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Report From The Front
Nov. 16th, 2007 03:32 pm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So today work was cancelled. I am spending the day cooking. I happened across one of those mark-down days at an asian grocer and got ten-twelve pounds of tomatoes, maybe eight pounds of eggplant, two big bags of peppers, bunch of carrots, some jalapenoes, lots of onions and garlic, some zucchini, mushrooms, etc -- seven bags of produce that I couldn't carry all at once, even nowadays.
First on the agenda was ratatouille -- simmer some onions in a little olive oil till translucent; add half a dozen peppers, chopped; simmer another twenty mins; fill the pot with chopped eggplant and simmer till there's room in the pot again; put a couple dozen tomatoes in the blender and puree until you can pour them into the pot; cook to just boiling and spice with basil, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme.
Second up is veggie lasagna. Same ingredients, more or less, different approach. Slice eggplant thinly and sprinkle with salt to draw the excess juice out. Leave to drain while sticking tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, and varicoloured peppers in the blender along with a jalapeno or two. Fry lentils with some spices (cumin, basil, oregano, thyme, salt) in oil, then add some liquid (some of the veggie stuff from the blender is good) simmer till they're done. Put the rest of the blended veggies on the stove to reduce (unless it all fits in a pan with the lentils, then you're lucky, I have maybe a couple gallons of the stuff). With a vegetable peeler, make thin slices of carrot and zucchini. Blanch eggplantm zucchini, and carrot briefly in boiling water. Layer eggplant, carrot, zucchini, and sauce in whatever order you want. Bake till you wanna eat it.
Third up is chicken noodle soup with tomato noodles. Put a half-dozen tomatoes in the blender. Pour into a bowl. Add salt and some flour till it's a thick dough. Let dough rest fifteen minutes, then knead it a bit and make into noodles, either by kneading a bit more and then pulling, by slicing, or by rolling out and cutting. Drop the noodles into boiling chicken stock (maybe add some carrots and cabbage a few minutes beforehand, it's what I have on hand) and cook till they float (maybe three minutes). Add some chicken meat if ya want.*
I LOVE this stuff.
*Two tomatoes make *more than enough* noodles for two people
So today work was cancelled. I am spending the day cooking. I happened across one of those mark-down days at an asian grocer and got ten-twelve pounds of tomatoes, maybe eight pounds of eggplant, two big bags of peppers, bunch of carrots, some jalapenoes, lots of onions and garlic, some zucchini, mushrooms, etc -- seven bags of produce that I couldn't carry all at once, even nowadays.
First on the agenda was ratatouille -- simmer some onions in a little olive oil till translucent; add half a dozen peppers, chopped; simmer another twenty mins; fill the pot with chopped eggplant and simmer till there's room in the pot again; put a couple dozen tomatoes in the blender and puree until you can pour them into the pot; cook to just boiling and spice with basil, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme.
Second up is veggie lasagna. Same ingredients, more or less, different approach. Slice eggplant thinly and sprinkle with salt to draw the excess juice out. Leave to drain while sticking tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, and varicoloured peppers in the blender along with a jalapeno or two. Fry lentils with some spices (cumin, basil, oregano, thyme, salt) in oil, then add some liquid (some of the veggie stuff from the blender is good) simmer till they're done. Put the rest of the blended veggies on the stove to reduce (unless it all fits in a pan with the lentils, then you're lucky, I have maybe a couple gallons of the stuff). With a vegetable peeler, make thin slices of carrot and zucchini. Blanch eggplantm zucchini, and carrot briefly in boiling water. Layer eggplant, carrot, zucchini, and sauce in whatever order you want. Bake till you wanna eat it.
Third up is chicken noodle soup with tomato noodles. Put a half-dozen tomatoes in the blender. Pour into a bowl. Add salt and some flour till it's a thick dough. Let dough rest fifteen minutes, then knead it a bit and make into noodles, either by kneading a bit more and then pulling, by slicing, or by rolling out and cutting. Drop the noodles into boiling chicken stock (maybe add some carrots and cabbage a few minutes beforehand, it's what I have on hand) and cook till they float (maybe three minutes). Add some chicken meat if ya want.*
I LOVE this stuff.
*Two tomatoes make *more than enough* noodles for two people
