Memorial Day menu Archives - Good Food St. Louis

I’m menu planning for my Memorial Day weekend at the farm. This time of the year, when the weather gets warmer, (although this year it’s just gotten wetter), my thoughts turn to fresh, colorful salads.

An All-Time Favorite

Mostaccioli Pasta Salad is a recipe near to my heart, a dish that I learned about from a friend 35 years ago. She had been to a cooking school and this was one of the outstanding takeaways from the experience. The recipe comes with the warning, that it will “feed a small army.” Well, not quite. It fills my cake mixing bowl to the brim and feeds a dozen or more. The ample amount and colorful display makes it perfect for a holiday cookout.

The dish is colored up with pimentos, parsley, cucumber, green onions along with the pasta. It all comes together with a simple vinegar/oil dressing.

From first bite, you can tell this Mostaccioli Pasta Salad is not your same old noodle dish.

Cukes Amp up the Flavor

It’s the cup of shredded cucumber, that give this salad a big taste boost. Now, I’m not a cuke fan. But the addition doesn’t overwhelm; it complements the sassy salad. The recipe earns bonus points in the make-ahead category, too. You can even half it, but you’ll be sorry you didn’t make the whole thing. Serve after chilling for several hours or overnight. Leftovers hold up well for several days in the frig.

While I’ve always used mostaccioli noodles, I intend to try it this weekend with bow-tie pasta. Either one adds an interesting texture to the dish.

Note of Interest: According to the counter on this blog, today marks my 1,000th post since I started opining about the St. Louis food scene nearly five years ago. I’m glad the website didn’t calculate how many hours in the kitchen and in front of the computer screen that came to. Even so, it’s been greet fun! I will celebrate at lunch with friends. Onward to the next 1,000 posts!

I don’t usually try something new on my Memorial Day guests. I stick to the old favorites and hope the weather is good enough to cookout. But his year as my stack of “test” recipes grows higher, I decided to insert several new items into my holiday menu.

Ingredients for Zucchini Gratin

In advance of the weekend cookout, I tried Ina Garten’s Zucchini Gratin from her 1999 Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. She has basically used a classic French recipe, that calls for potatoes, but substituted squash. It works perfectly! As I write, the aroma of the dish is wafting through my condo.

The recipe called for 4 zucchinis, but I only had 3, so I used an ageing, yellow squash with no ill effects to the dish.

Into the oven. It took longer for the top to get golden brown than indicated in the recipe.

Gruyere and bread crumbs make a crunchy, cheesy topping.

The foolproof sauce came together easily. I just sprinkled some flour over the skillet of zucchini, onions, and seasonings that had been sauteed in butter. After a few minutes, I stirred in the warm milk. Viola! I had a smooth, creamy sauce. Once in the baking dish, I topped the zucchini with a mixture of Gruyere cheese and bread crumbs and into the oven it went.

Zucchini Gratin

At first, I thought I’d made enough zucchini gratin to eat all week or share with my kids. I’m not so sure now. It’s going fast. Next weekend, when I prepare this side dish for Memorial Day, I may add a jolt of hot sauce or red pepper flakes, because I like tang. I had already cut back slightly on the salt, just because I often do that to reduce my sodium intake.

This one’s a keeper. See the recipe below with my notes and don’t miss Ina Garten’s video.

Zucchini Gratin

Ingredients:

6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for topping
1 lb. yellow onions, cut in 1/2 and sliced (3 large) (I used half this amount)
2 lb. zucchini, sliced 1/4-inch thick (4 zucchini)
2 tsp. kosher salt (I reduced both the salt and pepper)
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1 cup hot milk
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (Panko or Progresso is easier)
3/4 cup grated Gruyere (Reviewers say Swiss cheese works, too)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a very large (12-inch) saute pan and cook onions over low heat for 20 minutes, or until tender, but not browned. Add zucchini and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, or until tender. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes. Stir in flour. Add hot milk and cook over low heat for a few minutes, until it makes a sauce. Pour mixture into an 8 by 10-inch baking dish.
Combine the bread crumbs and Gruyere and sprinkle on top of zucchini mixture. Dot with 1 tablespoon of butter cut into small bits and bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly and browned.

Kitchen Notes: I use Panko or Progresso for the breadcrumbs, as did most of the reviewers. Some cooks complained that the finished dish was too mushy. Bear in mind that this is a French gratin. It’s supposed to be soft in texture with melted cheese and a lightly brown crust.

For those preferring an al dente treatment, use bigger zucchini chunks and remove the caramelized onions from the skillet and cook the zucchini without a cover to desired tenderness before re-incorporating the onions.

If you want to try the original French potato gratin, Martha Stewart has a version that’s almost identical to this one, but with potatoes. Butternut squash works, too. It’s a flexible recipe.