Ratatouille

The other night I made Ratatouille "the right way". Julia Child describes it in such a complicated method, I never thought I'd bother with it. Generally, I like to cook with one or a few pans in the fewest steps. I was drawn in by Julia Child's description of the recipe, "Ratatouille perfumes the kitchen with the essence of Provence and is certainly one of the great Mediterranean dishes."

With a whole evening available, time wasn't a concern, and that's a good thing since it took me nearly two hours.

But the result was absolutely devine. Certainly worth the effort!

Along the theme of dinner, I rented the movie Ratatouille. Such a great foodie movie.

My only change to the recipe was that instead of peeling the tomatoes and dicing the pulp, I cut the whole tomatoes into chunks, then pureed them. I can't bring myself to throw away any part of these gorgeous heirloom tomatoes I've been getting from the farm. The eggplant took a bit more than 1 minute per side, perhaps because I cut them a little thicker than called for.

I served it on top of whole grain pasta.

Julia Child's Ratatouille

1 eggplant and 1 zucchini (of similar sizes)
1 teaspoon salt
A 10- to 12-inch enameled skillet
4 tablespoons olive oil, more if needed
1/2 pound (about 1 1/2 cups) thinly sliced yellow onions
2 (about 1 cup) sliced green bell peppers
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil, if necessary
2 or 3 cloves mashed garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound firm, ripe, red tomatoes, peeled, seeded and juiced (makes 1 1/2 cups pulp)
Salt and pepper
A 2 1/2 quart fireproof casserole about 2 1/2 inches deep
3 tablespoons minced parsley
Salt and pepper

Peel the eggplant and cut into lengthwise slices 3/8 inch thick, about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. Scrub the zucchini, slice off the two ends and cut the zucchini into slices about the same size as the eggplant slices. Place the vegetables in a bowl and toss with the salt. Let stand for 30 minutes. Drain. Dry each slice in a towel.

One layer at a time, saute the eggplant and then the zucchini in hot olive oil in the skillet for about a minute on each side to brown very lightly. Remove to a side dish.

In the same skillet, cook the onions and peppers slowly in olive oil for about 10 minutes, or until tender but not browned. Stir in the garlic and season to taste.

Slice the tomato pulp into 3/8-inch strips. Lay them over the onions and peppers. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the skillet and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, or until tomatoes have begun to render their juice. Uncover, baste the tomatoes with the juices, raise heat and boil for several minutes, until juice has almost entirely evaporated.

Place a third of the tomato mixture in the bottom of the casserole and sprinkle over it 1 tablespoon of the parsley. Arrange half of the eggplant and zucchini on top, then half the remaining tomatoes and parsley. Put in the rest of the eggplant and zucchini and finish with the remaining tomatoes and parsley.

Cover the casserole and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Uncover, tip casserole and baste with the rendered juices. Correct seasoning, if necessary. Raise heat slightly and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes more, basting several times, until juices have evaporated leaving a spoonful or two of flavored olive oil. Be careful of your heat; do not let the vegetables scorch in the bottom of the casserole.

Set aside uncovered. Reheat slowly at serving time or serve cold.

Pototo Leek Soup

The same night I made Ratatouille and watched the movie, I also made a soup to use for lunches. I made a recipe that was included with the farm's newsletter. It was Potato Leek Soup.

In the movie, Linguini messes up a soup in the kitchen and Remy the rat helps him fix it. Ironically, the fragrant soup he makes that gets rave reviews is...drumroll please...potato leek soup! What a coincidence.

I followed Julia Child's recipe, since that was the one on the newsletter (another strange coincidence of recipes). The one I include here is Remy's recipe. The two recipes are very similar, but the rat's includes more herbs. I did not bother with the chive oil, though I did add chives. A drop of olive oil in the pan prevents the butter from burning.


Remy's Potato Leek Soup

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large leeks
2 large russet potatoes
5 cups chicken stock
Bouquet garni (recipe below)
1/2 cup cream
Chive oil (recipe below)
1/4 cup finely minced chives
Coarse salt, ground black pepper

Top the leeks, leaving some of the pale green, and remove the root. Slice lengthwise in half, and then slice each half crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. Immerse leeks in bowl of cold water, repeating until no sand remains, lifting leeks from one bowl to another with hands so you don't transfer sand. Melt butter in heavy saucepan over medium low heat, add leeks and sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so leeks do not brown. Cut potatoes into rough 1-inch dice and add to leeks.

Add chicken stock and bouquet garni, and simmer for about 20 minutes until potatoes are tender. Remove bouquet garni, transfer soup to blender in batches, purée until smooth, and transfer to clean pot. Reheat soup, add cream, and bring back to simmer for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve, drizzle with chive oil and garnish with finely minced chives.


Bouquet garni

Fold a 6-inch length of washed leek leaf in half, inserting several sprigs of fresh thyme and parsley, eight peppercorns and two bay leaves between the folded leaves. Tie with butcher's cord.


Chive oil

1 bunch chives, roughly chopped
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground black pepper

Add the chives to a food processor. With machine running, slowly add the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl or squeeze bottle and reserve.

Serves 6.

Ginger Cabbage Stir Fry

I really thought I already had this recipe posted since I've made it this season. My friend's mother gave me this recipe. I've tryed it in a few ways since, adding tofu or broken pieces of veggie burger, or an egg, or a splash of hoisin sauce when serving.

Last night I stirred in 2 Tbsp of apple butter before adding the veggies. I grated the onion instead of slicing it, and that made it more of a part of the sauce. I also grated in half of a zucchini and a small bunch of carrots. Delicious! A very adaptable recipe.

Ginger Cabbage Stir Fry

2 teaspoons Olive Oil
2 teaspoons Sesame Oil
1 Onion, sliced or grated
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons minced Ginger
1 head Napa Cabbage, cleaned, sliced and chopped
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon Rice Vinegar


In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add the oils and heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and saute, stirring, for 1 minute. If I'm adding any other spices or sauce ingredients, I stir them in here. It distributes better that way.

Add the cabbage and cook until it wilts, about 5 minutes. Add the soy sauce and rice vinegar and stir well, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Serve over rice or other grain.

Eggplant Gratin

Someone had suggested using Ricotta cheese in a smoothie to make it creamy. It is delicious! Here is another use for the ricotta in my fridge.


Eggplant Gratin

1 pound eggplant, sliced into rounds
1/4 cup shallots, sliced
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
2 tsp thyme

Preheat broiler, place rack in center of oven. Coat baking sheet with non-stick spray.

Place eggplant rounds on baking sheet in single layer, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil for a few minutes, until eggplant is just beginning to brown (keep your eye on it!) Turn over each slice, add shallots to the pan, season with a little more salt and pepper, and return to the oven. Broil again until eggplant and shallots are beginning to brown.

Turn oven down to 350 degrees.

Combine ricotta, milk, tomatoes, thyme, tomato paste, and parmesan in food processor. Process until well combined.

Lightly oil (or spray with non-stick spray a small casserole dish. Layer half of eggplant/shallots evenly in bottom. Top with half of ricotta cheese mixture. Repeat layers.

Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, or until bubbling and cheese sauce on the top is browning, and all is heated through.