Zucchini bread with pistachios and orange
I love this moist, sweet quick bread. I make short work of grating the zucchini by using the shredding disc on my food processor. Just to make sure the trimmed zukes pass through easily, cut them in half lengthwise before feeding them into the processor's feed tube. If you don't have a food processor, you can use the large holes on a box grater. To remove excess watery liquid, the grated zucchini is wrung out in a clean dish towel. The results are perfect. A loaf pan that measures 81/2 by 41/2 works best, but if you use a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, start checking for doneness 5 minutes early.
Yield: 8 slices
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds zucchini, about 3 1/2 medium zucchini, trimmed, shredded
1 1/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) packed light brown sugar 1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1teaspoon grated orange zest
11/2 cups (71/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 3/4 ounces) whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (reduce to 3/4 teaspoon if using lightly salted pistachios)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/4 cup roasted shelled pistachios, chopped 1tablespoon granulated sugar
DIRECTIONS
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan.
2. Place grated zucchini in center of a clean dish towel. Gather ends together and twist tightly to drain as much liquid as possible, discarding liquid (you should have 1/2 to 2/3 cup). Whisk brown sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla and zest together in medium bowl. Fold in zucchini.
3. Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and cardamom together in large bowl. Fold in zucchini mixture until just incorporated. Fold in pistachios. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
4. Bake until the top bounces back when gently pressed and toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 65-75minutes. Let bread cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove bread from pan and cool completely on wire rack.