Une Petite Ratatouille...Oh and a nicely marinated London Broil

Ratatouille

 1 eggplant

2 small zucchini

1 summer squash

1/2 white onion

3 small tomatoes

1/3 of a jar of tomato sauce

herbs, s p

olive oil

What's that thing on the right?? 

I used a coffee filter and a lil rope and filled it with thyme, rosemary, and parsley.

Peel and chop the veggies into 1/2in squares about.  Start in a deep pan..or a large one...olive oil and onion, then the squash/zucch/eggplant. Throw the herb packet in there and add s/p... throw in the tomatoes and a touch of tomato sauce as well. 

Oh Yeah the steak...

Marinated overnight with some garlic cloves, spiediees GF sauces...and is that another herb pouch I see?

Sausage and Peppers Improv

mini sweet peppers
sausages
onion
crushed tomatoes can
herbs s p

So I began with the mini sweet peppers in a bowl.  I added Olive oil a touch of balsamic, s p. Let em marinate a bit and then I threw them on the BBQ and roasted em...Dont worry about the flames and char that builds- thats where the flavor's at.  Take them off once all sides are done and let cool.  Next peel the skin off of the peppers and remove all the burnt stuff. Then I sliced em up and threw them back into that saucy bowl.

On the stove I had the sausages going, threw in some olive oil, and sliced onion.  After say-5min I added a can of crushed tomatoes, thyme, s, p, basil, and rosemary.  I let it all cook down prob over a medium to low heat for...and when you think the sausages and the sauce are nearly there, you toss in the peppers for the last few mins.

sorry no mouthwatering picture this time

Tweeked Pakistani Kima

2.5lb of ground beef
1 onion
1c of peas
2-3 potatoes rough chopped and boiled
2 sweet potatoes rough chopped and boiled
3~ cloves of garlic minced
1/2 tsp of minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp of coriander
1 tbsp of curry powder
dash of sirracha, s,p, cayenne, chili powder, sazon
3 tomatoes rough chopped


In a large pan, start with some oil(or butter) and garlic. Let brown a touch, add onions...add the curry powder, ginger, and spices.  Next add the ground beef, this is where I noticed I needed more curry and adjusted accordingly.

Once the meat is near ready add the potatoes and sweet potatoes (mine were pre-boiled leftovers, you could add them earlier with the meat and they will cook within) and the tomatoes.   I covered for 5min or so and went back over and added the peas(which barely need to be cooked> and a touch of the juice from the can because it looked a lil on the dry side.

Baked Sweet Potato

Simply wrap each sweet potato in tin foil,
bake for an hr at 400.

I actually was bringing them over someplace so they sat out and I chose not to cool them down.  So they kept cooking and turned to mush within their skins...still they weren't half bad.

Quick Leftover Curry Stew

Leftover roastd chckn baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic
Fresh coriander
Curry powder
Cumin
Oil
Greek yogurt
Jalapeno
Garlic
Tsp of tomato sauce
Srirraacha
Cayenne,s/p

Start oil garlic spices hot in a pan, add leftovers.. Let em get good n currrried, add sauce, jalapeno chopped, hot sauce n yogurt then mix round.. Whole thing should take ya 15min

Chicken Stock

'The Biggest Pot You Got'
Whole chicken Carcass
Water
Onion, Carrot, Celery
Parsley, thyme rosemary garlic s, p in a coffee filter wrapped up

Toss everything in, fill with hot water to the top..bring to a rolling boil and then let simmer for 6-8hours. Set the pot to an edge a burner so as to move the fat and residue to a single edge with the bubbles.  Then you may easily remove it now and again with a large spoon.  Add water to top as it boils down.

Oven Roasted Whole Chicken

whole chicken

4 potatoes

4 sweet potatoes

1 onion

1 head of garlic

rosemary, thyme, parsley, s, p

olive oil

1/2 lemon

spiedies chicken marinade and a lil lemon garlicious (both GF)

butter

Clean your chicken.

Let chicken marinade for an hour in spiedies.   Allow excess to drip off before stuffing with onion, a bundle of herbs, 1/2 a lemon, and several cloves of garlic(crush em with side of knife if you like)..I then put some garlic slices and butter beneath the skin..then you may tie that bad boy up.  Start and end on the drumsticks.

I used a 9x15 pyrex dish with 2.5in sides. Created a bed of potatoes and sweet potatoes(peel and chopped) and plopped the bird on top.  Sprinkle finely chopped garlic around, throw a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary around the potatoes surrounnding the beast.  A few dried cranberries near the sweet potatoes.  Lightly drizzle olive oil over it all.

I started the dish off in the oven at 425 for 15min then turned it down to 325 for 1hr-1hr 10mins. Let sit 15-20min before serving.

Fire Roasted Stuffed Peppers

2.5lbs ground beef

Half a white onion

3 bell peppers

Basmati rice

Swiss cheese

Tomato Sauce

2c tomato sauce

2c crushed tomatoes

Diced 1/4c black olives

Diced 1/4c mushrooms

S/p, cayenne, sriraacha, chili powder, bread crumbs

Garlic finely chopped

Chopped Parsley and basil

Brown ground beef with a touch of olive oil garlic and onion. Then mix in tomato sauce. Boil the rice until al dente. Next I strained and cooled it down under cold water. Then add the rice to your sauce to your desired ratio. This time I went heavier on the meat( there was plenty of extra meat n rice on the side.. I could have gone for another 3 peppers...even more if you increase rice ratio to 50/50 and over)

Throw those peppers into a big ziplock with some olive oil, a dab of balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. I lightly roasted the peppers on the bbq, turning them every 3-4mins for 15mins.  Try to take most of the char off the peppers(the burnt flakes)..as best you can.

Cut the top out of the pepper, as you would when making a jack o lantern. And clean out the inside(I didnt do this earlier for fear of ruining the walls.

Next I threw the peppers in the oven for 15mins as it reaches 400.

Time to put it all together. Spoon in the filling Stand the pepper up best you can on a dish( mine kept falling and so I was cussin through this process.) top each one with swiss and put those suckers in the oven at 400 for 15-20 until cheese has browned.   Et Voila!

Easter Dinner

Sorta' Tuscan Leg o Lamb

2-3 cloves of garlic

1/2 white onion

rosemary, thyme, marjoram, parsley, s, p

lemon juice and zest(grated peel)

olive oil

2 tbsp dijon mustard

3.5lb boneless leg of lamb

5 idaho potatoes

chopped up and mixed all marinade ingradients together in a bowl, swished the lamb around in it and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so..

I used a 9x15 pyrex dish with 2,5in sides.. made a bed of roughly chopped onion, threw in around 5 potatoes rough chopped.. then I lay the lamb on top.. insert garlic chunks in tiny holes on the top using a sharp knife...drizzled a touch of olive oil over the potatoes, added s/p, thyme and rosemary sprigs over potaotoes.

set oven to 325, bake for 1hr-1hr10min for MR..1hr20min for MED

Sweet Potato Mash

6 sweet potatoes

1 tsp white gran sugar (no maple syrup or brown sug in the house or I would have used those)

1/4c of dried cranberries

1/4c milk 2%

s/p

cinnamon (would have also used nutmeg had there been any in the house)

Boil sweet potatoes in rolling boil for 30-45min...until cooked. You can use a food processer to mash, I used a fork and a hamburger press(didnt want to have to clean the processer)...so then I added a touch of milk, sugar, s/p, cinnamon and continued to mash, add the dried cranberries...mix around. It is ready to serve...i made it earlier in the day so I could focus on other food prep so I cooled the dish down (sweet potatoes went under cold water immediately so as not to overcook..and then when I finished mixing i placed the finish product in the fridge til everything else was nearly cooked. I then tossed it back in the oven(and i was going to add a layer of pecans on top or bottom but had none) for about 20-30min)

Asparagus with goat cheese

bag of asparagus

1 clove of garlic

lemon juice

goat cheese

bread crumbs

s/p

1/4 white onion

olive oil

Boil the aspargus for 15min~ al dente(not until they are super soft) in water w/ a lil salt and chopped onion to try and defuse some flavor.. Once ready, rinse asparagus under cold water so as to not over cook them. lay the asparagus in a row on cooking sheet or I used a pyrex dish 9x15, 2.5in sides.. sprinkle w s/p, bread crumbs, lemon, drizzle olive oil, add the goat cheese last, breaking off small chunks off a log..not too much a few pieces here and there, dont overdo it

. then place the dish in the oven at 400 for 20-30min..until brown--dont let asparagus dry out

Deviled Eggs

8 eggs hard boiled

dijon mustard

mayo

paprika

srirracha

s/p

peel all the eggs once hard boiled. cut 7 in half and take yokes out. put yokes in a bowl, break apart with a fork...add mayo and dijon until you get the desired 'deviled' taste. fill the half egg whites back up...sprinkle paprika lightly for coloring over the top...I enjoyed a touch of srirracha with them

Bruschetta Salad or Antipasto Salad

buffalo mozz

olive oil

1/2 tsp of balsamic vinegar (half what would be added to a salad vinagrette

parsley

s/p

1/2 white onion chopped

3 tomatoes 1/2 in to 1in cubes

garlic diced

black olives and a few green greek olives

Mix it all together. serve over pieces of bread, can dip the bread in...(I used an olive loaf to bring out the flavors.

left to right:lamb,potatoes, asparagus

 left to right: sweet potatoes, lamb, potatoes

 Deviled Egg Close-Up