Ratatouille

“Like a Braque still-life”

I’ve always liked the description of ratatouille in the Joy of Cooking where she says that the bright colors all together look like “a Braque still-life”. It’s true that ratatouille is a beautiful thing to put in front of guests, and you can make it before they arrive and leave it to simmer until it’s time to eat.

How to make Ratatouille:

Start by peeling and chopping an eggplant into dice-sized pieces. Also chop a green bell pepper, two zucchini, and three tomatoes. In a medium-sized frying pan, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil. Saute a chopped onion and five cloves of minced garlic. When the onion begins to soften, add the eggplant, pepper, and zucchini.

You’ll then need to add either another 1/4 cup of olive oil or a cup of leftover chicken soup or a cup of water, depending on how fatty you want your ratatouille to be. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about ten minutes or until the zucchini and eggplant are soft.

Add the tomatoes and another cup of water. You can also add some sweet corn (cut off the cob) if you like. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for half an hour. Serve over polenta or couscous (if you are going to serve it over polenta, don’t put corn in). Serve with a green salad.

Vegetarian or vegan?

Naturally vegan. You can make it not-vegetarian by adding a can of tuna or some canned anchovies if you like.

And will ratatouille keep?

Yes, like most stews ratatouille is actually better the next day when the flavors have had a chance to blend. You can microwave it to heat it up. It doesn’t freeze well though.

Rabbit stew

My friend’s inn

Old Friends

When I had just moved to France, at nine years old, and was just beginning to speak good French, one girl in my class was willing to be my friend. We left after a year for the States again, but when we came back to France when I was thirteen, the same girl renewed the friendship. We’ve kept in touch ever since. Today she and her husband run a destination hotel in the countryside outside Paris, and this rabbit stew derives from a dinner she made for us when we visited her there. If you’re running an event near Paris, do it there!

How to make rabbit stew:

Buy a rabbit. Put the whole (skinned and cleaned) rabbit in a heavy casserole with a cup of red wine, a chopped carrot, and a chopped onion. Add enough water to cover the rabbit. Bring to a boil, then simmer for fifteen minutes or until the potatoes are done frying.

Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil (and by that I mean olive oil if you can afford it and otherwise plain cooking oil) in a medium-sized frying pan. Cut up three large potatoes (or parsnips) into bite-size pieces. Fry the potatoes until they are golden-brown, then add them to the stew. Skim off the scum from the surface, turn down the heat, and simmer for another hour.

Vegetarian or vegan

This is really neither.

Can I keep this for later?

I think rabbit stew is better freshly cooked. The next day, the rabbit will be good, but the potatoes will be a little soggy. Best to eat it all up.

Quiche

The one recipe French women can make

Most French women can’t really cook – and why should you, when delicious food is right there at the charcuterie? – but they all know how to make chocolate cake and quiche. Quiche, as you might expect from this story, is not that hard to make.

Because eggs were in season in the spring, most of the things you traditionally put in quiche are things you would have around in the spring: greens like spinach and parsley, or stored foods like onions and bacon and cheese. Now that we have eggs all year round, I also like zucchini quiche and tomato quiche, later in the summer.

How to make quiche:

Take a medium size mixing bowl and put in 2 cups of flour and 2/3 of a stick of butter (1/3 cup of butter). Microwave one minute or until the butter is melted. Mix with a wooden spoon until it forms a ball of dough. Turn it out into a pie pan and spread the dough with the tips of your fingers until it covers the whole pan. (Dip your fingers in flour if it gets sticky.)

Preheat oven to 350. In the same mixing bowl (no need to wash it), put in five eggs, 1/2 cup of milk, 1/4 cup of flour, and a teaspoon of salt. You can add black pepper and/or a spoonful of mustard if you want. Mix well, being careful to break up the yolks of the eggs.

For a plain quiche, just pour the filling into the crust and bake for about 40 minutes or until the center is solid. Let it cool about five minutes before slicing.

To add tomato or cheese, just sprinkle bits on the crust before pouring in the eggs. Swiss cheese or Gruyere is traditional. It’s okay if they float after you add the eggs.

To add bacon, spinach, mushrooms or onions, chop and saute them first in a little olive oil in a saucepan, then sprinkle them on the crust.

Serve quiche with a salad of fresh lettuce, also a springtime treat.

Vegan or vegetarian?

Vegetarian, if you don’t put bacon in it. Not vegan. Make something else; maybe a galette? If you need it lactose-free, just add another egg and leave out the milk.

Will quiche keep?

Quiche will keep for a week in the fridge.

Pulled pork

Everybody loves it, and it’s easy to do for guests

Pulled pork has to be slow-cooked, but you can get it ready an hour before everyone shows up, and then just warm it up when it’s needed – and who doesn’t love pulled pork? Sweet, salty, sour – this has everything you want.

How to make pulled pork:

After lunch, set the oven to 275 F. Put a pound of pork shoulder (also called pork butt or boneless country style ribs) in a roasting pan, sprinkle a handful of dried thyme on top, and pour a half a cup of water into the pan. Cook undisturbed, covered with a cookie sheet, for three hours.

Remove from the oven, uncover, and let the meat cool until it’s easy to handle, about ten minutes. Lift the meat out into a bowl and shred it with two forks. Don’t over-shred – you don’t want a paste. Pour a cup of the liquid (fat and water) from the pan into the shredded meat (that’s probably all of it). Add a large pinch of salt, black pepper, half an onion (chopped) and two cloves of garlic (chopped), a generous dose of red pepper flakes, a teaspoon of anchovy paste, a little vinegar, a can of tomato sauce, a couple tablespoons of brown sugar, a teaspoon of mustard, some more thyme. Mix and serve. Good with hamburger buns, coleslaw.

Vegetarian or vegan

Pulled pork is not at all vegan or vegetarian, sorry. But really, you could do the same thing with seitan, and then it would be vegan. To make seitan, mix 3 cups of whole wheat flour with a cup and a half of water to make a dough. Knead it, cover, and set it aside overnight. In the morning, fill a large bowl with cold water and knead the dough in the water for about fifteen minutes until the water runs clear through it. That’s seitan. Cut it into matchsticks and use in place of the pork. Oh, and substitute capers for the anchovies.

Can I keep pulled pork for later?

Yes, you can keep it in the refrigerator, well sealed up in a tupperware, for a week, and it will be even better the next day, or the day after that, as the flavors mix. It won’t freeze well though.

Potato samosas

“I don’t eat vegan food”

I first made these potato and pea samosas to bring down to Portland’s occupation, one night soon after we’d been evicted. There wasn’t much in the way of silverware or plates in the park where people were gathering, so I brought samosas people could eat in their hands. Hot, filling food was very welcome, and people cheered us, which was great.

But one girl came up and asked us whether the samosas were vegan. We assured her that they were, and she sadly said, oh, she didn’t eat vegan food, and turned away. We thought that was very funny – lots of good food is vegan, like strawberries, or baked potatoes, or ratatouille, or candied carrots.

Well, if you’re willing to eat vegan food, these are great samosas.

How to make Potato and Pea Samosas:

Peel (if you want) and dice three large baking potatoes and an onion. In a medium-size frying pan, over medium heat, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil and fry the potatoes and onion until they are soft in the middle and browned on the outside. They’ll brown better if you don’t stir them too often.

When they’re done, turn off the heat and add a cup of frozen peas, or fresh peas if you have them. If you don’t care about them being vegan, you could add browned ground beef too. Also add a teaspoon of turmeric, a pinch of cayenne, a teaspoon of cardamom, a teaspoon of cumin, and a teaspoon of salt.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix up a batch of cracker dough and divide it into balls about the size of golf balls. Roll out each ball until it is about eight inches in diameter. If you stack the wrappers up, be sure to flour them so they don’t stick together.

Take one wrapper at a time and lay it on the counter in front of you. Put a glass of water within reach, and the potato filling also within reach, and a sharp paring knife. Add an oiled baking sheet as well, to put the finished samosas on. With the knife, cut the wrapper in half.

Put a dab of filling on each half, dip your finger in the water and moisten the edges, and roll them up in a cone shape, so each half makes a samosa. Pinch the moist edges to seal up the packet, and place it on the baking sheet. Repeat until you’ve used up either the wrappers or the filling. Gently turn all of the samosas over once so they have oil on all sides of them.

Bake about fifteen minutes, until the wrappers begin to get hard. Serve with lettuce soup, or with a salad.

Will potato samosas keep?

Yes, they’re good for a week if you keep them in a sealed tupperware or plastic bag in the refrigerator. You could probably also freeze them if you liked. They’re good cold in your lunchbox, too.

Potato curry (no rice)

Indian food without the rice

We wanted to have curry, but we had already eaten enough rice that week, so I made this potato curry, which was filling without the rice.

How to make potato curry:

Dice six baking potatoes, and chop an onion, half a cabbage, and a bell pepper. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a wok. Add the chopped things. While those cook, add 2 minced cloves of garlic, two teaspoons of fresh grated ginger, a teaspoon each of cumin, cayenne pepper, coriander, turmeric, and salt, and half a teaspoon of black pepper. Stir after each addition.

While the potatoes are cooking, make pita bread to go with the curry. In a medium-size mixing bowl, mix three cups of flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 olive oil, 1/2 cup of yogurt and a cup of water until it forms a ball (add more water if necessary).

Turn out the ball onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes. Form the dough into golf-ball size balls and roll each ball out about half an inch thick with a rolling pin . If the dough sticks, sprinkle a little more flour on it. Lay the breads on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake until they puff up and begin to get golden-brown.

When the potatoes begin to get soft, add two cups of water and 1/2 cup of tomato sauce from your freezer, stir, and simmer until the potatoes are entirely soft. Add another cup or two of water if the sauce begins to get dry. Serve with the pita bread, with full-fat Greek yogurt and/or sauteed spinach on the side.

Vegetarian or vegan?

Potato curry is vegan and yummy and makes a good hot seasonal main dish in November! Though if you want it vegan, skip the Greek yogurt at the end, and make quick bread instead of pita bread.

Can I keep this for later?

Yes, potato curry will be good reheated the next day or two, but it won’t freeze well.

Homemade pizza

pizza

Pizza before baking

“You can get pizza delivered?”

Once I was on a long plane flight with the kids, and we were going to get home late for dinner, and the kids were hungry. They wanted to know what I was going to make for dinner, and I said oh, maybe we’d order a pizza delivered since it was so late and there wasn’t any food in the house.

The kids looked at me, confused, and I realized that they had no idea it was possible to get pizza delivered to your house. And really, in the same half an hour you can make your own pizza for half the money, so why would you?

How to make pizza:

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Thaw out a cup of tomato sauce from your freezer, or open a can of tomato sauce (one of the small ones will do). Grate a pound of mozzarella cheese (I try to get somebody else to do this while I make the crust).

In a medium mixing bowl, mix 3 cups of flour, 1 1/4 cups of water, and two teaspoons each of instant yeast and salt. Mix with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Dump the dough out on to a floured counter and knead for five minutes. Use plenty of flour to keep it from sticking. Divide the dough into two halves. Roll out each half until it’s about 1/4 inch thick (flipping over as necessary when the rolling gets hard). Add more flour as needed. Lift and place each crust on a baking sheet.

Spread tomato sauce on your pizza crust, leaving about an inch plain around the edge. Scatter the mozzarella on the pizza. Put on toppings: sliced onions, frozen bell pepper or sweet corn from your freezer, sliced mushrooms, anchovies, pickled artichokes, olives, pepperoni, or whatever you have.

Bake for ten minutes or until the cheese is melted and the crust begins to turn brown at the edges. This will make a “thin and crispy” pizza; for a chewier crust you’d need to let it rise much longer.

For variations on the pizza, try substituting a layer of olive oil for the tomato sauce to make a white pizza, or substitute pesto for the tomato sauce.

I also like a potato pizza, where you spread a thin layer of ricotta cheese on the crust, then lay out very thin slices of potato to cover the cheese, and sprinkle olive oil and parsley over the top.

Vegan or vegetarian?

Naturally vegetarian. For vegan pizza, you can use vegan cheese, or just use olive oil and toppings without either tomato sauce or cheese, or use pureed white beans instead of cheese. Or use vegan pesto. Or any combination.

Can I keep leftover pizza for later?

Yes, pizza’s good cold or reheated for a couple of days as leftovers. Leftover pizza makes an excellent lunch to take to school or work.

Pasta e fagioli

Noodles and Beans

Filling vegetarian Italian dinner for a cold night.

How to make pasta e fagioli:

A great hot winter meal, ready in about an hour. Start at breakfast by putting a cup of white beans (or pinto beans) to soak. Then an hour before dinner put the beans into a casserole with plenty of water to cook, and make bread, and then when the bread is in the oven start the rest.

In a medium-size frying pan, heat 1/8 cup of olive oil over medium heat. Chop an onion and saute it in the oil. Meanwhile, crush three cloves of garlic and three sprigs of chopped rosemary and add them to the pan too. If you don’t care about it being vegetarian add a handful of chopped bacon. When the onions is soft and a little bit browned, add a cup of tomato sauce, two cups of the water from the beans, and a cup of white wine. You can put in a cube of chicken bouillon or vegetable bouillon too.

Chop a quarter of a head of cauliflower into small pieces and add them to the sauce. Also add a cup of uncooked macaroni noodles. Add a cup of chopped parsley (pull the leaves off the stems), a teaspoon each of dried oregano, thyme, and basil (or sage), and a pinch of red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Simmer for ten minutes or so, until the cauliflower softens, and then add the beans. Cook about five or ten minutes more, so the beans can absorb the flavors and the noodles are done, and then serve hot with the fresh bread on the side, and grated Parmesan.

This is solid enough to serve on dinner plates, but if you like it more soupy add more chicken broth and wine, and use soup plates. We like pasta e fagioli with a green salad on the side.

Vegan or vegetarian?

Yes, if you don’t put Parmesan on yours, or use vegan Parm. Leave out the bacon!

Can I keep this for later?

Sure. Put the leftovers in a tupperware in the refrigerator, and the flavors will blend and it will be even better than it was at first. You can reheat it for a couple of days.

Paella

Paella any time of year!

You could really make paella with any kind of vegetable or meat, and eat it any time of year. But this is paella with peas and mussels, so it belongs to the springtime when peas are in season. But if you use frozen peas, they’re good too, and any time of year will work. Or try making paella in the summer with cod and zucchini and bell peppers, or in the fall with pork sausage, chopped tomatoes, eggplant, and mushrooms.

How to make Paella:

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. Chop an onion and and saute the pieces in the olive oil. Add two cloves of crushed garlic, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. (If you’re using sausage or cod, brown them in the onion.) When the onion is soft and transparent, add a cup and a half of rice and stir it around in the olive oil for a minute. Then add a cup of tomato sauce and two cups of water (or chicken broth, or vegetable broth) and stir. Leave the pot alone for about ten minutes, tasting occasionally to see if the rice is done. If it starts to smell burned, turn the heat down a little.

Meanwhile, shell your peas (or chop your vegetables if you need to). When the ten minutes are up, add the peas (or vegetables) to the rice, and stir again. Leave the paella alone another ten minutes. If the rice soaks up all the water, add a little more.

Meanwhile, pull the little beards off the mussels. Remember to only use the ones that are closed, or that close when you tap them on the side of the pan. Open mussels are dangerous and should be tossed out. When the rice is soft, distribute the mussels on top of the rice and cover the pan so the mussels steam. When the mussels open up, the paella is done. Serve hot, with a green salad on the side.

Vegan or vegetarian?

Not as written, but if you add canned chickpeas instead of mussels, it will be vegan. I’d add more vegetables too, in that case; maybe spring greens like broccoli rabe.

Will paella keep?

Yes, it will be even better the next day, and good for lunches for several days more. But you’d better eat the mussels right away.

Onion soup

A slow food recipe

The most important thing about onion soup is to take your time caramelizing the onions, slowly stirring them until they turn dark brown and very sweet. Do it on a cold day, when it’s nice to stand over a hot stove in a warm kitchen.

How to make onion soup

Start by making a quick loaf of bread.

In a medium-size frying pan over medium heat, pour about 1/8 cup of olive oil. Add four chopped onions, five minced cloves of garlic, and a large pinch of salt and stir, and keep stirring pretty often for about half an hour or until the onions are soft and dark brown.

When the onions are caramelized, add a can of whole tomatoes, or four whole frozen tomatoes from your freezer. Add 3 cups of water, a cup of red wine, and (if you want) a cube of beef bouillon. Simmer until the tomatoes are melted and blend into the soup, about another half an hour.

By now the bread should be done. While the soup simmers, cut slices of the fresh bread and put them on a baking sheet. Put thin slices of Swiss, Gruyere or Emmenthaler cheese on the bread and run it under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese melts. Put two or three rounds of cheesy bread into each soup bowl.

When the soup is done, taste and adjust the salt and add black pepper to taste. Ladle the soup over the cheesy bread and serve hot.

Vegetarian or vegan

Onion soup is vegan if you don’t put the beef bouillon cube in, but if you put the cheesy bread in then it’s just vegetarian. Eat thyme bread with it instead. Or use vegan cheese.