Welcome to My Kitchen

Summer produce is in abundant supply, as are recipes for the column. I won’t be able to get them all into one issue but will start out with those calling for currently available produce. Carrie Greenwalt shared two of her favorite summertime recipes. Mushroom/Spinach Crustless Breakfast Quiche calls for fresh mushrooms and frozen spinach, but you may substitute canned mushrooms and fresh spinach. Zucchini is abundant now so I even made a version using thin sliced zucchini that turned out very good.

Mushroom/Spinach

Crustless Breakfast Quiche

8 ounces grated Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 cup milk or soy milk

2 cups sliced mushrooms

Dash paprika and ground black pepper

6 eggs lightly beaten or the equivalent in Eggbeaters

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and liquid squeezed out.

1/4 cup bacon bits

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 12 inch round or square baking pan with cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan heat milk to 110 degrees. Place spinach and mushrooms in prepared pan, sprinkle with cheese.

Add beaten eggs, bacon bits and seasonings to heated milk, mixing lightly. Pour over mixture in pan. Bake until set, 40 to 50 minutes. Serve warm or cold. Quiche may be kept in the refrigerator up to five days. Yield: 6 servings.

Note: when I tested the recipe I use two 8 ounce cans mushrooms, well drained. When I substituted the 2 cups thin sliced zucchini I used small squash about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, I tossed the zucchini slices with a teaspoon salt and let them stand 30 minutes, then rinsed and drained well. I followed Carrie’s advice to add double the amount of bacon called for.

Chocolate Chip-Orange-Zucchini Bread was the other favorite recipe Carrie shared. She got the recipe from the Colfax Gazette and it is attributed to Darlene Rowland of Spokane who won a blue ribbon and Best of Class award with this bread. It is a very moist bread that is best chilled before slicing. Carrie says she omits the nuts when she prepares this recipe, but I used them for test baking. Since both Darlene and Carrie hinted that this was a very moist tender bread, I lined the pans with parchment paper after greasing before adding the batter, to ensure loaves would come out of the pans easily.

Chocolate Chip

Orange-Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups grated unpeeled raw zucchini

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup miniature chocolate chips

1 Tbsp grated orange rind

3 cups sifted flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Well grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans and set aside,

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy, add sugar and continue beating until well blended. Stir in vegetable oil, vanilla, zucchini, nuts, chocolate chips and orange rind.

In a separate bowl or on a piece of waxed paper, sift flour, leavenings and spices together. Stir into egg mixture.

Turn batter into prepared pans, spreading evenly. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes, then remove loaves to wire racks to cool completely. Chill before slicing. Yield: 2 loaves.

Yellow or crookneck summer squash may be substituted in almost any recipe calling for zucchini, but it lends itself well to Lemon-Cranberry Summer Squash Bread, a sweetbread recipe I developed about 10 years ago.

Lemon-Cranberry

Summer Squash Bread

3 eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup very soft butter

1 1/2 tsp lemon extract

2 cups grated yellow summer squash

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp lemon zest

1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Well grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until fluffy. Stir in sugar, oil, butter and lemon extract. In a medium bowl combine flour and leavenings and stir into egg mixture. Fold in zucchini and cranberries.

Pour batter evenly into prepared pans, spreading to fill the corners. Bake 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean and bread is firm and lightly browned.

Remove from oven and cool in pans 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 loaves.

Note: you may add 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans to the batter if desired.

I was asked to repeat the recipe for BBQ Cabbage from several years ago. The recipe comes from Andy, the fruit lady in town on Wednesdays.

BBQ Cabbage

2 pounds coarsely chopped cabbage

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup favorite prepared BBQ sauce

Salt and pepper

18 inch heavy duty aluminum foil

Cut a 24 inch length of heavy duty aluminum foil. Combine onion and cabbage in the center of the aluminum foil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the BBQ sauce. Fold up edges of foil and seal tightly. Place on grill over medium coals for about 30 minutes or until cabbage is tender and begins to caramelize. Great with just about any meat your cooking on the grill.

And since I can’t squeeze it in this column, I am sharing the internet link to the recipe for Fresh Apricot Pie, that I made for a recent coffee hour. Apricot season will soon be over and the next column would be too late. http://www.allrecipes.com/apricot-pie. You want the recipe by: snowflake.

Share your favorite summer recipes by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA 99159, email therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. These hot days vegetable gardens benefit from morning and evening watering.