Ratatouille

Long before being the title to (let's admit it) one of the awesomest Disney/Pixar productions of all time, Ratatouille was a delicious French dish.

Made with sun-gorged vegetables like eggplants, zucchini, bell peppers and tomatoes, it is traditionally served in the South of France or Provence. Not unlike curry, chili or lasagna, there are as many recipes for it as there are cooks.

My favorite way to have it is with buttery, creamy scrambled eggs or cold on a piece of sourdough toast. Delicious!

Here's my recipe.



INGREDIENTS (for 4 people as a side dish):
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 zucchini
- 1 bell pepper (any color)
- 1 bucket of cherry tomatoes (or 3 medium tomatoes)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 onion
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 1/4 cup of olive oil, reserve 1 tbsp on the side
- salt and pepper to taste


RECIPE:
- dice the eggplant (about 1/2 inch), salt lightly to draw water out and pat dry with paper towels

- dice the zucchini, pepper, onion and garlic and halve the cherry tomatoes (if using medium tomatoes, cut in eight)

- in a hot pan over medium heat, fry the dried eggplant in the olive oil until golden and reserve in a bowl

- in the remaining tbsp of olive oil, fry the onion and garlic over medium heat until translucent and fragrant, then add the zucchini and pepper and fry for 2-3 minutes over medium heat

- add the cooked eggplants, tomatoes, thyme and bay leaf, cover and let simmer over low heat for 30 minutes

- after 30 minutes, uncover and let simmer for another 15-20 minutes over low heat, stirring often

- serve warm alongside eggs, fish or any meat (goes really well with chicken and pork), room temperature or cold, as a salad or on toast. Ratatouille is delicious any way you eat it!
- enjoy!!

Zucchini, chevre and spicy cured sausage quiche

This recipe is a tweaked recreation of a quiche my sister made and told me about yesterday. It sounded so good that I just had to try and make it for myself.

She used real spanish chorizo, a spicy cured sausage, but unfortunately it is very difficult to procure this kind of chorizo where I live. Same thing goes for the goat cheese that she used: she used an aged french chevre, but that is not readily available here either... *insert sad face*

Oh, one more thing... You'll notice that in the ingredients picture, there is a roll of pie crust. Ahem... ok, well I failed Like A Boss at blind baking mine, so I adapted my regular quiche-to-be into a crust-less one. As annoyed as I was at the time, it also shows you how I actually proceed in the kitchen and how it is important to be able to adapt when things don't go as planned :)

Hope you'll like!



INGREDIENTS (for 4 people as a side dish, 2 people as a light dinner):
- 1 large zucchini, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 small brie-like goat cheese, or any aged goat cheese you like (or can find), cubed
- about 1/2 cup hot dry sausage of your choice (spanish chorizo or sopressata would be best, but I used hot italian sausage that was available at my supermarket), diced
- 2 large eggs (i know only 1 is pictured, but I ended up adding another one, mid-recipe)
- 1 cup of light cream (only 1/2 cup is pictured, but I added another 1/2 cup mid-recipe)
- optionnal: 1 pie crust (i was planning on using it, but failed miserably... you'll get the details further down)
- salt, pepper to taste
- a sprinkle of smoked paprika (not pictured, but added mid-recipe)


RECIPE:
- preheat your oven at 350F
- crisp up the diced sausage in a dry pan on high heat, until it has rendered a little fat and is golden, reserve on the side

- saute the onion and zucchini in the drippings and a sprinkle of smoked paprika, cook for a few minutes on medium heat and let cool on the side

- in a bowl, mix the eggs and cream

- add the cheese, sausage cubes and zucchini, pour in a dish sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkle with a little smoked paprika

Note: this is where you would have used your pie crust, pre-cooked for 15 minutes at 350F, but as you can see in the picture below, my pie crust was a super-fail! so I improvised and did without!
oopsies!!
- bake in the oven at 350F for 35 minutes, or until firm

- let cool for 10 minutes before serving with a side salad (I used fresh spinach, lemon juice and olive oil)

- enjoy!

Roasted leg of lamb (Gigot d'agneau)

A traditional French dish I've been missing a lot since I moved out of France almost ten years ago is the traditional Easter roasted leg of lamb. Invariably, my mom would cook the most delicious, succulent, tender "Gigot de Paques".

I've been craving it, and I took it into my hands to make it happen ;) Plus, it feeds an army!



INGREDIENTS (for 8-10 people)
- 1 leg of lamb (10-11 lbs, bone in)
- 2 lbs of assorted small roasting potatoes
- 6 large carrots, peeled and cut in large chunks (or if you can find spring carrots, even better! in that case, use 2-3 per person and leave whole)
- 4-6 baby zucchini, quartered
- 2 heads of garlic (peel the cloves of one head, and leave the cloves of the other head in their skins)
- a few bunches of large scallions (or 3-4 leeks)
- 5-6 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- olive oil
- salt, pepper
- about two to three cups of water or broth to baste the meat (if you don't use it all, keep it you will need it for the gravy)
- 2 tbsp AP flour
- 1 cup of red wine


RECIPE:
- using a paring knife, punch a few holes on all sides of the meat, and insert the peeled garlic cloves in the tiny holes.

- slather olive oil all over the roast, salt and pepper generously. Lay the rosemary sprigs on top of the meat, and insert a meat thermometer in the thickest part if you have one. Add the garlic cloves with their skins around the roast and cook in a 400F oven for 25 min/lb (the meat will be well done).

- when the meat is about one hour shy of being done, add the quartered potatoes and carrots, toss in the dripping juices and cook for 30 minutes
- after 30 minutes, add the scallions and zucchini, and cook another 20 minutes

- remove the meat from the pan, and let rest for at least 20 minutes wrapped in aluminum foil

- put the vegetables in your serving dish and proceed to making the gravy with the juices

- put the roasting pan on your stove top, and cook the flour in the drippings for about 1 minute, scraping as much of the drippings as possible, then add the remaining broth (at least a cup) as well as the wine. Make sure to stir well to avoid any lumps, and pour in a serving bowl
- for a more impressive display, serve the roasted lamb whole on top of the vegetables, otherwise carve the meat and serve on top of the vegetables

- Bon appetit!

PS: amazing leftovers for a tweaked Shepherd's pie! Separate leftover potatoes and mash them. Mince the meat, and any remaining veggies and soak with leftover gravy. Pack the gravy-meat-veggie mixture in a baking dish and put the mashed potatoes on top. Bake for 45 minutes at 325F.