Black Bean Tortilla Casserole

Here's a fiesta food for a crowd that feeds an army and can be made entirely ahead of time.  It's essentially a lasagna recipe gone Tex-Mex.  Tortillas stand in for pasta and the sauce is a combination of salsa, tomatoes and creamy refried beans.  If you stick with lard-free refried beans (i.e. don't use the authentic ones) this is a vegetarian recipe.  It's so hearty and satisfying, however, we can assure you that (almost) no one will miss the meat.

You can make the saucy layer 2-3 days ahead of your meal if desired.  Tomato based sauces just improve with an extra day or two for the flavors to marry.  You can make the creamy layer ahead, as well, but it's not difficult to quickly mix up on the day of your dinner.   Assembly is simple, but give yourself plenty of time due to the volume of the dish.  The cooking times below are for a conventional oven; you can assume that a commercial convection will get it done in about half the time.

This is truly a "one-pot" meal so we just serve a simple salad on the side.  We do recommend starting off with a chip and salsa starter, however, and a simple dessert (fresh citrus, perhaps) to round out the meal.

Enjoy!






Black Bean Tortilla Casserole
Serves 36 (Makes two full-size hotel pans with 18 slices each)

Saucy Layer:

• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 6 medium yellow onions (about 3 lbs), cut into small dice
• 6 large green bell peppers (about 3 lbs), cut into small dice
• 8 medium poblano peppers (about 2 lbs, optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped garlic (about 8 cloves) or 1 TBS dried chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup ground cumin
• 100 oz canned black beans (2 x 50 oz cans), drained of liquid
• 84 oz your favorite jarred salsa (we used a roasted tomato salsa from Costco with good results)
• #10 can Italian plum tomatoes, crushed by hand with their juice (about 100 oz)
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Creamy Layer:

• 120 oz refried black beans (or 4 x 28 oz cans)
• 2 quarts buttermilk 
• 3 lbs ricotta or cottage cheese
• 3 lbs low fat cream cheese at room temperature
• 3/4 cup taco seasoning
• 3 bunches fresh cilantro (about 12 oz), stems trimmed and leaves finely chopped

Tortilla Layer:

• 4 lbs fresh corn tortillas
• 3 lbs shredded Monterey Jack, queso chihuahua or other Mexican cheese blend
• 3 bunches scallions (about 4 cups) trimmed of top and bottom ends and thinly chopped  
• 2 TBS olive oil and  basting brush for oiling the pans

To prepare casserole:

In a 12 qt, heavy-bottomed stock pot, warm olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add onion and green pepper and saute until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes.  Add garlic and cumin and saute until fragrant, about one minute.  Add black beans, tomatoes, and salsa and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover the pot with a lid and simmer gently while you prepare the remainder of ingredients.

In the bowl of a commercial mixer, or in a full size hotel pan, combine refried beans, buttermilk, cottage cheese, cream cheese and taco seasoning and mix well to combine.  After mixing, gently stir in chopped cilantro.  If you're mixing by hand, soften the cream cheese in a microwave before mixing with other ingredients.  (If you don't have a commercial mixer, a hand-held mixer will make this job much easier.)

Lightly oil the bottom and sides of two full-size, extra deep hotel pans.  Arrange a layer of tortillas across the bottom and up the sides of each pan, overlapping for full coverage.  If you're using traditional (4-5" round) corn tortillas, about 12 tortillas will give full coverage.   Spoon one quarter of the saucy mixture over the tortillas in each pan and follow with one quarter of the creamy mixture. Scatter a one cup of scallions in each pan atop the mixtures.  Arrange a second layer of tortillas in the same manner, again overlapping for full coverage.  Repeat a second saucy layer followed by a second creamy layer in each pan.  Top the pans with the remaining tortillas, gently pressing the tortillas down into the pan so the edges don't burn.  Divide the grated cheese evenly between the two pans, fully covering the tortillas.  Scatter a final cup of scallions on top of the cheese.

To bake casserole:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake each casserole covered for 45-50 minutes.  Remove covers and bake for an additional 15 minutes until cheese has lightly browned.  Cover casseroles to keep warm and allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.   Each pan should yield 18 slices.

Green Salad with Chipotle-Ranch Dressing

Serves 36

• 1 lb frozen sweet corn kernels
• 9 hearts of romaine, (about X lbs) chopped into very thin strips
• 1 large red onion, very thinly sliced 
• 1 lb queso fresco, crumbled
• 16 oz buttermilk ranch dressing
• 3 TBS taco seasoning
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread frozen sweet corn kernels in a single layer over several sheet pans (or one commercially sized sheet pan).  Roast for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned.   Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, combine dressing with taco seasoning and set aside in the refrigerator.

Wash and drain hearts of romaine.  Cut hearts against the direction of the leaves into very thin (1/2") strips and add to a very large serving bowl or hotel pan.   Halve the red onion and slice into paper thin strips.  Crumble the queso fresco into small pieces.  Toss the romaine, onion, corn and queso fresco to combine and keep chilled until just before serving.

When ready to serve, toss salad with dressing and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately. 

Winter Taco Bar

Cabbage Soup with Pumpkin Cornbread

Here's a simple but satisfying autumn meal built once again around a reserved batch of soup.  Recall the double batch of cabbage soup we made in October?  With a simple thaw and gentle reheating, here it is again on the menu.   This time it's paired with a Thanksgiving-worthy pumpkin cornbread and a delectably tangy apple salad-- arguably its tastiest partners yet.

This meal is easy on the budget and easy on the time-clock.  With three chefs in the kitchen, we were able to serve in about an hour.  The key is to get the cornbread in the oven as quickly as possible and then attack the salad with all your cookpower.

If you're feeling extra ambitious or have come into a windfall of autumn squash, roast a few fresh sugar pumpkins or butternut squash ahead of your meal and use the puree in place of canned pumpkin in the cornbread recipe.  If not, canned or frozen pumpkin puree will do just fine.  The end result is sweet enough to qualify for dessert, but we ended the meal with gingerbread cookies anyway. 

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cranberry Cornbread

Makes (2) 8x13 pans or one full-size hotel pan, about 40 slices

• 3 cups unbleached white flour
• 3 cups yellow cornmeal
• 3 TBS baking powder
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 3 TBS pumpkin pie spice
• 1-1/2 cups raw sugar
• 8 oz dried cranberries (we like the orange flavored cranberries from Trader Joe's)

• 6 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups pumpkin puree
• 3 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup canola oil + 2 TBS canola oil for greasing pan

Preheat commercial convection oven to 400 degrees. 

Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sea salt, pumpkin pie spice, sugar and cranberries  in an XL mixing bowl.  

In a separate mixing bowl, beat the eggs.  Add the pumpkin puree, buttermilk and 1/2 cup canola oil.   Transfer the egg mixture to the bowl with flour mixture and gently stir to combine, being careful not to overmix. 

With a basting brush, lightly grease (2) 8x13 baking pans (or a single shallow hotel pan) with the remaining canola oil.  Preheat the greased pans in the oven for about 5 minutes before adding the cornbread mixture.  This will ensure a good crust.

Carefully remove the preheated pans from the oven.  Immediately pour batter into the hot pans.  Cover tightly with foil and bake for approximately 20 minutes minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until crusty brown and cooked through.  Allow bread to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.  

Romaine Salad with Apples and Blue Cheese

Serves 36

For the salad:

• 9 hearts of romaine (about X lbs)
• 8 medium apples
• 8 oz dried cranberries (we like orange flavored cranberries from Trader Joe's)
• 1 lb blue cheese, finely crumbled
• 1 lb turkey bacon, baked until crisp and crumbled into bits

For the honey-mustard dressing:

• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 6 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup dijon (or more to taste)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• freshly ground pepper to taste

Prepare dressing by combining all ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisking until combined. Set aside until ready to use. 

Slice hearts of romaine into thin (1/4") ribbons against the direction of the leaves.  Wash and dry as needed.

Slice the apples into thin segments.  Immediately after cutting, toss the apples into a mixing bowl along with the salad dressing to prevent the apples from discoloring.  Add the cranberries to the bowl and allow to rest until just before serving. 

 In a full size hotel pan or extra large serving bowl, combine lettuce and half the crumbled blue cheese.  Just before serving, toss the lettuce with the apple-dressing mixture and mix well to combine.  Season the salad with freshly ground pepper and serve with the remaining blue cheese crumbles and bacon bits on the side as garnish.  

Savory Sweet Potato Pie with Slaw

It's with great pain that we publish this menu and admit that this one was simply not a fan favorite.  


Despite what seemed like its great potential, this savory sweet potato pie just struck our dinner guests as undesirable.  Perhaps the traditional rendition of the sweet sweet potato pie is just too iconic to reinvent as savory.  We were too crushed to thoroughly inquire. 


Beyond that, the colorful, flavorful, toothsome autumnal slaw ultimately proved too... toothsome for most of our guests.  Too crunchy?  Too red?  To many nearly-raw vegetables in the same big bowl?  Who can say?  If you're a root vegetable or cruciferous vegetable fan, you will probably love it it.  It's wildly colorful and deeply flavored, but it scared most of our diners away.


Without deeply wallowing in regret, we will simply close with the advice to locate this menu somewhere on the margins of your repertoire, perhaps reserving it for the rare day when you need a dish or two for your local farm-to-table potluck or must prepare dinner for your eccentric second cousin visiting from California. 


We warned you.

Savory Sweet Potato and Sausage Pie

Makes 36 slices

Potato Puree

• 6 large sweet potatoes, pricked with a fork
• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 18 large egg yolks, scrambled

Sausage Filling 

• 3lbs chicken andouille sausage, cut into thin rounds
• 6 TBS olive oil
• 1 lb onions, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup minced garlic
• 1 TBS dried sage

• 6 frozen whole wheat pie crusts

Make the potato puree the night before.

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Wrap the sweet potatoes in foil and bake for 45-55 minutes until very soft.  Let the sweet potatoes cool slightly and peel them.  Working in batches, combine the potatoes, whole milk and cream in a food processor and process until they reach a smooth consistency. (If not using a food processor, put the potatoes through a potato ricer and then combine them with the milk and cream.)  Add the scrambled egg yolks to the potato puree and mix until well blended.  Store the mixture in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator until you're ready to make the pies.

At meal time, preheat oven to 350°.  Preheat the flattop grill to med-high heat.

Prick the bottom of the pie crusts several times with a fork.  Line the dough with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans.  Bake crusts for about 30 minutes until just set and lightly browned.  If you're using a commercial convection oven, this time will be reduced by about half.  Be sure to set fan speed to low to avoid a burnt crust.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil on the flattop grill.  Add the andouille sausage and cook until lightly browned, about 7-10 minutes. Add the onion and dried sage and cook until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until fragrant.  Transfer sausage mixture to an XL mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly.

Add the potato puree to the andouille mixture and stir well to combine.  Divide the filling between the six par-baked pie crusts.  Return pies to the oven and bake for an additional 45 minutes until the custard filling is set.  Let pies cool for 20 minutes, slice and serve. 

Roasted Rainbow Slaw

Serves 36 generously

• 1 med-large head green cabbage (4-5lbs)
• 1-1/2 lbs kale (purple, green or a combination)
• 1 lb red onion
• 1 lb red beets
• 2 lbs orange carrots, peeled (or 2 lbs baby carrots)

For the dressing:

• 2 cups mayonaise
• 1/2 cup raw sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup dijon
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425.

Quarter cabbage and cut away any exposed core.  Slice against the  direction of the leaves to get very thin strips. Tear kale leaves away from stems.  Tear any large leaves in half.  Arrange cabbage and kale in single layers on several sheet pans.  

Slice onions into paper thin half-rounds.  Arrange onions in a single layer on a sheet pan.

Roast cabbage, kale and onion in hot oven until leaves are crisp-tender and onions have softened and lightly browned.  This will take 5-7 minutes for the cabbage, 12-15 minutes for the kale and 20-25 minutes for the onions.  Remove pans from the oven as each vegetable is cooked and allow to cool.

In the meantime, using a food processor, shred the carrots and beets.  If not using a food processor, use a box grater.  

In a small bowl, combine all five ingredient for the dressing and mix well.  

Transfer all vegetables to an XL serving bowl or a full size hotel pan.  Toss the vegetables with the dressing and season with salt and pepper.   Allow slaw to rest for 15 minutes before serving.  Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve. 

Sweet Sour Cabbage Soup with Sausage

At the risk of embarrassing such a humble vegetable, we won't revisit the impressive attributes of cabbage in this post.  (For a cabbage refresher, visit the post just before this one.)  We will, however, reiterate the all-important "easy to cook" part which is a major selling point for this soup recipe. 

There are many ways to turn out a good cabbage soup, but this is our favorite when cooking for a crowd.  Rather than attempting to saute a huge amount of chopped cabbage, we roast the ribbons until they are slightly wilted and lightly browned.  Aside from being nearly effortless, this turns out a soup with a crisp-tender texture and maintains the sweet nuttiness of the cabbage.  After roasting, the ribbons are stirred into the soup base where they cook just long enough for the flavors to meld.  This recipe pairs cabbage with sausage, a classic and much-loved combination around the world, and brightens both with a broth that's a little salty, a little tangy and a little sweet.  Paired with cornbread and a tangy apple salad, this is textbook autumnal eating that's easy on the pocketbook and popular with the crowd. 

A few cook's notes... We'll refer to our usual fresh soup disclaimer:  fresh soup is chopping-intensive but infinitely worth the effort.  We highly recommend employing a food processor to prep the onions, carrots, celery and garlic.  This can even be done the day before and stored in air-tight containers (we use two 8-qt restaurant-style storage containers with lids).  If you don't have access to a food processor, give yourself plenty of extra time to prepare the vegetables.  Feel free to substitute pre-washed baby carrots for conventional carrots.  As for the cabbage, halve and quarter each head, cut out the cores and thinly slice the quarters into ribbons. We further chop the ribbons until they are about 2" long-- much more managable on a spoon than a five inch slice of unruly cabbage.  Alternatively, you could send the cabbage through a food processor fitted with a medium-sized shredder blade.  You'll have a texture that's more like slaw, but it will certainly work.  And if you're really pressed for time, you could consider roasting one of those huge bags of pre-shredded coleslaw mix, though you'll be trading in the freshness of a local cabbage. 

As we've come to realize, there's a great economy of effort in making a double batch of soup to serve at the next meal, so this recipe is sized accordingly.  We store the second batch in those same 8-qt containers in a deep freezer until our next meal and enjoy a night with a little less elbow grease required.  If you just need a single batch, cut the recipe below in half.  Finally, if scratch cornbread and scratch soup seem like too much to tackle in one evening, a quintuple batch of a good cornbread mix does just as well.  Enjoy!




Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup with Sausage
Makes a double batch for 36 persons (one for now and one for the freezer)

• 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
• 3 lbs red or sweet onions (about 4 medium), diced
• 2 lbs carrots (about 16 medium), diced
• 1 large bunch celery with leafy tops included (about 1-3/4 lbs), diced
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 lbs cabbage, outer leaves and cores removed (about 2 heads), cut into thin, 2" long ribbons
• 3 gallons spring water
• 8 oz jar "Better than Boullion" brand organic chicken stock base (you could also use vegetable base)
• 24 oz tomato paste
• 4 cups honey or agave syrup
• 4 cups cider vinegar (start with 3 cups and add more to taste depending on preference)
• 3 lbs chicken-apple sausage (we used Trader Joe's brand "Smoked Apple Chardonay"), sliced into thin half-rounds
• 1 cup freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley, cilantro or a comination of both
• 2 cups buttermilk, optional
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Prepare two full-size hotel pans by adding 1/4 cup of olive oil to each pan and preheating pans in the hot oven for 5 minutes until oil is warm.  Remove pans from oven.  Add diced onions, carrots, celery and garlic to the first pan and toss with the olive oil.   Add sliced cabbage to the second pan and toss with the olive oil.  Season the contents of each pan with salt and pepper and return to the oven to roast until vegetables have wilted and lightly browned.  This will take about 20 minutes in commerical convection oven and a about twice that long in a conventional oven.  Remove pans from oven once or twice during the cooking process to give the contents a good stir and to prevent the top layer from burning.

While vegetables are roasting, pour water into a very large stock pot (at least 18" in height) and put pot over high heat.  Add stock base and tomato paste to pot to water and stir to dissolve. 

When vegetables are roasted, transfer to the stock pot and stir well to combine.  Add honey (or agave nectar) and vinegar and taste for flavor, making adjustments as neccessary.  Add sausage and cook for an additional 15 minutes at a gentle boil. 

Remove pot from heat, stir in chopped herbs and buttermilk and make one final check for flavor, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.   Serve hot with cornbread and apple salad on the side.




Tangy Apple Salad
Serves 36 persons

• 6 lbs Granny Smith apples (about 12 large)
• 9 oz raisins
• 1 lb baby arugula (usually available pre-washed in clamshell containers at most grocery stores)
• 1-1/2 cups vegetable oil (like canola or light olive oil)
• 1-1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 TBS dijon mustard
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

To prepare dressing, whisk vegetable oil, buttermilk, honey (or agave), vinegar, and dijon in the bottom of a large work bowl.  Season with salt and pepper and make any flavor adjustments as desired.  Mix raisins into the dressing.

If you have a mandoline or food processor with a shredder or slicer blade, slice or shred apples and add them immediately to the bowl with dressing to prevent browning.  If preparing by hand, slice apples into quarters, and slice quarters into very thin half-moon slices. 

Just before serving, toss arugula with apples and dressing (tongs work well for this).  Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.





Cheddar Scallion Cornbread

Makes (2) 8x13 pans or one full-size hotel pan, about 40 slices

• 3 cups unbleached white flour
• 3 cups yellow cornmeal
• 3 TBS baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 6 eggs
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup canola oil (or melted butter)
• 1/3 cup agave syrup (or honey)
• 1 lb sharp cheddar or cheddar jack cheese, cut into 1/4" cubes
• 2 cups thinly sliced scallions, white parts only
• 1 cup thinly sliced scallions, green parts only
• 2 TBS canola oil for greasing pan

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and sea salt in an XL mixing bowl. Creat a crate in the center of the dry ingredients.  In the crater, combine the eggs, milk, oil and honey and whisk to combine the wet ingredients. With a large wooden spoon slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, being careful not to overwork the mixture as this will toughen the bread. Once mixed, gently fold in cheese and white scallions.

With a basting brush, lightly grease (2) 8x13 baking pans or a single full-size hotel pan.  Preheat the greased pan in the oven for about 5 minutes to ensure a good crust.

Carefully remove the preheated pan(s) from the oven.  Immediately pour batter into the hot pans and top with remaining green scallions.  Return to oven to bake for 25-30 minutes or until bread is crusty brown and cooked through.  Allow to rest five minutes before slicing.  Serve warm.

Pasta with Roasted Cabbage & Sausage

Cabbage doesn't get any tastier than in autumn.  Like so many cruciferious vegetables, a few nights in a cold field make it that much sweeter.  If you have access to farmer's market cabbage (and in Chicago, there's no shortage), now is the time to pick up head or three. Aside from being one of the most economical vegetables around, it's a nutritional powerhouse and, in our editorial opinion, much underappreciated.  We suspect that traumatic, early-life run-ins with smelly cabbage dishes (sauerkraut and Brussels sprouts, anyone?) cause people to shy away in later life.  Even the sweetest and freshest cabbage cooked long enough or in the wrong manner (eh hem...  crockpot... lesson learned) will be transformed into something so pungent you may not be able to bear it.  Ironically, cooking cabbage correctly takes very little effort;  it's actually much more difficult to turn out a smelly dish, but somehow, we do it.

If you need further convincing before attempting a cabbage-centric menu, here's our best shot. Cabbage is rich in fiber, low in calories (one cup has only 15) and great source of Vitamin C. It contains a naturally-occuring nitrogenous compound known as indoles which has been linked to lower occurances of various forms of cancer- most notably breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.  It's rich in vitamin A (responsible for the protection of your skin and eyes), vitamin C (an all important anti-oxidant), vitamin E (a fat soluble anti-oxidant which plays a role in skin integrity), and vitamin B (helps maintain integrity of nerve endings and boosts energy metabolism).  It inhibits infections and ulcers and boosts the immune system's ability to produce more antibodies. Finally, it provides high levels of iron and sulphur, minerals that work in part as cleansing agents for the digestive system.  And the best endorsement?  In our shelter community, where many of the roots run south, it's often requested.

But pasta and cabbage?  Yes!  This is an American rendition of the classic Italian dish pasta with radicchio.  Fresh cabbage is sweeter and more approachable than its intense cousin, radicchio, but the idea stays intact in the recipe below.  Is there anything easier than tossing a heap of roasted vegetables with freshly cooked pasta, a bit of sausage and a flavorful cheese?  We don't think so.  The most challenging aspect is finding a spoon that's hefty enough handle the final tossing.  Given the vegetables, sausage and cheese in this recipe, this is main course and side dish rolled into one. We serve it with a tangy apple salad on the side and not much else.  If it's a chilly evening, warm apple cider compliments nicely.  So... grab a cabbage, get crazy, and go for it.  Enjoy!


Pasta with Roasted Cabbage and Sausage

36 (generous) servings

• 4 lbs small whole wheat pasta (like rotini, penne or tubetti)
• 3 lbs pre-cooked chicken sausage (use Andouille if you like spicy and chicken-apple if you prefer sweet)
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup + 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 TBS honey or agave syrup (optional)
• 1 head garlic, cloves smashed and sliced into extra-thin slivers
• 1 head purple cabbage, thinly sliced into ribbons (about 3 lbs before trimming and slicing)
• 1 head green cabbage, thinly sliced into ribbons (about 4 lbs)
• 3 lbs red onions, halved and thinly sliced into half-rounds
• 2 cups Italian flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 lb freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or, if you prefer, crumbled blue or gorgonzola cheese)
• 1-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Preheat flattop grill to medium-high heat.  Put a covered XL stock pot (16 qts or larger) filled with cold water and 2 TBS salt over high heat.

Rinse, halve and quarter cabbages.  Remove cores and thinly slice the quarters into 1/4" thick ribbons.  Trim the longer ribbons into 3-4" pieces. 

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until just foaming. Add garlic to the pan and cook for two minutes over low heat.  Remove from heat and add 3/4 cup olive oil.  

Toss the sliced cabbage and melted butter mixture together in a full-size, extra deep hotel pan. Season the mixture with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Transfer pan to the hot oven and roast for about 20-25 minutes until ribbons are tender and slightly browned, stirring occasionally to prevent top layer from burning.

While cabbage is roasting, slice the onions into very thin half rounds.  Warm the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, apple cider vinegar and honey (or agave syrup) in a shallow hotel pan or chafing dish in the same oven as the cabbage for 3-4 minutes.  When warm, remove the pan from the oven, add the onions and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Roast onions for about 20-25 minutes until they are deeply browned and caramelized.  (If onions begin to burn before they fully soften and caramelize, cover pan tightly with foil and continue cooking.)  Keep onions warm until ready to use.

About 20 minutes before mealtime, when stockpot has reached a full boil, cook pasta per the package instructions.  Drain pasta and reserve one cup of cooking water. 

While pasta is cooking, slice the sausages into thin rounds and arrange in a single layer on a sheet pan.  Warm in the oven until heated through.

To serve, add very hot pasta, caramlized onions, sausage rounds, choped parsley and cheese to the pan with the roasted cabbage.  Use a hefty serving spoon (or two) or kitchen tong to toss all ingredients together.  If the pasta seems a bit dry, use the reserved cooking water to assist with the mixing.  Season with salt and pepper, taste for flavor and add additional cheese as desired.  (If you have fresh and flavorful olive oil on hand, you can finish the dish with a swirl of that as well.)  Serve immediately.



Tangy Apple Salad

Serves 36 persons

• 6 lbs Granny Smith apples (about 12 large)
• 9 oz raisins
• 1 lb baby arugula (usually available pre-washed in clamshell containers at most grocery stores)
• 1-1/2 cups vegetable oil (like canola or light olive oil)
• 1-1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 TBS dijon mustard
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

To prepare dressing, whisk vegetable oil, buttermilk, honey (or agave), vinegar, and dijon in the bottom of a large work bowl. Season with salt and pepper and make any flavor adjustments as desired. Mix raisins into the dressing. 

If you have a mandoline or food processor with a shredder or slicer blade, slice or shred apples and add them immediately to the bowl with dressing to prevent browning. If preparing by hand, slice apples into quarters, and slice quarters into thin matchsticks.

Just before serving, toss arugula with apples and dressing (tongs work well for this). Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Crustless Breakfast Quiche

This Sunday's breakfast will be a meal-on-wheels as Team Grace isn't able to assemble in person for live cooking.  We're turning to one of the best make-ahead recipes in our breakfast repertoire, a crustless breakfast quiche.  We're making and baking on Friday afternoon, wrapping things up nice and tight, and doing a drop-off (with directions for reheating) for Sunday morning.  The time in between cooking and eating is time well spent, as this dish only gets tastier as the flavors have time to mingle and marry.  If you really want to go "crustless" and turn out a totally bread-free quiche, omit the bread in the recipe below and increase your quantity of egg-custard accordingly.  There's no perfect formula for this one -- just experiment until you find a version you love.  The flavors below are Italianate (for lack of a better description) but if you have a favorite classic quiche recipe, swap and sub ingredients as your heart desires. 

A few cook's notes...  We used a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer to mix our egg custard in two batches and highly recommend that method.  If you don't have a stand mixer, try a hand held mixer and several large work bowls.  If you're mixing things manually, whisk the eggs by hand prior whisking in the liquid egg whites to make the mixture more manageable. Tranfer each batch of egg custard to a very large (12+ qt) stock pot where the ingredients can rest until you've finished the recipe.  As for cooking, we happened to have half-size disposable aluminum pans on hand, so that's what we used.  Although you end up with six pans, half-size pans are easy to transport and don't over tax a conventional home oven.  If you're using a commerical oven and/or pans, you can use 2 or 3 full-size hotel pans depending on your preferred thickness for the finished dish.  Cooking times below are for half-size disposable pans in a conventional home oven. 

We served this with fresh fruit and orange juice, but also think a side of something sweet (muffins, pastries, quick breads, etc.) would round out the meal very nicely.  Either way, it's a savory and hearty start to the day.  Enjoy!





(Make ahead) Crustless Breakfast Quiche
Serves 36 (Makes 6 half-size disposable aluminum roasting pans with 6 slices each)


For the egg custard:

36 large eggs, cage-free
64 oz liquid egg whites
1/2 gallon 1% milk, organic
1/2 gallon heavy cream, organic
1/4 cup dijon mustard
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper



For the filling:

1/4 cup olive oil for brushing pans
2 loaves savory bakery bbread (about 2 lbs), cubed into 1" pieces (we used rosemary-olive oil)
1 lb solid genoa salami, cut into very small cubes
5 bunches scallions, tops and bottoms trimmed, wilted stems removed and chopped into thin rings (about a 3/4 lb yield)
1-1/2 lbs roasted brocolli florets, roughly chopped into small, bite sized pieces
1 lb sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped 
1 lb Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
12 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 bunch flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, finely chopped (about a 1/4 lb yield)



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In the work bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine half the eggs and half the egg whites.  Use the whisk attachment to whisk until well combined.  Transfer contents of the work bowl to a clean, covered stockpot and set aside.  In the same work bowl, combine the remaining eggs and egg whites.  Return to the stand mixer and whisk until well combined.  Add the dijon, salt and pepper and whisk again.  Transfer contents of the work bowl to the stock pot.  Add the 1% milk and the heavy cream to the stock pot and mix by hand until all ingredients of the egg custard are well combined.  Cover stock pot and set aside.

Use a basting brush to lightly oil the bottom and sides of six half-size disposable aluminum pans.  Scatter 1/6th of the diced bread in the bottom of each pan.  In the same manner, divide the cubed salami, chopped scallions, chopped brocolli, sundried tomatoes, parmesan cheese, garlic and parsley between the pans.  Ladle 1/6th of the egg custard into each pan.  (This equates to about 6 cups of egg custard per pan.)   Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, gently mix the custard with the filling to fully saturate and cover the quiche ingredients. 

Transfer three of the half-size pans to the oven, stagger on the oven racks to allow air to circulate around the pans and bake for 45 minutes (give or take 5-10 minutes depending on the strength of your oven) until just set.  You don't want to overcook at this point, as quiche will cook further while reheating. Repeat baking process with the second batch of quiche.

Allow quiche to cool slightly and cover tightly with aluminum foil.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Before serving, bake covered for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees until fully warmed through.  Serve immediately or at room temperature.

Serve with fresh fruit, sweet breads and orange juice.  Enjoy!

Thoughts for Food: Fall

It's almost impossible not to vigorously lament the passing of summer in Chicago, but fall is so darn beautiful at least it's easy to be distracted.  Everywhere you look, the view is full of burnt orange, gold and brick red.  These early autumn days are sweet with tranquil weather, sunshine and the last of the warm winds.  They are easy to savor as you take the final liesurely walks and spend just a few more minutes at the park with little ones.  Getting to work on foot is still enjoyable and the heavy jackets have not yet come out.  Ask any Chicagoan what comes next, and... well, never mind.

If summer brings the intense but fleeting pleasures of garden tomatoes, sweet corn and fresh berries, fall can be heartily commended for delivering more lasting fare.  At the markets, crates of storage apples come in every color of the rainbow, piles of root vegetables make you wish you had an old-fashioned celar for purple carrots and sweet onions and the pumpkins and squash are vibrant with the colors of the season.  The gardens may be giving up and the markets shutting down, but these flavors hang on for a while.  Even on a warm October night, you can begin to taste Thanksgiving right around the corner.

It's in this spirit that we line up our menus for fall with foods that keep one last leg in the garden and bravely ward off winter.  We'll enjoy warm cider, cranberries, apples, roasted root vegetables and the cool weather greens that just get sweeter with a frost or two.  Between us and the depths of winter stand the holidays and a season of generosity that can soften even the rough edges of shelter life.  There will be days with gifts and music and pie and lights scattered among the leaner days.  It is a pleasure to serve in such a time, bolstered by the knowledge that He who controls the changing of the seasons will never cease to provide.  Before the winter, He always provides a harvest.

BLT Sliders with Peach and Cornmeal Crumble

There's no denying it- tonight's menu is a last grasp at summer.  If the menu didn't confirm it, today's weather certainly did.  Cool, wet and blustery with dramatic and shifting skies, autumn blew in with gusto and announced she's here to stay.  Michigan peaches were still plentiful at the farmer's market  ($1/lb for a bulk purchase!) but the vendor warned they might be out by the weekend.  Tomatoes... well, the fleeting season that was tomato season this year is nearing its end.  The overflowing bin of Illinois-grown tomatoes that sustained us at Stanley's all summer has vanished.  One small bin in the rear of the store held miniature local tomatoes which we surmise to be the last  plucked from the vines before the frosts move in.  (Serendipitously, they were perfectly sized for our BLT sliders.)

And about those BLT sliders...  let's talk about stumbling into a fan favorite!  With no other motive than to augment a hearty and filling soup (a reserved double-batch of sweet corn chowder from our last session) with something appropriately portioned, we employed the bar snack phenomenon of the decade: the slider.  Costco stocks 36-count bags of freshly baked dinner rolls that slice perfectly and toast into buttery goodness (think: Grandma's holiday table- an uncharacteristic departure from our commitment whole wheat, but truly, we could not find whole wheat slider rolls in bulk last evening!) With a simple flavored mayo and a good strong slice of cheese, the BLT turns warm and savory rather than crisp and tangy.  As it turns out, a delectable toasty sandwich is just right for a cool September night.

And to wrap it up, our last affair with summer peaches was all that we hoped for.  We came upon this rustic cake from Martha Stewart several years ago and have yet to seek another recipe.  There's something about warm peaches and cornmeal that's perfectly paired and infinitely comforting.  (We do omit the lavender for simplicity, but imagine you could find it at the Spice House on Wells.)  To take the recipe from 8 servings to 32, we greatly increase the amount of peaches and halve the amount of cake.  The flavors stay intact, but the baking time decreases and the end result is more fruit crumble than hefty dessert.  Best of all, the peaches shine in their starring role-- a fine way to bid farewell to summer food.  Enjoy!

BLT Sliders

Serves 36 persons with two sliders each

• 2 x 36-count bags of freshly baked dinner rolls
• 36 slices (about 36 oz) of sliced sharp cheddar cheese, each slice cut in half
• 32 oz nitrate-free pork or turkey bacon (roughly 36 slices), baked in the oven until crisp
• 4 lbs small ripe summer tomatoes, thickly sliced to yield 72 slices
• 3 cups mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup finely minced dill pickles OR 1/4 cup pickle relish
• 1 lb mixed baby lettuce OR mesculin greens
• 8 oz prepared olive oil vinaigrette

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, mustard and relish.  Set aside.  Cut cheese slices in half.  Slice tomatoes and set atop a colander to drain until ready to use.

Slice dinner rolls in half horizontally.  Arrange rolls in a single layer on three full size commercial sheet pans, cut side up.  Top one half of each dinner roll with a slice of cheese and spread a generous layer of the mayonnaise mixture on the other half.

Break each strip of cooked bacon in half.  Lay a half strip of bacon atop each slice of cheese.  Top the other half of the dinner roll with a tomato slice.

Bake the sliders for approximately five minutes in a commercial convection oven or until the buns have lightly toasted and cheese has softened.  Remove from oven and assemble the sliders by putting the two halves together.

While sliders are baking, toss the lettuce with the vinaigrette.  Serve the sliders hot from the oven with a generous bunch of greens on the side for stuffing into the slider as desired. 

Peach and Cornmeal Crumble

Serves 32

• 16 TBS + 8 TBS unsalted butter, divided and softened to room temperature
• 1 cup + 1-1/2 cups raw (unbleached) sugar, divided
• 20 ripe but firm summer peaches
• 2 cups coarse yellow cornmeal or polenta
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2-1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 6 large eggs
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a warm oven, melt 8 tablespoons butter in a full size hotel pan.  Remove pan from oven and use a pastry brush to coat the sides of pan with the melted butter.  Sprinkle 1 cup sugar evenly over the bottom of the pan and return to oven.  Cook until sugar starts to bubble and turn golden brown.  Remove pan from oven and arrange sliced peaches in a single layer in the bottom of the pan on top of the sugar.  Return pan to oven and cook until juices are bubbling and peaches begin to soften. 

Meanwhile, whisk cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing  bowl.  In a separate bowl, beat the remaining butter and sugar with a mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy.  Reduce speed to medium. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl. Mix in vanilla and cream or buttermilk.  Reduce speed to low, and fold in cornmeal mixture in 2 additions.

Drop large spoonfuls of batter over cooked peaches, and spread gently with a spatula.  Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.  (If crumble begins to darken before cooking fully, cover and continue baking.)  Allow to rest briefly before serving.

To serve, ladle a generous scoop of peaches and crumble onto each plate.  If feeling very decadent, serve a la mode. 

Savory Summer Breakfast Bake

Here's what we're cooking up at the Men's Shelter tomorrow morning.  Loved the flavors of Thursday's tomato pie and got such great feedback that we're trying this breakfast riff below.  We'll let you know how it turns out.  Happy Weekend!



Savory Summer Breakfast Bake
Serves 36 (Makes 2 hotel pans with 18 slices each)


For the egg pudding:

• 4 dozen large eggs, cage-free
• 1 gallon whole milk
• 2 TBS dijon mustard
• 2 tsp sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

For the breakfast bake:  

• 2 loaves challah or a good quality egg bread (about 2 lbs), cubed into 1" pieces
• 2 TBS canola oil
• 2 lbs ham steak, cubed into small dice 
• 4 bunches scallions, tops and bottoms trimmed and stalks chopped into thin rings
• 1 bunch summer greens like spinach, swiss chard or beet greens, leaves sliced into thin ribbons
• 2 lbs swiss cheese, grated
• 6 medium garden tomatoes, about 3 pounds 
• 1 bunch basil  sliced into thin ribbons
• Canola oil for brushing

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  

Warm canola oil in a very large (commercially-sized)  saute pan.  Add ham and scallions and saute until ham is lightly browned and all juices have evaporated.  Add chopped greens to pan and saute until wilted.  Remove pan from heat and set aside.

In an XL mixing bowl (or better yet, a commercial mixer), whisk together the eggs, milk, dijon, salt and pepper.  If you don't have a commercially-sized mixing bowl at your disposal, we'd suggest dividing the wet ingredients in half and mixing up two batches of the egg pudding; a single batch could get unruly. 

Lightly oil the bottom and sides of two full-size hotel pans.  Scatter the diced bread in the bottom of each pan. Divide the ham mixture between the two pans and toss with the cubed bread.  Pour half of the egg custard into each pan and gently stir until all ingredients are covered by the custard. 

Slice each tomato in half and squeeze out excess juice and seeds.  Slice the tomatoes into very thin half-rings.  Arrange a single layer of tomatoes atop the egg custard in each pan.  Top each pan with a generous layer of cheese.  Press down lightly on the contents of each pan to ensure that all ingredients come in contact with the egg custard.

Tightly cover pans with an oiled piece of aluminum foil or a matching aluminum pan cover.  Bake covered for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake for an additional 20 minutes until eggs are fully set and cheese has lightly browned.   Serve hot or at room temperature.

Roasted Summer Peaches 
Serves 32

18 lbs good summer peaches (around here, the best are from Michigan and typically available at Stanley's or one of the many farmer's markets)
1/2 cup honey
1 TBS cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Wash peaches and arrange in a single layer on a commercially sized sheet pan (or use two smaller sheet pans).  Roast whole peaches for 30 minutes until soft to the touch.  Some charred spots may appear on the skin-- this is OK.  Remove peaches from oven and allow to rest until they are cool enough to handle.  Slice peaches into quarters (or eighths), removing the skin from each slice as you go.  Transfer peaches into a large mixing bowl and toss with the honey and cinnamon.  Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Sweet Corn Chowder and Tomato Pie

Soup may not be the first dish that comes to mind when you think of summer foods, but it's one of the tastiest ways to enjoy seasonal vegetables.  We can't think of many soups that showcase summer better than a sweet corn chowder.  This soup is well-received across the board at the shelter, but no compliment has been better than, "Mmmm, mmmm.... my grandmother used to make fresh soup like this!"   Those are the moments we cook for. 

 

Tomato pie is the satisfying, savory collision between a classic tart and a ham and cheese sandwich and definitely a dish where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  The original recipe was one of Southern Living magazine's favorites for summer tomatoes and we can understand why.  While the cheese melts and the custard sets, the tomatoes roast into a sweet and tangy counterpoint to the richness of the pie.  Of all our summer recipes, this was clearly the fan favorite.  

 

Now for the nitty gritty...  Soup from scratch takes time and elbow grease, particularly when loaded with fresh vegetables. This recipe makes a big pot of soup, but if you're putting in the time, consider making a double batch and freezing half for another meal.  It's much less than twice the work but certainly twice the enjoyment.  Plan on 90 minutes and two cooks from start to finish. Tomato pie is a straightforward dish, but you'll be rewarded in efficiency if you test the recipe at home first.  Don't be tempted to increase the amount of egg custard-- just a splash is needed to hold the pies together.  If you're using a commercial convection oven, cover the pies with oiled foil while baking to prevent the crusts from over-browning.  Though you'll be tempted to dig in when you see the pies come out of the oven, they need to rest before you can cleanly slice them.  Enjoy!

Sweet Corn Chowder

Serves 36

• 1.5 gallons spring water
• 6 cups whole milk
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 lb good-quality, 100% dehydrated potato flakes with no additives (try the bulk bins at a natural foods store)
• 6 cubes salt-free vegetable bouillon (we like Rapunzel brand)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 bunches thinly sliced scallions, white and green parts divided 
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small dice  
• 3 large garden zucchini or summer squash, cut into small dice (about 3 lbs of squash) 
• 8 cups fresh sweet corn kernels cut from the cob (about 12 ears of corn)
• 8 oz jarred roasted red peppers, finely diced
• 1 TBS smoked Spanish paprika, also known as Pimenton
• 1-1/2 TBS dried minced garlic or 4-6 cloves minced fresh garlic
• 1 can mild green chilies OR finely diced fresh jalepenos to taste
• 28 oz canned peaches, with syrup reserved for use in soup, finely choppedg
• 1-1/2 cups chopped fresh cilantro (about 2-3 bunches)
• 1 cup chopped fresh parsley  (about one bunch)
• 1 - 1 1/2 TBS sea salt (start with 1 TBS and add more to taste)
• additional sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• reserved scallion tops for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

Pour water and milk into your largest commercial, heavy-bottomed soup pot.  (Pot should be a minimum of 18" high.)  Add bay leaves.  Gradually add potato flakes, stirring constantly to avoid clumps.  Put pot over high heat until contents reach a gentle boil.  Reduce heat and maintain a slow simmer as you prepare the remainder of the ingredients. 

Crush bouillon cubes into small pieces and add to pot once contents have reach a simmer.  Check occasionally to be sure bouillon fully dissolves.

Shuck corn and cut kernels from cobs. (To do this, stand each cob on end inside a full size hotel pan. Hold the top of the cob with one hand while cutting downward along the cob with a paring knife. This will allow the kernels to collect in the bottom of the bowl.)  Cut twice around each cob to remove all parts of the kernel as well as the milky starch that clings to the cob.  After cutting, break up the corn clusters into single kernels.  Reserve the cobs to simmer with the soup as it cooks- this will add great flavor. 

Prepare the scallions, carrots and zucchini and to the hotel pan with the corn. Toss the vegetables with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.  Roast vegetables for 15- 20 minutes until lightly browned, stirring at the half way point to ensure even roasting.  Remove vegetables from oven and pour 1 cup spring water into the hot pan. Using a spatula, spread the water around the pan and loosen any vegetables or browned bits that have stuck to the bottom.  (These browned bits will add great flavor to the soup).  Pour the contents of the roasting pan into soup pot and stir well to combine. 

To finish the soup, add the roasted red peppers, paprika, garlic, chilies, peaches and peach syrup, cilantro, parsley and salt to the soup pot.  Taste for flavor and season with additional salt, freshly ground pepper or chilies as desired.  Allow soup to cook for an additional 15-20 minutes, or as long as desired, until ready to serve.  Serve hot and garnish each bowl with a spoonful of reserved scallions

Tomato Pie 

Makes 36 slices

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 lbs ham steak, cut into small dice (avoid deli ham as they may be too watery for this recipe)
• 2 bunches scallions, thinly sliced
• 6  9-inch frozen unbaked pie shells
• 6  TBS  Dijon mustard
• 16 oz swiss cheese, grated or in thin slices
• 6 medium garden tomatoes, red or yellow or a combination, thinly sliced (about 3 lbs of tomatoes)
• 6 large eggs
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat flat top grill to medium heat.   Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  

Warm the olive oil on the grill top until just shimmering, taking care not to burn.  Saute diced ham and scallions until ham begins to brown and any liquid has evaporated.

While ham sautes, pierce the bottom of each pie shell with a fork 8-10 times to allow for even baking.  Partially bake the crusts for 15 minutes or until just underdone.  (Crust will bake much faster in a commercial convection oven.)  Remove the crusts from oven and brush the bottoms with 1 TBS of mustard.  Lightly cover the crusts with a layer of cheese.  Divide ham mixture evenly among five of the pies, reserving one pie for vegetarian diners.

Slice each tomato in half and gently squeeze out excess juice and seeds.  Slice tomatoes thinly and cover the ham with a layer of tomato slices.

In a small work bowl, beat the eggs and milk with a fork until well blended.  Season the mixture with freshly ground pepper and pour an equal amount into each pie over the tomatoes.Tomatoes will be covered with just a scant layer of egg mixture. Divide the remaining cheese evenly among the pies. Bake on the lowest oven rack for 20 to 23 minutes or until lightly browned and set. (A convection oven will cut this time in half.  Be sure to turn the fan to low speed to prevent the crusts from burning.)

When pies are set and cheese has fully melted, remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing.  Garnish with basil and cut each pie into six wedges.  Serve warm or at room temperature.




Sweet Sour Cucumbers

Serves 36 generously

• 10 lbs garden cucumbers, peeled and very thinly sliced
• 6 TBS coarse kosher or sea salt
• 3 cups rice wine vinegar OR distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh dill
• 1/2 cup agave syrup OR 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 TBS freshly ground black pepper
•  

Place cucumber slices in colander. Sprinkle with salt; toss to coat. Let stand 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To prepare dressing, stir vinegar, dill, sugar, and pepper in large bowl until sugar is dissolved.

Drain cucumbers well and pat dry. Add cucumbers to dressing and stir to blend. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours before serving.  Serve cold.

High Summer Stuffed Zucchini

This is one of our favorite summer dishes- the kind that makes you wish for August all year round.  The squash look beautiful coming out of the oven and taste even better thanks to the lovely combination of garden tomatoes, fresh basil and ricotta cheese.  We've served this recipe in its original vegetarian rendition as taken from Verdura, Vegetables Italian Style and with the addition of roasted chicken as in our adapted recipe below.  We can say with certainty that the rendition with roasted chicken is preferred at our community table. 

This is definitely one meal where it pays to know a farmer or a few avid gardeners.  It can be tough to score 10 monster zucchini in the city, but if you ask around at the farmer's market, you may find someone willing to save his or her mongo zukes for you.  In our case, Vikki the Farmer at Genesis Growers lavished us with 20 lbs of beautiful zucchini and yellow summer squash and we're extremely thankful!  (If you're looking for a great CSA program [i.e. a weekly box of farm-fresh veggies delivered to a drop-site near you in Chicagoland], we highly recommend Vikki's program.)  If you don't run into a windfall of garden zucchini, you can certainly pull this off with squash from the veggie market or even the supermarket.  At this time of the year, Stanley's is usually overflowing with summer squash, some of which are local, and the price is just right.  Smaller squash mean more squash, however, so plan on a bit more prep time for hollowing and scooping. 

This is a longer meal to put together, so it's best to get several hands working on the various steps required for the zucchini right away.  By doing so, the stuffing should be ready just as the zucchini are finished par-baking. You don't want to skimp on oven time, as the dish is infinitely better when the zucchini have cooked long enough to be fork-tender.  We serve this with a light appetizer and a hearty BLT salad  just to be sure there's enough heft in the meal for larger eaters.  Sided with chilled melon and ice cold lemonade... mmm, mmm, only in August.

TOMATO BRUSCHETTA WITH PITA CHIPS

(Serves 36 as a light appetizer)

• 10 loves of 6" round pita bread (about 2 lbs), (we like Sanabel Bakery's fresh pita bread available at their grocery in Albany Park or sold at Stanley's)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 8 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
• 3 lbs garden tomatoes
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 cup Greek or green olives, roughly chopped
• Sea salt and freshly grated pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Arrange the pita loaves on a large sheet pan.  Using a basting brush and half the olive oil, brush the top and undersides of all the loaves. Transfer loaves to a cutting board and cut into 1" thick strips, cutting the longest strips in half to make chip-sized pieces.  Return the chips to the sheet pan, toss with the Parmesan cheese and season generously with sea salt and freshly grated pepper.  Bake the chips for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned and crispy.

While the pita chips are baking, dice the tomatoes into (small) bite sized pieces.  Transfer the tomatoes to a small mixing bowl, toss with the chopped basil and chopped olives, and season generously with sea salt and freshly grated pepper.  Pour the remaining olive oil over the tomatoes and allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.

To serve, plate the pita chips in a large serving bowl or platter and place the tomato mixture alongside. Serve each guest a handful of chips and top with a generous scoop of tomatoes. 

HIGH-SUMMER STUFFED ZUCCHINI

(Serves 36 generously)

• 20 medium zucchini OR 10 HUGE garden zucchini (about 20 lbs of zucchini in either case)
• 1 generous loaf (about 1-1/2 lbs) of day-old bakery bread (we like Trader Joe's Asiago-Peppercorn)
• scant 2 cups whole milk
• 5 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 lbs ricotta cheese (cottage cheese will also work in a pinch)
• 8 oz Parmesan cheese
• 3 lbs roasted chicken meat pulled from rotisserie birds 
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided into 1/4ths
• 1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice (about 4-5 lemons)
• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 cups basil leaves, sliced into thin ribbons
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2-3 lbs garden tomatoes, roughly chopped for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Preheat flattop grill to med-high heat.

Halve the zucchini lengthwise and scoop out the pulp to make shallow boats.  Reserve the pulp in a large mixing bowl.  Place zucchini halves cut-side up on large sheet pans.  Using a basting brush and 1/4 cup of olive oil, lightly brush the cut side of each zucchini with oil and season generously with salt and pepper.  Transfer zucchini to hot oven and roast for 20+ minutes while stuffing is being prepared.  (The larger the zucchini, the longer you can let them roast at this point.  The idea is to par-bake them until just softened before stuffing them.)  Remove from oven when squash has just begun to lightly brown.

While zucchini are roasting, roughly chop the reserved pulp.  Heat 1/4 cup olive oil on the flattop grill until just shimmery, being careful not to overheat.  Saute zucchini pulp until juices are released and pulp has been cooked through.  Add garlic and saute for 2-3 more minutes.  Return mixture to original bowl and allow to rest.

Cube the bread into 1-inch dice and place cubes in a small bowl.  Douse the bread with milk until just saturated (not soggy). Season the mixture generously with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a separate large mixing bowl, add beaten eggs, ricotta, Parmesan, 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, and basil. Season generously with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Add the bread, the sauteed zucchini and the pulled chicken meat to the bowl and gently mix to combine.

Remove zucchini halves from oven.  Generously stuff the cavity of each zucchini, mounding slightly, cover pans tightly with foil and return to oven.  (Bake any extra stuffing in separate pan alongside the zucchini). Bake zucchini for 15-20 minutes, remove foil, and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes until stuffing is crusty and lightly browned.  Note that cooking time will vary significantly depending on your oven.  The times given above are for a commercial convection oven.  If using a conventional oven, plan to roughly double the cooking times.

While stuffed zucchini are roasting, roughly chop the fresh tomatoes, place in a mixing bowl and season generously with salt, pepper and the last remaining olive oil.   Set mixture aside to garnish zucchini.

To serve, place one halved, stuffed zucchini on each individual plate and garnish with fresh tomatoes.  If you used huge garden zucchini, cut each horizontal half into two portions and place each portion on an individual plate, garnishing as described above.  Serve immediately.

BLT SALAD

Serves 36

• 4 full heads of Romaine or 6 hearts of Romaine, sliced into 1/2" thin strips
• 24 oz good-quality, thick-cut, nitrate-free bacon (we like Trader Joe's applewood smoked bacon)
• 4 lbs garden tomatoes
• 16 oz blue cheese dressing
• 8 oz wedge of blue cheese
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 375 degees. 

Slice romaine hearts perpendicular to the leaves to get 1/2" thin ribbons.  Soak chopped lettuce in cool water until well washed and shake dry in a colander (or spin dry in a lettuce spinner).  Slice tomatoes into thin wedges and drain off excess seeds and juice.  Break blue cheese into small crumbles and set aside.

Arrange bacon slices on a sheet pan with plenty of space between slices.  When oven is warm, cook bacon until just underdone.  Remove pan from oven and carefully pour off rendered bacon fat into a heat-safe bowl.  Return pan to oven and cook until bacon is very crisp, being careful not to burn.  Remove bacon from pan and allow to rest on paper towel until cool to the touch.  Once cooled, break or roughly chop bacon into bite sized pieces.

About ten minutes before serving, toss lettuce with tomatoes, dressing and crumbled cheese.  Season well with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.   Just before serving, top salad with crumbled bacon, reserving a serving or two of salad as required for those who don't eat pork. Serve immediately.