So here is another post about the most wonderful thing in the world...food.
But before I walk you through an Emeril recipe I picked out for the 4th of July, I must make it clear that I AM NOT A COOK. Not that I've really practiced all that much, but if I can make this, so can you! Just be sure to stick through until the end to hear my suggestion on how I think next time I can make this meal just a little bit better.
So here is the making of a Zucchini and Summer Squash Casserole.
I like to lay out all of my ingredients before I start cooking (sometimes in the order that I will need to use them). If things are hiding in the fridge or the cabinet, I am likely to forget them.
Parmesan cheese, 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, heavy whipping cream, 3 XL eggs, fresh thyme, garlic, onion (pictured is a shalet, we used both), salt, freshly ground pepper, olive oil, summer squash, zucchini, some yellow squash, and butter crackers.
Now I screwed up on 2 things just on my shopping trip. The recipe called for "summer squash", well when I went to the store those funky light green things were labeled "summer squash", so I bought 2lbs of them, like the recipe told me to. When I got home my mom said "Oh, I would have bought yellow crookneck squash." She then explained to me that all the squash were summer squash. I had to run to the store again before I made this dish anyway, so I picked up some yellow crookneck squash. So you can forgo buying the funky shaped ones, or do what we did, which will be pictured later.
Also, those "butter crackers" I bought are organic Ritz Crackers. I don't usually worry too much about organic vs. not, but these were the first crackers I saw on the isle that read "butter crackers" so I grabbed them. It wasn't until later I realized I could have bought Ritz. You can buy either.
The recipe called for 2lbs zucchini, 2lbs summer squash, so we just weighed all three until it came out to 4lbs. I say the more variety the better, but it is up to you.
Oh! I forgot this ingredient! MUSIC! You can't cook without music. Today Michael Buble accompanied us.
Wash and cut off the ends of the squash (some were already being chopped when this picture was taken).
The 13 x 9in pan is buttered with 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, 1/2 cup of onions are chopped (the recipe calls for 1 cup but I don't love onions so we just used 1/2), 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper is measured out, 1 teaspoon of garlic is minced, and 1 teaspoon of thyme is chopped.
We chopped the squash into thin pieces. The yellow squash were large, so we cut it in half first and ended up with half moon shaped pieces.
For those beginners out there, like me, you have to pull of the leaves off the thyme, the stems are too "woody" (as my mother said) to eat.
Not pictured: Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter to a large pot and heat over medium-high heat until the butter is melted.
Add the onions, salt, and pepper and cook until the onions are soft and more translucent, which takes about 5 minutes.
Not pictured: Add the garlic and "cook until fragrant", about 30 seconds.
Add the squash and zucchini and give it a good stir to get all the veggies coated.
Keep that cooking for about 20 minutes, stirring often. Sometimes we covered it, but often times it was uncovered to avoid steaming the veggies and overcooking them.
While that is cooking take 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream. I added 2 splashes more to account for the amount that remained in the measuring cup (I'm too lazy to wait for it to settle), and another splash because I felt like it. Then add 3 XL eggs and whisk together.
Don't forget to stir the veggies!
Crush 1 cup of the crackers. You can use your hands (just make sure they become very crushed) or any number of other tools. I put my crackers in a bag and smacked them with a tart maker.
We also added some panco crumbs, and probably ended up with about 1 1/4 cup of crumbs combined.
Not pictured: Once the veggies have been cooking for 20 minutes stir in the thyme and remove from heat. Then use a slotted spoon to remove the veggies and place them evenly into the pan. Keep the liquid. Then slowly add the liquid to your eggs and cream. We added about 1/2 cup at a time and whisked it together after every bit of liquid was added.
Add the mixture evenly over the veggies. Then carefully "shift the vegetables around so the egg mixture is evenly distributed". We used our hands, then made sure all the veggies were covering the pan evenly.
Bake the dish at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
While the dish is baking, grate 1/2 cup of fresh parmesan cheese. I used a little bit more. If you don't have help like I did, you can crush your crackers during this time too instead of cleaning the kitchen or sitting down and watching a show about how banjos are made with your Dad.
Can you guess which one I did?
I cleaned the kitchen.
Not pictured: After 30 minutes remove the dish and add the crushed crackers and cheese evenly on top of the veggies and pop is back in the oven for another 15 minutes!
VOILA! YUMMY!
I was using the veggie casserole as a side dish to chicken. We used boneless skinless chicken breasts and marinaded it overnight with this dressing along with a little bit of olive oil and wine.
Then we BBQed them!
We have this fancy smancy fork we won in a gift exchange that tells us if the meat is cooked. It is 2 years old and this is the 2nd time we are using it.
The whole meal! Can't have a 4th of July meal (or any summer meal for us) without watermelon!!!!
What what we do differently to make the casserole better?
-Use only 3 pounds of veggies and the same amount of cream and eggs. That way there is a little higher of a liquid to veggie ratio.
-Add some cheese (parm or a great melty cheese) to the egg/cream/veggie liquid mixture so it was a little more cheesy throughout the whole casserole.
-Add some olive oil or melted butter to the bread crumbs before adding them so they weren't so dry on the top.
Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/zucchini-and-summer-squash-casserole-recipe/index.html
Have you tried any new recipes lately?
