Sunday Supper from the Garden

Here is my first zucchini — in all her gorgeous green glory. My summer squash plant is growing like crazy, but not producing any veggies. Tall Jill investigated the situation and recommended I add Epson salt to my water — which will add calcium to the soil. Within days this little beauty started to grow.

On the menu tonight and fresh from the garden: roasted zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes topped with sweet basil.

Sweet basil, yellow cherry tomatoes, Japanese eggplant and zucchini

PS. Check out this gorgeous recipe from Food and Wine for a tomato, eggplant, zucchini and bread gratin. Looks delicious. I will definitely be trying this next time.


Crisp Tomato, Zucchini and Eggplant Bread Gratin

      1/2 medium eggplant, sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick 
      1 medium zucchini or yellow squash, sliced 1/4 inch thick 
      Kosher salt 
      6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
      4 garlic cloves, minced or mashed 
      One 14-ounce loaf rustic white bread, crusts removed and bread sliced 1/2 inch thick 
      Freshly ground pepper

      1/2 cup torn basil leaves 
      3 medium tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick
      1 teaspoon thyme leaves  

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a colander, toss the eggplant and zucchini with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and let stand for 20 minutes. Drain well and gently squeeze out any excess liquid.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir the olive oil with the garlic. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the garlic-infused oil. Tear the bread into 2-inch pieces and line the bottom of the baking dish with bread, fitting the pieces tightly together. Drizzle the bread with 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the bread with half of the basil.
3. In a medium bowl, toss the eggplant and zucchini with 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the tomato slices with salt and pepper. Arrange the eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes over the bread, overlapping them if necessary. Sprinkle with the thyme leaves, salt and pepper and drizzle with the remaining garlic oil.
4. Bake the gratin for about 40 minutes, until the vegetables begin to brown and the bottom of the bread is golden brown. Remove the vegetable gratin from the oven and let stand until cooled slightly, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining basil, cut into pieces and serve.

Make Ahead: The gratin can be baked up to 2 hours in advance. Reheat in a 350° oven or serve at room temperature.

Recipe: Lemon Curd

My lemon tree is a little skimpy on fruit this year. Not sure why. I usually have a mountain of lemons and sadly we end up wasting a lot of them.  While we wait for fruit, let's explore some lemon recipes.

This year my lemon inspiration list includes: lemonade, lemon cake, lemon muffins, lemon sorbet and most importantly lemon curd.

Here's a lemon curd recipe from Martha Stewart. It's easy to make, although I would double or even triple the recipe. I find that one and a half cups is hardly enough. Try it on toast, on ice cream or with soft cheeses like ricotta and goat cheese.

• Yield Makes 1 1/2 cups

 Ingredients

• 3 large egg yolks, strained
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

Directions

1. Combine yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk to combine. Set over medium heat, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure to stir sides and bottom of pan. Cook until mixture is thick enough to coat back of wooden spoon, 5 to 7 minutes.
   
2. Remove saucepan from heat. Add butter, one piece at a time, stirring with the wooden spoon until consistency is smooth.
   
3. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd to avoid a skin from forming; wrap tightly. Let cool; refrigerate until firm and chilled, at least 1 hour.