stratospheric strata

one of the nice things about going every saturday to the sf farmers' market is i get the opportunity to learn what fruits and vegetables are in season. before february, i had pretty much zero clue what was in season locally, b/c at supermarkets, nothing is ever NOT in season.

on the fruit side, i guess now it's peaches / plums / nectarines (hrmmm, maybe it's just generally harvest time for stone fruits...hmmm...yet it isn't summer yet...) because they're EVERYWHERE. i think some kind of peach dessert post is in order sometime soon.

on the vegetable side, i've noticed some of the most beautiful red onions i've ever seen and also summer squash. which, to be frank, has sort of confused me, because, well, it's not quite SUMMER yet, is it? IS it?

seasonal confusion aside, for the last couple weeks i've accepted the availability of summer fruits and vegetables in late spring, 'cuz that's how i roll. (you know me: easygoing, laid back... hahahahahahahahahaha - sorry, sorry, i'm going to need a moment to collect myself. hahahahahahaha. whoooooooo, that was a good one. *hiccup*) and let's be honest, i'm not complaining. i've been too busy enjoying my donut peaches (mmmmm, donut peach, mmmmm) and nectarines from balakian farms to have time to whine and feel confused. this past saturday, they had plums, too, so i bought a few of those as well. but the real reason i made sure to make my way over this past saturday was to scoop up a few of their summer squash (after paying for them, of course): a couple each of green and yellow zucchini.

we ate them tonight for dinner in a summer vegetable strata. if you're wondering what a strata is, it's basically a fancy name for a savory bread pudding. kevin and i actually made this dinner together - he made the herbed egg batter while i got the rest of the ingredients ready. overall, prep to serve for this dish is about 1 1/2 hours, so don't do as we did and start making it at 8pm...that is, unless you don't mind eating after 9pm. ;)

other than that, we both really enjoyed this dinner; kevin was in fact surprised with how much he liked it, b/c he was pretty sure he was a big two-thumbs down on zucchini. then again, if you made sure to put enough goat cheese on an old shoe, he'd eat the whole thing like it was going out of style and rave about how tasty said old shoe and beloved goat cheese were together.

not that zucchini tastes anything like an old shoe. i love zucchini. and guess what: kevin thinks he does now too. ;) i'm just going to take that ball and run with it, 'cuz zucchini are going to be around for a while. after all, it's a SUMMER SQUASH and it's only the first week of june!


Zucchini Strata

2 tbsps olive oil
1 medium green zucchini, sliced thinly
1 small yellow zucchini, sliced thinly
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 eggs
1 cup whole milk (I like either Straus Family Creamery or Claravale Milk)
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 slices brioche bread
8 oz chevre, crumbled (I love Laura Chenel)
1/4 cup chopped green olives
Grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8" square baking dish. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add zucchini, onions, and garlic and saute until onions turn translucent and zucchini softens.

Whisk eggs, milk, herbs, salt and pepper until well incorporated. Slowly whisk in flour, making sure there are no lumps. Place two slices of bread in pan and then top with half of zucchini-onion-garlic mixture, goat cheese, and olives; repeat layers once more. Pour egg mixture evenly over layers and then sprinkle top liberally with Parmesan cheese.

Bake in oven for 50 minutes, or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on rack for 5 minutes, then cut into quarters and serve. Serve 4.