the veggies

The veggies always look so good when I first start cooking with them, before I cut them up. The only problem with this recipe, from the Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Cooking, is that she doens’t always say how much in cups the veggies are, or how many veggies should be used. I suppose it is easier to just say how many pounds, but I don’t have scale, so that doesn’t help me.

cooking the veggies

Like the Indian version, things get cooked seperatly before they are mixed together.

I have skilled tomatoes before, but this recipe called for seeing and juicing them as well. You send up with pulp, which I did. The goal appeared to be as to get as much juice out of the tomato as possible. Not only before it went into the mix, but after it was in the mix. The recipe kept calling for all the juice to be absorbed.

The Indian version was very soupy, while this one seemed drier.

the finished product

Also,unless I missed something, there were no spices added other than salt and pepper.

Perhaps, if I had tried this one first, I would have found the Indian version odd, now I find this one odd.

All the veggies cut up

I don’t always manage to cook all the veggies I get in my basket from my CSA before the next week comes about. This week, I was bound and determined to do so. I looked at what I had, and found a recipe that would work, and spend the day, every time I went into the kitchen, gathering up the supplies, so they would all be there, and ready when it was time to cook.

The recipe, Indian Ratatouille, is from the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics. I was surprised, and delighted that not only did I have all the veggies, but I had almost all the spices. Now, granted, I didn’t have as much of all the ingredients as were called for, but I felt it was close enough.

Here is what was called for:

• 2 cups diced onions
• 2 tablespoons veggie oil
• 2 large garlic cloves (I usually use much more than that)
• 1 fresh chile (I used dried chile)
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger root (I used dried)
• 1 tspn ground cumin
• 1 tspn ground coriander
• 1/2 tspn turmeric
• 1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tspn ground cardamon
• 1 tspn salt
• pinch of saffron (which I didn’t have at all)
• 1 cup of orange juice ( I used water)
• 5 cups cubed eggplant (I had about 2 cups worth)
• 4 cups cubed zucchini, squash, or pattypan (this I had, all of them)
• 1 1/2 cups bell peppers (I had about a cup)
• 3 cups fresh tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

cooking the veggies

As it is with onions, you cook those first, and then add the garlic, chile giner and spices. The eggplant and juice were added last, and then the squash bell peppers, tomatoes and basil.

It was amazing. I served it on rice, I had made earlier. I knew I had to make it again. Not sure how it will turn out with the orange juice, as this was great.  I’m sure the saffron will ad something to it.

And eating it all

This dish has lasted me for a few days now, and it great reheated.

So, now I got curious. What would the more traditional ratatouille taste like. I decided to make the Julia Child version next.

Cooking the Polenta

I don’t know why I keep trying to make things with polenta, as I must be doing something wrong. It does not get all stiff with me, no matter how much I cook it.

Still, this looked like a cool gluten free lasagna, and I was open to that, as well as having an excuse to use up more tomatoes.

I put the 4 cups of polenta to boil on the stove, and set to getting the tomatoes ready by peal. (even though the recipe called for canned tomatoes.)

This was another recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics.

Preparing the tomatoes

Here is what the recipe called for :

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons dried bail (I used fresh)
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/12 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 cup chopped red bell peppers
• 1 cup chopped green bell peppers (I used red, as that was all I had)
• 3 cups crushed tomatoes (I used fresh)
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 3 tablespoon tomato paste (I didn’t have this)
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

As usual, all these things had to be done in order. I sauteed the onions, then added the garlic, basil, etc through red peppers. Then added the tomatoes and wine, and set that to cook for about 30 minutes.

And, while all this was cooking, I had to put together1 cup of cream cheese, one egg, and and mix those togehter.

And while all this was going on I was supposed to put the polenta in the fridge, and spread it out., which I did. And, I was supposed to saute the chopped kale (to cups worth), which I did as well. I could have used Cartoonist, but she wasn’t around, so I had to do this all on my own.

finished lasage

When I took the Polenta out of  the fridge, it wasn’t stiff, as described, so I just used it as is, and layered out the lasagna.

First layer was the tomato mix, then the polenta, then the cream cheese, then the polenta, then the tomato mix again, with graded Parmesan cheese on top (which I actually had from a recipe I didn’t end up making.

What is my verdict? Would I make it again? Only if I could get the polenta right. It really needs a stiff polenta, and I think I am not doing it quite right. The book says if it isn’t stiff enough, cook it longer, which I may do next time.