This past week my girlfriends and I spent the day in Napa. Shockingly not wine tasting, but plenty of wine drinking! A couple times a year we manage to leave the kids at home, check ourselves into the spa and lounge poolside for some serious girl-time. It continues to amaze me that we can spend 15 hours together and still find things, not only to talk about, but laugh about.
The subjects we broach...well trust me when I say, we could charge a pretty hefty admission to men that could stand to gain serious insight previously unattainable. Boy oh boy, do we go "there"! Sometimes I wonder if this is a trait specific to this group, because I have been friends with alot of women in my life and never has it gone this far. It's refreshingly delightful! [sounds like a slogan]
Our wonderful group is geographically very different. We have a gal from England, New Jersey, Florida, California and "yours truly" from Chicago.
Which brings me to the point...
The Chicago point...
I would like to know if anyone has ever done a survey on the amount of vegetarians in Chicago compared to other major cities. Being born and raised in this great town is to love meat as sure as you love the Cubbies, green beer, hotdogs and the mob.[Wait!...Whaaaat?]
To say I'm a carnivore, is a relative understatement. Until this recent Napa excursion, I could not tell you the last time I had a meal without meat; that's breakfast [sausage, bacon or ham], lunch[ pick a meat, any meat] and dinner[I'd eat steak 7 nights a week if I didn't have a conscience!]
Ohhhh, but this day was different. Don't ask me why, but the ratatouille sandwich was calling my name. Fluffy pita, like SUPER fluffy, stuffed with ratatouille, hummus, feta and sprouts. I warned my friends not to fall off their chairs when they heard the order.
It was SPECTACULAR! So spectacular, I came home and made some ratatouille myself. AND...I had purchased all the other ingredients to re-create the sandwich, but the darn ratatouille business was so flippin good I ate it out of a bowl! I now know why they made a movie around the stuff. BTW...did you know Thomas Keller was the consultant on that film? His recipe is available online, but beware of the length to prepare his way.
This is my recipe which will take less than 20 minutes to prep and about 20 minutes active cooking time and then just a simmer-fest! I have to mention...I have 2 young boys who completely devoured this and asked for more.
Ahhh, leave it to the French!
(Click on the title for the recipe)
Ratatouille
This makes a substantial portion. If used as a side, it will feed 10-12 people.
[provisions]
Place eggplant in a colander in the sink and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Toss and let sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, add onion, garlic and seaon with salt and pepper. cook for about 12 minutes stirring regularly. You do not want onions to brown, just soften. Add zucchini and bell peppers and cook another 10 minutes, again stirring frequently. Place all ingredients in pan in a large bowl. Add some more olive oil to the pan. Now add eggplant and cook about 8 minutes. Add everything in the bowl back to the pan. Season again with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, thyme, basil and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook for about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. After everything is very tender, if there is any extra liquid in the bottom of the pan, remove lid and turn the heat up until evaporated.
Remove thyme stems and bay leaves. This is also great as a main course with crusty bread.
BTW...my kids LOVE this! Thank you Pixar!
YUM, my mouth is watering;
YUM, my mouth is watering; can't wait to make it. Thanks so much for the recipe.