Friday, August 08, 2008

squash bread

squash and grater
grated squash in the bowl grated squash in baggies
squash bread and port

My evening activity is making zucchini/squash bread. (While watching the awesome Chinese Olympics opening!) I grated a pile of overgrown squash - the ones that I didn't find until too late. My mom said to look for a car with an open window and put them in. But no, I grated them all. I ended up with a pile of baggies full that I froze.

I have been reading through Marion Morash's Victory Garden Cookbook again (I read this every year I think). Lots of squash ideas. I will try using my frozen grated squash in soups, pasta sauce and squash breads and cakes later.

Kathy's Summer Squash Bread
(From The Victory Garden Cookbook, by Marion Morash, where its called Lynn's Spicy Zucchini Bread. This version has my changes.)

3 cups flour: 1 cup whole spelt flour and 2 cups all purpose white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
3 eggs
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups lightly packed grated summer squashes
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup nuts (I used sliced almonds)

Mix the dry ingredients together. Beat the eggs with the sugar, oil and vanilla. Gradually beat in the dry ingredients. Stir in squash, raisins and nuts. Divide between two 9x5-inch loaf pans generously greased with butter. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven until done (50-70 minutes).

Cucurbita pepo (squash)

Skippy's vegetable recipes

18 comments:

caliann said...

Hi Kathy, I really like the idea of freezing the squash. Ive never tried it and I've got squash coming out of my ears. I live and garden in the middle of sunny California.

Anonymous said...

Your bread looks delicious - do you have a recipe you could share? I've never tried freezing summer squash/zucchini, though I do freeze winter squash. Does it get watery?

Silli said...

Have you frozen grated squash before? I have read that you shoul steam blanch the grated squash but hope that that step is not necessary.

kathy said...

Well, I've never done this before. It just seemed like a good idea. And I had to do something with all the squash.

But a google search found this from Farm Girl Fare:

"You can ... freeze grated zucchini for baking, .... Some people put it straight into bags, but others recommend steam blanching it first (see links below for more information on how to do this). Update: Many thanks to all of you who left comments letting me know that unblanched grated zucchini freezes beautifully--and can be used for more than baking. I now have several bags of it in the freezer. And thanks for all the other zucchini tips, too!"

The comments on this post are great! I'm convinced that this works.

kathy said...

I will add the recipe to the post. Thanks for asking.

Dan said...

wow, your garden is looking wonderful as usual, I really like your path material.

Your squash bread reminds me of making zucchini scones in home ec class in grade 7. Wish I still had the recipe, they were good. I will have to try the bread recipe.

On another note, your area is a long day onion area like mine. From what I can gather this means the onions needs longer day light hours to develop bulbs thus letting the onion plant grow larger, creating larger bulbs. The Dixondale Farm link I was given will ship the onion plants right to you, unfortunately they can not ship to Canada so that excludes me but I thought you may be interested.

Matron said...

That looks brilliant! I'm always looking for different things to do with squash this time of year when there are so many!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the recipe! I can definitely sub out for the eggs, so I'll be making this one today :-)

Unknown said...

I made this the other night for a cookout, it went over really well:
Zucchini and Summer Squash Tart
(Southern Living Magazine)

1 (8-ounce) can refrigerated crescent rolls
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup butter or margarine ( I omitted and used olive oil and butter spray)
1 1/2 pounds yellow squash (about 4 cups), thinly sliced*
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, pressed ( I minced)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper 2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese ( I used 2% Italian blend)
*** I added a 1/2 cup of shopped prosciutto***

Unroll crescent rolls; press dough on bottom and up sides of a 10-inch tart pan, pressing to seal perforations.
Bake at 375° for 6 minutes or until lightly browned. Gently press crust down with a wooden spoon. Spread crust with mustard, and set aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 3 Tbs. olive oil and butter spray. Put onions in skillet and saute a couple minutes. Add zucchini, squash and prosciutto and saute about 5 More minutes. Add garlic and saute about a minute more. Remove from heat; stir in parsley and next 5 ingredients.
Whisk together eggs and milk in a large bowl; stir in cheese and vegetable mixture. Pour over crust.
Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Garnish, if desired.
*1 1/2 pounds zucchini may be substituted for yellow squash.

Jim Lemire said...

Is your mom from Maine? I've "heard" summer is the only time people in Maine lock their cars and roll up their windows!

Jana said...

That bread looks delicious. A couple pieces toasted with some cream cheese and a cup of tea for breakfast... That would be a good way to start the day!

kathy said...

My mom is not from Maine, but she always likes that joke.

My Mom also warned me about this recipe. She says the only reason I got away with adding so much squash is because I used the dryer whole flour. She says 3c is a lot of squash. Don't use more than this or the bread will be too moist.

I ended up giving one loafs to my brother and half a loaf to my parents, so I am sad to be so soon now without any more squash bread. I think I'll have to make another batch...

Gura Farm said...

Just wanted to let you know I made this Squash Bread with squash from my own garden. I made it to take to my father in Maine, who unfortunately, hates raisins. So, I substituted those with his favorite - dried cranberries! I also replaced the almonds with walnuts. He said it was the best bread he had ever had and wanted to take it down to the bakery.

Thanks for posting the recipe!

Roxanne
http://gurafarm.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I have had a garden for many years, but this is the first year I planted squash. My husband seems to have a childhood affliction with the vegetable and couldn't accept the answer, "Because I want to try something new." After making this recipe with the straightneck squash I grew, it will now be a staple in my garden.

charlene said...

Just made these because our yellow squash is growing like crazy this year and our zucchini is minimal ... (my husband planted more yellow squash by mistake) they were fantastic!!! I didn't have cloves so omitted them. Also instead of raisins and nuts, I used dark chocolate chips. Yum! Thanks.for.the recipe!!

LBJoanie said...

Hi,
I am absolutely INUNDATED with pattypans right now -- from just one plant! -- and am desperately seeking ways to use them up...I had also thought of "gifting" my neighbors but my sneaky plan was to put them on their porches!

I googled "pattypan squash bread" and yours was the first link and I just can't WAIT to get home and try that recipe! And the idea of shredding and freezing any others is absolutely GENIUS! I can't believe I didn't think of that; it's what I did with last year's surplus tomatoes (which I've also been told must be blanched before freezing, but I'm lazy and didn't and they worked just fine for ketchup and bbq sauce!)

So a big THANK YOU for the recipe!

Anonymous said...

So, You don't have to peel the patty pan squash? I plan on trying this bread receipe and I was curious. Thanks

kathy said...

No, I never peel patty pan. It has a nice skin.