Dark Days: A Single Gratin

Sunday, January 25, 2009

I really thought this Dark Days challenge update would be about the week of gratins.  I had a plan!  Of course, one gratin does not a ‘week of gratins’ make.  I’d like to say I was busy doing exciting things (you know, like saving the world), but it was mostly just a lot of knitting and getting ready for a 30 minute rowing test for dragon boat season. 

My one gratin?  It was a pantry buster: a gratin of potatoes, Kuri squash, fennel, and onions….with a whole lot of milk.

It seems that I have an endless supply of winter squash on the back patio, remnants of last year’s CSA share.  Even after this gratin, I still have three kabocha squash and a butternut.  The only thing that wasn’t local was the fennel and brown sugar.

It was super easy to make, which is always handy.  I used a mandoline to get super thin slices of all the vegetables and just layered them into a casserole dish.  In between each layer was a topping of butter and brown sugar.  And then I poured milk into the casserole until it came halfway up the sides of the dish and baked it until it was all gooey and melty and good.

And, of course, I finished my gratin meal with some locust eggs, er, tapioca pudding.