Who said you can't?

By late summer, many gardeners run screaming at the sight of yet another zucchini lurking in the garden. The delightful finger long babies guiltily picked at Christmas are long forgotten as more sneak their way into the chook bucket. Every year I seem to come across a new zucchini tip and here I have one new one that dispels the myth about freezing zucs, a dehydrator recipe and a Kofta recipe that is a beauty.


ZUCCHINI SPAGHETTI

grated and blanched

Spiralise your zucchini.
Blanch by pouring over boiling water then refresh with cold water.
Allow to drain.
Pack into a box or sealed bag and freeze.
Defrost in a sieve or colander to allow excess moisture to drain.
Use in your favourite recipe.
It does not need cooking, warm through if you like.
I cooked some mushrooms, melted in a block of frozen pesto and stirred through the zucchini with some pitted olives...divine!
It has a certain chewiness of texture reminiscent of al dente pasta.
One 20cm zuc will feed two people.


This is an old favourite that I am happy to repeat:

ZUCCHINI CHIPS

Slice evenly, sprinkle with salt and allow to degorge.
Pat dry, sprinkle with pepper and salt.
Dehydrate till leathery.
Flip slices and continue to dry till crispy.

Store in an airtight container.
Serve as a snack or with dips.
Use as a gluten free 'pasta' layer in lasagne
NO fat and virtually no calories!
One 20cm zucchini makes two trays/one coffee jar.




ZUCCHINI KOFTA
A recipe for the cook who shared the spaghetti secret with me!
Serves 4 with rice and is gluten free. For a vegan option replace dairy with coconut milk

Koftas

500g grated zucchini, salted and squeezed, save liquid.

1 green chilli, chopped fine
1 large onion, chopped fine
1/2tsp grated ginger
2Tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
2Tbsp chickpea flour

Mix all well and form into 16 balls.
Fry quickly till brown or brush with oil and bake at 180 degrees.

Sauce
2 onions, chopped fine
rice bran oil
Heat oil and fry till transparent

1/2 tsp turmeric
pinch cayenne pepper
2 tsp ground coriander
Add and cook for a minute or so, till fragrant

225g canned or fresh tomatoes, chopped
zuc water from above
Add to onions and spice, simmer until reduced in volume by half.

250ml cream or yoghurt
1/2 tsp garam masala
Gently warm through, pour over koftas and sprinkle with whole roasted cumin seed or fresh coriander.

I hope you all enjoy the last of the season - in the middle of winter!

Gluten free quest

I love bread... homemade dark rye sourdough with grains and seeds is my weakness...and something I can no longer eat.....

Most commercially available gluten free breads are raised with baking powder and have a very cake like texture. If they include wholemeal flour or grains, they have to be boosted with other raising agents to give extra rising power in heavier dough.

I had picked up a packet of what I thought was Laucke gluten free flour in anticipation of experimenting and it turned out to be a bread mix that only took an hour to make. As I had to have the oven on to bake for the markets and the kitchen was already hot, it made sense to fill the oven. This mix contains bicarbonate of soda (E500), glucono delta lactone (E575), which is either synthetic, or produced by bacteria from sugar. Guar gum (E412) and Xanthan gum (E415) are both natural thickeners and E464 – hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, is a semi synthetic thickening agent derived from wood and may cause digestive problems in sensitive people.

The mix was easy to prepare, I mixed 500gm and water in Thermomix on soft for 30 seconds, then #3 for two minutes. Interestingly, the batter is then left to rise for 20 minutes. It almost doubles in size, I can’t quite figure out why – there must be some reaction between the two rising agents. The 500g bag, which is half the amount in the box, made a large loaf in my 2 litre capacity tin. It browned a little unevenly and sank a little after cooking but this was probably because I had the oven set 5 degrees higher than recommended and didn’t notice so it cooked too fast. The only problem I had was removing it from the tin. I had oiled it really well, as recommended but it stuck in places. I will always line the tins for these batter type mixes in future.

The results were okay, a nice soft loaf that sliced well after cooling. The results were still a bit ‘white’ for my taste, but preferable to the frozen and defrosted GF bread available for sale here and as it costs half as much, is worth considering. The same mix can be used for rolls, pizzas, tortillas, cakes and pancakes, all the recipes are on the packet.

I froze half the loaf, defrosted, it was 'fresh' enough for sandwiches and toasted very nicely.

No luck so far in the hunt for gluten free sourdough recipes but have come across a huge list of GF grains I can play with and some recipes for making your own GF flour blends.

PS. Balingup Bronze Cafe is holding gluten free cooking classes here soon.

Contact them http://www.balingupbronzegallery.com.au/