Summer Squash Harvest

Summer is finally in full swing. The garden is overflowing with bright green leaves and yellow flowers promising vegetables to soon come. The squash as always is first.
Tromboncino and yellow sunburst, both flavorful heirlooms, ready to be sautéed for dinner. I'll melt a knob of butter and a splash of olive oil in a pan. Toss in 1/2 an onion sliced. When the onion starts to soften I'll add in slices of fresh squash give them a couple turns around the skillet and cover the pan. With the heat on low the squash will steam in it's own delicious juices and caramelize just a bit on the bottom. 20 minutes later a delicious garden fresh side thats good warm or cold for dinner as a side or scrambled into eggs for breakfast. A summer favorite.

Trendy Tasty Rice Bowl

We start every year pledging to be healthier and stronger and somehow a couple months in we find ourselves back living in bacon city. I am the cook. I am probably to blame. I fall back on what I know and, I guess, take the easy way to flavorful foods.
I can't say this year will be different but I was encouraged by a slew of interesting, grain based and vaguely Japanese recipes in the January issue of every food magazine I read so I decided a little pantry update and lighter cooking might just be in order -- for now.
Clearly there are more healthful and interesting grains but tonight, not yet ready to brave the grocery store, I started with rice -- plain old white rice. I love it. Then I went searching through the fridge for what might add color and texture.
A little bit of leftover broccoli, a little past it's prime, was quickly boiled and dressed with a tiny drizzle of sesame oil. Butternut squash, sitting on the counter since I didn't serve them for Christmas dinner, was sweet and gingery. I quickly fried several slices of ginger in canola oil, added in the squash cut in 1 1/2" pieces,  1/2 tsp of salt, 2 tsp of sugar (okay not quite the healthful star here but it is very Japanese) and 1/2 cup of water. I brought the liquid to a boil, covered the pot, reduced the heat to medium low and let the squash cook for about 10 minutes until tender.
With rice in the rice cooker, squash and broccoli cooked and set aside to be served room temperature on hot rice, I got a little more ambitious.
Every rice bowl (and Japanese meal) needs something pickled and a sauce. I quickly combined 1 cup rice wine vinegar, 2 TB of sugar, a pinch of salt and ground chile and let celery sticks and carrot rounds soak in that brine for about 1/2 hour. Easy. I'd have used a little lemon zest if I'd had any. For the sauce I mixed 1 TB tahini, 1 TB honey and 1 TB soy sauce with 1 tsp sesame oil. Ready. All that was left was to put it all together -- almost.
When it came time for dinner I cooked a couple eggs seasoned with soy sauce and a touch of sake into a flat omelette that I rolled and cut into slices over one side of the rice. Facing that a bit of sautéed chicken -- leftover legs and wings I tucked in the freezer after a holiday season Hainanese chicken dinner.
I wasn't too sure what to expect when James sat down to dinner. But, he seemed pleased by the lighter style and lighter plate.
It's fun to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. Not a bad way to cook in 2016.

Real Italian Home Cooking

Italians as a habit and societal necessity put their best face forward. They call it "bella figura." It's the unspoken rule that keeps Italians from running to the supermarket in pajama pants and flip flops and makes sure every guest is treated as visiting royalty.
There are dishes you make for company and there are cozy one pot suppers you might eat with just the family at home  -- people with whom you can completely relax.
Way down in Pulgia, the heel of the boot, one of those simple dishes you'll never find on a restaurant menu or even as an invited guest in a friend's home combines potatoes and squash with spaghetti in a rustic, quick, comforting dinner.
I dress it up a little with olive oil, herbs, and chili peppers but even with just cheese, pasta water and pepper this dish is a quick meal favorite. To the salted water boiling for your spaghetti add two large handfuls of diced potatoes, after they boil along for 2 minutes add the spaghetti and diced zucchini. Cook according to the package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water and drain the spaghetti mixture. In the same pot -- I could do this in a skillet and make dinner even quicker but it's nice to have less dishes to wash -- heat a glug of olive oil with chopped garlic and crushed red pepper. As the garlic just starts to color add in the drained pasta with potatoes and squash, 2 TB (or more) each chopped parsley and basil, the reserved pasta water (as much as you need to make a bit of a sauce), and a large handful of grated parmesan (or pecorino which we prefer) cheese. Toss everything together for a minute or two and serve with a bit of grated cheese on top.
No, it's not fancy but with potatoes and tromboncino squash from our backyard garden it felt just right for just the two of us.

Simple Weeknight Dinner

Some nights I just don't feel up to a big production. I've got a vicious case of poison oak and just want to lay around and try not to itch. Dinner has to be easy.
I love to roast vegetables. So simple. Peel (or trim), cut, toss in a little olive oil and seasoning and pop in the oven. Tonight at the same 425º setting I did cubes of butter nut squash sprinkled with cayenne pepper and fresh broccoli with garlic topped with parmesan cheese for the last couple minutes in the oven. In the middle, maybe a misnomer, crock pot fried chicken. I toss chicken pieces in seasoned flour and layer them in the slow cooker drizzled with melted butter. 8-10 hours on low makes the ultimate walk away and forget it entree. James always likes it and has no idea how easy it is. A great weeknight dinner -- itch or not.

Simple Salad and Southern Vegetables

On menus at little mom and pop lunch rooms and restaurants throughout the South customers are offered "meat and three." Their choice of a central protein (roast beef, fried chicken, pork chops) and 3 side dishes, generally a rotating list of salads, beans and soft cooked vegetables. Many eaters (me included) opt for just the three with a hearty piece of cornbread to soak up the juices. Squash casserole is a regular on many of those menus and on Thanksgiving tables throughout the region.

For some reason tonight, looking at a box of Ritz crackers on our kitchen shelf, I set out to turn out beautiful farmers market summer squash into this cheesy, buttery baked vegetable dish.

First I cooked the squash (about 4 cups) and sliced onions (1 medium) in a skillet with a small amount of water for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile I crushed 1 large sleeve (about 35 crackers) of Ritz crackers (okay they aren't classy or artisan but admit it they are delicious -- and James loves them) and mixed in 1 cup of grated cheese. Cheddar is more traditional but I used Gruyere. I mixed half of the cracker combo with the squash and stirred in 2 eggs, 3/4 cup of whole milk, and 1/4 cup of melted butter. After seasoning with S&P I turned the mixture into a prepared baking dish and topped with the remaining cracker mixture and dots of butter. The casserole bakes for 25 minutes at 375º until toasty and golden brown on top.

On the side, you won't find this crisp salad on any meat and three menu but our garden is brimming with fresh, beautiful lettuce. This was our first garden salad of the season and I dressed it simply with a light Meyer lemon vinaigrette.

California meets the South on a plate.

Warming Winter Stew

Not too long ago James went to an afternoon party at our neighbors, cattle and sheep ranchers and avid gardeners. As he started the car to come home he noticed not just a dozen multi-colored eggs but several winter squash had found their way inside the car. James wasn't quite sure what to do with his new found loot.
I love butternut, pumpkin, acorn - - all kinds of winter squash. These beautiful hubbards and tromboncinos are great just roasted on in a simple soup but I thought I go a little further. Tooling around the internet I found a recipe for Moroccan winter stew from Bruce Aidells. I figure if meat lover and expert Aidells can present a vegetarian dinner it might just be good enough for my James. I started by sautéing a chopped onion and 3 cloves of garlic in olive oil. I seasoned that mixture with 2 tsp of paprika and 1/2 tsp each of cumin, coriander, chili powder, ginger, turmeric, a tsp of salt and a pinch of saffron. I added one small can of tomatoes (from our backyard garden), 1 cup of water, and the juice of one small lemon and brought the liquid to a boil. Into the pot went about 3 cups of cubed butternut squash along with several carrots and parsnips (I just happen to have them) peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces. After 20 minutes simmering (covered) over medium-low heat the vegetables were tender and the stew was ready to serve.
Aidells serves his stew (or rather the recipe he created along with chef wife Nancy Oakes) over flavorful quinoa. I'd used all my carrots and felt ready to finish chopping so I took a shortcut and ladled James's winter stew of fluffy, buttery couscous seasoned (and colored) with turmeric. A sprinkle of chopped mint hinted at the recipe's Moroccan theme.

Dinner With Eric and Shari

We started dinner with another great appetizer courtesy of Nancy Silverton. Her caprese with roasted tomatoes is always a hit around here. The September issue of Bon Appetit featured Silverton's recipe for home made ricotta with oven baked peperonata. We have a yard full of peppers and though I have made ricotta many times the goal of dinner was to use up ingredients in the fridge and freezer so I spread the pre-made ricotta on garlic rubbed crostini and topped with the pepper stew. I added a little olive oil to the mix and sprinkled the crostini with chopped basil for rave reviews.
Mini potatoes from our garden doused in olive oil and roasted in a hot oven (450º) with rosemary sprigs until they were crisp outside and tender inside. A perfect way to use those tiny potatoes. The steaks were the last of our store from Hearst Ranch. I marinated them in garlic, olive oil and lemon and gave them a turn on the grill.
Oven roasted green beans and grilled squash. I'd never tried roasting the beans before and I will certainly do that again. Tossed in olive oil and salt, after 15 minutes at 425º these were a real treat.
Simple ice cream sundaes for dessert. A couple days ago I put aside a bowl of plums, nectarines and grapes that were a bit past their prime. Today I cut the fruit into small pieces, mixed it with sugar and delicious, flowery Navarro vineyards Gewurztraminer grape juice and bubbled it down to a loose jam to use as a syrup with pistachio gelato and marsala whipped cream. I served cornmeal thyme cookies on the side.

Dinner With Friends

With K and D coming for dinner (one for the first time) I thought it best to rely on the tried and true -- our recipe standards. To start I whipped up a plate of our "house specialty appetizers." "We have to come up with a name for those," James says.

I spread fresh ricotta on rosemary sea salt flat breads (we like Margaret's Artisan Bakery brand), lay on a thin slice of prosciutto, a section (a half or quarter) of a very ripe fresh fig, and drizzle with olive oil and a good quantity of balsamic vinegar. Sprinkled with chopped fresh mint and flaky sea salt these are probably our easiest and most popular (James loves them) little treat to serve before dinner or with drinks.
I love having a few vegetable dishes that are equally good warm or at room temperature. It gives me a chance to prepare for guests without a lot of last minutes fuss. I quickly roasted asparagus (20 minutes at 400º) as a side dish. Those are beautiful, edible borage flowers on top. They have a very light almost cucumbery flavor.

My go-to summer squash recipe is a quick sauté in olive oil flavored with garlic, chiles and herbs. When the oil is hot but not smoking I add in the garlic and the squash and toss until the vegetable is nicely coated with the oil. I sprinkle in dried chilies, cover the pan and let the dish cook over medium low heat for about 5 minutes until the squash is tender and just a bit browned on the edges. After a few minutes cooking uncovered the liquid is reduced and the squash is tender and flavorful. Off the heat I mix in chopped herbs, usually chopped fresh mint but tonight I decided on basil and parsley since our starter was flavored with mint. Summer squash cooked this way are equally good mixed into hot pasta, spread on crostini, or served as a side dish.

I usually don't fry for guests. It can be messy and has to be done at the last minute. But, I had two birds left from our poultry CSA in the freezer, James loves fried chicken (although since we have our own flock he has shied away from eating chicken in general) and this lemon marinated Italian style chicken is unusual, easy and the taste is hard to beat. It's always a hit. I served a bit of this summer's favorite sauce -- arugula hazelnut pesto -- on the side.

As strange as it may seem, "Fridge Pie" is a regular dessert around here. When the fruit at the Farmer's Market is really beautiful I tend to buy too much. I get excited when the seasons change and the winter of eating apples and citrus gives way to baskets overflowing with plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots. Sometimes those stone fruits, along with whatever else might be inching towards the jam pot in the fridge come together between flaky pastry for a "fridge pie." Humble beginnings but still delicious enough for company.

Tonight I chopped a variety of stone fruits and a couple wayward apples and tossed them with sugar -- I used about 3/4 cup. I let the fruit sit for about an hour so the juices would come out then I drained the fruit reserving about 1/4 cup of liquid which I mixed with 3 TB of cornstarch to make sure my filling wasn't runny. I mixed the cornstarch back into the drained fruit along with a sprinkle of nutmeg and a dash of Lillet liquor for a mildly citrus, slightly floral accent. The fruit was laid in my prepared crust. I fashioned a lattice top, brushed the crust with egg wash, sprinkled with sugar and baked for 40 minutes at 400º and another 40 minutes at 350º. I tented the top with foil halfway through baking to keep the crust from turning too dark. The pie was fruity, not too sweet, and just right with a scoop of creme fraiche ice cream.

"Fridge Pie" is always a little different, but always make a great dessert.

Eggs In A Pan

James was hungry and I had nothing planned yet. I peered hopelessly into the fridge and said, "How about squash and eggs?" Not really sure what that dish might be.

As I sliced shallots and yellow squash and popped them into a pan with olive oil my frittata started to appear. I quickly added in oregano, S&P, sliced mushrooms and bits of prosciutto, covering the pan briefly to help the squash cook through. I whisked four eggs with a handful of parmesan cheese and fresh basil and poured it over the softening squash. When the eggs were just set around the edges I popped the skillet under the broiler to finish. One dish dinner, Italian style.

Grilled Chicken

Memorial Day Weekend -- the official holiday of grilling.

I soaked chicken drumsticks in a mixture of buttermilk, S&P, and cayenne for about 12 hours to tenderize the meat, and then laid them on the hot grill, along with a load of sliced vegetables, to crisp on each side. Then I turned the grill to medium and let everything cook through (about 15 minutes for the chicken). As the vegetables came off the grill I drizzled them in a fresh parsley sauce (1 cup parsley, 6 TB olive oil, juice of one lemon, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp crushed red chiles, salt mixed in the food processor). To give the chicken a bit of lemony flavor, just before the piece were cooked through I rolled them in a mixture of 3 cloves minced garlic, 2 TB olive oil (I cooked the garlic in the olive oil until it just started to sizzle), 1/4 cup lemon juice and a tsp of dried oregano and placed them back on the grill to crisp.

Tielle

Whenever I see Scott Conant or some other Tv-inflated, self-aggrandized Italian food expert shudder at the thought of cheese on fish or seafood I want to scream. All over the South and especially Sicily cheese is liberally rolled into swordfish involtini, sprinkled on frutti de mare pizzas, and featured in tielle like this one, a baked casserole of potatoes, mussels, and summer squash -- a specialty of Puglia. A Southern coastal region, Pulgia (like Sicily) is brimming with culinary specialties like tangy sheep's milk cheeses and abundant fish from the local waters. Perhaps the combination of cheese and fish is seen less frequently across the boot because there are relatively few regions with both specialties. Maybe it's because cheese is a luxury ingredient (bread crumbs became traditional in many regions because of cheese's expense) and would be seen as (or actually would be) an extravagance. Or potentially it's because, as chefs profess, the assertive cheese masks the flavor of the delicate fish -- or maybe it's because these chefs have never been invited to eat a real family dinner in a real (Southern) Italian home. I am a home cook and I'll follow the lead of the Italian casalinga every time.

Whatever the reason, Italians use far less cheese than we drown our dishes in here but still the special salty favor perks up this traditional dish.

First I glossed the bottom of a baking dish with olive oil and bread crumbs. Then I layered in thinly sliced potatoes (freshly harvested from our garden), matchsticks of zucchini, sliced onions, parmesan, parsley and more bread crumbs drizzling as I went with olive oil, S&P. Next came a layer of mussels on the half shell. I tried to open them as I would an oysters but without good results so I resorted to steaming the mollusks for just a few minutes until they popped open and pulling the top shell. I topped the mussels with bread crumbs, parsley, parmesan, and olive oil and layered on the rest of the potatoes, onions, squash, and parsley -- still drizzling as I went with olive oil, S&P and adding a sprinkle of parmesan and breadcrumbs on top. I finished off the casserole with another layer of mussels, and still more parmesan, olive oil, bread crumbs, and parsley. Just before baking I drizzled in about 1 1/2 cup of the mussel cooking liquid and brought the covered pot up to a boil on the stove. I popped the casserole (still covered) into the oven for 35 - 40 minutes and then an additional 30 without the cover.

The results were tender soft potatoes that whispered of the sea, sweet mussels, and a delicate broth just right for thick slices of toasted bread.

It's not chef's food I guess. And probably not refined.

But as James said, "You can't get anything this good in a restaurant. . . I'm never taking you out to dinner."

Labor Day Lunch

The end of summer.

A chance to get together with friends we don't see often enough.

Time to grill.

We're not exactly a hot dog house. We opted instead for a festive lunch on the back porch.

The grill did get busy with thin slices of patty pan squash doused in a piquant feta cheese and basil sauce. Sharing the grill were shrimp and chorizo kebabs. I wrapped peeled shrimp around 1/2" slices of dry chorizo (I took that chance in spite of our Spanish guest -- but she seemed to approve) and threaded three to a bamboo skewer. I made a marinade/ paste of caraway seeds, chili powder, olive oil and garlic and brushed it over the meat just before grilling, a couple minutes on each side. Our friend Paul was kind enough to man the grill, including heating the tortillas, while I got a few things ready inside.

When I was trying to get an idea of what to serve today I was staring at the packages of Hearst Ranch beef in our freezer. They package a bag of chuck and round trims they call fajita strips. I don't think I've ever made fajitas for James and as I was puzzling over what use I could make of these pre-cut slices I saw a recipe for Mexican Beef Stew on the Saveur Magazine website. It is a long cooking dish of meat, tomatoes, onions, plantains, apples, pineapple and plenty of chili. Perfect for wrapping in warm tortillas. From there the theme for lunch took off. I whipped up guacamole and a batch of queso fundido (basically a warm dip of chiles, onions, tomatoes, beer and lots of melted cheese -- Mexican fondue) as appetizers with thick deep fried tortilla chips. I made a tangy radish salsa that gave a little crunch to the warm beef stew. The skewers just came along naturally followed by a fresh salad with garlic cream dressing, skillet cornbread which proved to be perfect match for the nearly sweet beef dish and, of course, corn on the cob. It is Labor Day after all.
For dessert I couldn't decide which fruit to use so I made double tarts from Mark Bittman's reliable free-form tart recipe. Basically a giant cookie with fruit topping, this recipe is so fool-proof there's no reason to ever fear making dessert again. James called the pear tart "French Fry Pie". The plum was a bit prettier but both were plenty tasty with fresh whipped cream and ice cream.

A great way to spend a day off.

Happy Labor Day one and all!

Joyce For Dinner

We found out late in the afternoon we would be lucky enough to have our neighbor Joyce over for dinner -- she has been out of town working and James and I were both looking forward to a visit.

But, our last minute plans left no time for elaborate recipes or lingering over shopping or even defrosting.

I made quick run for the meat counter and came up with two skirt steaks I rubbed with olive oil, minced garlic, chopped thyme and salt and let sit to marinate at room temperature for about an hour. As a sauce -- Joyce is company after all -- I made a quick blended Chimichurri (parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, crushed red peppers).

We have plenty of vine grown tomatoes and so I started out to make a tomato salad, but since James isn't a fresh tomato eater (sauce fine, salad no) I added in halved heads of baby romaine, thinly sliced red onions from our garden, chopped parsley and chucks of blue cheese and topped the salad with a buttermilk dressing I saw in September's Bon Appetit magazine. Delicious.
Along with fresh corn on the cob I used some of the squash from our garden in this dish, from a recent Food and Wine magazine, of roasted squash with ricotta. I cut the squash into 1/4" dice and popped it in a hot oven, seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I sprinkled the cooked vegetables with cumin seed, fennel seed, and crushed red pepper and let them roast until just browned around the edges. With fresh mint leaves on top and creamy ricotta on the side this was a super simple side dish bursting with summer flavor.

I grilled the steaks for about 8 minutes total, let them rest while I brought the sides (well, a couple minutes more -- maybe 6 or 8 minutes total) to the table and dinner was served.

"Dinner was good," James said twice. "I liked that better then some of our fancier dishes."

So much for planning -- last minute dinner might just be the new plan around here.

Unusual Fries

We have a steady, nearly overwhelming supply of garden fresh Zephyr squash. What's a girl to do with it all?

I snatched one large fruit from the front garden, cut it into thick sticks (without the seeds), coated the sticks in a bit of seasoned flour and dropped them into very hot oil. When my squash fries were golden brown I served them alongside one of James' favorites -- sliders made with Hearst ranch ground beef.

"This is a cruel joke," James said as he bit into one of his dinner "fries" expecting potatoes. "I mean they're good, but they're not potatoes."

Maybe tomorrow, Honey.

Back In My Own Kitchen

We made it back home and thanks to our garden I was able to whip up dinner without running to the store. I started the water boiling and grabbed a good sized squash from out front. As the pasta cooked I sautéed thin slices of squash along with some homegrown garlic and chili peppers (dried from last summer's harvest) in a good quantity of olive oil. After the squash softened I covered it and let the slices get just the slightest golden color underneath. When the pasta had cooked I added it to the skillet along with a handful of chopped mint, about 4 ounces of fresh goat cheese (I found it in the back of the cheese drawer), and about 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water and gave it all a good stir until the cheese and starchy water had melded to form a creamy sauce. Topped with some shredded parmesan cheese that was James' welcome home dinner in a jiffy.

Vegetarian Dinner For Two

I just couldn't think of what to make. My diet wanted me to eat brown rice and pesto for dinner so I was trying to come up with something we could both eat. I looked out at our yard full of yellow squash and decided on a quick squash curry -- a low key vegetarian dinner.

I browned the mustard seeds and cumin seeds in a bit of oil until the mustard seeds started to pop and added in 3 cloves of sliced garlic, a dash of garam masala, and about 1 tsp curry powder. I let the spices heat and then added in 1 chopped onion and let it simmer in the mixture for about a minute. Next came 4 sliced yellow squash, about a half dozen sliced mushrooms (because I had them in the fridge) and two handfuls of cherry tomatoes chopped roughly, I cooked the vegetables for about 4 minutes until they just started to soften. Next I added in 1/2 tsp of chili flakes, 1 TB of tomato paste, and a paste I made in the food processor of 2 TB roasted sesame seeds and 2 TB cashew nuts. I cooked that mixture for another couple minutes and added 1/4 cup of water, covered the pot and let the curry simmer until the squash was very tender -- about 5 minutes.

Served over brown rice that was a diet dinner I could share with James.

Another Try At Barbuto At Home

Our garden is full of lovely, fresh bright yellow and green zephyr squash.

Again, inspired by Jonathan Waxman and the delicious zucchini salad I had at Barbuto, I tried to make a garden fresh pasta dish for James. As the pasta cooked I mixed up an olive puree with just pitted kalamata olives, a pinch of salt, garlic, and olive oil. Thirty seconds before the pasta finished cooking I added in thin slices of squash to soften a bit in the water. I dressed the noodles with olive oil, dabs of the olive puree, a dollop of fresh ricotta, and a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts and fresh oregano.

To be honest I wanted to imitate Chef Waxman further and use toasted hazelnuts -- but, oops I wasn't paying enough attention and toasted the hazelnuts a little too far and had to make a quick substitution.

Hazel or pine this dish still made for summery pasta dinner fresh from the garden.

Vegetables For Dinner

It was getting late and I really didn't have a plan for dinner, so I took a look in the vegetable drawers. I found yellow squash, mushrooms, and half a head of cauliflower. I sliced and chopped everything up into pretty uniform sizes along with an onion I cut into thick wedges and added it to a deep pan along with a good glug of olive oil. I stirred the vegetables around in the oil for about a minute ad then aded in two sliced cloves of garlic and about 1 cup of water. I covered the pan and let the vegetables cook on medium high heat for about 4 minutes. I uncovered the pan and let everything cook -- along with 1/2 a can of chick peas I found in the fridge until the water had cooked down a bit and everything was tender. Next I stirred in about 1/3 cup of pesto sauce and warmed it through. Dinner was served topped with a hefty wedge of delicate burrata cheese and an olive oil fried egg -- fresh from our hen house.

Reduce Reuse Recycle?

I just couldn't throw out the cooking liquid from out mussels the other day. It was so tasty and seemed like a fast track to a future dinner. Well tonight was the night. I came peeling in the door late and really hungry --- no time for lunch today. I grabbed the rice cooker and starting it going using my leftover mussel cooking liquid instead of water and tossing in a few roasted tomatoes for deeper flavor. I had a half container of shrimp ceviche left over and drained out the shrimp to add into the cooker to heat through when the rice was finished. Meanwhile I started on some side dishes -- just because I could.
I've been saving this salad recipe for years now. Not sure why it took me so long, but today I had all the ingredients in the fridge waiting to be eaten. Basically it's cubed cantaloupe, chopped salami, goat cheese, chopped chives from our front garden, olive oil, and white wine vinegar (I used white balsamic). An update on prosciutto and melon and a really great make ahead salad for a party. I'll be making this again soon, maybe with a nice sharp pecorino.
This dish combined my two favorite things -- showing off home grown produce and using up leftovers. I still had a little pesto sauce from that Mozza Caprese. Not too long ago I read about a simple vegetable preparation with sauce verte -- a caper tinged variation on pesto, and figured it was a perfect showcase our home grown squash and beans. I sliced the beans into 1 inch lengths and the squash into half inch (about) slices and tossed them in a pan with some olive oil to sauté for just a few minutes until coated in oil. I added 1/4 cup of water and covered the pan to cook for about 4 minutes until the veggies were crisp tender. I uncovered the pan and cooked for a minute or tow more, mixed in the pesto sauce and a handful of chopped parsley and brought this last dish to the table.

A note from the garden: This year, along with the usual Romanos and some purple limas, I am growing Dragon Langerie or Dragon's Tongue wax beans. It's my first time trying this Dutch heirloom variety but I am already planning a full crop next year. These creamy yellow wax beans have sketchy purple stripes and are tasty fresh from the garden as a snap bean or later when the stripes turn red as a shell bean, if you can wait that long. The yield from these busg habit, easy to grow plants is just amazing, we will have plenty of beans all summer long.

Our squash this summer, because I couldn't resist the two-toned charmer are nearly all Zephyr, a delicate flavored bush variety that makes me laugh when I walk by the compact plants.

Casserole? Really?

Everyday the dinner conversation in my head goes pretty much the same way.

What's in the house? Should I use what I have or go to the store? Anything ready in the garden I could whip up and get an extra pat on the back for growing it myself -- and subtly pointing it out at the dinner table? And these days, what will make a nice picture?

Today I had a small harvest of yellow squash. I usually sauté squash with mint and garlic or roast it in the oven or even fry thin sticks like battered French fries. None of that felt right. I was looking for a little comfort, something homey.

For whatever reason I kept flashing back to squash casserole. I'm not sure, if you haven't eaten at Southern cafeterias or family gatherings that you would even know squash casserole and I can't even swear where I first saw it. It's just always been there.

We always have eggs, and I happened to have a quart of milk -- which is rare for us. Cheese in the drawer -- check. And, in an unseasonable combination of Southern summer and winter fare, I happened to have a few pints of shucked oysters in the fridge. Dinner was starting to take shape.

I sliced the squash and chopped one brown onion and put them together in a sauce pan with water to cover and brought the pot to a gentle boil. The vegetables were soft in about 5 minutes. I added the drained onion and squash to a baking dish. In a separate bowl I combined about 1 1/2 cup of cracker crumbs with 1 cup of shredded cheese. Most recipes use cheddar but were not all that crazy about cheddar so I used what we had on hand, a good sized block of Pleasant Ridge Reserve, a Wisconsin artisanal cheese with a nutty Gruyère like flavor. I sprinkled half of the cracker cheese mixture over the squash in the pan and then placed the drained oysters around the baking dish, nestled in among the squash slices. I mixed together 1 cup of milk, two eggs, and 1/4 cup of melted butter and poured that over the assembled veggies and oysters in the pan and topped it all with the rest of the cracker and cheese mixture, drizzling a little more melted butter on top before baking for 30 minutes at 400º.

On the side of our side dish for dinner? A crisp salad (with leaves from our garden, back pat number 2) with creamy feta cheese dressing -- the new house favorite.

Another day's dinner done.