Pumpkin and Spice

I feel a little bad about my distaste for eggplants- I really hate to be a picky eater, and I'll taste dishes with eggplants in them, but I just have a hard time getting over my hang-up. One eggplant-centric dish I like (minus the eggplant, of course) is ratatouille. Ratatouille is a thick, hearty, French stew, made with lots and lots of veggies, most notably, eggplant. It's also fantastically inexpensive to make, as it tended to be, as the characters in the Disney/Pixar film Ratatouille point out, "peasant food". (And, as Linguine points out, it also sounds a lot like "Rat-patootie".) There's no meat, no cream, no butter, no exotic ingredients- just simple veggies, stewed and savory.

I don't often order it at restaurants, but I've made it at home before, with a little tweak- I substitute meaty portabella mushrooms for the eggplant. I know this makes it a less-than traditional version, but if I'm making it for myself, I see no reason to use an ingredient I don't care for.

Sunday, the bakeries at work had a end-of-season party, and it was decided that the externs and bakers who had been living in the kitchen-less employee housing all season should do the cooking. Having had five months of rich, heavy foods in the cafeteria, I wanted to make something healthier for the pot-luck, but, as it is still snowy and cold outside, something a little hearty, too. So, I signed up for ratatouille. And then later had a little panic attack as I realized people would be expecting eggplant. Should I keep it traditional with eggplant? Should I cook it the way I like it? What to do? After talking it over with a co-worker, I decided to make it my way. (He put it, "Why cook something you won't eat?")

Today, I headed over to the Exec. Pastry Chef's house to whip up my Ratatouille. It was so nice to be in a kitchen, chopping and simmering and filling the house with good smells of garlic and onions. In the words of glam metal band Cinderella, sometimes you don't know what you got ‘till it's gone. Luckily, tomorrow morning I go home to Kyle and my kitchen!

Ratatouille a la Citrouille (Ratatouille, Pumpkin-style)
Serves 4-6

• Splash of olive oil
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped (I like sweet onions)
• 5-6 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
• 1 lb portabella mushrooms, chopped (or, 1lb eggplant, if you prefer.)
• 1 lb zucchini, chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 large can diced tomatoes, undrained (I use Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Tomatoes)
• 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves plucked from the stems (or a small palmful of dried thyme)
• 2 bay leaves
• Spoonful brown sugar
• Splash balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/4c fresh basil, chopped

Heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a soup pot, and add the onions and the garlic. Cook until the onions are softened, but not caramelized. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
Add the mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 45min-1hour. Remove from heat. Extract bay leaves, and stir in the fresh basil. Serve with crusty French bread.
(If you really wanna do this Pumpkin-style, pop in a Poison album and sing along while cooking. A Motley Crue or Guns 'n' Roses album would also be acceptable.)

As you can see in this picture, I chop the veggies pretty coarsely. Ratatouille is very provincial- it's not fancy pants French dining. Big chunks of veggies are nice and rustic, not to mention they stand up to the long simmering better than finely chopped veggies would.

Oh, and don't worry if you have some leftovers- Ratatouille is even better the second day!