Fast, Fresh & Green (27 page)

You’ll need a mini–gratin dish for this, but they aren’t hard to find. Kitchen stores and even discount department stores carry them. Look for one that’s a 2-cup/475-ml volume or a little larger (up to 21/2 cups/590 ml). Err on the larger size so that the liquids don’t bubble over, but don’t go too big. Most of the gratin dishes this size are about 8 in/20 cm long and 1 ¼ to 1 1/2 in/3.25 to 3.75 cm deep. They’re usually oval or rectangular. Buy two or more so that you can make individual gratins for friends.

½ CUP/25 G FRESH BREAD CRUMBS

1 TSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL,
and more for rubbing the dish

1 YUKON GOLD POTATO
(8 oz/225 g), peeled

SCANT ½ TSP KOSHER SALT

FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER

½ CUP/55 G GRATED GRUYèRE
(use the large holes on a box grater)

2 TSP FRESH THYME LEAVES

¼ CUP/60 ML HEAVY CREAM

¼ CUP/60 ML PLUS 1 TBSP LOW-SODIUM CHICKEN BROTH

1
Preheat the oven
to 350°F/175°C (Gas Mark 4). Rub a 2-cup/475-ml shallow gratin dish (about 8 in/20 cm long and 1¼ in/3.25 cm deep) with a little olive oil. In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs with the 1 tsp olive oil and set aside.

2
Cut the potato
in half lengthwise and turn both halves cut side down on a cutting board. With a sharp knife, slice the halves across as thinly as you can so that you have thin half-moon pieces. Put the potatoes in a mixing bowl. Add the salt, several grinds of fresh pepper, the Gruyère, thyme leaves, heavy cream, and broth. Mix well. Using your hands, lift the potatoes out of the bowl and transfer them to the gratin dish, arranging them as snugly as possible. Pour and scrape the liquids and any remaining herbs into the gratin dish and distribute them evenly. Press down on the potatoes and adjust them again so that the liquid surrounds them as much as possible. It won’t cover the potatoes completely. Cover the top evenly with the bread crumb mixture.

3
Bake until the potatoes
are tender when pierced with a fork (check the middle of the dish as well as the sides), the bread crumbs are brown, and the juices around the edges of the gratin are quite browned, 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Serves 1 or 2

Think Christmas Eve and juicy roast beef and you’ll know when (and with what) to serve this rich and deeply flavored gratin. Like some of my other potato gratins, this one has the traditional addition of Gruyère, but it’s especially at home with golden sautéed mushrooms and a little rosemary.

This gratin takes some time to put together, but I promise, it’s worth it, and here’s a strategy: Prep and cook the mushrooms before you do anything else, so that they can cool before you mix them with the other ingredients. (You could also cook those a few hours ahead.) You can then slice the potatoes, grate the cheese, and chop the rosemary while the mushrooms cool. Start making this a good 2 hours before you want to serve it, as it takes an hour to cook and benefits from at least 20 minutes of resting time. The gratin does, however, hold well and stays warm for up to 45 minutes, so that could free up some oven space for you.

1½ CUPS/75 G FRESH BREAD CRUMBS

3 TBSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL,
and more for the pan

1½ TSP CHOPPED FRESH ROSEMARY

1 LB/455 G CREMINI (
baby bella
) MUSHROOMS,
sliced

1½ TSP KOSHER SALT 1 TSP MINCED FRESH GARLIC

1¼ LB/570 G YUKON GOLD POTATOES
(about 3 large), peeled

1½ CUPS/165 G GRATED GRUYèRE
(use the large holes on a box grater)

²
/
₃
CUP/160 ML HEAVY CREAM

²
/
₃
CUP/160 ML LOW-SODIUM CHICKEN BROTH

1
Preheat the oven
to 350°F/175°C (Gas Mark 4). In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs with 1 Tbsp of the olive oil and 1/2 tsp of the rosemary. Rub a 2-qt/2-L shallow gratin dish (no more than 2 in/5 cm deep) with a little olive oil.

2
In a large (12-in/30.5-cm) nonstick skillet
, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and 1/2 tsp of the salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are deeply browned, 12 to 14 minutes. Turn the heat down to low, add the garlic, and stir until the garlic is well incorporated and slightly softened, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Transfer the mushrooms to a large mixing bowl and let cool for at least 15 minutes while you finish prepping.

3
Cut each of the potatoes
in half lengthwise and turn both halves cut side down on a cutting board. With a sharp knife, slice the halves across as thinly as you can so that you have thin half-moon pieces. Add the potatoes to the cooled mushrooms. Add the remaining 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp rosemary, the Gruyère, heavy cream, and broth to the bowl. Mix well with a silicone spatula, breaking up the clumps of sliced potatoes and distributing the mushrooms as well as possible. Transfer the whole mixture to the gratin pan, and using your hands, arrange everything so that it’s distributed as evenly as possible. Press down with the palms of your hands to let the liquid come around the vegetables (it won’t completely cover them). Spread the bread crumb topping evenly over the vegetables.

4
Bake until the gratin
is quite brown (the edges will be deep brown from the bubbling juices) and the potatoes are tender, 60 to 65 minutes. Pierce the gratin with a fork in several places to see if the potatoes are tender. It should go through all but the centermost potatoes. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Serves 6 to 8

I first learned to make a tian (a Provençal summer vegetable gratin) in culinary school years ago. Since then I’ve made so many crowd-pleasing versions of them that they have become a signature Susie dish. For this book, I developed a new version, which I particularly like, because I’ve marinated the zucchini in a bit of orange juice and balsamic, and added fresh mint. These flavors give this gratin a nice, bright flavor.

I have to tell you my real secret to tian-deliciousness, though: I cook the gratin for a long time—long enough for the juices from the vegetables to greatly reduce and caramelize. (You’ll see a dark rim around the inside of the pan where some of the juices have caramelized while bubbling.) With those reduced tomato juices mingling with the sweet browned onions, the flavor is just intense. So don’t be tempted to undercook a tian, as even some experienced cooks do. When I say a long time, I only mean an hour or so in most cases, but it’s that extra 20 minutes that usually makes the difference.

A tian is fun to put together, because you design it by artfully arranging overlapping rows of vegetables. So pick a pretty gratin dish. I almost always use an oval one, but you can use any baking dish that’s shallow and has a 2-qt/475-ml capacity (see Baking Gratins: How It Works,
page 192
). You will probably wind up with a few extra slices of vegetables after you assemble this, as every gratin comes together a little differently.

Some of my friends who tested this recipe told me they were happy to eat this as a main dish with a salad and some bread. I’m with them, but I often double this and serve it when we’re cooking lots of skirt steaks to feed my husband’s Argentinian relatives, who never arrive in small numbers.

¹
/
₃
CUP/75 ML PLUS 2 TSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL,
and more for the pan

1 TBSP FINELY CHOPPED FRESH MINT

1 TBSP FRESH ORANGE JUICE

1 TSP BALSAMIC VINEGAR

KOSHER SALT

12 OZ/340 G ZUCCHINI
(about 2 small)

1½ LB/680 G SMALL RIPE TOMATOES
(about 5)

2 MEDIUM ONIONS (
about 10 oz/285 g total), thinly sliced

½ CUP/25 G FRESH COARSE BREAD CRUMBS

¾ CUP/25 G FINELY GRATED PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO

1 TBSP CHOPPED FRESH PARSLEY

1
Preheat the oven
to 375°F/190°C (Gas Mark 5). Grease a shallow 2-qt/2-L gratin dish with a little olive oil.

2
In a medium mixing bowl
, whisk together the mint, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp of the olive oil, and ¼ tsp salt. Slice the zucchini thinly (between 1/8 and ¼ in/ 3.25 and 6.5 mm thick) and slightly on the diagonal. Add them to the bowl and toss well. Core and slice the tomatoes crosswise a little thicker than the zucchini, and arrange them on a large dinner plate or platter. Sprinkle with ¼ tsp salt. Let both the zucchini and the tomatoes sit while you’re cooking the onions, or for at least 15 minutes. Toss the zucchini in the marinade occasionally.

3
Meanwhile
, heat 2 Tbsp of the olive oil in a medium (9- to 10-in/23- to 25-cm) skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and ¼ tsp salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent and start to turn golden brown (they should still have some body), 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the onions to the gratin dish and spread them out in one layer. Let cool.

4
In a small bowl
, combine the bread crumbs, 2 tsp of the olive oil, 2 Tbsp of the Parmigiano, the parsley, and a pinch of salt.

5
Drain the accumulated juices
off the tomatoes and zucchini. Starting at one end of the gratin dish, arrange the vegetables in rows with the slices slightly overlapping each other. (Arrange the first row so the pieces are resting against the back edge of the pan.) I like to alternate between one tomato slice and two zucchini slices (or one if they’re very large). Sprinkle a little bit of the Parmigiano over the zucchini slices as you go. If you need to fit in a few more rows, you can compact the rows slightly. Press gently to make sure the vegetables are level. Sprinkle any leftover Parmigiano over the vegetables and drizzle the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil over them. Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top, letting the vegetables peek out a bit.

6
Bake until well browned
all over and the juices have bubbled for a while and reduced considerably, 60 to 70 minutes. (The edges of the gratin will be very dark.) Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 4 to 6

At the peak of tomato season (mid-September where I live), I start to look for other things to do with big, fat, juicy heirloom tomatoes. Other things, that is, besides eating them raw with a sprinkle of sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil, or eating them in one of my no-cook salads (see
page 137
). I love to slow-roast tomatoes, because it greatly intensifies their flavor. Usually I roast them (cut in half) on a baking sheet drizzled with lots of olive oil. But it occurred to me that I could also slice them, arrange them in a baking dish, and turn them into a very simple roasted tomato gratin. I tried it for the first time with some yellow Brandywines, and it was delicious. Since then I’ve even tried it with less-than-spectacular-tomatoes and the long, slow cooking has worked wonders. It only takes 20 minutes or so to prep this, but you’ll want to cook it for almost 2 hours. Your home will smell wonderful.

Unlike other gratins in this chapter, there aren’t a lot of layers of vegetables here—just overlapping rows of tomatoes. This gives you maximum tomato flavor, with slivers of garlic, fresh thyme leaves, and a little balsamic to enhance it. But don’t be surprised at how much the tomatoes shrink in size—this is a flat, thin gratin, but one that’s intensely rich in flavor. It also owes its incredibly silky texture to a lot of olive oil (don’t be tempted to skimp on this), which permeates the tomatoes as the moisture evaporates. Any oil left in the pan after cooking is delicious on crusty bread. This gratin is really beautiful, so have fun arranging it and trying variously colored tomatoes in it.