Gratin de courgettes aux oignons/Squash and Onion Gratin and Galette aux pommes/Apple Galette

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009

My step-son is visiting this weekend so the family is gathering for a dinner tonight. I decided to use the opportunity for another experiment from Lydie’s cookbook. What to make for this non-meat-loving crowd? There are also young kids involved so we must eat early – hence the preparation needs to be relatively simple. A squash and onion gratin looked interesting. It calls for boiling zucchini and onions in water, then draining it for at least 40 minutes. These ingredients then get mixed with ricotta and Gruyere cheese. It’s a good dish for company because it can be prepared ahead of time, then baked while people are eating hors d’oeuvres. For dessert, I thought I would try an apple galette – a free-form tart.

The gratin was truly simple to prepare. It helped that my husband played sous-chef with the cutting and peeling of zucchini. An essential step is draining the zucchini so that it is really dry. I drained and squeezed the heck out of it, but think that if I had gotten it even drier it might have turned out crispier – it was a little watery to my taste. Next time, I think I’ll put the mixture in a clean kitchen towel to absorb even more moisture. My step-son said that initially he was afraid that the dish would be heavy and cheesy. He was surprised by how light it actually was.

The apple galette was super easy. Lydie says she makes the dough beforehand then puts it together before dinner and lets it bake during dinner. That’s what I did and it worked really well. The basic tart dough is the one thing I have used consistently since attending cooking school in France. I’ve always been afraid of making pie crusts – mine turn out inconsistently. This tart dough is foolproof and is good for savory dishes such as tomato tart (which is becoming my signature dish) and sweet tarts, such as the one tonight. The galette was very pretty and goes well with ice cream or sweetened sour cream, as the French eat it. I know, my galette has an unusual, elongated shape. That’s because my little refrigerator cannot fit a 14 inch square pan. Oh well, it’s supposed to be free form!