Summer’s bounty of produce comes together in a classic French stew.
I have made more than my fair share of ratatouille this year. In fact, I’ve made the recipe that follows almost weekly as both my wife and I love it. I also make a ton of it and the good news is that it freezes well so you can bring it out during winter when the weather has turned and you are pining for some of the great produce from the summer months. I made this dish in culinary school as it is a classic French preparation. As you can imagine, it can get a little finicky in school as you had to peel and seed all the vegetables. I usually peel the tomatoes when I cook this at home but I don’t all of the time. For home cooking purposes, I really think you can get as fancy or as ‘rustic’ as you prefer. So, if you want to peel and seed everything, that’s great. If you prefer to skip all of that entirely, go for it. As I mentioned, I fall in the middle of that, preferring to peel the tomatoes and seed the squash. Otherwise, I simply chop the veggies to decent bite sized pieces and sauté them until golden. From there, you simply combine all of the ingredients and allow them to stew for at least 30 minutes up to several hours. To finish add a mix of fresh herbs and a touch of olive oil and a splash of wine vinegar. It’s really a quintessential way to use all the fresh tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplant, and onions we have here in New Jersey in one dish and celebrate the bounty of this season while it lasts…can you believe we are almost to September!?! Recipe follows after the jump. Continue reading →
Enjoy this summer salad as a starter or as a side dish.
Use the freshest ingredients you can find at the height of the summer vegetable and fruit season. Substitute out one ingredient for another feeling free to use both fruits and vegetables together.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, it’s really hot out and it seems that the heat is going to continue for a few more days. During this type of heat, creating things that require quick cooking techniques allows me to keep ovens and burners off and, consequently, not get so hot in the kitchen. Better yet, salads and side dishes that require no heat provide a respite from the heat and given how great the New Jersey produce is right now, you really can’t go wrong. This salad is simple with just a few ingredients that are fully in season and truly tasty. The best thing to do when good quality produce is readily available is to celebrate just how great it tastes by getting out of its way and simply allowing the ingredients to shine.
Here, I used red, green, and yellow tomatoes and paired them with a touch of shaved red onion, a touch of green onion tops that I sliced thinly, a couple different mild peppers, and a mix of fresh mint and fresh Italian parsley. I seasoned it all very simply with flaky sea salt and a simple drizzle of good quality olive oil and a good quality vinegar (I used sherry but please just use the best quality vinegar you have). You can certainly substitute out ingredients here and if you prefer more or different herbs, feel free to use those. As long as you keep it simple so that the fresh, summer produce you choose is able to shine. This dish can certainly serve as a first course or if you prefer, it would certainly shine as a side dish.
As an aside, if you feel your onions taste too strong, simply place them in a bowl and squeeze some lemon juice and a bit of water over them and allow the onions to sit for 10-20 minutes. This will mellow the strong onion flavor. Be sure, however, to dry the onions prior to using them in the salad so that the extra moisture doesn’t take away from the natural juices created by the tomato and olive oil and vinegar. Recipe follows after the jump…
Ingredients:
2-4 Tomatoes using a mix of colors and sizes
2-3 Cherry tomatoes
¼ Red onion, sliced very thinly
1 Green onion, thinly sliced on a bias.
2 Mild peppers, each with different colors. Different varieties would be ideal. I used cubanelle and shishito.
1 Tablespoon fresh mint, coarsely chopped (use more to taste if desired)
1 Tablespoon fresh Italian parsley, coarsely chopped (use more to taste if desired)
Good quality extra virgin olive oil
Good quality vinegar (I used sherry vinegar)
Flaky sea salt such as fleur de sel, gray salt, or Maldon salt (I used gray salt).
Freshly cracked black pepper or red pepper flakes if desired
Instructions:
Cut the tomatoes into quarters or eighths depending on the size of the tomato. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Place the tomato wedges in a large bowl.
Then prepare the onions by thinly slicing the red onion and thinly slicing the green onion on a bias. Then add them to the bowl with the tomatoes.
Cut the peppers into different shapes, keeping them coarsely chopped. If you prefer, remove the seeds from the peppers. I chose not to do that. Place in bowl.
Add a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a drizzle of good quality vinegar over the top of the vegetables. Add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt over the top of that and then gently toss the vegetables ensuring that they all are coated with the oil and vinegar. You will know if they are as they will have a shine and sheen to them.
Allow the vegetables to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. This will allow the tomatoes to release liquid, thus creating a nice, loose, natural dressing.
After the resting time has expired, add the mint and parsley and gently toss the vegetables again. Taste and adjust seasoning by adding more salt, pepper, olive oil, or vinegar as necessary to suit your taste.
Place the vegetables on a plate, ensuring all the different types and colors of tomatoes are part of each serving. Add more per plate if you are serving this as a salad or less if you are using this as a side dish. Using a tablespoon, carefully drizzle some of the accumulated liquid from the vegetable bowl over the top of the plated vegetables. Serve immediately while cool.
A whole roasted cauliflower is easy and tasty and makes a beautiful presentation as a side dish.
Cauliflower is really popular right now in restaurants everywhere. You might even say it’s trendy right now. I’ve seen whole roasted cauliflower in multiple forms all over the Internet and decided I wanted to try it. We often roast cauliflower but I usually break it apart into individual pieces prior to roasting. The main difference between that method and roasting it whole ultimately lies in the fact that roasting it whole preserves some of the crunch while still delivering roasted flavor and color.
Piment D’Espelette is simply a French red pepper flake of sorts with the consistency of a very coarse paprika. If you don’t have it and don’t want to purchase it, you can certainly use red pepper flakes, paprika, or sumac in it’s place. Herbs would great with this as well. Otherwise, this is very simple and very good. Give it a try…you’ll be right on trend and beyond that, and more importantly, it’s a beautiful, tasty vegetable dish that doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to make! Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →
I am very ready for spring and all the produce that goes along with it. This hearty side dish really serves as a transitional dish using vegetables and preparations usually associated with colder months tossed in a sauce and served cold as you would any hearty salad during the warmer months. Hopefully you will find this dish refreshing yet filling with hints of warmer weather food that will be upon us very soon. Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →
Blanched Broccoli and Cauliflower. Serve with a shallot and tarragon mayonnaise dip or apple cider vinegar honey mustard vinaigrette.
Roasted mushrooms with olive oil and fresh tarragon. Serve while warm or at room temperature.
Let me forewarn you that I will be posting multiple recipes for Valentine’s Day today and likely tomorrow. Let me apologize in advance if Valentine’s Day isn’t your favorite day. However, Valentine’s Day is just a few days away so let’s make a nice meal to celebrate. Who’s staying in? If you live locally in the Jerz, then you are probably aware that it’s supposed to snow. So, even if you plan on going out for a nice dinner, you might need a plan B. Either way, this is a great tasting and healthy starter for any special meal. More after the jump… Continue reading →
This recipe is really a two-fer in that it really is a dish created for using up leftover bean soup when you are sick of eating the same bean soup after multiple days (at least that’s why I made it). It’s a dish that uses both tomato sauce and chicken stock (though vegetable stock would be fine), vegetables typical in soups, cooked beans, and hearty herbs to infuse the whole thing.
The leftover soup is then ladled into a an earthen casserole dish and slow cooked for several hours in a low temperature oven. After that, you simply make the topping, crank the heat to brown the top and you are done! Cooking it on low heat over a longer period of time allows the soup to really thicken into something resembling an actual baked bean dish.
I’ve been meaning to mention this as well. If you find cooking dried beans or making braises too time consuming given your schedule, you can use a pressure cooker. In a fraction of the time, you can achieve great results with dishes that typically take hours to cook. It’s a fairly pricey investment…about $100 or so but if you like slow cooked meals and are always short on time, it might be a great thing to consider. They are fairly easy and straight-forward to use as well. Anyway, recipe and more pictures follow after the jump… Continue reading →
culinary flights of fancy 