I suppose most everyone is a finicky eater when young. I could not bear the thought of pepper being used at any time in any dish. Sometimes, I turned dinner into an inquisition of sorts. In a demanding way, I'd quiz my mother as to the presence of pepper. The quizzing was also meant to serve as a stern warning; there was to be no pepper in King David's food! I'm sure my mother ignored me completely.
Certainly, zucchini squash was another item found on King David's lengthy list of forbidden foods. It made the banned food lists of my royal siblings too.
Certainly, zucchini squash was another item found on King David's lengthy list of forbidden foods. It made the banned food lists of my royal siblings too.
My family always had a prolific vegetable garden though we kids did not care to eat much of its production. It became my mother's challenge to get us to eat more of the garden's vegetables. Her many efforts would mostly go for naught as we kids rejected them without any real consideration. That all changed when one day our mother made some zucchini cupcakes slathered thick with sweet icing. The cupcakes could not be denied! And, if we were willing to eat zucchini cupcakes, shouldn't we then also accept zucchini in fresh made bread? Zucchini bread did become a mealtime summer favorite. Soon, our lists of forbidden foods became much less relevant to our lives. I don't think we were any easier to live with though, we were still royal pains!
Royale Zucchini Cornbread
Ingredients:
- 1 stick, unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 medium zucchini (slightly smallish)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup medium-grind cornmeal
Posittion an oven rack on the middle rungs and preheat to 350 degrees. Spray the interior of a 9x5x3" loaf pan.
Melt the stick of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook butter until the butter solids at bottom of pan turn golden brown. This should take anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes. Once done, scrape the butter into a medium bowl. Let cool for 5 minutes. Whisk in eggs and buttermilk.
Trim zucchini ends. Thinly slice three to five 1/16" rounds from 1 end of zucchini. We're going to use these rounds to garnish the bread just before baking. If you want more decorations, like you're seeing in the photo, then cut a thick slice of about 2 inches. Use the thick slice of zucchini to create julienned match sticks. When preparing the zucchini garnishes be sure to cut off most of the zucchini's interior. We want thin rounds and match sticks that are little more than zucchini skin. Reserve these cuttings.
Coarsely grate remaining zucchini. Add to bowl with butter mixture stirring until well blended.
Sift both flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a large bowl. Whisk in cornmeal. Add zucchini mixture folding just to blend. The batter will be very thick. Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.
Decorate with reserved zucchini slices and julienned match sticks.
Bake the bread until golden and a tester inserted into center comes out clean. About 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Comments:
Nice! A super crust, a stand out design, a slight sweetness, and a buttery cornmeal flavor make for a great bread. It's also fairly easy to make. The leftovers can be refrigerated for 3 days and they'll make great open-faced sandwiches with ham or chicken.
Check out these beach recipes: Fish & Pasta Deluxe Dinner , Spring Greens & Calamata Olives and Showcase Lemon Pie.
