Zucchini, Pepper and Tomato Gratin

Zucchini, Pepper and Tomato Gratin

4 Tbl olive oil
2 medium sized yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium sized zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 large sweet pepper, cored, seeded and diced
3 medium sized tomatoes, halved, seeded, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 tsp each Thyme and Rosemary leaves or 1/2 tsp each Thyme and Rosemary, crumbled
1 tsp Oregano, crumbled.
1/2 tsp salt
1/5 tsp pepper
3 Tbl fresh bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 375
Heat 2 Tbl of the olive oil in a heavy 12 inch skillet over moderate heat. Add the onions and garlic. Sauté until golden, about 10 minutes.

In a 12x8x2 baking dish, arrange a row of zucchini slices, overlapping slightly, followed by a row of onion mixture, followed by diced pepper and then the sliced tomatoes. Repeat until all the vegetables have been attractively arranges.

Sprinkle the vegetables with the herbs, salt and pepper, and the bread crumbs. Drizzle with the remaining 2 Tbl olive oil.

At this point the vegetables can be refrigerated. Rightly covered, up to 4 hours.

Bake, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender, 50-60 minutes.

Serve hot or at room temperature with fish, poultry or grilled meats.

One hour before baking the gratin, set it out to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 375. Proceed to baking instructions.

Allen's Homemade Yogurt

I got a new Instant pot this spring.  When we lived in Prague I bought one on Amazon UK and had it shipped to us.  We used it all the time, and managed to bring it with us when we moved to Croatia.  The bus driver for our ride from Prague to Vienna didn't want to load it (pressure cookers have been used as bombs, we heard).  Then he wanted to charge us about 20 Euros.  I was willing, but only had Czech Koron.  He used his phone to do a converter, and told us 20 Koron, which is about 1 dollar.  His coworker started to disagree, but I turned over the 20 K as fast as I could, smiling and thanking them.  Phew.  Finally when we moved to Ireland I had to leave it behind.  It was way too heavy and bulky, and we were already stressed trying to get our bikes to Dublin.  That's another whole story.

So today I am braving homemade yogurt.  Allen makes it all the time in Scotland, and did when they lived in London, too.  I asked him for his directions, and this is what he told me:

Put half a gallon of milk in the Instant Pot, and push the Yogurt button, then Start.  It will heat to boiling.  Stir occasionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom.  Once it beeps, cool, stirring frequently.  Allen puts his bowl in a sink of cold water to speed it up.  Use a candy thermometer to see when it gets to 115 d or lower.  Add 1/2 - 1 cup yogurt with active culture.  The more yogurt you use, the faster it will be done.  Whisk it to break up and dissolve the yogurt.  Sieve to remove chunks and give the pot a quick clean.  Put yogurt either into glass jars or back in the inner pot.  Click Yogurt button so it ferments (might have to click twice on some models).  Adjust to normal 8 hour program.  Remove after 6 hours for creamy, non-sour yogurt, or 8-11 hours for more sour yogurt, and store in airtight containers or glass jars or Tupperware that seals.  Add 2-3 tsp sugar if desired.

Potato Bread

This recipe comes from Taste of Home, but it was designed for a bread machine, and I don't have one (don't want one).  So I am still experimenting with the temp and time to cook it.  I had good luck with 375 for 35 minutes the first time, but it was just baked enough so I'm going to try 40 minutes today.

It just happens to be vegan.  I saw a lot of recipes online that called for boiling a potato first, or for milk and butter in the recipe.

1 1/4 cup warm water (70-80 d)
1/2 T yeast
3 Tbl vegetable oil
2 1/2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbl instant mashed potato
3 cups bread flour

Mix water and sugar.  Add yeast and let rest 5 minutes to make sure the yeast is active.  Add oil, potato flakes and 1 cup flour.  Mix until well combined.  Add the rest of the flour and the salt, and continue mixing/kneading for about 5 minutes.

Cover in greased bowl and let rest 1 hour.
Put in greased bread pan, cover, and let rise 45 minutes.  Make sure you grease the pan all the way to the rim, or it will stick at the rim and then what good is it that it doesn't stick down in the bottom?  You have to rip the sides off to get it out.  Then it will get stale faster.
Heat oven to 375.  Bake about 35-40 minutes.
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I bought cloth bread bags, and use them until we cut open the loaf.  Then Bart prefers we keep it in a ziplock bag so it doesn't get stale.

Today I'm making a double recipe so we can have cinnamon rolls too.  I'll post pictures soon.