Swiss Chard, Leek, and Gruyere Quiche (via Nutmeg Nanny)

My recent addiction to Tastespotting is paying dividends in the form of a burgeoning bookmark file, and a whole other place to look when I am Out of Ideas. This particular recipe was the result of a huge bunch of farmer's market chard taking up almost my entire vegetable drawer, and no particular idea how to use it. Thank goodness for search boxes, which led me to this blog post and a blog I'd never seen before. The Internet just goes on forever.

Generally speaking, I don't do quiche. I like to cook, but I am lazy, and quiche involves that whole crust thing. When I wrote down my week's menu plan, I put this down as a frittata instead. Then I thought, It's a Sunday afternoon. You have time. You've been scrambling for weeks, it's time to slow down. When are you going to have another chance to do this? So I got together the ingredients for the dough.

At which point our three-year-old ambled over and said, "Wet," in that particularly forlorn tone he uses on these occasions. In this case, wet meant a diaper blowout of proportions that required immediate laundry and bathing. So this almost became a frittata after all, but I got it together, made the dough (with 6yo's assistance), etc., etc. Grumbling to myself the while.

And it was absolutely worth it. I am a quiche convert. This may become a weekend "thing" now. I am going to reprint the recipe here because I made so many changes, mainly due to my not having a deep-dish tart pan, and partly due to the aforementioned laziness.

Swiss Chard, Leek, and Gruyere Quiche

2 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 recipe Flaky Tart Dough (it's Martha, you can't go wrong; cutting the recipe in half worked fine)
5 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
2 heaping cups torn Swiss chard leaves
1/2 cup Gruyere cheese
1 leek, sliced thinly

1. Make and chill the tart dough. After chilling, on a lightly floured work surface, roll dough into a 16-inch round. With a dry pastry brush, sweep off any excess flour; fit dough into a tart pan with a removable bottom, gently pressing it into the sides. Using a sharp knife, trim the dough evenly with the edge of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap; chill tart shell until firm, about 20 minutes.

2. Preheat Oven to 375 degrees

3. Line the tart dough with a sheet of parchment paper and fill with pie weights (or dried beans, or whatever). Transfer to oven and bake until light brown, about 25 minutes. Remove weights and parchment paper and continue baking until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

4. Whisk 1 egg and 2 1/2 Tbsp flour until smooth. Add the remaining eggs and continue mixing until well blended.
Add milk, salt, pepper, and thyme; mix until well combined.

5. Sauté leeks in olive oil until soft. Add the chard and cook until just wilted. Allow to cool, then add to the egg mixture. Pour it all into your cooled tart shell. (You may want to put the tart on a baking pan in case of leaks.)

6. Bake until filling is slightly firm and crust is a deep golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes.

7. Transfer quiche to a wire rack to cool until set, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The two of us polished off almost the entire thing for dinner, with a side of soup; it would serve four for lunch or with a more substantial set of side dishes (or daintier appetites!).

Three Vegetarian Recipes

Although obviously not vegetarian, we do eat that way three or four times a week, most weeks. Last week we had three winners, at least one of which I had never made before (another one we couldn't remember for sure). So as part of today's triple-post, I give you:

• Portobello Mushroom Fajitas -- The only conceivable problem with these is the serving size. If you actually want this to feed more than two people who aren't very hungry, make some sidese! They were fantastic.
• Fried Rice with Broccoli and Eggs -- Doesn't get much more economical than this, and quite tasty as well. Could make a good lunch if you have a cooler.
• Stir-Fried Tofu with Mushrooms, Sugar Snap Peas, and Green Onions -- This is a recipe I probably make every couple of months (which for me is frequent!). There's not much too it, and it's so very good.

 Half a week's worth of wonderful vegetables right there!

Cauliflower, Cheese, and Tomato Soup

I have made some very good soups from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special. This is not one of them. I'm not going to bother typing it out unless someone asks for it. It wasn't actually bad, but the texture was extremely cauliflower-y (and I like cauliflower), and for a soup with so many ingredients, it suffered overall from a lack of identifiable flavor--just a big muddle of vegetables.

This was week 3's cookcook, by the way; so far, I have managed to adhere to my goal!

Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts

First truly stand-out recipe of the new year, these were amazingly good, and not much trouble at all to make. I am going to have to keep an eye out for excuses to have them again. Although everyone I asked for advice suggested salad, I served them with mugs of Roasted Butternut Squash Soup -- it's January, I wanted a fairly substantial mid-day meal, and just could not face the thought of serving something cold.

1 package puff pastry, defrosted
Olive oil
4 c thinly sliced yellow onions
3 large cloves garlic, cut into thin slivers
salt and pepper
3 Tbsp dry white wine
2 tsp minced fresh thyme
4 Tbsp grated Parmesan
4 oz garlic-and-herb goat cheese
1 large tomato, cut into 1/4-inch slices
3 Tbsp julienned basil leaves
2 oz Parmesan, shaved with a vegetable peeler

1. Unfold a sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll out to an 11x11 inch square. Using a six-inch saucer or other object as a guide, cut 2 circles from the sheet of pastry, discarding the excess. Repeat with the second pastry sheet to make 4 circles. Place the circles on 2 sheet pans lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until read to use. (NOTE: This sort of instruction cracks me up. How big of a refrigerator do you think I have?!)
2. Preheat the oven to 425F.
3. Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic. Saute 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are limp and there is almost no moisture remaining in the skillet. Add 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, wine, and thyme, and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, until the onions are lightly browned. Remove from heat.
4. Using a sharp paring knife, score a 1/4 inch border around each pastry circle. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with a fork and sprinkle with a Tbsp of grated Parmesan, staying inside the scored border.
5. Place 1/4 of the onion mixture on each circle. Crumble 1 oz of the goat cheese atop the onions. Place a slice of tomato in the center of each tart. Brush the tomato lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with basil, salt, and pepper. Scatter 4 or 5 shards of Parmesan on each tart.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve hot or warm.

Serves 4 deliciously. 

I don't know why she always insists on fresh herbs. Dried thyme works perfectly well in this. I did get fresh basil, but in Massachusetts, in winter, it's pretty sorry-looking stuff, though the smell was a wistful reminder of summer. For the tomato I used those cherry tomatoes on the vine, which are picked at something resembling ripe, and piled four or five slices on each tart. Heavens, I am starting to sound like a food snob.

I need to get back into the picture-taking and -uploading habit.

Two Side Dishes from "Back to Basics"

I must say that the first week of January has been a good one for the goals. It usually is, of course. I found plentiful opportunity to use this cookbook; it really is just a matter of planning. I quite like the Barefoot Contessa, in case you hadn't guessed. I have a couple more from her coming up, but I didn't want to put all of them into one huge post.

Pan-Roasted Root Vegetables

This was good, and plenty easy, but my veggies never browned the way they're supposed to. Next time I'll try leaving them at a higher temperature for a while. Of course, you can use whatever veggies you like (I've never even heard of white turnips). Serves 4

4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 white turnip, unpeeled and 1-inch diced
2 carrots, 1-inch diced
2 small parsnips, peeled and 1-inch diced
1/2 celery root, peeled and 1-inch diced
8 Brussels sprouts, halved if large
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 celery ribs, 1-inch diced

1. Melt the butter in a large saute pan that has a tight-fitting lid.
2. Add the turnip, carrots, parsnips, celery root, Brussels sprouts, thyme, salt, and pepper, and toss with the butter. Cover the pan cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
3. Add the celery and stir. Cover the pan again and cook another 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add a few Tbsp of water if dry. Serve hot.
   

Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli
I forgot to put the olive oil on. The results were somewhat crispy. Worth trying again. Normally I just steam the stuff, so this was a big change for us. Serves 6

4-5 pounds broccoli
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
7 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted
1/3 c grated Parmesan
2 Tbsp julienned fresh basil

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Cut the broccoli florets from the stalks, leaving an inch or two of stalk. Cut the larger florets in half. You should have about 8 cups total.
3. Place the florets on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Toss with the garlic and drizzle with 5 Tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
4. Roast 20-25 minutes until crisp-tender and slightly browned. 
5. Remove from the over and immediately toss with 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, pine nuts, Parmesan, and basil. Serve hot.
   

If I select one cookbook a week to work from, I will not get halfway through the collection by the end of the year.

Swiss Chard with Cannellini Beans and Tomatoes

I hardly ever blog side dishes. This is because I hardly ever make side dishes; throw some vegetables in the steamer and make some rice, is my idea of a "goes-with." But every once in a while I have no choice, because I have chard in the refrigerator and nowhere for it to go, and I do hate throwing away market vegetables just because I was too lazy to do anything useful with them.

Much as I love my cookbook collection, the internet is really useful in these situations. No one book has more than a handful of chard recipes--fun if you have time to browse through a dozen or more books, not so good if you really need to figure out a menu now--while a quick search puts hundreds of them in reach. Like this one, for instance.

With this sort of cooking (unlike with Indian food), I view the recipe as a sort of vague guideline. I didn't have two pounds of chard, so I halved the entire recipe from the start. There was no way I was going to get out another whole pot, and there is no way chard takes fifteen minutes to cook, unless you have some kind of mutant chard from hell that is trying to climb out of that pot. I threw it in a braising pan with some olive oil and let it soften there, added the garlic, beans, and most of a can of diced tomatoes since I didn't have any fresh ones.

The results were perfectly fine. I am not sure I'll make this again, but it was quick and effortless and reasonably tasty.

This should be a good week for cooking, so I hope to continue with more regular blogging. Our supper club will be meeting this weekend for the first time ages, the forecast continues relatively cool and fall-ish, and other parts of my life are pretty quiet for a change. I am in major pantry-stocking mode, and my shelves overflow with pasta, beans, and broths.

In sad news, the end of farmer's market season is in sight. The Kendall Square market, which has livened up my Thursdays at the office for the past few months, officially lasts through October, but yesterday only one farm showed up.

Mediterranean Stuffed Eggplant

This was one of those "I have x, let me do a search..." recipes. I bought a couple of eggplants on a whim at the farmer's market on Friday, without much of a thought as to what I would do with them. Mediterranean Stuffed Eggplant turned out to be a pretty good thing. Not a great thing--it takes a little longer to make than I like on a weeknight, and there's a couple of things I would change if I made it again.

For one, my eggplants were way too small. Even though I cut back on the amount of filling, there was a lot of it left over after I stuffed my little purpling darlings. For two, there was bit too much going on in the filling. Next time I might cut back on the number of vegetable types involved, and let just a couple of them shine a bit more. The feta, on the other hand, was an excellent inclusion. I could have used more of it than I did.

All told, a qualified keeper.

Dinner for a Disappointing Day

Wednesday, well... kind of sucked. Only kind of--the kids went to their checkup and we received no alarming news, and it was a productive day of work. But there was that whole rejection letter thing, and then I went looking at house listings and stumbled over what was obviously meant to be my house, falling instantly in love with everything about it only to find out that it was already engaged to someone else.

So I was plenty bummed when I knocked off for the day and went over to the grocery store. On the walk back it started raining, then started pouring. Sans umbrella, I told myself it was the universe reminding me not to take myself so seriously.

Once home and dry, I cut up most of a butternut squash I'd bought on a whim over the weekend, and set it simmering in some chicken broth.

I put the zucchini from the farmer's market through the food processor, salted it and let it sit while I chopped up tomato and garlic, grated some Parmesan, and dug out the dried marjoram. Once all of that was set up and JJ had been corralled for the umpteenth time, I rinsed off the zucchini and broke six eggs into a bowl, then decided that wasn't enough and added one more. I shoved my stick blender into the squash, put some canola oil in a tiny frying pan with some of the garlic and a teaspoon or so of curry powder, then added that to the now-soup and returned to my eggs.

The recipe I was using had originally been published in Eating Well. I remembered it very well, but couldn't find it for the life of me, possibly because I was convinced it was in some other magazine. But the kindly souls at the Cooking Light bulletin board unearthed my own review of the recipe, from almost exactly four years ago. I'm pretty sure it's from Deborah Madison.

1 1/2 pounds zucchini, coarsely grated
1 1/8 tsp salt, divided
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
4 large eggs
4 large egg whites
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 c of Parmesan or Monterey Jack cheese
1 Tbsp chopped fresh marjoram
2/3 c part-skim ricotta cheese

2 1/2 c chopped tomato (we had grape tomatoes, I quartered them)
1 medium shallot, minced
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 tsp chopped fresh marjoram
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

My condensed instructions:

1. Toss zucchini with 1 tsp salt in a medium bowl; put in colander to drain for 20-30 minutes. Rinse briefly and squeeze dry.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over in a large non-stick skillet over M-H heat. Add zucchini and cook, stirring frequently, until water evaporates (5-6 min). Remove to bowl, wipe pan clean.
3. Preheat broiler.
4. Whisk eggs with salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir in zucchini, cheese, marjoram. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in the non-stick pan over M-H heat. Add egg mixture and reduce heat to M-L. Dollop ricotta over the top. Cook until eggs are set on bottom, top still wet (5-7 min). Transfer to broiler and broil until done (3-5 min).

For tomato garnish: Toss all ingredients together. Cook in a skillet for a couple of minutes, until warm and releasing juices.

I sliced up some orange-cranberry bread from the farmer's market to go alongside, and the result was good enough to restore a teensy bit of gloss to the day.

8/7 - Edited to add photos.

Apres Birthday Party

L turned five on Wednesday, and for the first time we decided that she ought to have a real party, not just family members, so we invited two of her particular friends from preschool over on Saturday. We scheduled it from 10-1, partly to avoid running into JJ's nap time. I spent the morning running around like a lunatic--last-minute grocery shopping, hanging decorations, making (another) cake, and shoving a bunch of clutter into our bedroom where it wouldn't be in the way. My saintly mother did a ton of dishes.

The party went off without a hitch. The girls decorated sugar cookies, played "pin the flower on Dora", and played together without any real problems, although L seemed a little overwhelmed at moments. I played lunch safe and served some sliced cucumbers, macaroni and cheese, and birthday cake. The sky had been threatening all morning, but around noon it cleared up, so after L opened her presents they all went outside for a bit (under D's supervision).

Afterwards, D got his "me time" at the library while JJ napped. I puttered in the kitchen. During my mom's visit I wanted to put together one quasi-serious meal--I seldom have a chance to do that. Previously in this visit I had made turnovers with greens and feta, a simple pasta with zucchini, and pizza (a tradition). But this afternoon I had time for something a bit more elaborate, though I still wanted it to be simple food.

• Eggplant and Fig Caponata. I absolutely love this recipe. I was drinking some leftover organic sangiovese at the time, and the combination turned out to be heavenly.
• Spanish tortilla. Onions, potatoes, olive oil, eggs. One of the simplest recipes going. And you just hate to stop eating it.
• Salad. My now-standard mix, sweet and yummy.

And for dessert, of course, more birthday cake!

Stuff My Mom Makes I

As I've probably mentioned here before, my mother isn't much for cooking; as far as I can tell, when she's not having company, she lives on coffee, soy patties and granola bars. When we come to visit, takeout Chinese is traditional for the first night, and generally we visit my grandparents another night. That leaves at least one night, however, when it is necessary to cook something. If nothing else, it gives us an excuse to visit Wegmans, where I can drool over the miles of cheese (one of these days I really will bring a cooler along on the trip) and whimper about how unfair it is that her grocery store has daikon and mine does not.

This is one of the recipes she makes for us sometimes. It's a little heavy on the cheese, but good. She leaves out the almonds, which none of us care for, but I'm sure other nuts could be used instead.

Cheese and Almond Stuffed Zucchini

3 medium zucchini

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 c finely chopped onion

1 tsp salt

6 oz cream cheese in small cubes

1 1/2 c finely chopped almonds

1/2 c bread crumbs

7 oz grated Swiss cheese

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out and reserve the centers. Saute the onion in the oil until translucent. Ad salt and chopped zucchini pulp, and cook until soft. Remove from heat. Stir in cream cheese and cover for several minutes.

In a bowl, mix almonds, bread crumbs, Swiss cheese, and spices. Add the cream cheese mixture. Fill the zucchini shells and place them in an oiled 9x13 baking pan. Add water to about 1/4 inch. Tightly cover the pan, and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 5-10 minutes to brown.

From New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant, which suggests serving it on a bed of rice alongside Artichoke Heart & Tomato Salad.

New Recipes for the First Week of June

Having finally been inspired to put together a nearly-full slate of new recipes for the week, I have not been organized enough to blog about them individually, so here's a catch-up post. After the crap we ate on the road Saturday, I felt a serious urge to make good things that at least nodded in the direction of healthfulness. (I have also been working out every day this week, have traded in my beloved bagels for yogurt and fruit, and my supper glass of wine for milk--though that last is at least partially because I have a cold, and one does not mix wine and NyQuil).

• Monday - Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-Fry. This one is a definite keeper. I've tried orange sauces before and always been put off by them, but this strikes the right balance between the sweet and other notes for my taste.
  

• Tuesday - Orecchiette with Caramelized Onions, Sugar Snap Peas, and Ricotta Cheese. Reserving judgment. There was no fresh basil at the store, and I think that would have made a big difference. The onions turned out nicely, but the dish as a whole was on the bland side. We'll try this one again before deciding if we really like it. Also had to use frozen sugar snaps, which I'm sure didn't help.
• Thursday -Pasta with Goat Cheese, Lemon, and Asparagus. I made this with fresh local asparagus from the farmers market, and it was very good and easy to put together. No tarragon at hand, so I used some herbes de Provence, which provided a nice flavor, if not quite what the recipe developer had in mind. A good one to keep in the spur-of-the-moment file, since most of the ingredients are things one usually has on hand. My only regret was not having bought even more asparagus than I did!
  
• Friday -Hoisin Pork Tenderloin with Asian Carrot Salad. Lest you think that we've gone vegetarian over here. My store was out of pork tenderloin. Which was supposed to be on sale this week--a buying error, the butcher explained a bit sheepishly, and gave me some pork loin at a markdown to apologize. It worked reasonably well. This is another simple one, hard to go wrong. For the dressing I used Newman's Own low-fat sesame-ginger, which is okay for a bottled dressing (why do they all have so much sugar? the fabled American sweet tooth at work?).

Also on Friday, my birthday presents from D arrived: a copy of The Omnivore's Dilemma, and Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. I have started reading the former, and am learning fascinating things about corn sex.

Things are looking up?

Just another generic status update--the longer one goes between, the harder it gets to do them.... These past couple of days, my cooking impulse seems to be coming back to life. We are wrapping up a big project at work, after which things should quiet down a bit for the summer. I am taking next week off to visit family, and hoping that, too, will provide something of a recharge. After that it will be June, and summer. It's really hot in MA today, and the weather has me longing for summer's food, for farmer's markets, for things new and fresh.

I'm going to make this pasta salad for dinner tonight:

Mediterranean Orzo Salad with Feta Vinaigrette

It's an oldie but goodie. Makes me happy.

Goat Cheese and Roasted Corn Quesadillas

This was part of last night's dinner. I don't really want to review this now, but did want to leave something of a placeholder for a later repeat. Not that there was anything wrong with the recipe, but there's no fresh corn to be had at this time of year, and you can't char frozen corn, it's got too much water in it. So I would really like to try it again when good ear corn is available, because I suspect that it'll make a decent recipe really good.

Goat Cheese and Roasted Corn Quesadillas

Moroccan-Style Vegetable Stew with Harissa Yogurt Sauce

Sometimes I don't even make it all the way through the first read of a recipe before I'm starting to make changes. "Blanching the root vegetables shortens the stew's cooking time." Um... right. Because the blanching doesn't take any time, and another pot? And I'm not making a special trip to some other store in hopes they have harissa when the recipe only wants a teaspoon.

See the recipe here

Those quibbles aside, we stay vegetarian on Fridays in Lent (mind you, we generally have at least a couple of meatless meals per week for no particular reason), and this recipe came in a recent magazine, and seemed ideal for a day I'd be working at home and had some time to fuss around.

This, in fact, turned out to be the case. A bit of chopping, a bit of simmering, and there was an appallingly healthy dinner. It was perfectly okay, but I'm not sure it's worthy of becoming a regular dish. I'll have to give it a bit of thought.

The most astonishing thing about the meal was that L did not have hysterics when faced with her bowl of "carrot stew." Instead she delicately removed and dissected a chickpea, ate it, then pushed her bowl away (she ended up eating raw baby carrots for dinner; at least she's getting a vegetable...). JJ, on the other hand, spent most of the time trying to unplug the telephone until finally I put him in the playpen, which he hates. He has a cold and is generally being a grumpy little guy in the evenings this week.

Trying to get back into the blogging thing....

Yellow Lentil Dal

Some months ago, on a whim, I bought a package of yellow lentils. Since then, they have mostly been lugged around by my son, who loves pulling things off my "pantry" shelves. Also on a whim, I bought some tandoori seasoning with one of my Penzey's orders. Together, they suggested a meal for a night when I thought I would have some free time to fuss around in the kitchen.

Last night I finally opened the darned lentils, and I'm glad that I did! This recipe I found through a Google search turned out to be reasonably easy and very, very good.

Yellow Lentil Dal

I just did plain rice with it, feeling like I had taken on too much already, and tandoori chicken (replacing the spice mix in the recipe with my Penzey's stuff), which didn't turn out right since I forgot to take off the skin, and then undercooked it a tad. Next time I will try to plan better.

JJ had his one-year checkup yesterday. He's in the 95th percentile for height, but at 21 lb and change, only 25th for weight -- running around all day long will do that! Everything is spot on, his doctor tells us. He got two vaccinations, but was in a pretty chipper mood despite that, at least until he fell off the bed right before bedtime. Just a bump and a scare, fortunately. I am trying to plan a grocery shopping run while he toddles around the place right now, since he got up much earlier than I was hoping he would.

New Year, New Salad

I have to say, I was a little impressed with how organized I was last night (major credit goes to D for keeping the kids out of my hair for the duration, of course)--I managed to whip up a quick tomato sauce (canned diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning), make turkey meatballs from scratch, and throw together a salad dressing, putting dinner on the table in just under 45 minutes. Maybe it was because I left work a few minutes early, so there was less of a traffic battle than I usually face on the way home.

The salad was this one, posted by foodie18 on the Cooking Light forums:

mixed greens
dried cranberries
toasted pine nuts or candied almonds
goat cheese

3 Tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp Dijon
1/4 c balsamic
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c olive oil (or to taste)
salt and pepper

Combine all dressing ingredients in bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

I am not naturally good with salads--it just never occurs to me to put things like cheese or nuts in it for some reason, no matter how good they are--but I had everything needed to make this, including a half round of peppered goat cheese in the refrigerator, and I am going to try to make it again!

Korean-Style Noodles with Vegetables (Chap Chae)

First new recipe of the new year! I've had a package of thin rice noodles in my pantry for probably years--I may have bought it with optimist thoughts of spring rolls some long-ago day--and finally used them to make this pleasant but unfortunately not outstanding recipe. To go with it I brushed some boneless chicken thighs with a mixture of hoisin and soy sauce, then cooked them under the broiler.

The recipe made quite a bit, and with a few more vegetables would make a lovely light supper by itself for two or three people.

October Supper Club - Starts with (Letter)

Supper clubs tend to evolve the way they do things over time. For this month, rather than have the whole group try to wrangle out a theme, we decided that whoever was hosting would pick. Looking over our list of ideas, K picked the "starts with (letter)" theme.

For some reason, this one I had a horrible time thinking of something to make. I was given my dish by a friend outside the group while I was communicating my despair over IM. "Too busy to think" seems to have been the tone of the whole weekend for more than one of us, and this was not our most successful dinner; the standard phrase "this is our best one yet" did not get used as it often does (and usually, it's deserved). They can't all be home runs. On the up side, member HK, who has missed a few lately, joined us for this Sunday, and we all had a good time catching up.

• KS - Slow-cooker beef stew
• PC - Cucumber casserole
• HK - Kugel
• RS (me) - Ratatouille

I used the recipe from Patrica Wells' Bistro Cooking (Ratatouilla Francoise Rigord), being a bit intimidated by Julia Child. The only problem I had with this one is her assumption that you have an infinite number of stainless steel skillets--with lids--and stove burners; otherwise, it's a snap.

6 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
5 medium onions (about 1 pound), coarsely chopped
Bouquet garni: 12 parsley stems, 8 peppercorns, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/4 tsp fennel seed, and 1 bay leaf tied in a double thickness of cheesecloth
3 large red bell peppers (about 1 pound), cored, seeded, and cubed
2-3 small eggplant (about 1 pound), cubed
2-3 medium zucchini (about 1 pound), cubed
5 medium tomatoes (about 1 pound), cored and cut into eighths
Salt
1 lemon
A handful of finely minced fresh parsley

1. In a large, heavy, nonreactive skillet (LHNRS) heat 2 Tbsp of oil over ML heat.Add the onions and bouquet garni and stir to coat with the oil. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender and light golden, 20 minutes. Do not allow them to burn.
2. Add the bell peppers, stirring gently to mix, and continue to cook until the mixture is very soft, about 30 more minutes.
3. In another LHNRS, heat 2 Tbsp of oil over ML heat. Add the eggplant and stir to coat. Cook, covered, until soft, stirring from time to time to keep the eggplant from sticking to the pan, about 20 minutes.
4. In another LHNRS, heat 2 Tbsp of oil over ML heat. Add the zucchini and stir to coat. Cook, covered, until soft, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, about 20 minutes.
5. Add the eggplant to the onion and bell pepper mixture. Cook, covered, over low heat for another 15 minutes.
6. Gently spoon all of the vegetables into a colander set over a nonreactive saucepan or skillet to collect the liquid. Spoon the vegetables into a large bowl. Place the pan of liquid over high heat and reduce until thick and syrupy, 5-10 minutes. Pour over vegetables and stir to blend. Season wiht salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours.
7. To serve, remove the ratatouille from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before serving. Adjust the seasoning. Squeeze half the lemon over the top and sprinkle with parsley.

Yields 12-16 servings

Getting Back to Cooking

It's been a while. The height of summer is not really recipe-friendly. But yesterday I managed to sit down and put together an actual list of menus for the week, things that involve more than "saute veggies, boil pasta, put veggies on pasta."

Although not necessarily a lot more. Last night, in order to use up some farmer's market eggplant, I made Eggplant Marinara Pasta Casserole. It took a bit of time to put together, and the baby was teething and fussy, and L was tired and cranky, and I poured myself a glass of wine with a lot more feeling than I usually do. But the recipe is a good one. Salting and prebaking the eggplant gives them a bit more of a concentrated texture, without the mushiness that can be a turnoff for those who, like me, have not quite made up their minds whether or not they like the stuff. I found myself thinking that some sausage would go very well, but the dish is hearty and can stand on its own quite easily.

Note that the recipe is written for 8 servings--I halved it, and it worked perfectly well that way.

So get yourself an eggplant and get to it!

Three-Pepper Quesadillas

The usual jam-packed weekend. We spent Saturday morning doing house drive-bys in the Tewksbury area, and found some reason to be encouraged, though most of the ones we saw were in pretty bad shape on the outside or in awkward locations. We got lunch at a pizza joint in Billerica called Sal's (passable slices, but the TV was tuned to a Pauly Shore movie), drove by a couple more houses, and then made our way home.

In the afternoon we took turns running errands. We had decided to finally see Surf's Up, a movie L loves to watch Youtube clips of, so I had to make something that could be eaten in front of the TV. Normally I do pizza, but we had pizza for lunch, so I decided to stick with the flatbread theme and make quesadillas. I looked at what was in the pan and decided that it needed more heft -- as written it would probably make a fine addition to a menu, but as the only course, I chucked in some black beans (added bonus, L eats those). The movie turned out to be very entertaining, though L cried a bit at unexpected points, which I chalked up to over-excitement.

Sunday I spent the morning cleaning the kitchen and L's room, including packing away a bunch of her old clothes for eventual transport to the thrift store. It needs to be done, obviously, but it always makes me feel wistful.

In the evening we drove through one of the apparently never-ended rainstorms the summer is giving us, to Allora Ristorante in Marlboro, for dinner with my supper club buddies. In sum: excellent food, service could use some work. The bruschetta was like nothing I had ever seen, hefty triangles of toasted bread smothered in chunks of fresh tomato and balsamic vinegar, scattered with cheese. Fabulous, and much too much for one person. Then the organic greens salad with pears and walnuts, which was quite good, and the pesto chicken, which I somehow managed to eat all of, somewhat to my own surprise. One of my fellows got the osso buco and practically licked his plate clean.

It was not a cheap evening in terms of money or calories, but I'd definitely give the place another try and see if our waiter was just having an off night, or what. JJ behaved marvelously, L less so, but they had us in a private room so it didn't matter too much that she was running around (and under the table) for most of the evening.