a zucchini? a courgette? a marrow?

my friend has a lovely garden where she grows all kinds of vegetables (or veg as they say in the UK). she gave me this zucchini which measured 14 inches.

so what do you with a courgette this huge? so far, i've made ratatouille, stir-fried zucchini, zucchini lasagne and chocolate zucchini bread which is actually a recipe from my friend.

I wanted to share the bread recipe. I made it for coffee morning at my work, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. (I've attempted to convert to US baking standards.)

Chocolate Courgette Loaf

175g dark chocolate (min. 60% cocoa, broken into pieces) - (or 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate morsels)

225g courgettes (2 small courgettes)

200g plain flour (1 3/5 cups)

1 teasp. baking powder

1 teasp. bicarb of soda

1 teasp. ground cinnamon

110g caster sugar (1/2 cup)

175ml sunflower oil (3/4 cup)

2 medium eggs

1. melt the chocolate in heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, stir

til smooth and keep warm. if you use the morsels, add the chocolate to the batter.

2. finely grate courgettes

3. sift flour, baking powder, bicarb and cinnamon into large bowl - mix in

sugar and grated courgettes

4. in another bowl, beat together oil and eggs and stir into dry

ingredients, then stir in melted chocolate

5. pour into lined or greased loaf 900g tin and bake for 55-65min or until

well risen and skewer comes out clean

Gas mark 4 (350 degrees F)

6. leave to cool for at least 15mins before turning out onto colling rack