I hit my cooking rhythm last weekend. It started on Friday after a long and productive day at work. I was planning to make ratatouille but didn’t have zucchini and wasn’t in the mood to drive to the store so I put that on hold, roasted a batch of tomatoes, sautéed a boat load of garlic, shredded basil and boiled some edamame noodles - tossed it all together - poof dinner.
Ok it took a little bit longer than it sounds but not a lot longer. The roasted, just picked tomatoes were sweet and bursting with flavor and the fresh basil was a wonderful compliment to the tomatoes and garlic it was hard not to eat the entire bowl.
Earlier in the evening (before dinner was underway) I was thinking of pie - we had a few apples in the pantry trying to get my attention so at 8pm I finally gave in and made an apple crumb pie, which wasn’t actually ready to eat until around 10pm. I know 8:00 probably isn’t when most people are baking pies but I was on a roll and in the end it turned out to be a great decision!
I started by making a standard single pie crust and putting it in the freezer while I made the filling.
Filling:
7 - 8 cups peeled, cored and thinly sliced apples (I had a mix of Harrison and Fugi)
1/3 cup plus 1 T granulated sugar
1 lemon - juice and grated zest
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 T cornstarch
Place the sliced apples, lemon juice and zest in a bowl and let rest for 10 - 15 minutes. Combine the 1 T sugar, nutmeg and cornstarch, add to the apple mixture and stir to combine.
Remove the pie crust from the freezer add apples and bake in a 400 degree oven on lower rack for 30 minutes.
While the pie is baking make the crumb topping
Oatmeal crumb topping
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick of cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, cut butter into bowl and mix with your hand until you have small crumbs.
Remove pie from oven, add crumb topping (note that you will not use the entire amount of topping, store the rest in the freezer), reduce heat to 375 and bake for an additional 30 minutes. At the 15 minute mark you may want to tent the pie with aluminum foil to keep the crust from burning.
The house smelled wonderful and Dan couldn’t wait; he cut a piece, put a wedge of cheddar cheese on top and dug in - I guess it was okay :-)
Which brings me to Sunday and ratatouille — one of my favorite dishes; especially when everything is garden fresh. We’ve been picking eggplant and peppers recently and the tomatoes don’t show any sign of slowing down any time soon so it seemed like it was definitely a ratatouille day.
I got the original recipe from a cookbook Dan brought to the relationship some 14 years ago (wow has it been that long) called The Classic Vegetable Cookbook by Ruth Spear. I checked on Amazon today and you can get a copy for $1.35; in my opinion a great deal. Over time I’ve tweaked the recipe into the version we had last night but to be honest, my recipe is very close to the original - it’s that good! This dish is good hot, cold or warm but best after the flavors have melded for a day or so. Prepare it on a Sunday, pop it in the fridge and serve on Tuesday, you will not be disappointed.
Ingredients:
2 - medium eggplants
4 - medium zucchini
2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp olive oil
4 - medium onions - thinly sliced (I used my Pampered Chef Simple Slicer on 1)
2 - small green peppers, seeded, cored and thinly sliced
3 - 5 garlic cloves - depends on your love of garlic - I’m usually in the 5 -7 range
4 - 6 tomatoes, seeded, juiced and chopped
Salt and freshly gourd pepper
1 bouquet of 2 bay leaf, 5 to 6 sprigs of thyme, 4 - 5 basil leaves and 3 - 4 sprigs of oregano
Preparation:
Slice eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds, then cut into medium cubes. Cut the zucchini into 1/4 inch rounds. Toss eggplant and zucchini with the salt in a bowl and let set for about 30 minutes. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.
Lightly and quickly saute the eggplant and zucchini mixture in 2 - 3 Tbsp olive oil. Make sure that the vegetables are in a single layer - you will need to do it in multiple batches. Remove sautéed pieces to a bowl.
Heat the remaining oil in a heavy enameled cast-iron pan with a lid. Saute onions, pepper and garlic until softened. Add the tomatoes, cover and cook for approximately 5 - 7 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
In the cast-iron pan, add the tomato/onion mixture to lightly cover the bottom, then add 1/3 of the eggplant/zucchini mixture. Continue to layer seasoning veggies (if necessary) as you go, and ending with the tomato/onion mixture. Thinly slice 2 small tomatoes and add as a layer on top, add in the bouquet gari and cover. Simmer for 1/2 hour.
Tilt the pot and pour the excess liquid into a small pan. Boil over high heat until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Add a few shakes of chili flakes, stir and pour over the vegetables. Cook over medium-high heat, uncovered for 15 minutes (until top tomatoes are soft).
Remove the bouquet garni and sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving
This weekend; Dan’s cooking up something with the eggplant and I have my eye on a recipe for stuffed poblano peppers!
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