Do you know the Muffin Man?

Q: WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THE BEST BAGELS IN TOWN? 

A:THE BEST ZUCHINI MUFFINS IN THE WORLD!

In the summer of 2011, my brother-in-law, Floyd, a mogul at Binghamton University, took me to Endwell, NY to meet Tony Roma. Of course I thought I was going to have the best ribs in town. Instead I met another culinary Tony and his lovely wife, had a bagel or two at their Best Bagels in Town bakery, and was introduced to a large, fresh and mouthwatering Zuchini Muffin. A Roma family recipe.

Floyd sent me a dozen for my next important occasion. I took one out of the freezer each month.

Abracadabra Alicazam. I needed no butter. I needed no jam.

Best muffins I ever had. Better than Bagels. Better than Donuts. Better than Krispy Kremes. I took the last one out of the freezer after 12 months, put it in the microwave and took it to Starbuck’s where it was taste-tested by the world’s foremost muffinovours. Their score: a perfect TEN all the way around.

I looked up zucchini on Wiki and found the following: Zucchini or courgette is a summer squash which can reach nearly a meter in length, but which is usually harvested at half that size or less. Along with certain other squashes, it belongs to the species Cucurbitapepo. Zucchini can be dark or light green. A related hybrid, the golden zucchini, is a deep yellow or orange color.

In a culinary context, the zucchini is treated as a vegetable, which means it is usually cooked and presented as a savory dish or accompaniment. Botanically, however, the zucchini is an immature fruit, being the swollen ovaryof the zucchini flower.

I tested zucchini muffins at several zucchini muffin shops, but none could compare … even a minute fresh to several days frozen. And truth is I can get all of the delicious bakery delicacies I want or need. But these Zucchini Muffins are as hard to get as a consensus in Congress. Even if you could find one, you couldn’t find one like this … one that would be as fresh as the day it was baked after 12 months in the freezer. I even found an alleged sure-fire recipe tried to make them myself.

There are baked goods, and there are baked bads. The product of my attempt at muffinery definitely fell into the latter category. 

My friends (both of them) and family held an intervention to get me off my addiction to the Romas' muffins.

 

I’m happy to report; it didn’t work.