A week or so ago, when I was reading Gladys Taber’s Harvest at Stillmeadow, I came across one of her original recipes for a chicken casserole. She listed the layered ingredients: Cooked chicken; carrots or peas; rice or potatoes; tomatoes; cheese; and bread crumbs. So far, so good. But then came the dreaded ingredient—canned cream of mushroom soup.

I know. Gladys was a cook of her time, just as we are cooks in our own time, but canned cream of mushroom soup is a step back that I cannot take. My own mother was a fan of this canned soup, and although she was a a terrific baker, she used cream of mushroom soup with an alarming frequency in her main meals. Even as a child, I didn’t like it, and my heart would sink when I learned that dinner was another one of my mother’s concoctions, which all revolved around the canned cream of mushroom soup and usually had noodles, some kind of protein, and canned vegetables.

The worst was ground beef, macaroni, Veg-all, and cream of mushroom soup. I can still picture it. I can still remember the taste. And it turned me off casseroles for a long, long time.

Lately, though, I have reconsidered my anti-casserole stance. If they are made with real ingredients, say, a white sauce or a homemade gravy rather than a canned soup, then casseroles can be pretty tasty. They are also economical, using up the last bits of cooked chicken, carrots, and potatoes from a previous meal.

So with Gladys’s recipe, I began to think about substitutions for the cream of mushroom soup. I could make a garlic and parsley white sauce, which is tasty over fish as well as a good binder for casseroles. Or, I could get clever and make a gravy from a stock simmered in a slow-cooker, leftover from a meal featuring chicken, potatoes, and carrots. If I were really clever, then I could cook extra vegetables and have pretty much everything I needed for the casserole the next day.

And that is exactly what I did. On one day, I cut up plenty of Farmer Kev’s carrots and potatoes, and filled the bottom of the slow-cooker, taking care to leave enough room for the little chicken, which weighed about four pounds. (This was a by-guess-and-by-golly type of thing. I just peeled and chopped potatoes and carrots until I had a goodly amount.) I added a cup of warm water and sprinkled salt, pepper, dried thyme, and sage over the vegetables. The chicken went on top, and I sprinkled more salt, pepper, thyme, and sage over it. I also minced a large clove of garlic and sprinkled that over the chicken. (Onion could be substituted for the garlic.) On went the cover, and voilà, in five hours cooked on high, we had a lovely chicken dinner.

When it comes to vegetables cooked with chicken, Clif shows little restraint, and I knew that if I wanted enough potatoes and carrots for the following night, then I would have to Employ a Strategy. This I did, with biscuits, thus ensuring there would be plenty of vegetables for the casserole. After we were done eating, I poured the stock into a bowl and tucked it in the refrigerator.  I also did this, of course, with the leftover chicken and vegetables.

The next day, this casserole went together pretty darned fast. No, making a gravy from stock is not as quick as opening a can of cream of mushroom soup, but it doesn’t take that long, and it sure tastes better. I skimmed the chicken fat from the top. (Sorry schmaltz lovers, but I prefer butter. Must be the Franco in me.) In a saucepan, I heated the stock and strained it. In another saucepan, I melted four tablespoons of butter and whisked in four tablespoons of flour. I poured in the hot stock, whisked and stirred, and within a few minutes, I had a delicious gravy for the casserole.

A word about the tomato in this casserole. Initially, I wasn’t sure if I wanted one or not, but as I had a beautiful ripe tomato, courtesy of Farmer Kev, I decided to add it. I’m glad I did. The acidic tomato added a pleasant tang to the smooth chicken, vegetables, and gravy mixture. When the fresh tomatoes have gone by and I make this casserole again, I will add a small can of diced tomatoes, drained.

Chicken Casserole with Homemade Gravy
Adapted from a recipe by Gladys Taber

Ingredients

• 2 cups of leftover chicken, cut in chunks
• 1(1/2) cups of leftover potatoes and carrots, cut in small chunks
• 1 large tomato, cut in chunks.
• 1 cup of grated cheese
• 2 slices of bread, torn into small bits for bread crumbs
• 2 cups of chicken stock—add milk if there isn’t quite enough
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 4 tablespoons of flour
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Layer the chicken on the bottom of a large casserole dish.
3. Put the potatoes and carrots on top of the chicken.
4. Add the tomatoes.
5. Sprinkle with the grated cheese.
6. Pour the gravy onto the casserole.
7. Top with bread crumbs.
8. Bake for 45 minutes or until the casserole is bubbling hot.
9. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Directions for the gravy

1. Skim off chicken fat from the chicken stock reserved from the slow-cooker meal you made a night or two before. (If shmaltz is your thing, then save it for the roux. If not, discard it.)
2. Heat the stock in a large saucepan.
3. Strain it into a bowl and then measure to be sure you have 2 cups. Add a little milk if you don’t. Return the stock to the saucepan and heat until very hot. (The hot stock will make the gravy come together more quickly.)
4. In another large saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of butter (or a combination of butter and chicken fat).
5. Whisk in four tablespoons of flour and stir until the mixture bubbles a little.
6. Pour the hot stock into the roux. Whisk and stir until thickened. The gravy will be done when it leaves a line on the back of a spoon.

Thanks to the warm weather we’ve had this September, the tomatoes are coming in full force. For the past few weeks in my CSA share from Farmer Kev, there has been a generous allotment of tomatoes. I hate to play favorites, but I can’t help it. I love tomatoes, and I never come to resent them the way I do, say, greens or zucchini, both of which can seem like a curse rather than a blessing when they are coming in with such vigor that you wonder what in the world you are going to do with them.

Not so with tomatoes. They can be eaten raw, which this time of year, is my favorite way of eating tomatoes. In fact for my lunch today, I had two poached eggs on top of two large slices of tomatoes. What a lovely, juicy mess.

Tomatoes, of course, can be cooked down into a sauce. Or added to soups. Or a casserole, which I plan on doing next week when I make a chicken, carrot, potato, and tomato casserole, held together with a sauce made from the chicken drippings and topped with buttered bread crumbs.

Then there is tomato soup, one of my favorite soups. (No surprise there, given how much I love tomatoes.) Finally, the weather has become cool enough for soup, and the other day, when I opened the refrigerator and surveyed the big bowl bowl of tomatoes, I thought, “tomato soup.”

But first I roasted the tomatoes, which give the soup a sweet, rich flavor. It only takes forty-five minutes or so to roast them, and then into the stockpot they go. Add a cup of water. Some onion and garlic. A bouquet garni of oregano, thyme, and parsley. (Alas, my sage succumbed to tiny marauding caterpillars.)

Bouquet garni—herbs tied in a bundle—is one of my favorite ways to use herbs with tiny leaves, such as thyme. All you do is clump the herbs together, wrap them with thread, and tie the bundle.  Drop it into the soup stock, and let the herbs simmer with the onion and garlic. Then, when the simmering is done, use a slotted spoon to remove the garni.  Voilà! You have the lovely infusion of the herbs without the tedious chore of plucking and chopping.

However, I didn’t totally escape the chore of chopping herbs because after the soup was blended and a cup of milk was added, I finished the soup with fresh basil, which added another dimension to this already flavorful soup.

Clif always likes soup to have “something” in it, and he duly added leftover macaroni to his bowl. Not me. I wanted to eat the soup just as it was—smooth, creamy, with the overtones of basil, and the undertones of the bouquet garni.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Herbs

Ingredients

For roasting the tomatoes

• 6 pounds of tomatoes—washed and dried and with the stems removed
• Olive oil for brushing on the tomatoes and the baking sheet
• Kosher salt, for sprinkling on the tomatoes

For the soup

• 1 medium onion, cut in half
• 4 cloves of coarsely chopped garlic
• 1 boquet garni—I used about 5 sprigs of thyme, several springs of oregano, and several springs of parsley
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

For roasting the tomatoes

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Cut tomatoes in half and place cut side up on a baking sheet brushed with olive oil
• Brush olive oil on the tomato halves
• Sprinkle with kosher salt, about 1 tablespoon
• Roast for 45 minutes or until the tomatoes are very soft and can easily be pierced with a fork
• Let the tomatoes cool and then remove the skins

For the soup

• Put the roasted tomatoes into a large stockpot.
• Stir in 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of sugar
• Add the onion halves, the chopped garlic, and the bouquet garni
• Let simmer for at least 45 minutes, until the onion is very soft
• Remove the onion halves and bouquet garni with a slotted spoon
• Blend the soup so that it is smooth
• Stir in 1 cup of milk and salt and pepper to taste
• Heat until it is very hot
• Just before serving, stir in the basil
• Serves 4 or 6, depending on appetite

A busy, busy week but a fun one. Dee is visiting from New York, and as she is a movie buff, we’ve made quite a few trips to Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville.  They’ve had a terrific line-up of movies, and all four that we saw were good. (We saw Mr. Holmes, Mistress America, A Walk in the Woods, and Phoenix.)

With all this fun, there hasn’t been much time for blogging, but I did want to slip in a recipe, as promised. This week’s—a beet fajita—is a quick one that incorporates the egg technique used in the fried-rice recipe I posted a while back. That is, make a well in the center of the ingredients, pour in the beaten eggs, let the eggs set, scramble them, and blend them in with the rest of the ingredients, which have been sautéed  until soft.

Like most fajitas, this one is easy to prepare, and it doesn’t have many ingredients—beets, corn, garlic, egg, and cheese. For a smoother flavor, I dry roast the garlic in a skillet before peeling and chopping the clove. (I also do this for any recipe that calls for raw garlic.)

Another good point about this recipe is that even if—ahem—beets are not your favorite vegetable, they are tasty prepared this way. These fajitas didn’t get a “pretty darned good” from Clif, but that is his highest praise reserved for only a few special dishes. The fajitas did, however, merit a “not too bad,” which means he liked it well enough to go back for seconds.

Not too bad, indeed, for a husband who is not too fond of beets.

Beet Fajitas
Makes 4 fajitas

Ingredients

• 1 medium raw beet, peeled and grated
• 1/2 cup cooked corn
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil for sautéing
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup of grated cheese (Monterrey Jack is my favorite for fajitas.)
• 1/4 cup of chopped parsley, for a garnish (Optional)
• 4 fajita tortillas

Directions

1.  Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the corn and the grated beets and sauté until the beets are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
2. Make a well in the center of the ingredients. Pour in the beaten egg, let set, and then scramble. Once the egg is scrambled, mix it in with the beets, corn, and garlic.
3. Warm the tortillas according to the directions on the package.
4. Spoon the beet mixture into the tortilla shells and top with grated cheese. Sprinkle with parsley, if using.
5. Rice is a good side for this meal.

Finally, finally the heavy humidity has cleared. There was a downpour last night—yet again—but this time the rain took away the humidity. Today is bright, sunny, dry, a little cool even, which is the way August is supposed to be. Especially the end of August.

No more of my complaining to Clif: “If I had wanted tropical weather, then I would have moved to the tropics.”

I can only hope that the hot, humid weather is behind us as we move to September, which in the past few years has become one of the nicest months in Maine. (August once held that honor, but those days seem to be gone.)

Despite the heat and humidity, or maybe because of it, the tomatoes are flourishing and so is the basil. In truth, I have never grown such lush, healthy basil, and I am thrilled to have it. Basil is my favorite herb.

The zucchini, of course, seems to be growing like a house afire, and I have noticed that in my CSA bin, the zucchinis are considerably bigger than they were a few weeks ago. They are not too big to resent. Not yet. But I expect that day is coming.

Fresh garlic has made its appearance in the CSA bin, and I never, ever resent garlic. It keeps beautifully, and it enhances so many dishes.

Tomatoes. Garlic, Zucchini. Basil. What to do, what to do?

How about adding some fresh mozzarella and making a tomato and zucchini galette? That’s just what I did, and along with a Swiss chard and shredded carrot salad, it made a mighty fine late summer meal.

A note about the tomatoes for the galette: Tomatoes, of course, are watery, and this is not necessarily a good fit with pie dough. I used a variety called Juliet, which grows in my own little garden. It is a small roma-like tomato and does well with only six hours of sun. It is not as watery as other tomatoes, and I would recommend using either roma or cherry tomatoes for a galette.  One suggestion I have read is to slice the tomatoes, put them on paper towels, salt them, and let them drain for about twenty minutes. I didn’t do this for the galette I made last night, but I will probably do it next time.

A note about the zucchini: I didn’t sauté it before using it in the galette. I just chopped the zucchini into small pieces, mixed it with olive oil, garlic, basil, cheese, and tomatoes, and it was just fine.

Anything else to mention? Ah, yes. The pie crust. I enjoy making pie crust, and I am not too bad at it, if I do say so myself. But for those who hate to make pie crust or just don’t have the time, by all means go out and by the pre-made crusts. There are some pretty good ones out there, and there is no need to deprive yourself of galette if all that is holding you back is making pie dough.

Tomato and Zucchini Galette
Makes one galette, which will feed three or four people,  depending on appetite and on what else is being served.

Ingredients

For the pie dough

• 1 cup of flour
• 6 tablespoons of shortening
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 cup of cold water (I let the water run for a while before using it.)

For the filling

• 1 cup of sliced tomatoes
• 1 cup of zucchini, cut in large chunks
• 1 cup of sliced, fresh mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons of chopped basil
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425°

For the pie dough

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Mix well. Add the six tablespoons of shortening. With a fork or pastry blender, cut the shortening into the flour until it is in pea-sized pieces (Someday I will do a pie dough tutorial. I promise.)
2. Add the water all at once, and with a large spoon mix until the dough forms a ball. Do not overmix. Too much handling makes tough pie dough.
3. On a floured cloth or surface, roll out the pie dough into a large circle.
4. By either folding it in half or in quarters, transfer the dough to a baking sheet. Unfold so that is a full circle.

For the filling

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl combine the tomatoes, zucchini, mozzarella, olive oil, garlic, basil, and salt and pepper. Mix well.
2. Place the filling in the center of the pie dough on the baking sheet. Make sure there is about a two-inch border.
3. In small sections, fold and crimp the dough over the filling. It is fine for the edges to look rough. This is a galette, a rustic dish.
4. Bake for 25 or 30 minutes until the galette is golden brown.
5. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing.