Zucchini Candy

Zucchini Candy.....wait what?

I love farm markets. You can get the best deals on great produce. However, just because its a great deal, does not mean you always have a plan for it. I stumbled upon some baseball size zucchini for 1.00 each. I am not sure what I was thinking. I got them home and stared at them for a bit. Then I remembered seeing a recipe for zucchini gummy candies.  I was a bit worried as to how they would turn out because zucchini is not normally something I associate with candy, but they are DELICIOUS and really easy to make.

I had three of these giant Zucchini. So I decided to try 3 different kinds of candy.

All that is needed to do this is roughly 7-8 cups of diced Zucchini and one container of frozen juice concentrate. 

I tried three different kinds Bacardi Strawberry Daquari, Pineapple coconut and Natural Apple Cherry juice. I will say that the natural fruit juice worked much better flavor wise, in the finished product. The other two were Bacardi mixers and though good, did not stand out as much on the taste buds.

 First Dice the Zucchini.....

Then put it in a pot with the juice concentrate and one can of water. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to simmer until zucchini is translucent. add some food coloring if you want a more exotic color (i turned the pineapple coconut one blue)

Then, spread out your cooked zucchini on dehydrator trays and dehydrate over night. Store in containers in the fridge and eat at will. These are great little bites of sweet fruit flavor.

Pot Stickers

Chicken and Leek Pot Stickers

The make ahead meal everyone likes.

Pot stickers are an easy, cheap way to make a lot of food with just a little meat. You can fill them with anything you like. I chose chicken and leeks because it is what I had on hand, but pork, shrimp, vegetables, tofu, beef....anything goes.

Once frozen made you have a large amount of grab and go food that takes less than 15 minutes to cook.

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast

2 large leeks

3 cloves of garlic

1 tbs sesame oil

2 tbs Shoyu

1.5 tbs fresh minced ginger

1 package dimsum or wonton wrappers. 

1 egg

1 tbs water

Process:

Place the chicken, leeks, shoyu, sesame oil, garlic and ginger in a blender and puree. (I grind my own meats, so I rarely have ground chicken on hand. This is also a great way to make sure everything is mixed well.)

Mix the water and egg to make an egg wash. Take a wrapper and dampen the edge with egg wash. Place about 1 tbs of meat mixture into each wrapper. Crimp the wrapper closed making sure there are no air pockets.

This is the long part of the process. I usually watch a movie while filling my pot stickers.

Place each pot sticker on a baking sheet. When the sheet is full place in freezer for 2 hours. Then take them out and put them in a baggie for easier storage. 

BONUS ROUND-

There is always extra meat mixture when making pot stickers. You can freeze this for a later date, roll them into balls and steam them to make "nude" wontons or.....

 Chicken and Leek Meatballs

Pour the leftover egg wash into the leftover meat mixture and add in one cup of leftover rice. 

Form into balls and pan fry. Serve with some wasabi laced shoyu.