Last Night’s Dinner

So I didn’t. Click the photo to see my notes in Flickr.

Fall has arrived, but there’s still plenty of late-summer produce to be had. In addition to the potatoes, kale and chard I picked up last weekend, I grabbed a few pounds of San Marzano tomatoes, some small eggplant and squash, and a couple of petite bell peppers. I don’t know what I was doing when the great ratatouille craze of 2007 struck, but somehow I missed it and this felt like my last chance to prepare it this season.

My plan was to make crepes and fill them with ratatouille and egg, so while I wanted some texture, I didn’t want an overly-chunky stew. I diced all of my vegetables (1/2 a red onion, one Japanese eggplant, one small green squash and two small bell peppers – one red and one orange) into 1/2 inch dice and set them aside. I heated a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and added the onion and some salt, allowing it to soften before adding a smashed garlic clove and the remaining vegetables. I added a bit more salt and let them cook about five minutes, and then I added a tablespoon of tomato paste, about 6 fresh San Marzanos, cored and chopped, a splash of white vermouth and a tablespoon or so of Herbes de Provence. I covered the pan and let it cook over medium-low heat for about an hour, stirring it occasionally.

I had put together my crepe batter (Alton Brown’s recipe, but with a pinch of Kosher salt and olive oil replacing the butter) before getting started on the ratatouille so it would be ready to go when the ratatouille was finished cooking. I ended up with 5 big crepes, which I set aside while I cooked a couple of eggs sunny side up in the same pan I had used for the crepes. When my eggs were cooked I laid a crepe on each of two dinner plates, spread some of the ratatouille over each, laid an egg on top and folded them up, serving them with some simply dressed red oak lettuce on the side and a nice, bright Sauvignon Blanc.

This was a light but satisfying meal, and though it takes a bit over an hour from start to finish, it’s easy enough for a weeknight dinner. It also lends itself well to adaptation – while we loved the richness of the runny egg yolk as it blended with the ratatouille, this would be just as good with a little feta or goat cheese instead.

I realize I’ve been doing a lot of pasta dishes lately, but pasta is such a darn good vehicle for the flavors of summer produce, I can’t help myself. Last night’s pasta dinner was inspired by caponata, the Sicilian eggplant dish. I combined a mixture of eggplant, tomatoes, capers and olives with the heat of red chile flakes and the tang of sherry vinegar to create a bright and tasty sauce. I tossed the sauce with spaghettini, but this would work with chunky pastas as well.

Spaghettini alla Caponata

1 lb. spaghettini
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, peeled and diced
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1-2 anchovy filets
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes (or more to taste)
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1 large eggplant, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup canned chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons capers
1/2 cup pitted and chopped olives
6 large fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
Kosher salt

Cook the onion in olive oil over medium heat until softened. Season with salt and add garlic, cooking until fragrant. Add the anchovies and cook until they dissolve. Stir in tomato paste, chile flakes and vinegar. Allow to cook for a minute or two, then add the eggplant and cherry tomatoes, stirring well. Cook uncovered for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, and then add the canned tomatoes, capers and olives. Reduce heat and continue cooking, uncovered, for about 20-25 minutes, tasting and adjusting the salt if necessary.

Cook pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions, until just short of al dente.
Stir the basil into the sauce, and finish cooking the pasta in the sauce, adding a splash or two of pasta water to thin it out if necessary.

It seems fitting that I finished reading Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant (a quick and enjoyable read, by the way) this week. Though Mike has made it home in time for dinner every night despite his extended workdays (and an evening spent as part of a tasting panel), I’ve had to get used to going about dinner prep without him there to keep me company. I’ve been a bit off my mark this week as a result – I’ve tried a few new things and have been less than pleased with the results.

While my first solo attempt at grilling on Tuesday evening was fairly successful, last night’s eggplant and tomato gratin was disappointing. The eggplants I ordered from FreshDirect’s Local Farmstand were huge, and as such they were a little difficult to work with. I didn’t have time to grill the slices as I had intended, and I didn’t want to fry them, so I salted them and hoped for the best. I also made a last minute decision to skip making a béchamel and just add cheese and cream directly to the layers of eggplant and tomatoes, and that just made the whole thing soupy. The flavors were there, but this definitely needs work.

I’m much happier with the two batches of salsa I made earlier in the week – they may have been my best yet. I grilled tomatillos, tomatoes and poblano chiles over hardwood until their skins were nice and charred, then took them inside until they were cool enough to handle. I removed the husks from the tomatillos and cut them into chunks, then threw them into the blender with two of the poblanos (which I had peeled, cored, and chopped). I added a bit of salt and the juice of half a lime and pureed it, then stirred in half a finely diced red onion and a minced garlic clove. For the tomato salsa, I cored the tomatoes, chunked them up and placed them in the blender along with the remaining poblano (again, peeled, cored and chopped), the juice of a lime, a teaspoon each of ground cumin and smoked chipotle powder, and a bit of salt. Once the mixture was pureed, I stirred in the onion and garlic (in the same amounts as for the tomatillo salsa). I ended up with a little over a pint of the green stuff, and a full quart of the red – Mike’s going to have a nice snack to share with his coworkers over the weekend.

Yes, folks, we are in the middle of yet another heatwave. There’s so much haze hanging over the city the air looks grey. This is no weather for heavy meals or for heating up the kitchen.

We still had an abundance of fresh veggies to work with from Mike’s previous trips to the Greenmarket, so I decided to do another meatless dinner - a sort of salad with grilled eggplant and summer squash, sliced raw heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and lots of fresh herbs in a light vinaigrette. I seasoned the vinaigrette with dried Herbes de Provence and fennel seeds, and used it as both a marinade for the squash and eggplant slices, and to drizzle over the tomatoes and mozzarella.

Mike grilled the veggies for just a couple of minutes per side on the cool part of the grill, just to give them a bit of color and smokiness. I sliced and salted the tomatoes and layered them with slices of mozzarella around the outside of our plates, then mounded the grilled veggies in the center of each. I sprinkled a generous amount of chopped herbs from the garden (green and opal basil, thyme and chives) on top, and finished by spooning the remainder of the dressing/marinade over each plate. The grilled vegetables still had a bit of crunch, and I loved how the tomatoes added their flavor to the whole dish as their juices combined with the vinaigrette – this was a delicious medley of colors, textures and flavors.