Ratatouille

The source recipe for this was already very easy, but I trimmed it down further by omitting the bell peppers-- I love them but they don't love my wee one. Wee one also declared after trying a bite of the finished rat' that the eggplant was making her mouth sore. So, this is a goodie, but I'll be looking for more alternative veggies to put into it the next time I make it.

* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1 leek, diced
* 1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
* 4 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 pounds tomatoes, chopped (I only had 3 fresh and then I added 1/2 can of tomato paste and a few cups of water)
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
* salt and pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Heat olive oil in a heavy soup pot on medium heat. Chop leeks and add to oil. Once the leeks begin to smell good, add the diced eggplant to the pot, stirring well to coat the eggplant with oil. At this point all the olive oil will have soaked into the eggplant, so you need to stir often to keep things from burning until they soften some. Chop the zucchini and stir it in once the eggplant has softened a bit. Chop the garlic and add to the vegetables, stirring well. Add the tomatoes (and for me, the tomato paste and water, about 1 cup). Mince the thyme and add it along with salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and cook two minutes. Turn down heat and cover the pot. Simmer until everything is soft and well blended - about 40 minutes. Stir in basil and remove from heat.

Makes 4 servings

Onion Confit

I decided to try my hand at my first-ever onion confit. It was slightly more laborious than I expected-- the cooking and tending time in the oven lasted exactly the duration of one itty-bitty's nap-- and when it was done I thought, "Um, OK, now what am I going to do with all of this onion confit exactly?" But turns out it is very worth it. This is a nice "staple" to have handy in the fridge. I've reached for it countless times in the past week as a surprising zazz to turkey sandwiches, in making a vinaigrette to go over a spinach salad, and as a sturdy basis for an onion and goat cheese quiche. Oh, it was meant to go with chevre. Those French know what they're doing.

The confit's swan song proved no less dazzling as I warmed about 1/4 cup of the confit with a cup of leftover roasted cauliflower in 2-3 cups of vegetable broth. Once it was all simmered together for 15 minutes or so, I buzzed it through the blender with a dash (>1/4 c) of half and half. A little dollop of creme fraiche topped it off and weee-- never again shall cauliflower languish in my fridge.

Here is the recipe for the onion confit, adapted from a cookbook called The Vegetarian Table: France.

4 T butter
5 lbs yellow onions, cut into slices 1/4-3/8 inch thick (about 7 cups)
1/4 c olive oil
8 dried bay leaves
4 T herbes de Provence
1 T freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Cut butter into several chunks and place them on 2 large baking sheets. Place baking sheets in the oven to melt the butter, about 4 or 5 minutes.
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and spread out the slices onions on them. The layer of onions should be about 1 inch deep. Tuch the bay leaves amongst the onions, the sprinkle the onions with the herbs and black pepper. Drizzle olive oil evenly over the top.
Put baking sheets back in the oven and cook the onions, turning them in the oil and butter every 10 to 15 minutes, until they have turned a light golden brown and have reduced in volume by nearly half, 1-1 1/4 hours.
Remove from oven and let cool. Transfer to 1 or more clean, dry jars and cover tightly. Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

French Simmered Pumpkin and Lentils

2 T olive oil
1 large shallot, diced
1 14 0z. can diced tomatoes
1 c green lentils, rinsed
1 1/2 T dried tarragon
1 t dried rosemary
1 T dried thyme
1 t dried garlic
1 t dried basil
1 t white pepper
1 2-lb. pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed
1/4 c tomato puree or sauce
2 1/2 c water

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallot and saute 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent and golden. Add tomatoes, lentils, and spices, and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Stir in pumpkin cubes, tomato puree or sauce, and 2 1/2 c water. Season with salt and pepper.
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 40 minutes, or until pumpkin and lentils are tender, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 8

Good served with baked potatoes. This is an improvization based on the Moroccan Pumpkin and Lentils recipe I tried a while back. J says he likes it even more this way with the French spices. I'd have used fresh spices if I had them, and some white wine in place of water. Next time...

Coq Au Vin

Having very few experiences cooking meat, and even fewer using the slow-cooker, I found this recipe to be an easy success. Good with a baguette and butter, or without to keep it gluten and dairy free.

2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (if frozen, be sure they are thawed)
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
3 T olive oil
1 12 oz. box white or baby bella mushrooms, quartered
3 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 c broth (veg or chicken)
1 1/2 c dry red wine
2 fresh thyme sprigs

Rinse chicken and arrange on a sheet of wax paper or a plate. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
Heat 2 T olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken, smooth side down, and cook 3 minutes per side, or until lightly browned. Remove chicken and set aside. Heat remaining 1 T olive oil in same skillet; saute mushrooms 3 to 5 minutes, or until edges begin to brown. Add carrots, onion, and garlic, and season with salt; cook 10 to 12 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften. transfer vegetables and broth to slow cooker. Arrange chicken on top. Add wine and thyme sprigs.
Cover slow cooker and cook on med-low for 6 to 7 hours.

*J liked this dish a lot but I thought it was a little too "dark tasting"

Lentil and Green Bean Ragout with Red Chard

Improvised this one last week and J quickly awarded it "top 5 favorite meals" status. It's up there for me too. I made it again last night with fresh thyme instead of dried and with a Muscadet instead of Vourvay wine. Measurements are approximate as well.

1-2 T butter
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1-2 shallots, minced
1 1/2 c fresh green beans, trimmed
2 c Melissa's ready-to-eat lentils (this is a great shortcut that makes this a quick meal)
2 15 oz. cans of diced tomatoes, undrained
1/3 c dry white wine
1 1/2 T dried tarragon
1 1/2 T dried or fresh thyme
1/2 T salt
1/2 T white pepper

Melt butter in a deep pan over medium heat. When it starts to foam add shallots and garlic. Stir until fragrant and translucent. Add lentils and tomatoes with juice from the can. Add all other ingredients except for green beans, cover and let simmer for 5-10 minutes. Then add green beans and continue simmering for 15 minutes or until green beans are soft and flavors have come together.

Serve with chilled white wine, fresh crusty French bread and butter and sauteed red chard. Makes 6-8 servings.

****tone the spices down! Did I mistype when I made a big "t" for "tablespoon?"


Sauteed Red Chard (serves 2)

1 bunch of organic red chard
1-2 T olive oil
1-2 t water
1 T balsamic vinegar

Heat oil in a pan. Trim center rid out of chard leaves and cut remaining chard into large pieces. Add chard to pan with water and cover. Watch closely, stir once or twice. Chard is done when it is wilted but bright in color. Finish by tossing with vinegar.

The Last Supper?

Two weeks from D-Day and good friend V suggested we make a date at the restaurant where she works. As the lack of action on this blog for the past few months might indicate, I've been cooking little and eating like a toddler: i.e. plain chicken and slices of avocado will go down as favorite pregnancy dinner of all time. The "flavors together" concept most dear to the fundamental nature of cooking has been on the outs with me this entire trimester, with a few notable exceptions. This meal, for one.

J and I ordered a full dinner from the menu only to be surprised by additional plates of things V felt we should try. This made for quite a feast- and plenty of leftovers.

We got to Bistro C at 6 and were seated in a romantic window seat in the front of the restaurant where we could watch the rain coming down in their outdoor gardens and the people rushing by on Lincoln Ave. Within the hour the restaurant filled up around us, but our location still felt very private and intimate (and I'm quite sensitive to feeling crowded in lately!). Our initial server came over and explained the specials, but then V saw us and took over. We didn't expect such treatment, but soon she had a glass of champagne in each of our hands as a proper start to what would be an epic 3-hour meal that consisted of:

A carmelized onion strudel appetizer

A salad consisting of a soft-boiled egg atop a creamy mash of celery root beside some poached asparagus

A shaved fennel salad with pea shoots

(J, reserving his red meat trists for such nights out:) Boeuf Bourguignon

(Me, the constant chicken-eater:) Roasted chicken with wild mushroom ragout and onions frites

Brussels sprouts with brown butter

Roasted beets with dill cream

Buttery mashed potatoes

With this I enjoyed a nice glass of Clos Chanteduc Cotes-du-Rhone, 2006 and J had the Malbec (Chateau Lagrezette, Zette, Cahors 2003).

J found a little room to help me with dessert, the lemon tart with Chantilly cream, and V brought out a scoop of Bistro C's homemade mango sorbet for good measure.

This meal will go down in infamy. What a celebration of our soon-to-be next adventure. 

Farmer's Market Quiche

1 fresh, vine ripe tomato, sliced
1/4 c fresh, chopped chives
1 frozen pie crust, whole wheat
1 3/4 c whole milk
4 eggs
3 oz. herbed goat cheese
sea salt
white pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Spread goat cheese over bottom of pie crust. Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until cheese has started to melt. Remove from oven. Add tomato to pie shell. Beat eggs and milk. (Make sure pie shell is on a baking sheet in case it spills on the way to the oven.) Pour mixture into pie crust. Top with chives and salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 15 minutes at 425. Reduce heat to 325 and continue baking for 30 minutes. Quiche is done when crust is lightly browned and knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Served with roasted brussels sprouts and roasted fingerling potatoes.

**

The farmer's market was glorious this morning. I had to play it safe with my still-uncooperative palate, so all I netted were some Honey Crisp apples, the fingerlings, some fresh herbs, tomatoes, and garlic. And flowers. My woozie belly was having none of the great bounty of greens or peppers on display. Even the last of the berries-- the farmer saw me looking at them longingly but I couldn't explain.. just, no. Just looking.

Vegan Cassoulet

3 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 leek, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
10 oz. of fresh green beans, or in this case I used frozen
2 1/2 T evoo

1 8 0z. can of white beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup TVP (Lightlife Smartground), crumbled
1 T Herbs d'Provence
1 t sea salt
1 T fresh cracked pepper
2 1/2- 3 T fresh chopped thyme
2 1/2- 3 T tomato paste
1-2 cups of water (if 3/4 c or so of this is replaced with white wine, all the better)

Saute first 6 ingredients in a deep pan over low/medium heat for about 10-15. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Simmer for 30-45 minutes. Serve hot with some nice, crusty fresh bread.

Mushroom Quiche and Lentil Salad

This was homemade crust number deux, and with this one I figured a few key things out.
1. The dry mixer attachment for the Vita Mix cuts the butter into a dough fabulously.
2. Baking the crust an additional 5 minutes to melt a layer of cheese on the bottom after the blind bake, and before adding the rest of the filling, keeps everything crispy and distinct.

So the crust recipe here is from an online source that credits Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe cookbook.

1 1/2 c unbleached, all purpose flour
1/4 t salt
1/2 c (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
Up to 3 T cold water (or milk or buttermilk)

Place flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Cut the butter into slices, add to the processor, and buzz several times, until the mixture is uniform and resembles coarse meal. (You can do this with 2 forks like I did the last time, but it's painfully laborious!)

Continue to process in quicks spurts as you add the water, 1 T at a time. As soon as the dough adhere to itself when pinched, stop adding water and turn the dough out on a floured surface. Gather it gently into a ball.

Roll the dough into a circle 11 inches or so in diameter. Lift the dough and ease it into a 9-inch pie pan or a 10-inch springform tart pan, nudging it gently in the corners. Form a generous, even edge all the way around the sides.

Use a fork to poke a bunch of holes in the bottom layer of the crust. Cut a piece of parchment paper the size and shape of the pan and set over the crust. Add a cup of dried beans or whatever you use as you pie weights to prevent the crust from rising too much during the blind bake. Blind bake at 400 for 12 minutes.

I had munster cheese on hand, but swiss or gruyere are excellent matches here too. With the munster I sliced enough to cover the bottom of the crust, 3/4 c. (Remove the pie weights/beans and parchment, of course!) Lower the oven temp to 375 and bake for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is just melted.

For the filling I sauteed 4 very large cremini mushrooms in 1 T evoo and 1 minced shallot. Once the shallot and mushroom mixture is fragrant and the mushrooms have darkened and cooked through, add mixture to quiche pan.

In a separate bowl whisk 4-5 eggs and 1/2 c Silk unsweetened soy milk (or regular milk, or go nuts and use cream!) add to quiche pan. This should just about fill up the crust. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 375, or until a knife in the center comes out clean.

**

Lentil Salad

This is actually a Greek recipe taken from a cookbook on Greek cuisine, but it paired well with the quiche, and even better with an Origin Viognier. It was good cold and by itself or with baby salad greens and a splash of evoo and balsamic vin, or slightly warmed and by itself.

1 c lentils, French green worked well, soaked for about 3 hours in cold water
1 small red onion, chopped
1 bay leaf (I bumped it up to 2)
4 T evoo
3-4 T of chopped, fresh flat leaf parsley
2 T chopped fresh oregano or marjoram (I used dried oregano)
9 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
9 oz. feta, crumbled
salt and pepper
3 T lightly toasted pine nuts

Drain lentils and place them in a large pan. Pour in plenty of cold water and add bay leaves and onion. Bring to a boil and boil hard for 10 minutes, then lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Drain the lentils, discard the bay leaves and tip them into a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss with the olive oil. Set aside to cool, the mix with the parsley, oregano, tomatoes, pine nuts and feta.

Quiche crust

Again, I offer this posting as proof more than document, as I can't find the recipe I used for my first ever crust. It was mega butter and came out rich and flaky. I just happened to fill it with a spinach quiche and herbes de Provence. And it was the first time I got to use this pan, so I was feeling very fancy about myself.

Tomato Provencal

Part of the month-long experiment with anchovies. Can't put my hands on the recipe right now (retro posting), but tomatoes were gutted and salted and left upside-down for 20 minutes before they were stuffed with a mixture of whole-wheat breadcrumbs (alas, not homemade), olive oil, minced anchovies (just a few for 6 tomatoes), and parsley. Then they are drizzled with a little more o.o. and baked for 25-30 min. at 400.