I’m here before bed eating some zookies while I write this post. I had zackers earlier today with some goat cheese, but I felt like a bit of sweet tonight. Say what?
In my search for crunch I learned that you could dehydrate Zucchini and have something like a chip, or as much like a chip as I am going to get for a month.
Fortunately the Source of all Goodness, the voice of god that is Good Cheer, provided dehydrating racks for my convection oven. so I pulled the three racks out the box and started a Zucchini chip factory. I call them Zacker. Zucchini crackers. Of course you already got it that zookies are the same think only with some honey rather than butter.
Zackers not only provide crunch when done perfectly, but they are perfect for the one that got away – as in the zucchini that hid and got away with growing to the size of a baseball bat before being apprehended. Here’s my cat and said Zuke Bat.
Making the chips is simple. Slice about 1/4 inch thick, lay on racks, dehydrate at about 125-145 degrees until crisp but not brittle. Put the whole batch in a covered jar for a day or so to even out texture. That is unless you eat them all within a day.
Here’s before and after racks.
Friends Raven and Karen had an everything zucchini party to see what creativity our community might muster when zuke bats are growing in everyone’s gardens.
Tricia sent me this one which I will try instead of setting the hairdryer on some wheat chaff next time I want a pancake:
Zucchini Pancakes:
makes approximately 9 – 2×2 inch pancakes
3 small zucchinis, or about 1 1/2 cup grated
1 small carrot, grated
1 small tomato, chopped
2 eggs
Mix grated zucchini and carrot in a bowl. Salt it “not too much and not too little,” then stir in salt, and let sit for 10 minutes. The salt will pull some of the extra water out of the vegetables and make them better pancakes. Next, squeeze the mixture of it’s water, transferring the zuke mixture it to a dry bowl. Add eggs and tomato, stir. Heat a (preferably) cast iron pan on medium heat, like you would for pancakes. Wait until it is hot to add some butter then spoon in the zuke mixture, making the pancakes about 2 inches by 2 inches, or to your desired size. Cook until they are easy to turn over, but not burned. It is a subtle art, but if you make good pancakes, it will be a breeze~!
For the Garlic & Onion Lovers~ you can also add garlic and onions to the pancakes, for a yummy flavor, just chop them very small.
Zucchini as big as baseball bats seems funny now in the late summer, but I am also aware as I slice and dehydrate (with a lot of electricity) these bats that i would have to process 100 zukes to have enough food for a month in the winter. For chips and stews and fritters and soups. Feeding oneself for a year, not a month, is no joke.
And with that sobering thought I’ll have one more zacker (butter and salt) and then off to bed. Nicely full. And thankful for it.