view outside my window right now
I guess this year we can’t quite make up our mind what season it is going to be from day to day……….
The other day I got my latest copy of Australian Gourmet Traveller in the mail. It has a huge splash of letters across the top spelling out AUTUMN. I had to stop in my tracks here for a moment. I think this was literally the first time I ever actually ingested that down under, the period of late March through mid-June is Autumn and not Spring. And, that December through March is Summer and not Winter. It took me awhile to process this. January, February and March are SUMMER ………hmmmm – of course I knew this to be so but somehow the sound, in my head of that wouldn’t register. I think it would be really hard for me to think of June, July and August as Winter! Well, you get the point. I just have some issues with these things……
Well, I’m sitting here at my upstairs desk and watching it snow this morning. Just another of Mother Nature’s attempts at comedy. My daffodils in front of the stable are up out of the ground by about 7″ or so and I have a full flat of ranunculus sitting on my side porch. Today, and apparently next Tuesday, we are supposed to get snow and very cold temperatures here. I prefer those 68F days myself. I’m just hoping that all the budding that’s taken place won’t be decimated.
Yes, here we are in early March. My mind has turned ahead, if not the clocks quite yet. I’m all about experimenting with Irish Soda Breads and asparagus. But, just before I leave that season called Winter, I indulged in a few of my favorite experiments this week. One was a gratin of Granny Smith Apples and Butternut Squash. I often try out little gratins here and there, depending what I have in the kitchen. I had a collection of nice pears that I had planned to use but they had turned mealy. The granny smith apples were a better compliment for cooking time anyway. You can make delicious gratins in just a few minutes with a wide variety of vegetables and fruits.
A friend asked me to post this recipe. Here’s my version from this week. It’s simple and so satisfying on a cold evening – so, give it a try! I don’t think you’ll be sorry!
Granny Smith and Butternut Squash Gratin
1 medium butternut squash
1 granny smith apple
1 1/2 cups grated gruyere or jarlsberg
1 cup heavy cream
4 small garlic cloves quartered or 2 large
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
salt and freshly ground pepper
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
6 “dabs” butter
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Peel the butternut squash and cut off where the bulb forms. Slice the stem in half lengthwise. Slice the halves into 1/8″ slices.
- Peel the granny smith apple and slice into 1/8″ slices horizontally. Cut the slices in half.
- Brush an oval gratin dish with olive oil. Working from the narrow end, arrange the butternut squash slices alternating with the granny smith slices. Fit in all the pieces as well as you can.
- Sprinkle the gruyere cheese over the entire surface. Pour the heavy cream over all, adding more, if needed to come up to about 1/2 of the depth of the pan. Sprinkle with salt and a generous amount of freshly-ground black pepper.
- Arrange the garlic pieces around the pan. Sprinkle with the nutmeg and dot with butter. Arrange the thyme sprigs around the top.
- Cover the gratin dish with a piece of aluminum foil sprayed with olive oil spray so the topping doesn’t stick.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove the cover and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and bubbly.
Enjoy!