Simply: Home Cooking

Ratatouille

"Is THIS what that movie is named after?" exclaimed my 7-year-old in dismay. Vegetables are NOT his favorite food, but made of eggplant, green pepper, garlic, zucchini, onions, and tomatoes, this classic braised vegetable dish is perfect for using up some of the bounty that comes at the end of the harvest season.

Serves approximately 8 as a side dish, 4-6 as an entrée.

Ingredients:

• up to 1/4 c olive oil
• 1 medium globe eggplant or 3-4 of the slender Asian varieties, cut into 3/4” cubes
• 1 large or 2-3 small zucchini, cut into 3/4” thick rounds, half moons, or quarter slices
• 1 medium yellow or white onion, cut into 1/2” dice
• 1 bell pepper, any color you like, cut into 3/4” dice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T wine—white or red OR broth/stock/water
• 2 large tomatoes, seeded and cut into 3/4” dice or 6-8 small tomatoes, seeded and cut into eighths OR 1/2 to 1 c homemade tomato sauce
• 1 T chopped fresh basil OR 1tsp dried
• 2 tsp each chopped fresh oregano and thyme OR 1/2 tsp each dried
• 1 T chopped fresh parsley OR 1 tsp dried
• salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat a heavy sauté pan or iron skillet over medium high, add 1 T olive oil, and heat just until it shimmers.
2. Add the eggplant cubes without crowding the pan, and allow to brown on 2 sides, then remove to a bowl. Repeat with remaining eggplant, adding oil as needed.
3. Repeat the process with the zucchini pieces, removing to the same bowl when done.
4. Heat 1 T olive oil in the pan until it shimmers, then add the onion and bell pepper, turn the heat down to medium and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are slightly soft and lightly brown around the edges.
5. Add the garlic, stirring just until fragrant, then add the wine or other liquid, stirring to scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
6. Add the tomatoes or tomato sauce and return the eggplant and zucchini to the pan.
7. If you are using dried herbs, add them now.
8. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until the vegetables are tender. You can do this on the stovetop or in a low oven (325ºF) if you are using an oven-proof pot.
9. If you are using fresh herbs, add them now.
10. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Do ahead:

Ratatouille is somewhat time consuming, but the good news is that you can make it well ahead of time:

• It can be brought to room temperature, then refrigerated in a tightly covered container for up to a week. Serve it cold, bring to room temperature or heat it on low before serving.
• It can be brought to room temperature, chilled in the refrigerator, then frozen in a tightly covered container for up to 6 months, but the thawed product will be slightly watery. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, drain off any accumulated clear liquid, then serve it cold, bring to room temperature or heat it on low before serving.
• If you are adept at canning, this is a prime candidate for that preservation method.

Variations:

• Vary the vegetables and herbs however you wish, using what’s in season and available.
• If you prefer a less “stew-y” dish, roast or grill the vegetables before tossing together with herbs and seasonings—I like the grilled version in the summer, when the grill is going for other things as well and you can keep the heat outside the house. If you’re roasting the veggies, add the wine for the last 10 m of roasting. If you’re grilling, toss the veggies with olive oil and wine and let them marinate for 15 m before cooking.
• Ratatouille makes a great quick pasta sauce if you have it on hand.
• Instead of the herbs, mix in homemade pesto to taste.
• Use as a vegetable side dish (great for potlucks!), as a vegetarian entrée over polenta or rice, or under poached or fried eggs for brunch.
• If you cut the vegetables smaller, ratatouille makes a great appetizer or hors d’oeuvre served on toasted bread rounds or crackers.

Learning more:

• The classic technique of braising involves searing the food in hot fat, deglazing the pan, then adding a small amount of liquid to finish the cooking process. Searing seals in some of the juices and caramelizes the outside, making a sweet brown crust. Adding the small amount of liquid allows you to scrape up the tasty bits that stick to the pan, and finishing the cooking in liquid ensures a tender, moist result.
• Cooking with herbs: dry herbs need time to rehydrate, so they are added earlier in the cooking process. Fresh herbs taste best when not cooked for too long, so they are added near the end of the cooking process to add a clean note and a bright color.

Download Ratatouille

Tomatoes!

In recent years, my daughter (the resident tomato fanatic) has grown to understand that tomatoes from the farmers' market - fresh, local, vine-ripe, and in-season - are a garden treat unlike any other. In California, we could get wonderful tomatoes most of the year, fairly acceptable ones the rest of the time. In Michigan, she has come to scorn what she calls "tomatoes in training" (our son appreciates the acronym more than he does any tomato) and has told me not to bother buying them from the grocery store, preferring to wait for the market season. This year we got to try a wide variety of heirlooms, from bright yellow to funny striped ones, and it was fun to compare the flavors.

Tomatoes should be kept at room temperature - a mildly green one will even ripen nicely on a sunny countertop or windowsill - but they're quite delicate and need to be eaten quickly. Refrigerating them is not worthwhile - they lose too much flavor.

This year I planted Roma tomatoes from seed, starting them under lights in the basement (I'm sure my neighbors thought I was growing something else down there, judging by the constant glow emanating from the window wells!) and planting 6 of them along the east-facing wall of our house. I wondered whether there would be enough sun there, but I'd run out of containers and space in my raised beds. My worries were unfounded, though, and I've been harvesting a small bowlful daily - enough for my daughter to eat "as is" with plenty left over for salads and sauce.

While I would need to plant a lot more to make enough sauce to last through the winter, I've managed to freeze quite a few quarts of it. Canning still seems a bit beyond my schedule, although it's something I hope to learn in the future, and freezing is a great way to preserve vegetables. I know exactly what is in my sauce - tomatoes! - and don't have to think about whether the can liner is toxic, whether there are additives/preservatives, etc.

The one piece of equipment you'll need to make sauce from fresh tomatoes is a food mill, which pushes the sauce through while straining out seeds and pulp. It's a great investment for making applesauce, mashed potatoes, and baby food as well!

Washing and cutting the tomatoes into large chunks is all the preparation required for homemade sauce. During the week, any tomatoes that seem near spoiling or any of the harvest I know we won't get through simply gets washed, cut into large chunks, and placed in a quart container in the freezer.

Place the chopped tomatoes (frozen or fresh) in a saucepan, turn the heat to medium, and cover the pot loosely. Once the tomatoes on the bottom start to turn to sauce, turn the heat to medium low, uncover the pot, and stir occasionally. The sauce is done when all the chunks have broken down into a liquid with seeds and skins in it. At this point, you can let the sauce simmer for 10-15 m to concentrate it a bit, or you can simmer it longer, until most of the water has evaporated - this will give you tomato puree.

Turn off the heat and let the sauce stand until it cools to room temperature. Put it through the food mill, pour it into jars, and refrigerate. Tightly covered, the sauce will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Once it's chilled, you can freeze it for up to 6 months.

The amount of sauce you end up with varies based on the variety of tomato you use, but in general, a quart container of coarsely chopped tomatoes will yield about a pint (16 oz, 2 c) of sauce.

Fruit purée

Summer fruit is flooding the farmers' market now - sadly, in Michigan, the season is very short, so I've been looking for ways to keep some of those fruits for later use. Puréeing fruit is a wonderful way to store summer flavors for later (and it's a good way to use up fruit that is either a bit underripe, a bit overripe, or just plain ugly - my kids somehow think that if a strawberry is ugly, it won't taste as good as a "perfect" one!)

Most berries can be quickly rinsed, gently blotted dry, then tossed in the blender until smooth. If you're using "seedy" berries, such as raspberries, you may prefer to run the berries through a food mill to eliminate most of the seeds.

Stone fruits, such as cherries, peaches, and nectarines, should be washed and pitted before puréeing. If you prefer to skin the peaches first, you can drop them in boiling water for 30 seconds, then slip the skins off before pitting and puréeing.

Fruit purée, stored in airtight containers, will keep in the refrigerator for up to a month and in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Drying herbs

The herbs have been producing beautifully in their pots on the back steps, so I've started drying the weekly harvest. Dried herbs and spices can be very expensive, so why not dry your own when they're plentiful, whether on the back step or at the farmers' market?

If you have a dehydrator, you can just read the directions - if you don't, try the following method:

1. Soak the herbs in cool water, then lift them out gently, letting the grit settle on the bottom of the bowl or sink.
2. Repeat this process until there is no grit to be found.
3. Arrange the herbs in a single layer on a clean kitchen towel, then blot dry gently with another clean towel.
4. Arrange the herbs in a single layer on a sheet pan or cookie sheet.
5. If you have a gas oven with a pilot light, you can place the pan in there overnight or longer - gas ovens tend to be a bit humid, so the process will take longer. If you have an electric oven, preheat it to the lowest possible temperature - 150º F is optimal. Place the pan in the oven for approximately 2-4 h, checking occasionally.
6. When dry, you can either crumble the herbs between your fingers or leave them more or less whole.
7. Transfer the herbs gently to an airtight container and store at room temperature in a dark place.
8. The herbs should keep for up to 6 months - they may kep longer, but they will have lost much of their flavor.