Posts from the ‘Vegetables’ Category

Mar 26

Chicken Cacciatore With Gnocchi

I imagine that just about everyone is experiencing “shelter in place” right now, limiting going outside unless absolutely necessary and maybe getting a bit antsy being cooped up in your homes. Trying to turn this into a positive for me means spending a lot of time cooking. I recently made chicken cacciatore and it brought back some really wonderful memories, it has been a long time since I made this dish and after the first bite I understood why I liked it so much and wondered what took me so long to make it. I wish you all good health, stay inside as much as possible, wash your hands, a lot! We will get through this and things will be back to normal (maybe a new normal) Much love, be safe and be well.

What have you been cooking? Let me know.

Chicken Cacciatore

Serves 4-6

4-6 chicken thighs bone in, skin on or a whole chicken cut up

1 large green bell pepper sliced

mushrooms (sliced) as much or as little as you like

2 shallot chopped

2 cloves garlic (smashed)

1 26 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

splash of red wine to deglaze the pan

flour to dredge the chicken

Gnocchi (I didn’t make it used De Cecco

Dredge chicken in flour and set aside. Heat large cast iron or heavy fry pan (with lid) with high sides with enough olive oil to coat the pan generously. I used a Staub cast iron multi use pan with enamel coating (its awesome)

When pan is hot place the chicken in the pan careful not to crowd the pan skin side down. Cook approximately 4-5 minutes on medium high heat until nicely browned, turn over and repeat. Remove from pan.

On medium/high heat add shallots and green pepper and cook until softened. Add the mushrooms and garlic and continue cooking until soft but not caramelized. Remove and set aside, add the red wine to deglaze the pan, add the chicken, vegetables and tomatoes, season to taste. Put lid on, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 1/2 or 2 hours stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

When done add the gnocchi directly to the pan, no need to boil them first. Let them simmer for approximately 10-15 minutes until done. Garnish with some chopped parsley and grated parmigiana or Romano cheese.

Dec 16

42 Comments

One Skillet Chicken With Orzo, Tomato And Spinach And Percy

It has been a while again! I am pretty active on Instagram and recently posted this dish from a great cook @halfbakedharvest. I follow her on Instagram and when I saw this dish I knew I had to make it immediately! Its easy to make, is everything you need all in one pot or skillet and is incredibly delicious. I did make a few changes. I used dried sage and thyme on the chicken instead of oregano and paprika, oven roasted tomatoes rather than sun dried and for umami added a generous splash of Worcestershire. I love a one pot or skillet meal and I am a big fan of orzo, all the components spoke to me and it did not disappoint. You can see the original recipe, its hyperlinked above. I will not post her recipe without her permission so please visit her site. You can do as I did and make it your own its very easy to customize and still have excellent results. I am bringing this to Fiesta Friday #306, it’s been a long time since I have participated in the party and figured its about time to get back in the swing of things.

On November 5th my sweet Percy passed away, it was sudden, completely unexpected and has literally torn my heart in half. Percy was the sweetest, most well behaved and amazing boy. I miss him every minute of every day. I would have had Percy for 4 years on February 13th. I have a very difficult time even typing this because my heart is broken. I will post a tribute to my dear Percy soon, but right now I am trying to come to terms with his death. RIP angel boy 06/16/2005 – 11/5/2019

Sep 20

29 Comments

Creamy Baked Eggs

I am so sorry that my posts are few and far between. I feel like I am fighting my way back from a sort of dark abyss. I appreciate so much that you have stuck with me despite my lack of posts (totally inactive). It had been a long time since I had entered a contest at Food52 and missed it and the community. The most recent contest is “Your Best Creamy Breakfast”. Well, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and of course anything creamy is definitely something I can get behind. Thinking about what to make brought me to my childhood, on special occasions my Mom made baked eggs or shirred eggs. This is my updated version of my Moms recipe. I was lucky enough to be picked as a finalist and would appreciate so much if you would cast a vote for me, click here and it will take you to the voting page on Food52. Thank you again for being so wonderful!

Creamy Baked Eggs

Recipe by sdebrango

Serves 2-4 depending on appetite

Béchamel

2 tbs butter

2 tbs flour

1 1/2 cup warmed whole milk

salt and pepper to taste

The rest

4 large eggs

5 oz baby spinach cleaned

4-6 slices bacon cut into bite size pieces

10 cherry tomatoes cut in half

1/2 cup grated gruyere cheese

Handful toasted breadcrumbs to coat pan or pans

Make béchamel or white sauce. Add butter to small heavy bottom saucepan, melt on medium low heat, add flour and whisk cooking for about 1-2 minutes. Slowly add the warmed milk whisking constantly and cook until it thickens. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Remove from heat and set aside

Heat a saute or fry pan on medium high flame and add the bacon bits, saute until lightly browned. Remove the bacon leaving the rendered fat in the pan. Add the spinach and saute until wilted. Remove and set aside. Place the tomatoes in the to pan and cook until they start to blister and soften, set aside. Preheat oven to 425 degree’s. NOTE: if bacon doesn’t produce enough rendered fat add a little olive oil.

Assembly:

Butter pans,( I used 2 individual oval pans), ramekins or cocottes. Sprinkle bottom with toasted breadcrumbs. Divide the spinach between the pans, add the bacon bits and tomatoes. Spoon 3 heaping tbs of the béchamel on top. Create a well and gently nestle the eggs in the well. Spoon more béchamel around the eggs. Place your pans on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, the eggs will not be completely set, that’s ok you are going to finish in the broiler. Remove from oven and adjust to broil setting. Cover top with grated cheese and place in broiler close to flame for about 1 minute or until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Note: You can assemble this the night before and bake in the morning.

Serve with toast!

Jan 27

46 Comments

French Onion Soup

It has been a very long time since I have had a bowl of French Onion Soup, it’s one of my favorites but I rarely eat it. I don’t think I’ve ever made it either, at least that I can remember. This soup is not traditional, French onion soup is made using beef stock. Instead of beef stock I made a mushroom stock and honestly you cannot tell the difference. The stock was made a few days in advance by simply simmering dried mushrooms (I used cepe) with onion and carrot, strain and store in the refrigerator. I simmered it for about 4 hours so it was rich and meaty (without the meat). The soup came together pretty quickly, caramelizing the onions took a little time, about 30 minutes. All together it took a little over an hour to put this together. You can use commercially prepared broth of course, beef or vegetable and I am sure it would be just as good. The star of the show is the caramelized onions which give this soup it’s distinctive flavor. I served with wine, Syrah from Pug Wine, couldn’t resist the cute pug on the label and the wine is wonderful.

Mushroom Broth

4 oz dried mushrooms (shiitake, cepe or whatever you want to use)

8 cups water

1 onion peeled and cut in half

1 carrot peeled and cut in half

Season with salt and pepper if you like, I didn’t

Place all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil, turn heat down to simmer and let cook uncovered for about 4 hours. Let cool, strain and place in lidded jar and refrigerate until ready to use. Save the strained mushrooms and freeze, you can use them for mushroom soup.

French Onion Soup

serves 3-4

4 small onions peeled and thinly sliced

4 tbs butter

2 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp flour

1/2 cup wine (white or red)

4 cups mushroom stock (or whatever you want to use)

1 1/2 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

baguette cut into slices

Gruyere, comte or raclette cut into think slices (I used raclette)

Some grated parmigiana

Caramelized onions

Melt butter in saucepan and add the onions, thyme and bay leaf and sugar . Cook stirring frequently on medium high heat. When onions are soft and starting to brown reduce heat to low and let cook until caramelized stirring frequently takes about 30 minutes.

Making the Soup

Add the flour to the onions and cook for approximately 1 minute, add the wine and when it starts bubbling add the stock and water. Cook on medium heat for approximately 30 minutes. Soup will thicken slightly. While soup is cooking heat the oven to 350 degree’s place the bread on a baking sheet and toast for about 15 minutes turning over after about 8-10 minutes. Remove bread from the oven and turn on the broiler.

Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs, ladle soup in bowls, add toasted bread one or two slices depending on the size of the bread. Top with the sliced cheese and sprinkle with a little parmigiana.

Place the bowls on baking sheet and broil for about 8 minutes until cheese bubbles and is lightly browned. Remove from oven let cool for a couple of minutes and serve.

Have to show a photo of the bottle of wine, love the label and the wine is so good.

pug Syrah from pug wine

Jan 22

17 Comments

Guest Post- Beet and Gorgonzola Cheese Pearled Barley with Cream Sauce

The first guest post is from my good friend Mimi whose gorgeous blog Chef Mimi blog has inspired and delighted me for a long time. She is an amazing cook, prolific writer and world traveller and her delicious recipes are beautifully executed, photographed and I know eagerly gobbled up by her family. I am a big fan of risotto and love her take on it using barley and beets and creamy gorgonzola. Without further ado here is Mimi’s wonderful recipe, thank you so much for writing this post for my blog. Please pay Mimi a visit and if you want to print out this recipe you can do so from her blog.

When I first read through Eataly, the cookbook, this recipe caught my attention. It’s risotto made with barley, flavored with beets, and topped with a Gorgonzola cream! Plus, it was really pretty.

The Eataly cookbook, featuring “300 landmark recipes highlighting the best of contemporary Italian home cooking,” is a hefty volume. I’ve already made one recipe for the blog, and although it was poorly written, which seems crazy these days, it turned out great.

Maybe the Italians don’t follow the same recipe protocol as we do here in the United States? I assumed it was a universal thing, but who knows?

In any case, I knew I just had to try this recipe. Full disclosure, however, I substituted feta for the Gorgonzola.

Beet and Gorgonzola Cheese Pearled Barley with Cream Sauce
(that’s the actual name of the recipe in the book)

9 ounces pearled barley
2 cooked beets, cut into cubes
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Generous 2 cups vegetable broth
7 ounces white wine
5 ounces Gorgonzola, cut into cubes
1 3/4 ounces whipping cream
2 ounces butter, cut into cubes
1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese
Salt
A few thyme sprigs to garnish (optional)

Soak the barley in a large bowl of cold water for 2 hours. Rinse and drain well.

Put the beets, 2 tablespoons of the oil, a pinch of salt, and 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon of the broth into a food processor and blend to a purée.

Pour the remaining broth into a pan and bring to a simmer. Keep over a low heat while you make the risotto.

Put the drained barley into a pan, add the remaining oil and a pinch of salt, and toast the barley over medium heat for 6 minutes, stirring continuously.

Add the wine and cook for a few minutes until the wine has evaporated, then add a ladleful of the broth.

Cook the barley over medium heat for about 30 minutes, gradually adding in more broth, a ladleful at a time, until all of the liquid is absorbed by the barley, adding the beet puree 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

Meanwhile, put half the Gorgonzola and the cream into a food processor and blend to make a light, creamy sauce.

Once the barley is cooked, remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan, the remaining Gorgonzola, and the butter.

Divide among individual serving dishes, flattening the surface with the back of a spoon. Drizzle a spiral of Gorgonzola cream sauce over the top of each dish and garnish with a drizzle of oil and some thyme leaves. (I obviously didn’t use thyme leaves.)

I served the barley and beet risotto with some rosé to make the meal even more festive. Or, at least, pink!

This risotto, although really not a risotto, is absolutely fabulous. I was surprised there was no onion or garlic, but it’s more about the taste of the grain, plus the broth and cheeses.

I know this would also be really good with Gorgonzola, but the feta cream was outstanding with the beet-flavored risotto.

Beet and Gorgonzola Cheese Pearled Barley with Cream Sauce

Soak the barley in a large bowl of cold water for 2 hours. Rinse and drain well.

Put the beets, 2 tablespoons of the oil, a pinch of salt, and 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon of the broth into a food processor and blend to a purée.

Pour the remaining broth into a pan and bring to a simmer. Keep over a low heat while you make the risotto.

Put the drained barley into a pan, add the remaining oil and a pinch of salt, and toast the barley over medium heat for 6 minutes, stirring continuously.

Add the wine and cook for a few minutes until the wine has evaporated, then add a ladleful of the broth.

Meanwhile, put half the Gorgonzola and the cream into a food processor and blend to make a light, creamy sauce.

Once the barley is cooked, remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan, the remaining Gorgonzola, and the butter.

Jan 15

41 Comments

Finding Inspiration

Hello everyone, today is a holiday, remembering the life and legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. we should honor and remember this great man in our thoughts, actions and life everyday. He was a man of purpose and peace, his philosophy and life is celebrated and remembered by all on this day every January 15th. He changed the world not with violence but with words of peace delivered with absolute conviction and great faith. The world will forever be a better place because of him.

It has been almost a month since I last posted anything, thats terrible, but I simply have not been inspired to cook, create and blog. Has that happened to any of you before? My apologies for not keeping up with your blogs. I won’t go into details but a lot has been happening and it has taken it’s toll on me emotionally. I try, I really do but unless I actually want to cook or bake they just don’t come out well and frankly are not blog worthy. Hoping to do a Valentines post or posts and get baking again. I’ve ordered a couple of new cookbooks, searching for inspiration and ideas and they will be arriving soon. I feel like I have a blockage and just can’t seem to break out, maybe soon. The weather has been extreme, cold, snow and ice which doesn’t help. I love to go to the farmers market for inspiration, in the winter months it’s not exactly inspirational but I can usually find something there that gets my creative juices flowing, it’s been too darn cold to even venture outside and walk to the market.

I have made a few things that turned out well no real recipes mostly using up leftovers, simple fare. Will post a few photo’s of some things I have made recently, the first was homemade pasta using this really cool pasta maker I got from the Food52 shop. Sometimes I just don’t feel like getting my pasta machine out and this is the answer to that making quick and easy perfect noodles. Love it!!

Calling all bloggers!! Would anyone like to do a guest post while I am in this funk? Would be so happy and honored to post some of your delicious recipes on the blog. Let me know, email me or comment below.

no bigger than a small rolling pin

Homemade pasta with shaved Brussels sprouts, mascarpone,parmigiana and lemon

I mentioned before I much I detest wasting food, in an effort to use some vegetables in my refrigerator and half of a recipe for pie dough (don’t like leaving in freezer too long) I made vegetable pot pie using cauliflower, asparagus, carrots, peas. Roasted the vegetables drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt, pepper and turmeric (except the peas) in the oven on 400 degrees until tender. Made a simple béchamel and added some gruyere. Tossed in the veggies and spooned into bowls, covered with the pie dough and grated a little more gruyere. They were delicious and simple and perfect comfort food on a very cold day.

vegetable pot pie

More food that must be used is some fresh mozzarella, some baby tomatoes and fresh basil. Pizza is on the menu today and my simple no knead pizza dough makes a perfect Grandma’s pizza.

Oct 20

66 Comments

All About Pumpkin, Soup And Doughnuts

Recently I ordered 2 cans of pumpkin from my online grocer, I simply added to my cart without looking at the size of the cans, thinking it is the usual small cans of pumpkin puree. What arrived were the big cans, a whole lotta pumpkin and once opened it has to be used. I don’t really like freezing it because it becomes watery. I made 3 mini loaves of pumpkin spice bread, some chickpea pumpkin soup and pumpkin spice donuts and there is still enough leftover for a few pumpkin spice latte’s.

The pumpkin loaves I can practically make with my eyes closed, I use my recipe for banana bread and adapt to pumpkin adding spices. The soup was my own creation and turned out quite well and is super easy to make. Now Doughnuts are another thing entirely. I have only made doughnuts once I think, they were less than stellar so I abandoned making those delicious little fried cakes and opted to buy them (the best doughnuts EVER are in my neighborhood). We had a brief (2 days) of cool weather, back to warmer temps for the rest of the week but the soup on a cool day was just perfect. I used what I had in the pantry and refrigerator, threw everything in my oval roaster and slow cooked for about 6 hours. I didn’t pre soak the chick peas, just threw them in with some vegetable broth, carrot, onion, celery and everything cooked up beautifully. At the end I pureed some of the chickpeas, added pumpkin, Sri Lankan curry powder and some creme fraiche. So easy really, and no recipe required. You can add whatever you like or have on hand. I think that next I will try making yeast doughnuts now that I have cake doughnuts down.

curried pumpkin chickpea soup

Curried Pumpkin Chickpea Soup

2 cups dried chick peas

1 onion quartered

2 stalks celery

1 large or 2 small carrot

8 cups vegetable broth (you can also use water or chicken broth)

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp curry powder (I used Sri Lankan)

Optional 1/2 cup creme fraiche

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 325 degree’s. Put everything in the pot, put it in the oven and let it cook slow and long. I cooked it for 6 hours. When done, scoop out about 2/3 of the chick peas and a little of the broth along with the celery and onion. Puree in the blender until smooth, add the pumpkin, curry powder and optional creme fraiche. Add back to the pot, cut the carrots into bite size pieces and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning and if you like at the end add some spinach. I had some that needed to be used and it was nice in the soup.

Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts

Makes 12 doughnuts and holes

Recipe from Good Housekeeping

2 tbs softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

dash of ground nutmeg or about 1/8 tsp

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

vegetable oil for frying

Cream butter until fluffy, it’s only 2 tbs so it won’t be that fluffy. Add the sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Beat until combined scraping sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the pumpkin, buttermilk, egg and egg yolk and vanilla until combined. Using a wooden spoon stir in flour until well combined. Cover bowl and chill for at least 3 hours or over night.

Heat the oil to 365 degrees. On work surface dusted with flour roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick. Using doughnut cutter or biscuit cutter cut the doughnuts and place on parchment lined baking sheet. When oil is at the right temperature drop 2 or 3 doughnuts at a time and turn once browned making sure they are evenly brown and cooked through. It takes about 3 – 4 minutest per doughnut. When done place on rack lined with paper bag or paper towels. Prepare some sugar and cinnamon and roll each doughnut while still warm in the sugar mixture. Let cool and enjoy!

Oct 15

34 Comments

Corn Chowder

Summer doesn’t want to let go. It’s been hot, well really warm out and I long for crisp cool Autumn weather. My last hoorah for summer produce,( the only thing I will miss about summer is the produce) is corn chowder. I can’t believe I’ve never made it before and honestly have never even tasted it either, and now I know what I have been missing out on all these years. It’s so simple to make, sweet and savory at the same time, loaded with vegetables and a fitting tribute to delicious sweet corn. After removing the kernels from the cobs I used them to make a corn cob vegetable stock which I used to make this soup. Note: I used sweet bi color corn, if you want a soup that is a little less sweet use yellow corn, it is slightly less sweet IMHO, or mix the two types of corn.

I am bringing this soup to Fiesta Friday # 193, I am honored to be co hosting this week with the amazing Ginger and Bread.

Corn Chowder

Serves 6-8

The stock

6 ears of corn, kernels removed and set aside (see video)

3 stalks celery

3 carrots

1 large onion

10 cups water (or vegetable broth)

salt and pepper to taste

Place everything in a large pot and bring to a boil on high heat. Turn heat to medium and cook for approximately 2 hours. It will reduce to about 6-8 cups. Remove the vegetables and strain if necessary.

Making the chowder

1 onion chopped

1 stalk celery chopped

1 large carrot chopped

1 red bell pepper chopped

Corn

2 potatoes peeled and cut into bite size pieces

6-8 cups corn stock

pinch of turmeric

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 tbs flour + 2 tbs water to make a slurry

2 tbs butter

salt and pepper to taste

Add a little olive oil to a dutch oven or soup pot, heat on medium high and add the celery, onion, carrot and bell pepper. Sauté until soft. Add the stock and cook for approximately 45 minutes to an hour. Stir in the slurry and turmeric and continue to cook until it thickens a little, add the corn and potatoes and cook for another 20-30 minutes (until potato is tender). Scoop out about 3 cups of the corn and vegetables and puree in the blender until smooth. Add back to the pot along with the cream and butter, salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot or room temperature.

Watch this video on how to strip corn from Food52, I hate it when the kernels fly, this helps and there is very little flying kernels.

Sep 25

22 Comments

Block Party, Judging At Community Garden, A Bowl Of Vegetables And A One Bowl Chocolate Cake

It has been an exhausting few weeks. It was crunch time as our annual block party was coming up quicker than I would have liked it to. Organizing is not my strong suite but as the block association president much of the planning and prep work falls on me and I have to step outside my comfort zone and try to be the party planner. There is always so much to do, not enough time to do it and invariably something goes wrong. I have had torrential rain and had to cancel because of it, this year it was sunny and hot (way too hot for me) almost 90 degree’s. Something I have planned on for a year was cancelled, the rock climbing wall that our brave policeman bring to events, the kids love it and it’s so much fun for all. Last year my reservation for the wall got lost when the Officer retired and we only got it for an hour, I reserved it this year, almost a year ahead and 2 days before the event the police contacted me with bad news, the rock wall had broken and needs to be repaired. The children were all disappointed but the block party went off almost without a hitch and everyone had a good time.

Vegetables from the community garden

I live across the street from a Community Garden and they asked me if I would be a judge for a food event at their annual Harvest Festival, I was more than happy to do so. We tasted fresh vegetables grown in the garden which were judged on beauty and taste. Other things we tried were homemade pickles and desserts made with apples from the tree in the garden. It was a lot of fun, everything was delicious and some of the other judges were a food stylist, food photographer and cookbook publisher.

The block party is something everyone looks forward to all year, our block along with people from the neighborhood come together to eat, drink, talk, we all love watching the children have fun in the bouncy castle and ride their bicycles and skateboards in the street without fear of traffic. I usually have a bake sale but have been so incredibly busy I only made cookies which sold out very quickly. We grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, had pizza, drinks, music from a fantastic DJ and an amazing Ukelele group.

The day after I was completely exhausted and wanted a light simple meal. A bowl of roasted vegetables with cheesy cauliflower mash was exactly what I needed. I used an assortment of vegetables and mashed cauliflower with gruyere. Simple, healthful and delicious. Had some green beans, zucchini, tomato and shallot drizzled with olive oil and roasted in the oven at 400 degree’s. Cauliflower mash is so easy, simply boil the cauliflower, let it dry in the oven on 200 for about 20 minutes then put in the food processor with some butter, sour cream and season with salt and pepper. I added some grated gruyere and popped into the oven at 200 for a few minutes to heat and melt the cheese.

This super easy one bowl no measure chocolate cake is awesome. It’s a recipe on Food52. The fact that it’s quick and no measure immediately prompted me to give this recipe a try. The cake uses full fat plain Greek yogurt, I used Fage and you use the yogurt container as the means of measuring. Pretty cool right?

The cake will have cracks thats ok

Simple One Bowl Chocolate Cake

Recipe on food52

1 container (7 oz) plain Greek yogurt

1 container neutral flavored oil (I used canola)

2 large eggs

2 containers self rising flour

1 container unsweetened cocoa powder

1 container sugar

1 container warm water or coffee

Heat Oven to 350 degree’s. Prepare a 10 inch spring form pan by greasing or spraying the bottom, add a parchment round and then grease and flour the pan.

Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix on low until the flour is incorporated, then increase to medium high and beat for approximately 2 minutes. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. Cake Tester should come out clean. Let cool in the pan, release the pan and remove the cake. Sprinkle with some powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Aug 26

20 Comments

Caponata

I posted this recipe for Caponata years ago and I am afraid it’s been a long time since I have made it. This came about partly because I had gone a little overboard during my last visit to the farmers market, I tend to do that every time I go and I think I have mentioned this before but I hate to waste food. My Mom used to serve Caponata from time to time, usually it was purchased from the Italian supermarket commercially prepared. I liked it but thought it was too sweet, the basic idea is wonderful and it makes a delicious condiment slathered on some good bread. It really is so delicious. I think of Caponata as the Italian ratatouille. Its very easy to make, you can add what you like and subtract what you don’t.

I am going to bring this along with a loaf of homemade bread to Fiesta Friday #186 and this weeks co hosts are Colleen @ Faith, Hope, Love & Luck and Alex @ Turks Who Eat.

Farmers market haul

Caponata

Makes 1 quart

2 medium size eggplant stem end cut and sliced in half

2 cups chopped tomato or cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 small onion chopped

1 shallot chopped

2 stalks celery

3 cloves garlic minced

2 bell peppers medium size (I used a purple and red)

1/4 cup capers

pinch (or more) crushed red pepper flakes

pitted olives – didn’t measure but a generous handful cut in half if large

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tsp sugar

Heat oven to 425 degree’s. Line baking sheet with parchment. Brush the eggplant with olive oil on both sides. Place on baking sheet cut side down and roast for 15 minutes. They should be browned on the cut side but not mushy. Cut the eggplant into bite size pieces and set aside.

Nicely browned

Heat some olive oil in a skillet and add the onion, cook until softened, add the celery and pepper and cook until soft and fully cooked. Add the tomatoes, capers, olives, crushed red pepper and continue cooking until the tomatoes are cooked through, add the eggplant, vinegar and sugar and cook until thick and most of the liquid from the tomatoes is reduced. Spoon into storage containers let come to room temperature and then refrigerate. I find it’s always better served the next day and served at room temperature.