Ratatouille

Why did it take us so long into our cooking careers to make this? Well, because Claire doesn't really like vegetables. Or ratatouille. So we got a bunch of eggplants in our farm share and I was sick of making baba ganoush, so I made something more substantial. To be fair, though, eggplants are kind of a waste of a vegetable. The big Western eggplants aren't nearly as flavorful as Asian varieties, and I gather that they're nutritionally nil. Maybe the skins are healthy. They're purple. That's something, right? This recipe makes enough for about 8-10 servings. But we had to use the eggplants.

Ingredients

• One yellow onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium eggplants, cut into 1/2" dice, skins on
• About 2-3 zucchinis (depending on size), 1/3" half-moons
• about 1.5 lbs of cherry tomatoes or similar, cut in half
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried basil
• olive oil, salt, pepper
• goat cheese and couscous, to serve

To a pan, add the yellow onion and a lot of oil. Saute over medium heat while you cut up the eggplants, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic. Add the eggplants, basil, adn thyme after 5-10 minutes and stir around (while you do the zucchinis). You may want to sprinkle a little salt to help encourage the eggplants to give up their water a bit. After 3-5 min, add the zucchinis. Cook another 10 minutes or so, adding oil if necessary. When the zucchinis are starting to get cooked, add the tomatoes. At this point, my ratatouille was getting a little dry, so I added about 1/2c of stock, turned heat to low, and covered. I left that for about 10-20 minutes, checking on it occasionally. When everything looked like it was starting to meld, I uncovered and turned the heat up to evaporate a little of the stock. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over couscous with a dollop of goat cheese.

Thoughts: This was really easy, relatively healthy, filling, and vegetarian? What the hell? I would make this again. Maybe Claire not so much. Maybe next time I'd try Japanese eggplants. That would also allow me to make a much smaller (single) serving if I used one Japanese eggplant, one zucchini, etc. Anyway, if you let this stuff cook down long enough, it's great. Actually, it might be possible to make this in a slow-cooker. Or maybe it would turn to mush. I'm not really sure. Hm. Something to ponder.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Rustic Pear Tart

Maybe more of a general use recipe. Hm.

Ingredients

• Crust
• 1/2c wheat flour
• 1/2c AP flour
• 4 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp buttermilk
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• Filling
• About 3 pears, cored and cut into 1/2" slices
• Also two nectarines, or I guess whatever you'd like to add
• 1.5 tbsp corn starch
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• ~1/4 tsp cinnamon - we kind of eye-balled it.

Make the crust: Mix the dry ingredients, and cut in the butter. When it's a sort of coarse, sandy texture, add the liquid and stir to combine. Don't over-mix or knead. Then form into a 4" disc and wrap in plastic. Place in the fridge for an hour or two. I think we let ours go for about 3-4, actually - doesn't hurt it to go a bit longer.

When you're ready to make the tart, preheat the oven to 425 and make the filling: slice up the pears (and other fruit you want to use) and toss with the corn starch, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Roll out the crust with a lot of flour until it's about 18" wide and 8" tall. Place crust in a baking pan on parchment. Arrange the pears in a line running the length of the crust, and fold the crust up over the pears. It won't cover them completely, which is fine. Dot the top with a little butter (optional) and place in the oven. After 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350 and continue to bake for another 30 minutes.

Thoughts: It went surprisingly well, even though it includes pastry dough. I guess you just have to not be afraid of butter. I would make this again. And I may wind up doing that because we have like 10 pears going bad in our fridge right now.

Disaster Index: 1/10