Don Silvers

For many years I taught a cooking class at UCLA and this is the first recipe that I taught the class to cook in a 10 week course. Unfortunately UCLA no longer has a culinary school. I like this recipe because it teaches you how to work with an cook over 9 vegetables in one dish.

This dish will dazzle guests and it is a pretty vegetable presentation that tastes as good as it looks.

1 pound green beans of uniform size

2 summer squash

2 large carrots

2 zucchini

1/4 cup fresh green peas

1/2 cup Brussels sprouts

1/2 cup cauliflower florets

6 cabbage leaves

Salt and Pepper

Soft butter for lining mold

1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes

1/4 cup clarified butter (see below)

For clarified butter: Melt ordinary butter over low heat. Skim off the foam which will rise to the top. The remainder will be separated into 2 parts, a clear yellow liquid and a white residue which sinks to the bottom of the pan. Strain off the clear yellow butter into a bowl, this is the clarified butter. Discard the white residue.

Cut ends off beans. Peel carrots and cut them in pieces the same length as the beans. Slice the zucchini and squash thin. Parboil beans, squash, carrots, zucchini, peas, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage separately in boiling water (the vegetables should still be firm). Drain and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread the sides and bottom of a 6 inch diameter mold very thickly with butter. Around the outside edge of the bottom of the mold make a circular border of green peas. The butter will hold the peas in place. Make an outer circle of overlapping slices of squash and an inner circle of overlapping slices of zucchini (the entire bottom of the mold should be covered). Stand alternate slices of green beans and carrots upright on the peas and leaning against the side of the mold. Trim the ends of the beans and carrots with scissors, so that the ends are even with the top of the mold. With spatula, cover sides and bottom of mold with layer of mashed potatoes. Press potatoes down firmly. Cover the layer of mashed potatoes with cabbage leaves. Place an outer circle of Brussels sprouts on the leaves, and fill the center with cauliflower. Place a new layer of zucchini and squash in overlapping circles. Pour clarified butter over. Cover with cabbage leaves. Now cover with the final layer of mashed potatoes and bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn out mold onto serving plate. Serves 6