Raspberry Zucchini Bread

The weekends – which often, quite frankly just seem to whiz by – can  either result in one of two outcomes: a “case of the Mondays,” where you're just not ready to tackle the work and personal to-do-list; or, better yet they can leave you feeling refreshed, happy, nourished and thinking, “Bring it on, Monday.”

This past weekend has resulted in the latter.

I drove up to San Clemente for one of my best friend’s baby showers on Saturday and spent the whole weekend in the lovely town by the water. We celebrated Mom-to-be and Baby with tons of her friends, got spoiled rotten by her dad’s (who is visiting from Montana) home cooking, and walked our favorite beach trail on Sunday morning.

The change of scenery, ocean air, and company of good friends are the kinds of things weekends are made for.

Since Katie is 38 weeks pregnant, I’m getting myself ready to hop in my car and drive back up once the baby is born. I’ll be bringing two loves of this Raspberry Zucchini Bread, which feels like a perfect bread for March. It's comforting enough for colder, rainy days, yet bright and light enough for warmer weather, too. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend and has a wonderful week ahead!

Raspberry Zucchini Bread

This is great recipe for transitioning from winter to summer. It combines comforting elements that we love in winter, like whole grains, pecans, and warming spices, yet is balanced by lighter spring flavors from the shredded zucchini and frozen raspberries.

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

½ cup raspberry yogurt

½ cup agave nectar

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

3 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup frozen raspberries

1 cup pecan pieces

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2.     Grease two 8x4" loaf pans.

3.     In large bowl mix together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spice.

4.     In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, yogurt, agave nectar, brown sugar, applesauce and vanilla.

5.     Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir in zucchini, frozen raspberries, and pecans.

6.     Divide batter between loaf pans.

7.     Bake about 60 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean. Cool and remove from pans.

Disclaimer: We are consulting dietitians for the National Processed Raspberry Council.

If you like this recipe, you may also want to take a peek at these recipes for:

      Oatmeal Flax Molasses Bread

Chocolate Raspberry Muffins

Raspberry Coconut Carrot Cake Muffins

{Recipe Redux} Sausage & Fennel Dressing for Thanksgiving

Food memories.  That is The Recipe Redux challenge for this month. 

Goodness gracious, where do I start?

When I was growing up, Mom’s homemade bread, hot out of the oven and spread with salted butter.  Or her apple pie.  Feeling very grown up eating Dad’s caviar pie at Christmas.  Granny’s sausage balls—basically a sausage and cheese biscuit. I could eat one after the other (even now). Fishing with Pappy, followed by a lesson in filleting and a fish fry.  Making Chicken Cordon Bleu for my entire high school French Club. Sitting cross-legged on the floor to eat my first sushi.  Lobster rolls eaten on the deck of a sailboat. 

More recently, a grilled egg sandwich with crispy prosciutto, melty cheese and fig jam—the first thing I ever made for my husband.      

But, it’s the beginning of the holiday season, and that makes me think of dressing, my favorite turkey side dish. When I was growing up, we would go to Granny's and Pappy’s for Thanksgiving.  Granny used to make the dressing with lots of onion, celery and sage and then pressed it thin in the pan, so it would have lots of crispy edges.  It was my favorite.  The smell of dressing baking always makes me feel like a kid.  

I’ve kept Granny's general formula but added sausage and fennel, for lots of savory flavor.  I make my dressing with whole wheat bread, and I love the rich, toasty flavor it adds to the dressing (and the added fiber).  I think the biggest secret to a good dressing is this:  add enough liquid (like chicken broth) to completely saturate the bread crumbs, and then let it sit overnight to soak up all of that liquid.  After the turkey is done, put the dressing in the oven and bake until the edges are crispy but the center is still moist.  Everyone will be happy.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, preferably surrounded by all the people you love.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Fennel & Sausage Dressing

One loaf of whole wheat bread, cut into cubes

1 ½ pounds mild breakfast sausage, or turkey sausage

1 onion, cut into ¼-inch dice

2 celery stalks, cut into ¼-inch dice

1 fennel bulb, cored and cut into ¼-inch dice*

1 ½ teaspoons sea salt

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped (about 3 sprigs of thyme)

Pinch of red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, preferably homemade

2 eggs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

Place the bread cubes on a large rimmed baking sheet and toast for about 15 - 20 minutes until golden and crispy. Transfer the bread to a very large bowl and allow to cool.

Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat.  Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the sausage with the back of a spoon, until the sausage is very brown.  Remove the sausage from the pan and place it in the bowl with the bread crumbs, leaving the fat in the pan. 

If you have a lot of excess fat, pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the pork fat.  Add the onion, celery, fennel and sea salt to the pan and cook until the onions are translucent and the vegetables are soft.  Scrape up any of the sausage that has stuck to the bottom of the pan. Scrape the vegetables into the bowl with the bread.  Add the sage, thyme, red pepper flakes and black pepper.  Stir everything together to combine.

Whisk the eggs into a little bit of the chicken stock.  Pour the eggs and all of the chicken stock over the bread mixture and toss until the bread soaks up the liquid. Scrape the mixture into the prepared baking dish and cover with foil.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Dot the top of the stuffing with the butter.  Bake for about an hour, or until it is cooked through and the edges are browned.  If it starts to brown too quickly, cover with aluminum foil. 

*Save your fennel tops! Freeze them and use them when making chicken or vegetable stock. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Oatmeal Flax Molasses Bread

I just returned from Israel, dreaming of burnt eggplant, whole roasted cauliflower, fresh salads for breakfast and beautiful, yeasty whole grain breads.

Actually, day dreaming is more accurate, since jet lag has left me sleepless.  Which has given me more time to bake.

One of my favorite breakfast places in Tel Aviv is Café Sonia Getzel Shapira, partly because the enclosed tree-filled courtyard is a serene place to enjoy breakfast but mostly because of their bread.  With breakfast, they serve Moraccan bread, soft and richly flavored molasses-colored rolls filled with oatmeal flakes.      

My first morning home, I had a craving for those rolls.  I modified my favorite bread recipe, to try to replicate Sonia’s, adding a little flax seed just for fun (and added fiber and omega-3s, of course). They were good, so I decided to try the recipe again as a sandwich loaf.  Here is the result.

Don’t be afraid to make bread.  It’s really quite easy and takes very little hands-on time and the results are so rewarding.  Here's a play-by-play.  The instructions are below.

  

What’s better than warm bread, right out of the oven?  While the bread is rising and baking, you can do a million other things.  I suggest reading a magazine in the sunshine. 

I hope you enjoy, preferably sharing a slice with someone you love!

Oatmeal Flax Molasses Bread

Makes about 12 slices

2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees)

1 tablespoon molassas

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 packet yeast (1/4 oz yeast total)

3 cups whole wheat bread flour

¾ cup whole rolled oats

½ cup ground flax seed

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 egg

1 teaspoon water

Add the two cups of warm water to a glass measuring cup or small bowl.  Whisk in the molasses.  Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and stir or whisk slightly to incorporate the yeast into the water.  Let the yeast mixture proof for 5 – 10 minutes until the yeast foams and until you smell the yeast developing.  (If the yeast doesn’t foam, that means it’s not still alive and you have to try again.) 

To the bowl of your stand mixer, add the whole wheat flour, oatmeal, flax and salt.  Stir together. 

Pour the yeast mixture into the flour.  Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough is formed.  Cover with a towel and let sit for about 30 minutes. This lets the dough hydrate.  If you don’t have time to wait, you can skip this step.

Place the dough hook attachment on your stand mixture and knead for 10 – 15 minutes.  This is a wet dough, so don’t be concerned if it doesn’t necessarily come together in a dough ball.  If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can knead by hand.  You’ll probably have to knead in a little extra flour, which will just make for a more dense bread.  It will still be good.

Cover the dough with a towel and let rise for an hour in a warm place.  The dough will double in size.

In the meantime, prepare a loaf pan by spreading extra virgin olive oil on the inside, to prevent the dough from sticking.

Once the dough has risen, softly deflate it and then place the dough in the loaf pan, spreading it to the edges.  Cover with a towel and let it rise again, about an hour. 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Once the dough has risen for a second time, whisk together the egg and water and brush the egg wash on top of the bread dough.  This will make the top shiny. 

Place the loaf pan in the oven and bake for about 40 – 45 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown on top and sounds hollow when you tap the top.

Remove the pan from the oven and turn the bread out onto a baking rack to cool.  Let cool at least 10 minutes before slicing.  If you can wait that long.

Note:    If you want to turn these into rolls, just divide the dough into 8 pieces and bake on a baking stone for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees.