Zucchini, Eggplant, Tomato Gratin

Oh my. Look who’s getting all fancy with the vegetables!

It’s as if my garden decided to throw a prom, and the eggplants, zucchini, and tomatoes banded together to show everyone else up. (Clearly they deserve best prize for something, don’t you think?)

Normally I would look at something like this and think it’s waaaay too complicated. But this summer vegetable gratin is actually quite straightforward.

To prepare these vegetables, you have to cut them anyway, so why not cut them in rounds and arrange them in a pretty pattern?

If you recall, Remy, the “little chef” in Pixar’s Ratatouille movie, prepared something similar for Anton Ego, the food critic. This isn’t that dish, but something much easier.

You just sauté onions and bell peppers, layer them at the bottom of a casserole dish, top with rounds of eggplant, zucchini, and tomato. Top that with cheese and bake!

It’s a lovely, easy, colorful presentation for our favorite summer vegetables. A perfect side to take to a party.

Zucchini, Eggplant, Tomato Gratin Recipe

We're topping this gratin with provolone and Parmesan cheeses. You could easily top it with Gruyere instead. For a more Provencal approach, skip the cheese all together and top with bread crumbs, minced garlic, parsley, and olive oil.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups sliced yellow onion (1 large onion)
• 1 cup of sliced red, orange, or yellow bell peppers
• 1 long eggplant (a slender eggplant like a Japanese eggplant, not a large globe, about 1/2 pound)
• 1 large zucchini (about 10 to 12 inches long, 1 1/2 inch diameter, about 1/2 pound), or other summer squash
• 2 medium sized tomatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 ounces Provolone cheese, sliced or grated
• 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

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Apricot Riesling Jam

Please welcome Garrett McCord, who shares with us his latest jam recipe. ~Elise

I’m surprised that the food obsessed don’t consider Ernest Hemingway a proper food writer. Go pick up a copy of A Farewell to Arms or “Big Two-Hearted River” and pick any random page and the characters are either drinking or eating, though it’s more likely the former. He even titled his memoir, A Moveable Feast.

Recently I was working on a paper for a class in my Master’s program that was discussing the use of food and drink in Hemingway’s works as a form of escapism. Now after so much reading and writing I usually have to escape myself and do so through food, which proves once again that life imitates art (and academia, apparently). However after all this food lit. study I decided to see if I could cook up something inspired by Hemingway.

I decided to make a jam since Catherine in the novel A Farewell to Arms is pining for it as she crosses into Switzerland in a paddle boat in the middle of a storm to escape the Italian army. As for using apricots, Nick in “Big Two-Hearted River” downs a few cans of them in his pastoral journey for inner peace.

Finally, since it was Hemingway I was dealing with, booze had to be used, no question. Finding a nice Riesling that paired well with the apricots I was all set to go. The result was a jam that I’m sure Catherine, Nick, Hemingway himself, or any literature lover will find perfect for smearing over some warm bread. The perfect accompaniment to your Summer reading.

Apricot Riesling Jam Recipe

Most of the alcohol cooks out and leaves a delightful flavor that I encourage you try, but if you don't want to use wine, just substitute with water. This recipe can be easily doubled; if doubling, use an 8-quart pot.

Ingredients

• 5 cups of chopped apricots, pits discarded*
• 2 + 3/4 cups of sugar
• 1/3 cup of Riesling (or Gewürztraminer)
• 5 tablespoons of lemon juice

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Jalapeño Bread and Butter Pickles

My friend Peg recently gave me some sweet pickled jalapeño chili peppers that she made using my bread and butter pickle recipe and oh my gosh, I couldn’t stop eating them. So of course I had to make my own batch the very next day.

Ay caramba they are good, and oddly not as spicy as you would expect. Certainly not as hot as my regular jalapeño pickles. Just a little bit hot. Perky hot. And sweet and crunchy the way a bread and butter pickle should be.

That said, the road to these pickled beauties was rather bumpy. Silly me, I thought given that I have been handling jalapeños my whole life I was immune to them and didn’t need to wear gloves when I stripped them of their flaming hot seeds and ribs.

Hah! No I didn’t touch my eyes (thank God) but my hands were burning hot for several hours. Only soaking them in yogurt with ice cubes helped. My mistake? Washing my hands in hot soapy water before and during the processing of the peppers. This washed away the natural oils in the skin that protect the pores.

The lesson learned? Wear gloves, or plastic baggies, when scraping the seeds out of the peppers. If you absolutely must use your bare hands, rub your hands with a little vegetable oil to protect your pores while working with the peppers. Then when you’re done, wash thoroughly in hot soapy water.

Back to the sweet jalapeño pickles. They’re delightful. Please don’t let my tale of woe scare you away from making them. As long as you take precautions, you will be fine (don’t touch your eyes!) They’re delicious in a taco, on a burger, or as I love them, straight up out of the jar.

They’ll easily last a year (or two) in the fridge. I find the heat of the chiles tends to mellow over time, so if they’re too hot when you first make them, just hide them in a corner of your refrigerator for a year and try them again.

Jalapeño Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe

I highly recommend that you wear protective gloves while cutting and de-seeding the jalapeños. If you don't have gloves, you can protect your hands with plastic baggies. If you must handle the cut peppers with your bare hands, rub a little vegetable oil over your hands first. The oil will provide your pores with some protection. Wash your hands thoroughly with warm soapy water after handling the peppers. Do not touch your eyes for several hours.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs jalapeño chile peppers
• 1 pound white or yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup pickling salt (can use Kosher salt or sea salt as a substitute, regular table salt has additives in it that will darken your pickles and make the color of the pickle juice muddy)
• 1 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 Tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 star anise
• 1 cardamom pod
• 3/4 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 6 whole cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

• 2 clean 1-quart canning jars, or 4 pint jars

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Baked Spaghetti

Okay, this is crazy good. Think lasagna, but made with spaghetti noodles instead. Thin spaghetti noodles, actually, or vermicelli.

A couple of beaten eggs are tossed in with the cooked noodles (along with grated Parmesan, yum!) and layered just the way you would if you were using lasagna noodles.

The egg helps bind the noodles in place so you can easily cut out even rectangles to serve without them falling apart.

It’s the perfect thing to serve a hungry teenage boy who is visiting for spring break, who somehow manages to eat his weight every day, who loves to skateboard and can play Minecraft for hours without getting bored. Not that I know anyone like this at all.

Baked Spaghetti Recipe

If you don't like mushrooms, please feel free to leave them out. If you love mushrooms, I recommend using shiitake because they are so wonderfully flavorful. Or you could augment creminis with dried porcinis that have been reconstituted in hot water.

Save time on prep by chopping the onions and mushrooms while the sausage is cooking, and grating the cheese while the pasta is cooking.

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb vermicelli pasta or thin spaghetti
• 1 lb bulk sweet Italian sausage
• 1/4 pound shiitake or cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped, about 1 1/2 cups
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 cups or 24 ounces of marinara or meatless tomato sauce*
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 Tbsp olive oil plus more for greasing the casserole dish
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2-3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

*You can make your own or use a good quality jarred sauce. To make your own, make a double recipe of our basic tomato sauce, blend it smooth to use in this baked spaghetti recipe.

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Chocolate Ice Cream

My young friend Audrey and I have many things in common. We both like to dress up with pretty aprons.

We are both excruciatingly accurate with water guns in a swimming pool. We would both rather read a book than do anything too physically strenuous (water fights excepted). And we both have a serious love for rich chocolate desserts and pretty much any homemade ice cream.

So when Audrey suggested that we make chocolate ice cream, I was all over it.

The credit for this recipe goes to Audrey, who has been making it for her family with great results.

My own meager contributions were to include some salt and instant coffee (both intensify the chocolate taste), and vanilla to help deepen the overall flavor of the ice cream.

The ice cream is rich, creamy, smooth, and super chocolate-y.

Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 oz 60% baking chocolate
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2-cup sugar
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups cream
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
• 3 egg yolks, whisked
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Fresh Pea Hummus

My mother has always taken delight at the patches of mint that thrive along the edges of her house. “It keeps away the ants!” she insists.

I have no idea if this actually works, but having her advice firmly imprinted into the core of my being, I too cultivate patches of mint here and there.

Which means, that right about now, mid to late spring, we have lots of it. Good for tea, good for jelly, and awesome in an agua fresca with lime and cucumbers, mint also pairs perfectly with peas.

This is a simple dip with peas and mint, and some onion, sour cream, and tahini.

“Hummus” implies that you are using chickpeas, so we are taking liberties with the name, by using regular peas as the base legume, instead of chickpeas.

It’s fresh and spring-y with the peas and mint. Serve it with pita chips or toasted rounds of sliced baguette.

Fresh Pea Hummus Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups shelled peas, fresh or frozen
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 Tbsp tahini
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh mint (spearmint)
• 2 Tbsp sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Salt to taste

Special Equipment

• Food processor

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Huevos Rancheros

A classic Mexican breakfast, huevos rancheros (translated “ranch eggs”) are fried eggs served on hot corn tortillas and smothered in cooked salsa. When you cut into them, the egg yolks mix in with everything—the salsa, tortillas. So good!

You can also make the eggs scrambled instead of fried. In that case the dish is known as Huevos a la Mexicana. Either way, salsa with eggs and tortillas makes a wonderful breakfast.

One benefit of being raised in California by a mother with Mexican heritage is that we grew up eating and loving Mexican food. From the age of 5 it was my job to prepare the salsa for our family. You may not always find bread at our house, but you can always find tortillas. And more often than not, huevos rancheros for breakfast.

 

Huevos Rancheros Recipe

The recipe is flexible, sometimes we use canned salsa and just add a few more chopped tomatoes and some chopped pickled jalapeños to make the sauce.

Sometimes if we have some leftover refried beans, we'll spread some on the tortillas before topping them with the eggs and salsa. My mother has been known to add a pinch of sugar to the salsa sauce if she feels it's too acidic for her taste.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped (about a half cup)
• 1 15-ounce can whole or crushed tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted, (or 1 -2 large fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, when in season)
• 1/2 6-ounce can diced green Anaheim chiles
• Chipotle chili powder, adobo sauce, or ground cumin to taste (optional)
• 4 corn tortillas
• Butter
• 4 fresh eggs
• 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

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