With heavy rains, hot temperatures, long days and bright sunshine, cucumbers in the garden are growing wild, seemingly overnight. Not only are cucumbers coming on by the peck, I have more fresh basil than I know what to do with. The sheer abundance of both got my wheels turning.
While “Sheridan’s Test Kitchen” is not very scientific, nor does it produce very standardized recipes (shhhhh, don’t tell the LLCC culinary students who invariably grow tired of my standard recipe lecturing!), I do end up with creative takes on old favorites. I love to develop new ways to use up ingredients without making the same thing. I often use tried and true recipes that need a face lift every once in a while.
Here was my wild side curiosity: could I substitute cucumber for zucchini in my favorite quick bread recipe and change the flavor profile so that I have two flavors of breads that have the same great moist, dense crumb texture while being very different in flavor? I did some experimenting! The result was fun and certainly appealed to my adventurous eater side while helping to tame my wild garden.
While you can take this recipe and use it as is, I challenge you to experiment with your own flavor combinations. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind:
Cucumbers have a slightly higher water percentage content than does zucchini, so I omitted the extra water in the recipe. The Water Amounts in Fruits and Vegetables table shows water percentages of various fruits and vegetables.
If you are unsure of what creative flavors go together, use the Baker’s Almanac to guide your flavor pairing.
Sugar helps with browning and flavor but also absorbs water. If lowering the sugar content, lower the water level also.
Finally, I use gluten free for cup flour, which doesn’t lend itself to develop gluten. This definitely means that reducing the sugar and water are possible without totally changing the texture.
I might even enjoy a fresh basil lime margarita while gathering my garden items just for the sake of getting my creative juices going! Happy experimenting!
Cucumber lime basil quick bread
Ingredients
3 cups grated cucumbers
4 beaten eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 1/4 cups GF cup for cup flour
Juice and zest of 1 lime
1 cup chopped or slivered almonds
Directions
Preheat oven to 325°F.
In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar.
In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice.
Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in.
Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini-loaf pans for about 45 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.
About
Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Baking/Pastry, and non-credit cooking and food classes through LLCC Community Education.
Cooking or food questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu.