Everyone needs a sister like mine.

She can do anything. Especially when involving her hands. She knits, sews, quilts, weaves, cooks, bakes, cans, and bottles lovely liqeurs- a mere domestic goddess. She does a lot more than that but that’s not the story.

Growing garden produce is her latest venture.  And, as usual, she does it rather well. Her bounty this year has been shared with my household-sugar snap and snow peas, lettuces, beets, patty pan squash,  yellow zucchini, and  cavolo nero, or Lacinato kale. The kale is a special treat. I have just started realizing how darn tasty I can make this crinkly green, pairing it with heavenly flavors and complex textures.

Because I’m still waiting for the never- produced real summer season, and literally way too cold for August, I’m making savory gratins. This really should be a dish for winter. A comfort, a humbug of ingredients one might have on hand in the cold storage and gussied up with a bit of wine and cheese, a little cream? But here I am, thinking of winter foods on the last day of August with another humble offering of kale and squash on my doorstep. What to do? It’s raining again!

Kale and beans are a classic Italian combination, so I started with that. Then, I rounded it out with a saute of the squashes, a drizzle of a wine and cream reduction, grated parmesan, and fresh breadcrumbs. Although there are a few steps to putting this dish together, it is an incredibly savory combination and makes a great meal all by itself. Not forgetting the glass of wine, of course.

One of the main reasons this dish is so tasty is due to the sum of it’s parts. Obviously, the produce should be local, and you should be using the best beans, oil and cheese that you can afford. I found Rancho Gordo heirloom beans in Napa, California. Although they aren’t local, they come from small, sustainable farms dedicated to growing new world heirloom varieties (indigenous to the Americas). And for the breadcrumbs (which form the crusty top of the gratin) it’s easy to keep a supply in the freezer by putting stale baguettes in the food processor and storing the rough crumbs in the freezer for pasta or gratins.

The recipe can be broken down into five parts: cooking the beans, blanching the kale, sauteeing the squash, making the reduction and frying the breadcrumbs. You can do the last three steps all in the same pan without washing it.

Dede’s Garden Gratin

makes a 9 x 13 casserole

Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat, and pour in the olive oil.   Add the onions and saute. Add the shallots, garlic, chiles and rosemary and toss until coated with oil and beginning to cook. Add the sliced squash and saute, distributing the flavorings well. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring until the squash releases some of it’s liquid, and is starting to color. Add the kale, and mix well. Cook another 5 minutes, then spread out into the casserole. Deglaze the pan by adding the wine. Reduce the wine by half. Add the cream and a few scrapings of nutmeg, salt and pepper. Remove from the heat. Drizzle this over the squash and kale. In the same pan, add the butter and let it melt over medium low heat. Put in the breadcrumbs, tossing to coat, and cook them until they are toasted. Remove from the heat.

Distribute the beans over the kale and squash, and sprinkle on the cheese. Top with the breadcrumbs. Bake the gratin in a 350 oven for about 45 minutes.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 11:02 pm and is filed under Dede's Garden Gratin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.