Conjuring my own memories --- Making Ratatouille

In the movie "Ratatouille" Remy makes the food critic Anton Ego a dish of ratatouille which quickly takes him back via taste memory to when he was a little boy, hurt himself and his mommy made him warm soothing vegetable stew. For me, the first time I had the dish was in Paris while staying at the Foyer la Vigie. The dinners we were served were always a bit questionable and sometimes just inedible, but we had enough to eat and got to see some French cuisine a la cafeteria. The ratatouille was just fine though! Remy's always looks so delicious and chic that I knew I would have to make it myself someday. Tonight I set out with zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and red peppers in tow to make my first! There are a couple ways to make ratatouille. Most of them are just stewed stove-top which makes it a very easy dish for anyone to make. I consulted a couple recipes before deciding how to make it. I wanted to make a version that would turn out as decadent looking as Remy's and I found someone who claimed to be giving the "official" movie recipe online but it was far too involved and time consuming so I opted for a rustic stew version from Judith Jones' The Pleasures of Cooking for One. Mirelle Guillano's (the author of French Women Don't Get Fat) was a stove-top version, that used sliced vegetables instead of chunks. Her's said the vegetables had to cook for 2 hours compared to Jones' which took me about 40 minutes to make. The dish is very easy and enjoyable to make with superbly satisfying results!

The stew is very rich and quite delicious on its own. Best served with a chunk of fresh French bread with a bit of butter. I made enough for about three single servings so I froze two servings in sandwich bags. One serving I enjoyed with my friend Jocelin with herbes de provence roasted chicken breast and rice (since split in two would not be enough). The rice is definitely a goo choice to serve the stew over (and how I was served it at La Vigie). The third serving I enjoyed tonight with just a cut-up hot dog-- my way of celebrating the Yankees home opener!!

All in all ratatouille is delicious, easy to make, wonderful to enjoy, and great to share. Definitely going to be one I will make over and over again and perfect to my liking over the years.

Bienvenue Printemps!: Pea Soup with Bacon & Irish Cheddar

Inspired by some pea soup my friend enjoyed this weekend in Central Park and the new Bon Appetit's suggestion for an Easter meal first course I decided making some fresh for myself would be a great rainy-day dinner tonight.

Unfortunately I already had frozen green peas and opted out of buying some freshly shelledpeas, even though the soup would have been fresher and more delicious. Instead of keeping it as basic as the BA recipe I decided to bump it up with some extra veggies and toppings.

I added some carrot and red pepper to the mix and opted for fresh (Italian/Flat leaf, of course!) parsley over any other herbs. And I believe most savory things are better with BACON! so I crisped up some cut-up bacon in the soup pot before adding the butter and topped the soup with the crumbles to serve.

As usual I used a shallot, not an onion. I'm big on scent memory and am beginning to think that the scent of shallots softening in melted butter will take me back to this very kitchen on the UES. I guess I'll have to wait to see what the future will hold for me and my shallots! I let the pepper and carrot cook together before adding the frozen (unthawed peas). I used chicken stock instead of a vegetable broth for the same reason as bacon-- extra flavor! Never will I be a vegetarian!! I had to remove a little bit of the broth before I pureed the soup with my immersion blender so it would be thick (I'm not into 'soupy' soups, very much into thick-French style soups). The outcome was most delicious! The Irish cheddar and bacon really brought the fresh veggie flavor to a deeper taste level.

Enjoy!