eat this

I saw this done on an episode of "Avec Eric" and have been wanting to try it.

He made a batch of ratatouille and then he added an egg to it and threw it under the broiler.

We had this for breakfast yesterday.

It was rainy and a bit dreary, so this was nice comfort food.

I should've toasted the bread "sticks"...this was still a fun way to eat ratatouille.

summer = ratatouille

Is there a dish that reminds you of summer? Somehow ratatouille reminds me of summer. Different veggies combined into something delicious, dipping crusty bread into the soupy part.

Last year, I posted about making ratatouille here and since then, I realized that I didn't add water to the ratatouille the first time which is why it looks thick in that previous photo.

Another thing that changed is the supermarket that I had been loyal to for 6 years has done away with their 10% off all their veggie coupons, as well as other money saving opportunities.

Actually, when they were a smaller operation, I think they catered to the customer more. Now that they have joined up with a big name, they have brought in more of the big name's private brand items and done away with a lot of money saving opportunities for the customer. (insert pouty face)

It is true that with the cost of food rising, it is hard for supermarkets to make ends meet. But the money saving opportunites are what kept me giving them my business. And now that they have chosen to do away with these opportunities, I have also chosen not to be so loyal to them. In fact, I now shop where I am at the time, I don't make a special trip to shop at their store.

Not being loyal, lead me to find this huge zucchini yesterday (about 2 inches in diameter) at another supermarket for 198 yen (about US$1.98). (I felt like I had found buried treasure! It was under to the puny ones which were also 198 yen. The puny ones which are normally seen in the markets here are not even big enough to stuff and are only about an inch in diameter.) I also found a can of Italian diced tomato for 100 yen (about US$1).

Not being loyal, lead me to another supermarket next door to the one with the zucchini and canned tomato, where I found 3 small eggplant for 99 yen (about US$.99).

Since I had carrots, red bell peppers, okra & onion at home, I only purchased these 3 items. Not bad for a day's shopping...I was kind of proud of myself.

I used to shop everyday (at my supermarket), but now purchase several days worth of foods, depending on what's on sale at the market I am in. Most times I spend 1500 yen to 2000 yen (about US$15-20) for a day or two's worth of food, depending on what I need, so if there are day's when I can get away with spending less than that, I'm happy.

So, I want to thank "my supermarket" for abandoning me, you sent me out to check out other stores to find that you weren't the cheapest after all.

Anyway, now that I got that out of my system...Is there a dish that reminds you of summer?

ratatouille & samsoe gratin

The other day our supermarket had their 10% off coupon on all veggies. I bought quite a bit and made ratatouille it was really easy and tasted great.

The ratatouille that I made was adapted from "The French Kitchen"
Serves 4
1/2 onion, chopped
garlic, minced
1 carrot, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 eggplant, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
5 okra, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
dried oregano
dried marjoram
salt
pepper
flat leaf parsley, chopped

In a pan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic and onion
When the onion starts to turn transparent, add zucchini, eggplant, carrot and red bell pepper, salt and pepper to taste.
Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and herbs.
Simmer until all veggies are soft.
Serve and garnish with flat leaf parsley.

Remember last week when my student gave me a little tub of cream cheese? Well, she also gave me an interesting cheese called Samsoe (Thank you again!). I had never heard of this cheese. It is a semi-soft Swiss-style cheese and is apparently named for an island near Denmark where it is made. I think this cheese might also be nice in fondue.

Since I still had veggies leftover from making ratatouille, I decided to make a gratin using potatoes, eggplant, red bell pepper, okra, onion, carrots and bacon. The weather hasn't been too hot so I figured this is one of my last chances to make a baked entree. I used this recipe for the bechamel sauce.

I can't give you a temperature at which I baked this gratin at because my oven has a pre-set button for gratin, but I will tell you that after the pre-set time, I cooked it in a 150C oven for 20 more minutes since the potatoes were a bit hard.

The gratin was spicy from the cayenne and the cheese matched nicely. With the addition of okra, the slimey consistency added to the gooey-ness of the cheese. The gratin was very delicious (and HOT (spicy & temperature wise)) and went well with a glass of red wine!