Gratin of Crack

It’s been a smelly day. Hard work today, too much dairy last night and provencal food for dinner. The area around the computer is an olfactory minefield, and I still have my shoes on.

Provencal food, you say? It’s hardly tomato season, what could you possibly be eating? *Bagna cauda*? No, it’s another remedy for my squash problem, *Gratin de Potiron.* Ok, we don’t have any *potirons* at the greenmarket (although the **Secret Egg Guy** does grow padano squash) but the last of the pumpkins and butternut squashes littering your house will do nicely. Also a great way to use up the last of the enormous hubbard you bought. I got the idea from a recipe in [a magazine](http://saveur.com/index.jsp), but this is adjusted a bit from the magazine recipe and served four amply for dinner with a baguette from Sullivan St Bakery (acquired at that [horrible place]( http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/StoreList.html?zip=10001&state=Select…&searchBtn=Search) that I’m forced to shop at) and a green salad. This is one of those applications for a strong [dressing]( http://omnivorousfish.com/node/46), garlic, tabasco, mustard, go nuts.

Another gratin, you ask? Yeah, it’s the time of year, and they’re a good way to feed people who randomly drop by (like the Agent’s boss). Also a great way to use up leftover cheese.

To drink: Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Dry Riesling, definitely in our Top Ten Under $Ten. The Agent is mad for whites right now. This would be top-notch with Bandol for you red-onlys. Remember, if it grows together, it goes together. (Fortunately, squash grows everywhere.)

**Gratin of Crack, or Squashes**
Serves 4, more as a side dish

2 medium squashes, butternut, acorn, pie pumpkin or a 6-7 pound chunk of hubbard or cheese pumpkin or a combination of any and all of the above; peeled, seeded and cut into 1” chunks.

2 large waxy potatoes, like red or yukon gold, about 1 pound, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and sliced ½” thick

salt and pepper

4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup cream, heavy or ½&1/2
½ cup milk
2 cups shredded Gruyere or sharp cheddar cheese

Cover squash with cold, salted water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, partially covered, until very tender, 15-20 minutes, less if your squashes have been “curing” for a while.

Cover potatoes with cold, salted water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, partially covered, until just tender, 7-10 minutes. Don’t sweat it if they break up a little. Drain and place in a large bowl.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. When squash is ready, drain in a colander and allow to stand for a few minutes. Using a spoon or towel, press down on squash to extract as much water as possible.

Since I had the food processor out to shred the cheese, I also used it to chop the garlic and to mash the squash (but not puree it completely). The squash could be easily mashed with a potato masher, pastry blender, or even a spoon. Mash it to your preferred consistency, leaving some chunks. Fold squash into potatoes and garlic and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Spread mixture in a large gratin or 9×13 inch pyrex or other baking dish. I would counsel you to use enamelware, glass or earthenware here, a thin metal lasagna pan won’t do a gratin justice. I used a 9 quart enameled oven, overkill from a volume perspective, but with fantastic results.

Pour the milk and cream over the squash mixture and top with the cheese. Bake until bubbling and browned on top, 30-35 minutes.

Fish in Whoville?

After dancing my way through the seventies on my last TWO shows, I’m working in Whoville and that’s how it goes. It’s quite a good show and everyone’s nice, though I’ve started to go mad only seeing it twice.

Ravioli making had been put on hold again while I unexpectedly went back to work. However, a date and time (and help) are all set for tomorrow evening. I need to find amaretti somewhere this afternoon, the sweet cookies are ballast for the filling. If you want to follow along at home, per 60 ravioli (6-8 servings) you’ll need 2 lbs of squash, 2 egg yolks, 8 amaretti, 1/2 cup grated parmiggiano-reggiano or pecorino romano cheese and a sprinkling of freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley. If you don’t have fresh parsley, skip it; don’t go wasting all that work on something that will end up tasting like grass clippings.

For the squash I recommend either cheese pumpkin or hubbard squash (first tier); butternut squash (second tier); or sugar pie pumpkins (third tier). For butternut squash, go easy on the amaretti; they are sweet to begin with. No matter what squash you use, you’ll want to cook the squash *at least* 24 hours ahead so after it has cooled you can drain the puree. This is of **paramount importance** when using hubbard squash; it is the wettest of all listed.

Okay, I have to finish painting and get some amaretti so I can get home and cook my squash.

Another Pumpkin

[I did it again](http://omnivorousfish.com/node/77). I bought a 13 pound cheese pumpkin. It’s beautiful, I’ll post a picture later.

Squash Dependency

My name is Joe.

Altogether now, HI, JOE!

I don’t know how it happened. I was walking around the greenmarket and I saw it, an eight pound sweetmeat pumpkin. I didn’t mean to buy it, but it just appeared in my bag. When I got home, that was when I realized I might have a problem. Butternut and delicata squash were vying for attention on the shelf, the table littered with small pie pumkins. Worse yet, cheese pumpkins aren’t even really out yet, and I’ll have to buy one when they are. What to do?

My treatment begins today: soup, ravioli, maybe a pie and puree into the freezer for a handy side dish.

I was vacillating about making ravioli because of time constraints, but what the hell? They’ll be time to sleep when I’m dead, right? Like almost every word in Italian, the precise definition of *raviolo* is hard to pin down and dependent on geography, demographics and the mood of the person in question. Tortelli is a popular word in the north for filled pastas, as is tortelloni (meaning, loosely, ‘big tortelli’, which itself means loosely ’smaller form of cake’), although I have alternately heard both of those terms applied to full and half moons. Logic and the majority of experience suggest that tortelli are the folded, half moon shape, and tortelloni the round.

Ravioli, on the other hand, I have only ever seen to be one thing, and though I always associate it with southern Italian food, the fact is there is no basis for that other than being raised by southern Italians; the word is just as popular in the north.

Regardless, squash and pasta are a classic fit, and if time permits we’ll make some together.

And leave some comments, for Christ’s sake. People tell me they read this thing all the time, but I won’t *know* unless you leave comments.