Three Sisters Harvest Bake

As tradition built it

Three Sisters Harvest Bake

1972 Pueblo Indian Cookbook. Bake 350°F, about 1 hour 20 to 30 minutes. Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 2 large zucchini or yellow summer squash, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 sweet green pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
• 1 cup fresh corn, cut from the cob
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• half a teaspoon cumin seed
• 2 tablespoons grated longhorn cheese
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil

Method

1. Sauté the onion in 1 tablespoon of the oil until golden.
2. Mix the seasonings, chili powder, oregano and cumin seed.
3. Layer the vegetables, squash, green pepper and corn, with the seasoning, and drizzle with the remaining oil.
4. Cover and bake at 350°F for 1 hour.
5. Add the sliced tomatoes, top with cheese, and bake uncovered a further 20 to 30 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

What a modern chef changes

Fresh-ground spice, real char, an even bake

Method

1. Grind the cumin seed and oregano fresh in the spice grinder immediately before layering, rather than from a jar, for a genuinely brighter note the long bake needs to cut through.
2. Finish the dish under the Big Green Egg's direct heat for the final few minutes instead of an oven's top element, for real, blistered char on the cheese and the exposed tomato rather than an even, gentle melt.
3. Slice the squash on a mandoline to a consistent, thin gauge before layering, a small, real precision step that lets the hour-long covered bake cook every piece through at the same rate, rather than leaving some slices soft and others still firm.