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Ratatouille Recipe

Ratatouille Recipe

We came upon this ratatouille recipe as we attempted to find ways to use the produce from our garden. Over the years our garden has produced fantastic amounts of eggplant. The first year we ate a lot of eggplant parmesan. Over time we needed to add new recipes to avoid the monotony of just one dish. After-all running at about 35 lbs. – 50 lbs. each year you need some diversity. Ratatouille can be anything – a veggie side dish, appetizer or even a sauce in a hearty pasta dish. It’s all yours to decide.

Ingredients

28 ounces whole stewed-peeled tomatoes
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large eggplant, skinned, cut into 1-inch pieces
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 large yellow onions, diced large
1 head garlic, cloves smashed and peeled
2 bell peppers, seeded and diced large
2 large zucchini, diced large
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram or oregano leaves
2 to 3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tomatoes and juices on a rimmed baking sheet and use your hands to break tomatoes into 3/4-inch pieces. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and bake until thickened, 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

In a colander, toss eggplant with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Let sit 20 minutes, then squeeze out excess liquid. In a large pot, heat 4 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until onions and garlic are soft, 5 minutes more. Add peppers and cook, stirring, until crisp-tender, 4 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper.

Add tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, bay leaf, and marjoram to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and cook at a gentle simmer until vegetables are tender but not mushy, 15 minutes. Season to taste with vinegar, salt, and pepper. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Fantastic side dish to strong meats, lamb, can be used as a base sauce with pasta or just spoon onto toast and enjoy

Look at other eggplant recipes https://traderscreek.com/recipes/recipe-index/

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Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Soup

Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Soup

We came upon roasted eggplant and tomato soup as we attempted to find ways to use the produce from our garden. Over the years our garden has produced fantastic amounts of eggplant. The first year we ate a lot of eggplant parmesan. Over time we needed to add new recipes to avoid the monotony of just one dish. After-all running at about 35 lbs. – 50 lbs. each year you need some diversity. I am a soup lover so we found some recipes and tried. This is a takeoff of a Rachael Ray recipe – beauty of cooking is make it your own!!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for liberal drizzling
1 large firm eggplant, halved, scored with paring knife
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bulb garlic
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup dry red wine
32-ounces of sauce tomatoes
A few leaves fresh basil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Pour enough oil to coat the center of a baking sheet.

Salt & pepper the scored eggplant, place cut sides down on the baking sheet in the olive oil.

Take the garlic cut in half (so the top and bottom are intact and holding the pieces of individual cloves. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt & pepper, wrap in aluminum foil and roast with the eggplant.

Roast for about 40 minutes. Cool to handle.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the thyme, crushed red pepper flakes, onions and salt and pepper and stir to soften, 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir 1 minute more. Then add the stock, wine, and tomatoes.

Scrape the eggplant away from skin and add the flesh, along with the roasted garlic cloves after you remove from the skins. Add the basil. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or in a blender. Simmer to thicken.

Add a spoonful of sour cream if you like

Look at other eggplant recipes https://traderscreek.com/recipes/recipe-index/

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Eggplant Rollatini Recipe

Eggplant Rollatini Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 whole eggplants, peeled and sliced lengthwise, about 1/4 inch thick. To keep a consistent thickness, try using a mandolin slicer.
• 2 cups fresh ricotta cheese
• 1- to 1 1/2- pound piece of fresh mozzarella shredded
• 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 pound sliced prosciutto or sliced baked ham
• 1 egg white
• 2-3 cups tomato sauce – your call. A good store bought works as well as homemade

Directions

Since we are trying to be “healthy”, this recipe calls for baking the eggplant to cook/soften-up. If you want to fry the eggplant, I will give the change-up at the end. There are also variations of this recipe where you can dip the eggplant in an egg-wash and then dip in bread crumbs before frying/baking. Frankly I think it takes away from the very sweet-simple taste of a fresh eggplant. But, as the saying goes…

1. Brush eggplant slices with olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Roast in 400-degree oven for 20 minutes, flipping eggplant halfway through cooking.

2. Make filling: In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of fresh ricotta, 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of fresh shredded mozzarella, 1 egg white, salt and pepper, and mix well.

3. When eggplant has cooled about 10 minutes, begin the rolling process. On each slice, put about 2 tablespoons of ricotta cheese mixture. Spread it on the eggplant. Next, place a slice of ham/prosciutto on top of the cheese and then roll. Repeat with all eggplant slices.

4. Coat the bottom of a deep baking dish with tomato sauce. Start placing the rolled eggplants at the bottom of the pan. When pan is filled, put some sauce on the top of the eggplant. Sprinkle some more grated cheese on top. Finally, spread the remaining mozzarella on top of each eggplant rollatini.

5. Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 30 minutes. The cheese should be melted and a little bubbling should be going on.

Using Fried Eggplant

1. In a large skillet, fry eggplant slices in olive oil until eggplant is flexible for rolling, about 3 minutes per side.

2. This is step 3 above!! Drain eggplant on paper towel if fried. When eggplant has cooled about 10 minutes, begin the rolling process.

3. This is step 5 above!! Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Look at other eggplant recipes https://traderscreek.com/recipes/recipe-index/

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Stuffed Roasted Peppers Recipe

Stuffed Roasted Peppers

What I like about this Stuffed Roasted Peppers recipe is that you can assemble and then put into the freezer for stuffed roasted peppersfuture use. We grow so many peppers that we need to always come up with new recipes. Another great feature is, other than cheese, this is a pure vegetarian meal – with the cost of meat that is great. If you have a garden, as we do, this is a great chance to make a meal from your hard work. You will also know how the vegetables were grown!! Try using red and yellow peppers for some extra color.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons
4 bell peppers, halved lengthwise – remove insides
1 pint tomatoes chopped. Remove excess seeds if necessary
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves – chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup grated mozzarella
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Lightly oil a large shallow baking pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Arrange peppers, cut sides up, in baking pan, and lightly oil the cut edges.

In a bowl, toss the tomatoes, onion, basil, garlic, 2 tablespoons oil, crushed red pepper flakes, mozzarella – salt and pepper to taste.

Divide mixture among peppers and roast in upper third of oven until peppers are tender, about 20 minutes.

If you want to change up the stuffed roasted peppers and add meat. Chicken, lamb, beef all work well, then just

Look at other pepper recipes https://traderscreek.com/recipes/recipe-index/

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Apple Dumplings

Apple dumplings made based on this recipe makes a great desertApple Dumplings

Every year we go to a local orchard and pick apples. This year we picked a ½ bushel of Mac’s. Other than eating an apple every day and making apple sauce or an apple pie, we are always looking for new and easy recipes. While watching Food Network we watched Trisha Yearwood make this apple dumplings recipe. Right after the show we went into the kitchen and tried it. I give this an A+

Ingredients

2 apples
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 Pillsbury Grands biscuits
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

In a medium saucepan, mix 1 cup water, 3/4 cup of the sugar, the butter and vanilla. Bring the sugar mixture to a boil over medium heat.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Peel and slice the apples vertically into 8 slices each.

Separate each biscuit into 2 layers. Wrap a biscuit layer around a slice of apple, stretching the biscuit slightly to overlap, and seal on the bottom. Place the wrapped slices, sealed-side down, in a casserole dish – do not use a dish that is too small you do not want the liquid to boil the dumplings but rather you want the liquid to reduce down into a thick syrup.

Pour the hot sugar mixture over the apple slices. Mix the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle the mixture over the tops of the wrapped apples. Bake until golden brown, 35 minutes.

Serve this freshly cooked, warm and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Make sure to take a tablespoon of the syrup and drizzle over the apple dumplings!!

I found this apple dumplings recipe while watching Trisha Yearwood on Food Network but made a few modifications. This Apple dumplings recipe is an A+. Give it a try.

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Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe

Broccoli Cheese Soup

My wife went out to the garden and picked broccoli from the garden. She did an internet search and came up with a recipe for broccoli cheese soup. She did some tweaking and ended up with what I consider an A+ soup recipe.broccoli cheese soup made with a good sharp cheddar cheese. A meatless dish for everyone

Ingredients

3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 medium chopped onion
¼ cup melted butter
¼ cup flour
1 quart of half-and-half cream
1 quart chicken stock
1 lb. fresh broccoli (about 2 cups)
2 cups carrot, grated
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 lb. grated sharp cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large skillet, sauté the onion in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter until the onion is translucent then set aside.

In a large pot make a rue by whisking together the ½ cup (1 stick) melted butter and flour over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes. Slowly stir in the half and half and chicken stock. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add the broccoli, carrots, and onions. Let them simmer on medium low for about 25 minutes until the broccoli and carrots are tender. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper and sharp cheddar cheese. Let the cheese melt and then serve.

You can jazz up this broccoli cheese soup by first roasting the broccoli in the oven to given a slightly hearty taste. However you make it, you will end up with a really hearty soup. This can be served as a main entrée for dinner or as a “warmer-upper” on a cold winter day.

A nice hot thermos of broccoli cheese soup while ice fishing or lunch when out and about in the woods will provide a full stomach and energy.

Check our wild life recipes