Zucchini, Zucchini and more Zucchini!!!!

My garden this year is doing great! Lots of peas, beans, cucumbers already and tons of zucchini. I have been trying to make more recipes with zucchini in it because I hate to see them go to watse. I made some Chocolate chip cookies with zucchini in them and they went over well. The youngest daughter said
" why are they so soft Mommy?" but the oldest girl said she loved them!!

Here is a new way of enjoying some salsa with various meats, as a side or with some tortilla chips made from baking tortilla shells in the oven.

Zucchini Salsa

Preparation Time: 15 Minutes
Cooking Time: No Cooking Required

Ingredients:
1. 1 small zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2. 1 tomato, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
4. 3/4 cup fresh corn kernels (cut from 1 large ear of corn)
5. 3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
6. 1/2 hot pepper, finely chopped
7. 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or basil
8. Juice of 1/2 lemon or 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and give a quick mix with a spoon.

This delicious summer treat can be enjoyed with crackers, nachos, chicken, fish, or on its own as a salsa-salad.

Courtesy of Eat Local Caledon

Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!!
Lori Tinella
Little Chefs

10 Tips to Making the Best Muffins Ever!

Start with ingredients at room temperature – eggs, milk, etc.

Take care not to over mix the batter; use a flexible spatula to gently fold ingredients together.

Batter should be stiff enough to hold a spoon upright; if it seems runny, gently fold in a few extra tablespoons of flour.

Use the freshest spices as possible when they are required.

Grease the entire muffin tin, not just the holes. More often than not, the muffins expand over the sides, and if those sides have not been properly greased, you’re going to run into trouble when you try to remove the muffins.

Fill muffin tins three-quarters full; the tops are the best part, so don’t be shy with the batter.

Slide a baking sheet under the muffin tin to help prevent the bottoms from getting too dark in the oven. This also helps with cleanup in case there is overflow.
Take care not to over-bake the muffins.

Allow muffins to cool in the pan at least 10 minutes before removing them, especially if they contain soft fresh fruit.

Enjoy them fresh. If you must, freeze them, although I prefer to freeze the batter (without add-ins), then thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake the muffins fresh in the morning.

I am just going to try out a new recipe with fresh raspberries since they are in season so I will post the recipe and picture later!

Lori Tinella
Happy Baking!!

Little Chefs

Make your own Whole Wheat Flour

Whole wheat flour is nothing more than all purpose or white flour with added wheat bran. Yes, believe it or not, you can MAKE your own whole-wheat flour! It is a straight 1 to 1 ratio. of every cup of all-purpose flour, you add the same amount of wheat bran. But keep in mind because whole flour has different structure and taste, not all baked goods should be substituted for whole wheat flour.
If you are making delicate sponge or chiffon cakes, I would not recommend using whole wheat flour. However, less delicate baked items such as muffins, coffee cakes, biscuits, scones and breads are very whole wheat flour friendly.

In the category of quick breads (i.e. scones and biscuits), I suggest using 2/3 cup of all-purpose flour and 1/3 cup of whole wheat flour. For breads, I like to use a 1 to 1 ratio for whole wheat to white flour. Also, because whole-wheat flour has less protein (gluten) you may want to add either gluten or bread flour which has a higher protein level to give your bread some lift and structure.

Here are some very important things to keep in mind when using whole wheat flour:

• Whole wheat flour is more dense than white flour, so you should sift, or if you are too lazy to sift, quickly aerate your whole wheat flour with a whisk.
• If you are substituting whole wheat flour, you must increase your wet ingredients ever so slightly. The bran in the whole wheat flour acts like a sponge, therefore absorbs more than the required moisture in your recipe.
• Lastly, avoid over mixing when you use whole-wheat all-purpose flour in baked goods such as cookies and muffins because the denser flour mixture will create unwanted gluten and make your baked goods tougher and chewier.

Happy Baking!

Lori Tinella
Little Chefs