Zucchini recipe goes back to ‘70s

Frieda Jones, a reader from Springdale, Wash, misplaced a Dorothy Dean flier with one of her favorite recipes for the season.

She said her family enjoys the Pineapple Zucchini Bread recipe from the Summer Squash parade flier published in 1976.

Here’s the recipe:

Pineapple Zucchini Bread

From Dorothy Dean Homemakers Service, 1976

3 eggs

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 3/4 cup grated unpeeled raw zucchini

1 (8 1/4 ounce) can crushed pineapple, well-drained

3 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup chopped nuts

Beat eggs until light and fluffy; add sugar and continue beating until blended. Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini and pineapple. Sift dry ingredients; stir into egg mixture along with nuts. Turn into 2 greased 9-by-5-inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until bread tests done. Remove from pan; cool on rack. Chill before slicing.

Yield: 2 loaves

Approximate nutrition per serving (1/8 of a loaf): 272 calories, 15 grams fat (1 gram saturated, 50 percent fat calories) 4 grams protein, 31 grams carbohydrate, 32 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 196 milligrams sodium.

Dear Cook’s Notebook: This winter you had a recipe for sticky cinnamon buns in your paper. (It was) great. I lost the recipe. Do you possibly keep records of the recipe you put in the paper? The one with mashed potato and potato water in the recipe is the one we are looking for.

Sharon Koontz, Republic, Wash.

Dear Sharon: We have a system that archives recipes printed in the section each week that goes back through 1995. I found a recipe we published from local artist and cook Kay O’Rourke for her Mashed Potato Sticky Buns. It was originally printed in her “Back Porch Cookbook.”

Here’s the recipe:

Mashed Potato Sticky Buns

From Kay O’Rourke, “Back Porch Cookbook”

2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 eggs

1 envelope dry yeast

7 cups (about) all-purpose flour

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

6 tablespoons water

3 cups chopped pecans

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

4 tablespoons butter, melted

Boil potatoes until tender in at least 3 cups water. Drain and reserve the cooking water. Mash potatoes. You should have 1 cup mashed potatoes.

Oil a very large bowl and set aside. Combine the hot mashed potato, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup butter and salt in another large bowl and mix well. Cool to lukewarm. Add 1 1/2 cups lukewarm potato water, eggs and yeast. Beat until thoroughly blended. Stir in enough flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if necessary, 8 to 10 minutes.

Transfer to oiled bowl turning to coat all surfaces. Cover bowl with a light towel. Let stand in a warm, draft-free area until double in volume. Punch dough down – proceed as follows or wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate (the dough can be prepared several days ahead to this point).

Generously butter three 8-inch round pans. Spread bottoms with brown sugar, dividing evenly. Add 2 generous tablespoons water to each pan. Sprinkle 1 cup chopped pecans over bottom of each pan. In a small bowl combine 1/2 cup sugar with cinnamon and mix well. Set aside.

Punch dough down. Divide in half. Roll each half out on a lightly floured surface into a 10-by-16 inch rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. Brush each with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, dividing evenly. Starting at short end, roll dough up as for jelly roll. Cut each roll in 15 slices. Arrange 10 slices in each pan. Let stand until double in volume, about 25-40 minutes. (If dough has been refrigerated, this will take several hours.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake buns until brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. Immediately invert onto a platter or tin foil. Serve warm.

Yield: 30 sticky buns

Approximate nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate.

Dear Readers: I’m hoping you can help me with requests for recreating some local restaurant dishes at home. One reader is hoping to find a recipe for an appetizer at local Mustard Seed restaurants.

“The Mustard seed has an appetizer that is a green beans dish that is hot. It has soy sauce, garlic, chili and sesame?” she wrote.

Has anyone tried to recreate it at home with success?

Also, Pat Hickey is hoping to find a recipe for the cucumber salad that was served at Mad Mary’s in Coeur d’Alene. Hickey said she didn’t even taste it before the restaurant closed, but a friend of hers raved about it.

If you have a recipe, send it to the address listed below and I may share it in a future column.