I Love a Good Bargain!

As summer is coming to an end, certain vegetables stand out at farmer's markets - pumpkins, yellow squash, zucchini, the list goes on. My favorite vegetable to eat has to be squash, whether yellow or zucchini. Next year I'm bugging my dad to plant zucchini along with his tomatoes. While our annual Friends and Family weekend was happening at my university, farmers set up stands to sell produce. I bought a baby squash for 50 cents. It also happened that the one church was having a rummage sale with books 6 for $1.00. I bought 12 cookbooks!!! I'm not talking only those thin ones you buy at the grocery stands. I'm talking those plus a few thick books that are 300-some pages long. Boy were my arms tired from carrying that load across campus! That brings my collection up to 103 books plus my huge binders and online recipe boxes. Obsessed? Just a little ;) With that being said, I picked up a vegetable cookbook at the rummage sale, so I decided to find a recipe for my newly-purchased squash. Being a college kid, I didn't have a lot of ingredients on-hand, but I did find Kate's Pan-Fried Summer Squash to be pantry-friendly. If I had time to read more than the recipe, I probably would've discovered who Kate was. All I know is this dish was amazing!





In honor of the Weekend Cookbook Challenge, which is "Show and Tell" a cookbook in your collection, I am entering this recipe. I chose to feature this because it's more than just recipes; it has little anecdotes and tips for cooking and purchasing each vegetable. Even though I just bought this cookbook, I believe it is going to be my vegetable Bible to both me and my roommates. I tried not to overwhelm them with my collection, so I only brought the ones I know we could use being in college. I'm also starting to make The College Cookbook binder where I place recipes I have found online, in magazines, or have photocopied that are easy to make with a college budget. Suggestions for college recipes are welcome and encouraged :)

In regard to the recipe, I hate really soft squash, so mine definitely didn't cook for the 40 minutes it calls for. I ended up draining the broth rather than have it be completely evaporated. If you want a vegetarian version, sub the chicken broth for either vegetable broth or water. The water won't give it as much flavor but will still cook the squash. It also called for fatty bacon drippings, but I omitted that since it also called for butter.


Kate's Pan-Fried Summer Squash




1 pound yellow squash, sliced
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 Tbsp fatty bacon drippings (optional)
2 Tbsp butter

Combine squash, broth, and onion in skillet. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat to medium. Cook uncovered until broth has evaporated, about 10 minutes. If you don't like your squash super soft, you may need to cut that time in half and drain the broth later. Add butter and cook uncovered over low heat until tender to your liking (recipe calls for 30 minutes but mine only took another 10 minutes).

Source: "Greene On Greens" 1984 p. 325

What is your favorite end-of-summer meal?
I think this fried squash is my favorite side dish. I haven't had too much experience making dinner from squash, so I'll have to stock up at farmer's markets and experiment.