Vegetable Gratin

Do you watch America's Test Kitchen? I just started watching it and recieving the 'Cooks Illustrated' magazine in the mail. I love them both, but their methods really crack me up. They are so methodical and precise and kinda kooky. I dig it.


not so kooky but man, did these onions smells great

I also love that they are problem solvers. This is a big thing to me, in the classroom and at home, I'm all about problem solvers- people who see a problem and have the desire and motivation to fix it in creative ways. I harp on and on about it, hyping up people who do this well. You could say I'm a bit obsessive.

I feel like so many people complain and become negative when they see an obstacle of any kind; a slow driver on the road, trash where it shouldn't be, relationship issues, etc. The complaining is like white noise, who even really hears it all? That's why I love this show. No one is whining 'my vegetable gratin is just sooo waatteerryy..' They say, it's watery and how do we remedy that? and then, they do it. They test and test and try and try and don't give up until they get it. Or at least they don't show us the ones they give up on. And I appreciate that.



That being said, some of their techniques crack me up. Take the photo above, with tomatoes sliced, sprinkled with salt and laid to dry on a towel. Soon after this shot I put another towel on top and smushed them a bit to dry them out. Crazy?! But so fun. My attempts to follow all the directions here did not work as well as I'd hoped. I think I sliced my squash and zuchinni all wrong! But with an end result like this, who the heck cares. I made them long when I think they were just supposed to be sliced. Live and learn.



I loved this dish. It was even better the second day, I'm keeping this on rotation for sure.




Summer Vegetable Gratin

from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons olive oil
1 pound zucchini, ends trimmed and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
1 pound yellow squash, ends trimmed and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes (3-4 large), sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 medium onions, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 large slice good-quality white sandwich bread, torn into quarters or 1 cup bread crumbs
2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup)
2 medium shallots, minced (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil a 9x13” baking dish and put it out of sight, but not out of mind.

Gently toss the zucchini and squash slices with 1 teaspoon of salt in a large colander, and allow to drain about 45 minutes, or until they release 3 tablespoons of liquid (I only got about 1 tablespoon out of mine, and I think my slicing was the issue). Arrange slices on a triple layer of paper towels or a dish towel, cover with a clean dish towel, and press firmly to remove as much moisture as possible.

As the squash and zucchini drain, line another dish towel with the tomatoes, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Allow to stand 30 minutes, then using a clean dish towel or paper towels, press firmly to dry the tomatoes. This is kinda fun, get the family involved. When do you get to sort of squash tomatoes?

After setting the tomatoes and salt on the towel, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook until onions are softened, heavenly smelling and dark golden brown, about 20 minutes. Set aside and try not to stare at how much they shrunk, I think they’re sensitive about that.

Combine the garlic, 3 tablespoons of oil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and thyme in a small bowl. Marvel at the glorious combination. In a large bowl, mix the squash and zucchini with half the garlic-oil mixture. Place in the baking dish and then top with an even layer of the gorgeous onions. Slightly overlap the tomato slices in one layer on top of the onions, and drizzle with the remaining oil mixture on the tomatoes. Bake until the vegetables are softened and tomatoes are starting to brown around the edges, 40-45 minutes.

As the vegetables cook, pulse the bread in a food processor until finely ground (You should have about 1 cup of crumbs). Or be a cheater like me and just use 1 cup of store bought breadcrumbs because someone has to use them. Combine the bread crumbs, parmesan, 1 tablespoon oil, and shallots in a medium bowl.

Remove the baking dish from the oven and raise the temperature to 450. Spread the bread crumb mixture over the vegetables, and bake gratin until bubbling and lightly browned, 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with basil. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving it up.

Enjoy!
-m