Ratatouille

Now that it's Spring and the weather is warmer (thank goodness!) seeing beautiful veggies in the Market thought Ratatouille.  I love aubergine (eggplants) and couldn't resist the other day, so I got the ingredients for the dish.  Also, I had just purchased a beautiful Staub Cocotte (pot) that I just had to use!  And I love the color....

Ratatouille is easy to make and can be enjoyed anytime of the year.... I like to keep it simple with minimal ingredients.  I usually make Caponata which has capers in it, but today I did the French version.

So, here is what I did....

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 eggplant, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large tomato, cut up
extra virgin olive about 1/4 cup
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
bouquet garni, I use fresh thyme, a few sprigs and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
fresh flat leaf parsley

Method:

Take the eggplant and put into a colander, add salt and let it sit for several hours or overnight.  Just before cooking remove the eggplant from the colander and rinse with cold water and pat dry.

Preheat the Cocotte (pot) with olive oil on the bottom of the pan, add the onion, garlic,red pepper and eggplant, stir and coat with the olive oil.  Season with the salt & pepper, add the zucchini and bouquet garni.  Cover the pot and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When done, taste for seasoning and add freshly chopped flat leaf parsley.

You can serve this over white rice.

PUMPKIN SOUP

Today is a perfect day for soup, it's Spring but a little cool and cloudy outside with 

possible rain.  Since I had a butternut squash it was an easy decision for me. Very simple to make with only a few ingredients that are in almost everyone's pantry!

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons cumin (ground)

1.2 kg (2 lb) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock (or whatever stock you want)

1 dollop of plain yoghurt, I use fage whole yoghurt

1 garlic clove

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

You will also need a stick blender

METHOD:

Cut up the onion, squash and garlic.  To a heavy bottom pan, add the olive oil, onion,  garlic  and cook for few minutes till golden.  Add the cumin and cook till aromatic.

Add the squash, stock and season with salt and pepper, let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes or until  the pumpkin is soft.  Set aside and taste, season and use a stick blender to blend until smooth.

Ladle the soup into bowls and put a dollop of yoghurt if you wish

It's easy, fast and really delicious

Oeufs en cocotte (eggs in cast iron pots)

I know it's been a while since I have blogged...sorry, been doing lot's of cooking etc.  Photography Thanksgiving getting ready for winter etc.  Promise to do better and blog more frequently.

A few months ago I purchased a wonderful book by Mimi Thorisson, A Kitchen in Paris..WOW, it is an awesome book and it inspired me to do the Artichoke tartlets and soon to make Artichoke soufflé.  I love artichokes and have been so excited to see these great ideas and recipes.

Soooo, when I saw the artichoke soufflé and they were cooked in these little cocottes (cast iron pots). I immediately went on line to search for the them.  I found them and bought them immediately.  They are expensive, but I will find lot's of use for them.  

However, I have not made the soufflé yet, but made a very classic French egg dish "Oeufs en cocotte".  Saw them made by Rachel Khoo of the little Paris Kitchen she did them in tea cups..  

I found the French Staub mini cocotte enameled cast iron pots in cobalt blue, love the color. You may be interested in reading about Staub cocotte pans, they are totally unique in there cooking..  I want more

 So, here is my journey, it was a lot easier than my Cannele journey a few years ago.

Oeufs en cocotte (eggs in cast iron pots):

Ingredients:

1 large egg

4 tablespoons of ricotta cheese

bacon 2 strips cooked crispy and minced

salt & pepper to taste

chives cut up

Baine marie

1 mini cocotte 

crusty white (French or Italian) bread sliced

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F). 

Spray or butter the cocotte.  Add a tablespoon of ricotta to the bottom, then add the chopped bacon, another tablespoon of ricotta, then the egg.  Season with salt & pepper.

Place a pan in the oven and fill to come half way up the cocotte.  Place the cocotte into the baine marie and cook for 17 to 18 minutes, depending how you like your egg.  

When done, remove and enjoy with crusty white bread!

NOTE: 

You can make these a number of ways, you can use shitake mushrooms, red sweet peppers, cheese.

Have fun!!

Cod and Beans in Tomato Sauce

Cod and Beans in Tomato Sauce

This is a really great dish and so easy and fast to prepare.  I went to my fishmonger and got a great fresh Cod fillet and the rest is history.  My Mom used to make something like this and when I tasted it I felt as though she was here.

It has been hot here this summer and no complaints from me, so I wanted to prepare something fast and easy.  This is just the dish and all you need is some good crusty bread and your all set.....Oh of course some nice wine.

So, here are the ingredients:

One Cod fillet cut into large pieces

Tomato sauce, make your version.  Mine is pretty simple

Cannelinni Beans, I used dried ones and soaked them overnight, I think they are so much nicer than the canned ones.

Fresh basil chopped and some whole

Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:

Put the tomato sauce and heat, when it starts to bubble, bring it to a simmer and add the Cod pieces and beans and cook for about 15 minutes or until the fish is done.

DON'T forget the bread!!!  

Would love any comments...have a nice Summer!!

Lemongrass Chicken breast Supreme and Lemongrass Prawns

My WOK......I love my wok and remember the first wok that I bought, and still use to this day.   It was a long time ago and my friend Mr. Joe (a wonderful Chinese gentleman with a great smile), who helped me to get my first wok.  I said 'Mr Joe, can I get a small wok' and Mr Joe said, NO, you can make the big wok small but you can't make the small wok big.   So, Mr. Joe went and got my Wok in chinatown. I have had this wok for over 30 years, it is better than any non-stick pan.  Mr Joe made sure that I seasoned the wok properly.  It is better and healthier than any non stick pan.

I found this wonderful recipe in Donna Hay magazine, I had to modify it because I could not find Kaffir lime leaf, so I used the zest of lime and also the juice.  This is a quick and easy recipe and really yummy.  Like most Asian cooking it's all in the prep and then it takes just moments to cook.

Make whatever rice you want.  I used long grain white rice.

Prawns (Shrimp) are really delicious and this marinade makes them incredible.  There are a few parts to this dish.

1.  The Sesame Dressing

2.  Lemongrass Chili Prawns

3.  Bok Choy

4.  Rice

Above is the chicken supreme, which was also nice, I think I prefer the Prawns, but try both.

Sesame Dressing:

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons light soy sauce 

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons caster sugar

a good piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated

Lemongrass Prawns:

20 large prawns, peeled tails in tact (or if you are using chicken, 1 chicken breast, boned and skin removed).

8 kaffir lime leaves, coarsely chopped, if you can't find them use the zest of 2 limes and also the juice

2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and halved and finely chopped

2 fresh hot small red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped 

2 garlic clove, crushed

 small piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped, use what you like

small bunch of coriander (cilantro), coarsely chopped

1/3 cup (80 ml) olive oil

Wok-stirred Bok Choy:

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 bunches baby bok choy, quartered

1 tablespoon soy sauce

steamed rice to serve

To make the sesame dressing:

place the vinegar, soy, sugar, ginger, sesame oil in a small bowl, stir and set aside.

To make the marinade for the prawns:

Place the chopped lemongrass, kaffir lime, chili, garlic, coriander and olive oil in a pestle and mortar.  Mash all the ingredients together to form a nice paste.  Spoon over the prawns and marinate for 15 minutes or so.

Heat your Wok to high add the oil and cook the prawns on both sides.   This won't take long, remove from the wok to a plate.

Heat your Wok again, add oil , garlic bok choy and soy and stir fry for 2-3 minutes or until just tender.

Toss with coriander and serve with the prawns and steamed rice and sesame dressing.

Pasta Fagioli

Pasta Fagioli, one of my favorite pasta dishes, so on this cold snowy day that is what I made.  Actually, I did not want to go to the store shopping for anything, so used what I had in the house.   It worked out really nice.

Ingredients:

1 can (400 g) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 garlic clove, cut in half
salt and pepper to taste
Parmigiano grated
fresh Parsley, mince about half handful (if I had basil, I would have used that)
400 g bacon
400 g short pasta
extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:

Cook the bacon on a sheet pan in a preheated oven 180C for about 35 minutes, turning occasionally.  When done, remove to a plate with paper towels and pat dry.

Drain the beans and rinse well, in a heavy bottom pan, add a good glug of olive oil and cook the garlic till it starts to turn brown a little and then remove it.  Add the beans, and season with salt & pepper.

Bring a large stock pot with water to a boil and add salt, then the pasta.  Cook till al dente. Drain the pasta, and place into a dish (save some of the pasta water).  Add the beans, parmigiano, parsley, crumbled up the bacon and maybe a little more oil if you wish.  Mix everything together and taste for seasoning, you may need some salt and pepper.

Yum!

Fontina Cheese Appetizer

Watching TV chef Ina Garten make this recipe, it looked so good I decided to do it for a birthday party that I was invited to.  

It's been real cold here and thankfully I had the ingredients in the house, because I really did not want to go out.

You will need a heavy bottom pan, cast iron is great.  I used a 26 cm heavy pan which worked out great!

Ingredients:

700 grams of Fontina Val d'Aosta cheese, rind removed and cut into small pieces
3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1 tablespoon of minced thyme leaves
1 tablespoon of minced rosemary leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 crusty french baguette

Preheat the broiler and position the rack to about 12 cm (5 inches)  from the heat.

Place the cubed cheese into the pan , drizzle the olive oil, add the salt & pepper, rosemary and thyme leaves.  

Place the pan under the broiler for about 6 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbling and starts to brown.  

Serve right out of the oven in the pan it was cooked in with pieces of bread.

PS.  you can vary this dish with other cheese if you wish.  This is really delicious and a great appetizer!!!  Enjoy!