Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

The last couple of weeks I have been buying zucchini at the grocery store. I haven’t been eating it though. So this week I have a stockpile of zucchini. I decided to make muffins.

Most recipes called for nuts and I didn’t have any nuts. So I wanted to do something more. I found a recipe for chocolate zucchini muffins and modified it to fit what I had: I didn’t have all of the spices but I did have pumpkin pie spice.  I added some coconut for a texture effect. And I reduced the amount of sugar and oil because I like my muffins less sweet and greasy. Here roughly is the recipe:

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar (generous)
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I may have used a bit more)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cupish sweetened coconut

Whisk the eggs, sugar and oil together. Add in the vanilla, zucchini, cocoa powder and coconut.

In another bowl mix flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice.

Add dry to wet. Fill muffin containers 2/3 full and bake at 350 for about 15-20 min.

Party Leftovers

In the last two months we have had two parties. With each I have had leftovers and here are two things I have made from the remains:

1. Taco Pie

One of the parties had a taco bar. I froze the left over ground beef taco meat and saved it for further use. Needing a quick dinner on a weeknight, I decided on Taco Pie.

Leftovers in the freezer: about 2 cups of taco meat

In the fridge: sliced provolone from past grilled cheese night

In the freezer: corn, pie crust

Pantry Items: can of black beans, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder

Process: I let the taco meat thaw out and the pie crust too.  Poked holes in the pie crust and baked it at 350 for about 10 min to get a bit crispy.
While that was happening in a non-stick skillet I put about a cupish of frozen corn in the hot pan. I let it get a bit charred and added about a tsp of chili powder and garlic and 1/2 tsp of cumin to the corn. I added a can of drained black beans and let it get all good and cooked together.

Mixed that with the taco meat in a bowl and poured it all into the par-baked pie crust. I topped it with slices of provlone cheese.

Baked until the cheese and crust were all browned. About 25mins.

Result: yummy (duh!)

2. Corn Pesto Tarts

Leftovers in the fridge: corn bacon pesto (browned corn with garlic, shallots, bacon, pesto)

In the Freezer: puffy pastry

In the fridge: leftover goat cheese, mozzerella

Pantry Items: canola spray

The most recent party had a crostini bar so there was leftover corn pesto and goat cheese. I let the puff pastry thaw and rolled it out a bit. Cut it into the fourths and scored a thin border around each edge. I sprayed them all with canola spray and put a thin layer of corn pesto inside the scored boxes. Sprinkled with goat cheese and mozzerella and baked at 400 for about 15 minutes until browned.

I served it with leftover salad and breadsticks from olive garden.

Result: nomgasm.

Both ended up really good with the Corn Pesto tart edging out in the party leftover battle. The tarts could be done as a dinner or as an appetizer for another impromptu get together.

Tipsy Grilled Cheese

Primary Mission: Make grilled cheese for dinner using the Waffle maker

Leftovers in the fridge: pesto, turkey sandwich meat, bacon, provolone, grape tomatoes

In the freezer: imitation crab

Pantry Items: bread, onions

Process: Bought some awesome Tuscan bread from Trader Joes that I used to make waffle french toast (french toast cooked in the waffle maker). I wanted to use that for grilled cheese.

First thing I did was got the bacon cooking in the oven and started sauteing the onions to get them all sweet and delicious.

Then I had a big glass of wine and chatted with my friends.

When the bacon and onions were done I started to take orders for grilled cheese. Everything in the Casa that was edible (people and pets excluded) was up for grabs in the grilled cheese.

While my husband was getting people’s orders, I had another glass of wine.

I fired up the waffle maker and started buttering bread once on each side. I put the ingredients in each sandwich and grilled in the waffle maker. It was quick, did both sides at once and looked all fancy. I did three different types of grilled cheese:

1. Pesto, Bacon, Tomatoes: thin layer of pesto on both sides, bacon, some onions, provolone, grape tomatoes (sliced in half).

2. Pesto, Bacon, Crab:  thin layer of pesto on both sides, bacon, onions, provolone, defrosted imitation crab that was flaked.

3. Pesto, Bacon, Turkey: thin layer of pesto on both sides, bacon, onions, provolone, turkey.

Result: Everyone loved their grilled cheese. The Waffle maker produced a crispy sandwich with a soft gooey middle. I didn’t have to monitor it too much or do unecessary flipping which in my intoxicated state was great. No burns or mishaps.

Bonus Recipe: The picture above also contains some green looking yums. That was a bag of shredded broccoli/carrots for broccoli slaw. In the pan I cooked the onions I added a bit of oil and cooked that mix till it got soft but still crispy then I put a mixture of asian-ish stuff in my fridge ontop of it. THis time it was: Orange sauce, siracha, soy, sesame oil. I let that all saute for about a minute then it was done. It was also really good.

Rule of thumb for fridge Asian-y sauce creations is you can go heavier on the sweeterish sauces (hoisin, orange, black bean sauce) but start off light on the soy and the siracha. Too much soy sauce  will make it salty and too much siracha will make it super spicy. And always just use a small amount of sesame oil. Pantry items you can add to make these better are honey, garlic powder, ginger, five spice, red pepper flakes (instead of siracha). I usually just keep adding till it tastes good. You can try it before it is cooked.

Beef Curry Pies

Primary Mission: use ground beef in the fridge before  it went bad

Leftovers in fridge: cooked spiced potatoes and grilled onions from dinner earlier in the week, curry sauce from the Pub

In the freezer: puff pastry, pie crust

Pantry items: curry powder, salt, cumin, bread

Process: I browned the beef in a non stick skillet, added the potatoes and onions and some cumin to the pan. Added the curry sauce and let it simmer a minute or two.  I tasted it and it needed a little bit more.  So I added a bit of curry powder and salt.

Then I rolled out the sheet of puff pastry and cut it in half. Filled each half with filling and closed each half over. Took the pie crust out of the pan and rolled it out. Cut that in half and did the same as the puff pastry.

Still had some filling leftover so I  rolled out bread slices thin and filled one half with the curry mixture. Brushed egg wash on the slice and put another rolled out slice on top.

Put all of the “pies” on cookie sheets. Brushed the pie crust and puff pastry ones with egg wash.  I brushed the bread ones with olive oil and a little salt (you could use butter).

Baked at  400 for about 15min. I turned the bread pies over halfway through cooking to crisp up on both sides.

Result: Super yummy. Everyone in the Casa loved it.  The bread I used was a multi-grain bread and was firm enough to hold the filling but ended up a little chewy. If I try it again I would probably use firm white bread.

Mission

I love to cook yummy food for my friends and loved ones. One of the ways I feel I am the most creative is using leftovers to create new dishes.
I hope to give you tips and actual recipes on how to use leftover and common pantry items to make super yummy dishes.