Sunday June 7th: Squash and Tomato Gratin

Every once in a while you just (well I just) get the craving to visit the farmers market. I don't usually remember my camera (like this week) I don't have a shopping list (ever), but sometimes you find what you want.

I did have an idea in mind: Tomatoes. Unfortunately attending an early summer farmers market at 11am doesn't get you the choice selection of Early Girl tomatoes. I did happen upon some above average quality (below average price) on-the-vine organic tomatoes, which was a start.

To avoid being long-winded, I also found some Thyme, Squash, and already had panko and Parmesan.

I decided due to the less than awesome nature of the tomatoes I would not make anything caprese. The squash I would utilize in the normal way. If you do not know, following is the (proper) way to handle watery vegetables {squash, eggplant, cucumber}.

To prepare watery vegetables for cooking:

1. Cut vegetable into uniform slices (regularly 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick)

2. Toss vegetables with 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt (depending on the volume of vegetables to start this will vary, 1/2 teaspoon is for about 3/4 to 1 pound starting, more than apound, add a little bit more).

3. Place vegetables in colander over bowl or in sink.

4. Let vegetables leech liquid for at least 1/2 hour, the longer the better... I usually try for 45 minutes to one hour.

5. Press vegetables between doubel layer of paper towels (hard), to press out nay remaining liquid.

And that's it! It seems like a lot of work to prepare vegetables, but in reality you would be slicing them already, and all you're doing is slicing them earlier and pushing down on them. The results are worth the .o5 units of extra effort.

Now, I have another method to handle less-than-perfect tomatoes, or tomatoes that are goign to be cooked in general (I say "I have" loosely, this is probably someone elses method that I have read and used and tweaked for my own needs). It is as follows:

1. Slice tomatoes into 1/4 inch sections.

2. Lay tomato slices onto a doubel layer of paper towels (I usually do this on a large rimmed baking sheet)

3. Sprinkle 1/2-3/4 teaspoon of salt over the slices of tomato (depending on volume of tomato used).

4. Let Tomato stand for 30-40 minutes.

5. Push down on each tomato section with a double layer of paper towels.

Okay, so there is the secret to having flavorful squash and tomato to use in any recipe. Applying it to an easy side-dish shouldn't be tough. I had enough of the produce to last for two days, and threw it together into one side and one main dish for about 12 bucks (main dish will be posted tomorrow). The side dish is as follows.

1. Grease a 9X11 oven safe baking dish.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

3. Arrange a single layer of prepared (see above) squash along the bottom of the dish, overlapping slightly on edges a'la scalloped potatoes.

4. Drizzles with Olive Oil and sprinkle with about 1/2 tablespoon fresh Thyme (or not, the Thyme is optional, the Olive oil is pretty essential)

5. Arrange a single layer of tomatoes over the top, overlapping edges as with the squash.

6. Drizzle with more olive oil (don't overdo it!) and more Thyme (if desired).

7. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

8. While it is baking, combine one cup Panko and one cup shredded Parmesan. Add one TB of Olive Oil.

9. After 43 minutes (I always take the difference of 40-45) slide out the vegtables and sprinkle with the (copious) break and cheese topping.

10. Let bake another 10-12 (11) minutes until topping is golden and crunchy.

Remove and impress your girlfriend as I did, or eat it alone. Or Impress husbands, wives, etc... It's good, they'll like it. Promise.