Summer Squash

Summer squash now should be widely available in your local farmer's markets. I have always generally tried to steer clear of zucchini since 90% of the time they are served cooked to relative degrees of putridly sweet mush.

I saw some great looking squash at the market and decided to play with the textures.

1. Roasted Squash traditionally (upper left)- sheet pan, olive oil, sliced squash into large inch thick slices and laided them on the sheet w/ onions and rosemary, into 500F oven for about 15-20 min (lost track of time). Look for the significant carmelization on the top- and the insides should be done. Once they cool down, their outside is crispy like a baked potato skin and their inside sort of pops. The liquid seedy portion is "trapped" in the center of each slice, bound between the squash's tender interior flesh and the seared top and bottom layers. Delicious.

2. Zucchini ribbons poached in bacon fat (middle right)-  I used a vegetable peeler and shaved off ribbons from 2 large green zucchini until I had effectively a square core of the seed portion of the plant. I added to a pan of sizzling hot bacon fat- onions, rosemary and 2 smashed cloves of garlic. I diced up the zucchini cores and fryed them in the bacon fat until they had been drained of moisture and started to crisp up. I then added the ribbons, gently coated them in the fat, and stuck them into the 500F oven for a couple of minutes. The goal was to get them to the tender stage without crossing over to the mushy side. Not really sure on effective times, but I think I they were in the over for about 5-8 minutes. Texture was great, and interesting to eat alongside an oven roasted chunk.

3. Soft boiled eggs (bottom middle) - Yolks were runny and would join the rendered bacon fat from the pan, and some red wine and balsamic vinegar to form a nice vinaigrette sauce to coat everything.

Absolutely delicious and a great way to experience all of the different textures the squash has to offer. You could easily make this a substantial meal with a good chunk of your favorite bread and a glass of your favorite beverage.