Ratatouille Omelette Redux

 

 Although the weather has finally turned chilly (for a day or two), this weekend the farmer's market was surprisingly still full of gorgeous tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, etc.

So I thought I'd go with one last hurrah for summer produce and share this old post. It didn't get too much attention the first time around, so maybe more people will get to see it today.

 

Ratatouille Omelette and a Trip Down Memory Lane

Many years ago (too many to count!), one of my first jobs was as a waitress in a French restaurant. The owner was the most superb chef. He was Spanish, but his wife was French, and his cooking was definitely French and out of this world delicious!!!

I don't want to tell you how many times we would go in the fridge and steal spoonfuls of his incredible chocolate chip mousse.

Then there were the late nights when he would feed all of us after the restaurant closed at midnight. It was a heady experience for a high school student to be sitting around the communal table enjoying what Jose whipped up for us. One big family with Brigitte at the head of the table.

One of my favorites was a ratatouille omelette. Never before and never since have I had one made quite so well.

But last night when I was walking home from work (and starving because I'd had only a few mouthfuls of lunch), I decided to do my own version with some leftover summer veggies.

I didn't have any eggplant (and didn't think to buy any).

Mine wasn't Jose's but it was pretty darn tasty.

I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Wonderful summer vegetables. I love the colors!!!

Added some oregano, basil, and garlic.

And then tonight, when I got home after a late church meeting, I had the leftover ratatouille on some leftover Italian bread with garlic and cheese.

Sorry the picture isn't more clear. I was hungry!

But now I want some of that heavenly chocolate mousse!

Ratatouille Omelette and a Trip Down Memory Lane

Many years ago (too many to count!), one of my first jobs was as a waitress in a French restaurant. The owner was the most superb chef. He was Spanish, but his wife was French, and his cooking was definitely French and out of this world delicious!!!

I don't want to tell you how many times we would go in the fridge and steal spoonfuls of his incredible chocolate chip mousse.

Then there were the late nights when he would feed all of us after the restaurant closed at midnight. It was a heady experience for a high school student to be sitting around the communal table enjoying what Jose whipped up for us. One big family with Brigitte at the head of the table.

One of my favorites was a ratatouille omelette. Never before and never since have I had one made quite so well.

But last night when I was walking home from work (and starving because I'd had only a few mouthfuls of lunch), I decided to do my own version with some leftover summer veggies.

I didn't have any eggplant (and didn't think to buy any).

Mine wasn't Jose's but it was pretty darn tasty.

I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Wonderful summer vegetables. I love the colors!!!

Added some oregano, basil, and garlic.

And then tonight, when I got home after a late church meeting, I had the leftover ratatouille on some leftover Italian bread with garlic and cheese.

Sorry the picture isn't more clear. I was hungry!

But now I want some of that heavenly chocolate mousse!

The Fresh Pioneer Takes Over Your Weekend. (Do not fear...)

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I'm PRETTY sure I'm supposed to be here today. If not... Enjoy the double post, hahaha!

  Seriously, I'm taking over the weekends so now you'll get two full days of The Fresh Pioneer! (No gifts, thank you. If you feel moved, make a donation to your local charity. You're welcome.)

This means there will be more of this.

And blackberry cobbler like this!

And tarte tatin  like this!

And fresh mulberry sorbet like this! 

(This post was July 2012. I can't believe I've been at the cafe almost two years!)

And Italian secret recipe biscotti like this!

But there will also be more of: 

Farm fresh blueberries, and all the ways to eat them.

Crazy food like cactus

Picked from the side of the road blackberries and all the best recipes.

Fresh picked raspberries and simple recipes to highlight them.

Ok, there may not be a lot of salsa recipes

But I may do another round of ratatouille

Or another hash brown and ham quiche.

Or another cast iron cast iron roasted chicken with fresh mushrooms

Chicken enchilada soup.

And there will certainly be more...

Banana phone!

"waddya lookin' at" teens!

Waiting for the cinnamon rolls boys!

And crazy writer on a deadline posts.

So, as we go forward, I'm stocking up on posts. I have ready (tried and tested and maybe approved) for the next few weeks:

LILAC JELLY (Here's Edna, posing with our bounty, before we cooked it.)

(stockimages.com free use)

HOMEMADE PESTO (it wasn't that hard!)

(Doesn't this look delish?  Photo credit and recipe is from one of my favorite blogs: Yes They Are All Ours)

And fool-proof (oh yeah) sweet tea syrup that will fool all your friends and neighbors into thinking you are Southern! It's a secret recipe and I had to pry it out of my friend, so you KNOW it has to be good. (Secret recipes always are!)

So, stay tuned my friends! We're going to have a wonderful time together during the weekends!

Ugly But Tasty

Hello all, the Fresh Pioneer is back with something fresh and tasty! Ready? Wonderful!

But before we start, I suppose this post might need a small subtitle. Or a caveat. Or a warning sign.

 

(I think this means "picky eaters run for your lives". Pretty sure. Or maybe "parents will have to chase down their kids and force feed them this dish".)

 

Some people need their food to be picture perfect. Nothing wrong with that! As my mother said to me once, " If it doesn't look good, no one will eat it." (Of course, this doesn't apply to teenage boys, hungry men, or myself past the midnight hour.)
This post is for those times that you want to cook something wonderfully tasty that looks a bit... ugly. Some dishes are just not going to be on the cover of Gourmet magazine any time soon. Now that you're ready to get down and dirty (or ugly), let's start!

 

I hear you screaming already! Take a deep breath. I'm not cooking anything with tails. Today. But if anyone remembers this movie, the little dude's name was Ratatouille. Which is a delicious, fresh veggie saute, usually over rice, couscous or polenta. It USUALLY looks like this:

 

But who ever gets it to turn out that way? Not me. So, let's ignore the unreal expectations and cook something a little less perfect-looking!

Ah, a sideways pan filled with one chopped sweet onion and minced garlic, along with a few TBS of olive oil. While that heats up, let's go looking for veggies.

   These are fom the garden of my beautiful friend Barbara. Her husband, Larry, can grow just about anything, including GIANT PUMPKINS. I stopped by one day and was the happy recipient of a trunk full of produce.
    Love gardeners. Super love generous gardeners! My dad and his wife keep me supplied with cucumbers from June until the end of August. I haven't seen our grocery produce section in MONTHS.

Wash and choppity, choppity,  choppity.

Assorted sweet bell peppers join the party.

With a few big tomatoes, into the pan they go.

I took 3 cups of chicken broth left over from trying out Missy Tippens' dumpling recipe and added that to the group. If you don't have broth, you can dissolve two cubes of boullion into 3 cps of water. You can add more salt later, if needed. Turn the burner to medium high. This should get simmering pretty quickly. ( I like a lot of tomatoes so at this point I added one can of diced tomatoes.)

Now, you can definitely eat your ratatouille (the dish, not the chef rat!) plain, but it's usually over the top of a grain or pasta. I love polenta (cooked cornmeal). It's so... filling. And possibly caloric. I refuse to check.

Slice and lay in a skillet over 2 TBS of olive oil. (We're trying to be healthy! I've heard it's best with real butter and browns beautifully but I'm pretending I don't know about all that.) Sprinkle on some salt and pepper and parsley flakes. It doesn't take long to warm up/cook. About five minutes, and flip.

I know you're thinking none of this is particularly UGLY. But remember our veggies simmering away? We've been stirring them carefully, and waiting for the broth to reduce so it's nice and savory. No matter how careful we are, zucchini just doesn't like to be simmered and stirred.

 Prepare yourselves.

Ta-DAH!

 Mmmmmm.... goodness. All garden fresh, with polenta on the side! It's just not quite 'picture perfect' so don't surprise any picky five year olds with this dish. Just make them a PB&J sandwich. That leaves more for you anyway.


  What's your favorite 'ugly' dish? Have you ever made anything delicious that looked... inedible? We're all friends here. I promise I won't laugh. Much.


Oh, P.S. A little bitty post on DESSERT. :) Piper, here's the fruit syrup/compote we were having this weekend in Seekerville to celebrate Rose's new sale.

Two cups of blueberries, one cup of water, 1/2 cup of sugar, 3 TBS lemon juice or orange juice, pinch of salt, dash of cinnamon.

Rolling boil for five minutes, stirring frequently. (Mmm, smelling good!)

1 TBS of corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water. Add to bluebrries. Return to heat and stir constantly over medium high until thickened. Now's a good time to taste test (hot!) and see if it needs more lime, more sugar, or both. Some like it super sweet, but I like my syrup a bit tangy.

Oh, MERCY. Vanilla ice cream and blueberry syrup. (You can always strain out the berries if you just want the liquid, it's just as good.)

Another view. This is a very small glass. Really. It just LOOKS big. *innocent face*

And this is what one of my kids brought me. His bluebrries had 'disappeared' so he needed more.  And more. Pretty color, though. Almost like a shake.

  Okay, I'm really done now! Back to discussing ugly food...