Ratatouille

Ratatouille, from all accounts, takes a really long time if you want to do it right. It is a simple dish in that it doesn't require a huge amount of kitchen know-how and technique; however, it is quite complicated in the number of times you need to chop vegetables, add things to the pot, take things out of the pot, let the ingredients boil, etc. This dish takes time! Thus, though I truly wanted to try ratatouille in the traditional sense, I settled on this particular recipe because it looked like I could get something on the table in less than two hours. The flavors were delicious, but I think it could have used that additional time on the stove were we not in a rush to eat.

This recipe I took from www.epicurious.com: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Ratatouille-354344

Parmesan Couscous

This was a great and easy side to soak up the flavorful sauce of the ratatouille. In fact, it would go great with anything that had a spicy, tomato flavor like Italian meatballs perhaps. Give this a try if you want an easy starch to go with your main entree.

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth

2 tbsp butter

2 packages (10 oz.) plain, uncooked couscous

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Method:

1. Bring the chicken broth and butter to boil. Stir in the couscous, cover, and remove from heat. Let stand for 6-8 minutes.

2. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and ground pepper. Fluff with a fork, and serve immediately.

Spinach (Korean inspired)

[Another post from EurJean since I wasn't at their Dinner Meet.]

I got this recipe online, since I don't measure anything when I make it myself (just eyeball to taste). I prefer my spinach with less soy sauce (only one tbsp) and more garlic. It is also good with a dash of mirin, red pepper powder, and ginger powder.

Ingredients:

1 lb spinach (preferably organic baby spinach, pre-washed)
3 tbsp soy sauce (preferably low-sodium)
1 tbsp sesame oil (preferably toasted)
2 cloves finely chopped garlic (pressed works as well)
2 tsp sugar (preferably brown sugar)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional, preferably toasted)

Method:

Mix non-spinach ingredients together in a medium bowl. Blanch spinach in boiling water for 30 seconds (mix until entire bunch is mostly wilted). Squeeze excess water. Mix warm spinach with remaining ingredients in bowl.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Garlic Oil and Fried Sage

This is a great recipe for Thanksgiving if you're still looking for a solid sweet potatoes recipe. It's simple, and the roasted sweet potatoes are delicious with a slightly crusty exterior and the soft centers. Again, the recipe hails from Epicurious. Check out the recipe here.

Sauteed Pea Shoots with Garlic

This is one dish that I make fairly often whenever I cook at home. It's not limited to pea shoots either; feel free to substitute with whatever Chinese veggie you like. I'm a personal fan of making this dish with baby bok choy. When you see how easy (and cheap) this dish is to make, you'll hate having to pay so much at a Chinese restaurant for it. Ugh. :) Candace's recipe below.

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb pea shoots (dou miao), washed and drained

Salt, optional

METHOD:
1- Saute garlic until fragrant, about 30 sec.
2- Add pea shoots and stir fry until cooked through. Pea shoots will reduce greatly in size.
3- Add salt, if desired.

Collard Greens with Bacon

Collard greens with bacon - it's a standard side dish in Southern meals; I usually see it as an option with barbeque. I had never seen raw collard greens before, and I was startled by how big each leaf was. However, once the leaves got in the pot, they very quickly cooked down to almost nothing. This was a tasty side dish to complement the rest of Alice's Southern cuisine. Can't go wrong with bacon, right? :)

Ingredients:

4 strips thick-sliced bacon, snipped crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Several dashes of hot sauce

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 lbs. collard greens, stems removed, leaves sliced into 3-inch wide strips

1 cup chicken broth

Instructions:

1. Put bacon pieces into a large pot and cook on medium heat until they just start to brown around the edges. Stir occasionally. Mix in the onions and cook until they're soft and starting to brown.

2. Add the garlic, sugar, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant, about 1 min.

3. Pour in the vinegar, bring to a simmer, and cook until the amount of liquid is reduced by half, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot.

4. Stir in the collard greens and the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the greens are completely wilted and have lost their brightness, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with additional vinegar and hot sauce and serve with a generous ladle of the pan juices from the pot.

Napa Cabbage with Sichuan Peppercorn

This was perhaps the easiest dish to prepare since it was just a quick stir-fry of Napa cabbage and some peppers. Beware of the amount of peppercorns you put in - I didn't really count out the number of pepper corns I threw into the pan, and that made the whole kitchen crew start to sneeze from the peppery-ness. :-D This was a nice side dish to contrast with the beef short ribs and the salmon. Walter's recipe below.

Ingredients:

1 Napa cabbage (chopped into roughly 2 inch squares)

8 Sichuan peppercorns

1-2 dried red pepper

Directions:

* Heat pan or wok to high. Add oil. Stir-fry sichuan peppercorns and dried red pepper.

* Stir-fry cabbage for a minute or so. You may need to do this in batches. It's important the wok stay hot.

* Salt to taste.