Chai Zucchini Bread

I have a dirty little secret. [I can hardly wait to see the traffic I get from Google after making that statement!] I love zucchini and we eat it nearly every day as long as there is any growing in the garden. But I don't really like zucchini bread.

If you live in an area with a lot of gardeners and attend social occasions where food is shared such as family reunions, back yard picnics or church coffee hours, you are going to run into some zucchini bread. Perfectly humble Sunday School teachers might get a little testy if you turn down their zucchini bread and Aunt Maude is sure to remark that you might consider yourself better than some of the other lowly members of the family if you don't praise hers. So I smile and eat it, but to my thinking it just doesn't seem to have a flavor that gives it distinction. Banana Bread, pumpkin bread, cranberry bread - you can taste something unique to each fruit in them. Zucchini bread just tastes sweet to me and a bit dull. I decided to take advantage of the wide open blandness of the zukes and create something that uses up that ubiquitous gourd and tastes really good at the same time.

Which brings me to another secret - that of my addiction to Chai. Though anyone who ever has occasion to look through my kitchen cabinets is privy to this knowledge since I usually have 4 or 5 different kinds in there. This photo represents but a portion of my stash. So I decided to try and bring those flavors alongside the typical zucchini bread spices and see how they get along. The original inspiration for this recipe though has got to be the zukes. Lar told me that there was a nice big Portofino down there, and knowing how they stay firm and avoid getting overly seedy, I asked him to bring it on up to the house. And if you have a garden, I highly recommend Portofino zucchini - it is fabulous and well worth the extra buck or two for the seeds. This one is about 18 inches long and it's really not too big to use for frying or whatever because it is still tender. And gorgeous - it is probably the prettiest squash ever.For zucchini bread, you have to grate the zukes. I like to take the seeds out of the center, but you don't have to.This zucchini yielded enough for about 3 batches of bread - I froze the other two batches worth in zip-lock bags.So, what flavors make Chai? It varies from brand to brand but there are some constants I think - cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. My favorite Chais also always have ground black pepper - not in the photo but it is in the bread. And nutmeg - I hope the fresh nutmeg and microplane will rescue my reputation from the lowly Walmart cinnamon. I also like the idea of adding some orange and the dried peel is all I had on hand, so that is what I used. Fresh ginger and orange peel would elevate this quite a bit of course.* And I wanted to try and get the flavor of tea in there too, so I boiled 1/3 cup of water and steeped 3 regular tea bags for about 10 minutes.Okay - time to dive in.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together
3 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger* [1 tablespoon grated fresh]
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg [the canned stuff works, but it is so worth tracking down the real deal]
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 & 1/2 teaspoon orange peel - dried or fresh*
1/2 teapoon freshly ground pepperThen add the wet ingredients and stir until blended
2 cups grated zucchini
3 beaten eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil [I use a light olive oil]
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup of very strong brewed black tea
And stir in one cup of lightly toasted walnuts or pecans. Toasting the nuts a bit gives them a much richer flavor and keeps them crispy in the bread, even after sitting for a few days.Divide evenly between two greased 8 or 9 inch long bread pans.
Bake for 30 minutes, turn pans and begin checking after 45 minutes though they will likely take closer to an hour to be done. Remove from pans and cool on racks.Slice and serve plain or with butter or cream cheese. Very nice toasted. Very nice, period!

Chai Zucchini Bread
3 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger* [1 tablespoon grated fresh]
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg [the canned stuff works, but it is so worth tracking down the real deal]
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 & 1/2 teaspoon orange peel - dried or fresh*
1/2 teapoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups grated zucchini
3 beaten eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil [I use a light olive oil]
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup of very strong brewed black tea [3 tea bags in 1/3 cup boiling water]
1 cup toasted walnuts or pecans

Combine dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and stir to mix, add nuts and stir again. Divide between two well greased bread pans. Bake in center of oven set at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, turn pans and bake another 15 to 30 minutes until no crumbs stick to a tester or tooth pick inserted near the center. Remove from pans immediately and cool on racks.

*I made another batch with fresh ginger and lemon peel and it was even better - very much much worth the extra trouble