Baked ratatouille with pasta

I've never had ratatouille before, so I'm not sure if this tastes like it should, but it's yummy and that's what matters.

Baked Ratatouille with Pasta
1 small eggplant
1 yellow squash and 1 zucchini, thickly sliced
15 oz chicken, cubed
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
1 bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
2/3 c chicken stock
3 tomatoes, skinned, seeded, and quartered
1 tbsp chopped mixed herbs
8 oz pasta
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

1. Wash the eggplant and cut into 1 in cubes. Put into a colander with the squash, sprinkle with salt, and allow to drain for 30 minutes.
2. Mix the cubed chicken with the soy sauce, garlic, and sesame seeds. Let marinate for half an hour. Saute in a pan with the marinade.
3. Put the pepper, onion, and garlic into a saucepan with the stock. Bring to a boil, cover,a nd cook for 5 minutes until tender. Remove the lid and boil until all the stock has evaporated. Add the tomatoes and herbs and cook for another 3 minutes, then add the rest of the veggies and cook until tender. Season to taste.
4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta al dente, then drain. Toss the pasta with the veggies and chicken. Transfer to a shallow baking dish and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake at 350 until lightly toasted.

Bumbleberry pies

A fellow TFA'er gave me this recipe for bumbleberry pie. I usually make mini ones, as they're a lot easier to eat. I've made them both with the traditional pie dough and cream cheese dough. The cream cheese was a little richer and flakier, but there really wasn't much difference.


Bumbleberry Pie
Filling:
1-2 cups apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces
3-5 cups total cups of any or all of the following: strawberries, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries
3/4 c sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon


Glaze:
1 egg yolk
2 tsp water
sugar


Cream cheese dough:
1 1/4 c flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 c full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 c butter, at room temperature


Regular pie dough:
1 c cold butter, diced
2 c flour
1/4 c sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 c cold water


Combine all the fruit in a large bowl. If I'm making mini pies, I usually throw all the berries and cherries into the food processor first and turn them into small chunks. Sprinkle in the rest of the ingredients and stir gently.


Roll out half the pie crusts (either one big one or about one dozen of each dough for mini ones). Fill with the fruit mixture (about 2 tbsp for mini ones). Roll out the remaining dough for the top crust. Cut slits in the top and place over fruit. Seal edges and flute.


Combine the egg yolk and water, then brush over the top crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes (about 5 for mini ones), then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 35-40 minues (about 10-20 for mini ones) or until golden brown. Let cool on rack.

Black bean and corn empanadas

A coworker gave me a ton of corn, so I decided to make some black bean and corn salsa. I had tons of it, so I made some empanadas. I made different dough than I usually do and it was really crumbly, so rather than keep trying to roll it out, I made open-faced empanadas. Warmed up with more cheese on them, they were delicious!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

2 c cooked corn

1-15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1-15 oz can ro-tel

chopped cilantro

1 jalepeno, finely chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

several squirts lime juice

2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Risotto fritters

A new cookbook of mine has a recipe for risotto fritters. Basically, make the risotto, let it cool, shape into small discs, refrigerate for 15 minutes, then fry in a couple centimeters of hot oil.

Well, it doesn't work. Maybe my discs were just too big? I tried it after refrigerating them. I tried freezing them. I tried cooking in a skillet with no oil. Nothing.

But, it did enhance the flavor when I tried frying them in olive oil (it was sun-dried tomato spread and granitu cheese - similar to parmesan). It was really yummy, just not what I expected. If anyone knows how to make risotto fritters, I'd love to learn how he or she does it.

Peach pie/cobbler thing

I bought a bunch of fresh peaches at the farmers' market a couple weeks ago. What do you do with lots of fresh peaches? You make a pie/cobbler thing. I took it into work and my coworkers loved it (I would've sent it to daycare but I didn't know how much brandy was left in it).

Peach Pie/Cobbler Thing

Blanch a bunch of peaches (I think I used 11), peel, and slice. Melt half a stick of butter in a large pan, then pour in the peaches, a cup of sugar, and 1/2 cup brandy. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool.

Roll out a puff pastry sheet until it fits your lightly greased pan. Put the pastry in the pan, then pour the peach mixture on top. Bake at 350 until it's bubbly (maybe 30-45 min?). Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Chili

I posted this on Jax's blog back in February, but I thought I'd move it over here in an attempt to consolidate recipes.

Yummy Chili
1 lb hamburger
1 lb spicy sausage (we used venison sausage made by one of my coworkers)
1 onion, chopped
1 can light red kidney beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 small can tomato paste
1 can tomato soup
1 can ro*tel (any variety)
1 can diced tomatoes
2-3 bay leaves
chili powder
basil
fresh ground black pepper

In a large, heavy bottomed pan, brown the meat. Add the onion and cook until soft. Pour in all the cans. Add the bay leaves and 10-15 shakes of the spices. Simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Makes 8 filling servings.

Thanks a lot, Amish people

I kept one of my Amish friendship bread babies to experiment with (I actually gave the other one away, for the first time since I started). I made four different kinds (I divided each batter in half), all using vanilla pudding, and each was delicious.

1. Plain old chocolate chip, which made six large muffin cookies.
2. Apple and cranberry crumbcake - cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, an apple, and a handful of craisins, topped with a food-processed mixture of a stick of butter, cinnamon, a cup of sugar, and about 1/3 c flour. We sent this into daycare for the assistant director's birthday, and she was very disappointed that she only got one small piece - the kids and other teachers ate the rest! One of Jax's teachers was telling everyone that she gave me the recipe (she's been giving me several that she finds in magazines). Nope, came up with it myself!
3. Spiced vanilla - all the spices of the apple and cranberry one but without those or the topping; it also made six large muffin cookies.
4. Maple pecan - mixed a cup of chopped pecans into the batter, then drizzled maple syrup on the top before I baked them. This made eight tiny baby loaves.