Apple??? Crisp and Vanilla Ice Cream

Have you ever wondered what to do with one of these---

I know, you're thinking, "Katrina, that is NOT an apple.  I thought we were going to get some apple crisp here?"  Oh, you just wait.  You've seen those giant overgrown zucchini before.  You probably already know that the much smaller ones are better for using in your savory dishes like stir fry and such.  No one ever seems to want the great big ones.  Well, you probably know those are the ones that are best used in baking things, like zucchini bread and muffins and the like.  You can make this with those overgrown zucchini---

I looks like apple crisp and tastes like apple crisp, but it's really ZUCCHINI crisp and guess what--no one would ever know those aren't apples.  Yep, trust me.  You just can't tell.  Pretty cool.  Quite the sneaky way to get a veggie into your loved ones who won't eat veggies!   I first got this idea from Allrecipes (look up zucchini cobbler) years ago.  I made this for a group of ladies from church and they thought it was apple crisp.  They were VERY surprised when I told them later that it was zucchini.  Many didn't believe me.

Katrina's Zucchini Crisp

1 large zucchini (about 1  1/2-2 lbs.), peeled, seeded and sliced

6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1  1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (a little more or less to you liking)

1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional, I used it and kinda liked it, but it was quite lemony)

Crumb topping:

3/4 cup light golden brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup old fashioned oats

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, (can be pretty cold from the fridge), cubed

1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

In a large saucepan, combine the zucchini and lemon juice.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Spray an 8x8 inch baking dish lightly with cooking spray.  Set aside.  

While the zucchini is cooking, make the crumb topping.  Combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, nuts and salt.  Cut in butter--works best using your hands.  Keep combining by rubbing it all together until you have a crumbly texture.  Set aside.  (The crumb topping can be made ahead and chilled or frozen for later use.)   

Remove the zucchini from the heat and stir in sugar and spices (and zest).  Pour the zucchini mixture into the baking dish.  Top with the crumb mixture.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until topping is golden brown.

This looks good, huh!

Well, not quite as good as the one with ice cream on top!   Oh yeah!

I took notes from a bunch of different ice cream recipes and came up with this one--it's a pretty good vanilla ice cream.  I think it tastes like French Vanilla.

Katrina's French Vanilla Ice Cream

1 can (fat free) sweetened condensed milk

1 can (fat free) evaporated milk

1  1/2 cups whole milk

3 eggs

1/4 cup sugar (may not have been necessary with the sweetened milk)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Warm the condensed milk, evaporated milk and whole milk in a saucepan at medium heat.  In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs.  Whisk in sugar.  When the milk is almost scalded, slowing stir about a cup of the hot milk into the beaten eggs and whisk vigorously.  Pour the rest of the milk into the eggs while whisking.  Pour the custard mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat until it reaches 175 degrees and/or thickens.  Stir constantly with a wooden spoon.    (Don't go over 180 degrees.)  Have an ice bath ready in a large bowl.  Pour the custard back into the bowl that had the eggs, first using a strainer to strain any egg bits from the custard and set that in the ice bath.  (This is my favorite way to "hurry up" the chilling process!)  Stir it often.  When the custard is cold, either churn it in your ice cream maker according to manufacture's instructions (about 25 min.), or chill the custard in the refrigerator.  Up to one day later you can then churn the custard into ice cream.  Serve as soft serve or freeze for an additional 2 hours.

Not only does this make for a great dessert, but it also works as a pretty good breakfast as well!

He wasn't tired enough for a nap in HIS bed, but it only took minutes after he climbed in OUR bed and he was snoozing away.  I'd have to say--our bed is much more comfortable than his (not that I've slept in a crib recently.) ha