Thursday, October 27, 2011

Ratatouille

This past Sunday I did what I haven't done in a while: walk to the grocery store and stock up on foods for the day.

I bought radishes and assembled a little morning snack of radishes, butter, and sea salt on wheat.  Normally, I like the combination on a fresh French baguette, but it just seemed like a waste of a one mile walk to and from the grocery store if I immediately loaded up on a loaf of bread...although, I guess globs of Frentel butter isn't an ideal after walk ingredient either...

 

The main reason I dragged myself out of bed early Sunday morning was to grocery shop for ingredients for a dish that I've been longing to make for a while now.

A few months back I watched a re-run of Avec Eric with Eric Ripert where he created his version of ratatouille.  I'm a huge fan of ratatouille (both the movie and the dish...though I've only made the dish once in college) and it's simplicity--I like to think of it as the ideal Autumn lunch.


What really intrigued me about Ripert's ratatouille was that after the vegetables were prepared, he loaded ladle-fulls into coquettes, made a little nest in the center, and cracked two eggs into the crater.  Genius. 


This is my variation on Ripert's recipe.  Although there's absolutely nothing wrong with his, I made my ratatouille based on what was available at the store.  In case you're interested, here is his recipe.

INGREDIENTS
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, cut into ½-inch dice
2 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into ½-inch dice
6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 tablespoon tomato paste
5 roma tomatoes, cut into ½-inch dice
2 small zucchini, cut into ½-inch dice
1 yellow squash, cut into  ½-inch dice
2 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
8 eggs
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
¼ cup julienned fresh basil
fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, red pepper, and garlic to the pan and sauté until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the tomato paste and continue cooking for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant and cook until tender, about 10 minutes, adding water as necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

This dish is fantastic the next day so don't be afraid to make it ahead of time.  It's definitely one of those dishes that gets better overnight when all the flavors marry.

Preheat oven to broil.

If the ratatouille was done ahead and kept cold, gently re-warm over medium heat. Spoon about ½ cup of the ratatouille into a cocotte, crack 2 eggs on top of the ratatouille and place the cocottes in the broiler and cook until the egg whites are just barely set, about 5 minutes; serve hot with Parmesan and basil on top.  Serve with crusty bread.


Makes 4 servings.

For the bread:
Cut a fresh baguette into 1 inch slices.  Line them up on a shallow rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil and broil on high for a minute or until the bread becomes golden.  (You really have to be careful with this part.  From experience, your toasts can go from golden brown to burnt in 0.05 seconds) Remove the toasts from the broiler.  Peel a clove of garlic and cut off one end.  Rub the garlic on the toasts for the perfect garlic bread.  

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Carmel


I've been in blog hibernation for the last few months.  Not reading blogs, not updating my own blog...all not intentional.  Today, I stumbled across Food in Jars again which led me to pull up Orangette and reading back on posts that I've missed, I realize exactly how long I've been away.

I kicked of 2011 obsessed with blogs and blogging, don't get me wrong, I'm still in love with them, but something changed.  I've been picking up books from my bookshelf--works that I purchased over my college years, perused, but never really read--and now I'm beginning to appreciate them.  More and more I find myself flirting with the idea of writing a book, although I don't know if I'm disciplined enough to do so, nor do I think I have the time. But, it's always fun to think about.  And I have to admit that as I type, I'm realizing how much I have missed writing.


This past weekend my family and I took a mini road trip to Carmel--God was it gorgeous.  After four years of engagement, my cousin and her fiance got married on a beautiful Carmel beach (Congrats Jamie & Joe!!).  I have to admit, it makes me want to plan a wedding...but what girl doesn't go through spastic moments of wanting to plan her dream wedding?  


It was nice to finally catch up with family that I haven't seen in years.  It's kind of awesome how even with the distance and the lost time we still talk, get along, and act out (parents and cousins alike) like we've never been apart--we're all just older now.  Watching all the parents dance to Ryan Tedder & Pit Bull was just a riot!  I loved every moment of it and I can't hardly wait to get a copy of the wedding DVD to relive the dance floor.



Salad


Corn and Crab Chowder


I got the Halibut, my mom got the Lamb, and my dad got the Filet Mignon.  Just like any family of food lovers, we then swapped a bite of each.


Wedding Cake!

To say the least, it was a fantastic weekend.  The food at the wedding was amazing, my cousin looked gorgeous and so happy, and it was so much fun spending the weekend wining and dining with family.  Not to mention, Carmel is one of the cutest little towns that I've ever been to.

I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.