanilla. Well one thing, Dan loves brownies, so he thinks the "brownies" are good.  I will make this recipe again though making sure I follow the recipe exactly---no substitutions.  Check out this recipe at www.penzeys.com.  I get all my spices at Penzeys.

Veggie Crock Pot Chili

Veggie crock pot chili.

I've been fighting a bad cold since the day after Christmas and haven't been doing much cooking.  I've missed it, and now I finally feel like getting back to it.  Years ago when I was in Weight Watchers I tried this recipe, and I've kept it as a go to recipe ever since.  January is usually a good chili month, and this recipe fits the bill. It freezes well too.  So I resumed cooking with this chili because it's an easy one.  Just dump everything into the crock pot and after four hours it's ready to serve over rice.

VEGGIE CROCK POT CHILI

(Recipe adapted from Weight Watchers.)

1 large onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 ½ cups matchstick carrots

1 pkg (8oz) sliced mushrooms

1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes

2 cans (15oz) kidney beans, undrained

1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple, undrained

Chili powder to taste

Combine all ingredients in crock pot.  Stir.  Cook on high for 4 hours.

One serving is 2 cups for 3 points.(Perhaps one doesn't count points any longer in WW.)

Serve over brown or plain rice.  Garnish with shredded cheese. (This of course will add points).

Onions, green pepper, matchstick carrots.

Put ingredients into crock pot.

Add mushrooms and crushed tomatoes.

Add kidney beans and crushed pineapple.

I use Penseys Chili Powder.

Cook four hours in the crock pot on high.

I was reluctant at first to try this recipe because of the pineapple, but honestly you don’t realize it has pineapple.  This is a good recipe.  Easy to make and freezes well too.

Enjoy!!!!! 

Ready to eat over rice.

Skillet Flounder with Tomatoes

Skillet flounder with tomato sauce.

Another "freezer dive" and I discovered frozen flounder.  For something different I went online and found this recipe for Skillet Flounder.  Since we don't like food that is very spicy, I modified the recipe to make it less spicy.  I also left out the green peppers because Dan doesn't like them. Here's my modified recipe.  Note that I used canned tomatoes which made it much quicker to prepare.

Skillet Flounder in Tomato Sauce
1 tsp olive oil
3 pieces of flounder fillets
1/2 cup onion, chopped (I used frozen diced onions.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp Bavarian Seasoning (from Penzeys Spices) This is salt free seasoning.

In a deep skillet, cook onion and garlic in olive oil on medium heat until soft.  Add tomatoes and spices and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  Lay fish fillets in the sauce, cover and cook on medium-low until fish flakes easily, approx 12-15. To serve, place fish on plate and spoon sauce on top. Serve immediately.

Cook onion and garlic for about 2 minutes until soft.

Add chopped tomatoes and Bavarian seasoning.

Lay fillets on top of sauce.

Cover and cook.

I served this with coleslaw and a homemade corn muffin.

This was a different way to prepare flounder, and we liked it a lot.

Penzeys Spices Now at Cameron Village

Penzeys Spices' winter catalog.

For years I have bought my spices from the Penzeys Spices' catalog or through their website Penzeys.com, but now we have Penzeys just down the street in Cameron Village.  Penzeys' spices are so much fresher and so much more economical than spices bought in most grocery stores.  Although I can shop for these locally, I'm still on the mailing list for their catalog, because it has a lot of information about various spices and it includes good recipes.

Penzeys at Cameron Village.

Love to visit this store.

They have wonderful gift boxes for all occasions.

Some of our spices in the spice drawer.

Extracts in our kitchen cabinet.