Baked Zucchini

As mentioned in yesterday's post we had intentions of turning that forearm sized zucchini (courgette) into a delicious contraption, which happened today with awesome results! But first I must begin with breakfast.

So we have decided (I think I mentioned it before) that there is nothing quite like farmer's market eggs. I will never buy store bought eggs again unless I absolutely have to... The picture isn't so good but this is four eggs (they were the smaller variety, so four is equivalent to two large eggs), a GFDF Sourdough bagel with EarthBalance spread and two of the other types of jellies. One side has Strawberry Lavender, the other has a Strawberry Basil. I rounded that all off with my delicious Tetley British Tea blend with some coconut creamer and honey. It was really delicious and gave us more ideas on how to use some of the other jellies we purchased. Though in the long run we have decided the Strawberry Lavender is the best "toast" jelly of the ones we got. But we still love them all!

The picture isn't so good this go round, my camera seems to have ate the one I edited better.

So then came preparations for dinner. When we began planning this endeavor we had two things to start with - an awesome zucchini and several delicious jams and jellies (The Root Cellar Jonesville made the jellies, as mentioned yesterday). So Logician put his thinking cap on and decided we needed Crab Meat. 

In the end we ended up using the following:

**** This Recipe Includes Mussels and Crab! Otherwise it is GF, DF, and Egg Free ****

Which includes:

1) Left over Paprika Gluten Free Bread Crumbs (which were mixed and used sans egg or other wet ingredients on the Potato Cakes I made for SST #1)

2) A Red Bell Pepper

3) One can lumped crab meat

4) One can sustainably harvested Bay Harbor mussels

5) Vegan Gourmet Cheddar style non-dairy cheese (we ended up using just over 1/3 of the block)

6) The Root Cellar's "Smart Tart" Hibiscus Jelly

7) One small can mushrooms (as we have these on hand, use fresh if you prefer)

8) An one inch piece of organically grown ginger

9) One very large Zucchini/Courgette purchased at the farmers market.

That's it, that's all we put in this delicious meal aside from the spices. Which we used: Course Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Cumin, Ground Gloves, Smoked Paprika, Savory Leaves, Ginger Powder, Minced Garlic in water, Tumeric, and One Black Cardamom Pod (which was removed prior to baking).

To make: 

1) Carefully trim the ends off the zucchini and slice in half. Remove seeds and discard, then using a melon baller or ice cream scoop gently scrape out the innards until a small layer remains. They should resemble boats. 

2) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, put skillet on over medium heat and warm about a 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil in the pan. Slice the onion into strips and sautee with the garlic and ginger until caramelized. Add the smashed zucchini innards and salt, pepper, tumeric, the cardamom pod, savory, and cumin. 

3) Cook for several minutes until warmed through (we added three to five tablespoons of the strained mussel juice from the can). Add the red pepper cut into one inch long strips. Cook till warmed.

4) Add the crab meat (strained), mussels (strained), and canned mushrooms (strained). Then add the liquid from the crab meat. Cook until warmed through and add the remaining spices and any additional amounts of the others as needed. 

5) Put into a heat safe bowl and mix in about 1/4 a cup GF bread crumbs and 1/4 cup shredded non-dairy cheese. Add just enough bread crumbs and cheese for the mixture to bind together well. 

** You can stop here and turn this into delicious crab cakes. We had that thought but already had the zucchini prepared. Next time - crab cakes! **

6) Place the two halves of the zucchini on aluminum foil (which we didn't do, would have been smarter to do first), and fill with the stuffing. Slightly overfill one side and under fill the other. 

7) Make small indentations in the stuffing in the under filled half and alternate with 1 teaspoon of jelly and a pinch of cheese. On the other half add a line of jelly and a line of cheese (both of these are optional but tasty).

8) Gently place the two halves back together (the stuffing was very compact for us so we didn't have any spillage). Then roll in aluminum foil and try to have it sit so the seam is horizontal. 

9) Bake in the oven at 325 degrees for 25 minutes, then  flip the zucchini and increase the temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for another 20 minutes. 

10) Remove from oven, using tongs remove the aluminum foil and slice with a sharp knife. Plate and enjoy!

This is what it looked like when we plated it. We ended up splashing some Tabasco Sauce on it at the table but it was quite delicious! We did decide however that it would be better with less cheese and a sharper flavored variety. But all in all it was very good. The jelly gave it a nice hint of tartness that really made the crab and mussel flavors pop. 

We ended up only eating about half of the zucchini and look forward to having it as left overs for lunches tomorrow. But I couldn't let the evening go without trying out another one of our jelly ideas. Using the jelly as a tea concentrate. I used about a 1/2 tablespoon of the Smart Tart Jelly and 1 teaspoon locally produced honey, added boiling water and voila!

It was quite tasty, though in the long run the honey over powered the jelly a bit. What was neat was the hibiscus sank to the bottom and would swish up whenever I took a sip. It was a nice compliment to the dinner. We are really excited about continuing our use of these awesome jellies in the next few days. Here's what's to come:

Super Secret Tuesday #2 (for real) - I plan on using the Strawberry Basil jelly for some highjinks, we'll see how it turns out!

July 4th BBQ - We are going to grill some white fish (cod, tilapia, or mahi mahi haven't selected yet) with the Jalapeno jelly, add in some delicious bicolored corn, and finish off with some GFDF crepes with an augmented version of the Vegan Coconut Creme using the blueberry jelly (oh yea, my mind is drooling over this one!). 

What's on Hand Thursday #2 - I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen here, it will likely amount to what leftovers we have going from the other two days and what sort of mood I am in. But I am thinking this will be another night for the Jalapeno to feature. We'll see how the week progresses!

Thanks for stopping by and here's to another delicious adventure in eating! I am really glad that we are sticking to our weekly Farmer's Market trips. They really have made a huge difference in how and what we eat, and it's really interesting as we learn the ebb and flow of the growing season around us!

Juicing/Rebooting Post #2 should be up tomorrow! Then look forward to Super Secret Tuesday #2 - because I am!

Namaste!