Grilled Ratatouille

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Yvette

What a whirlwind of a week. I haven’t had much time on here and with my last post well over a week ago, I have some serious catching up to do.

I haven’t had extra time to make the finer things, like planned desserts, but this grilled ratatouille was superb with grilled steak.

Fennel,zucchini,red and yellow peppers,and eggplant make up this delicious combination. Cut vegetables into large pieces and place on grill.

Nothing hard about that, this dish is all in the presentation…after you’ve grilled the vegetables slice into thin strips, leaving the fennel in slices …

Arrange in orderly fashion, first the fennel then zucchini and eggplant and finally the colourful red and yellow peppers.

And here’s my homemade delicious dressing:

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

zest and juice of 1 lemon

freshly ground pepper

6 capers

2 anchovies

sliced black olives

sprinkle of pine nuts

Finely chop the anchovies and capers and place in mixing jar. Add balsamic vinegar,olive oil, zest and lemon juice,black pepper and mix well.Pour over grilled vegetables with a sprinkling of black olives and pine nuts.

Serve warm of cold as you like.

Enjoy!

Nice and easy entertaining, great to the eye and the taste buds. Try it for your next warm Summer evening grill.

Tuesdays are fun sharing with other talented bloggers, blog hop around with host Alicia at A Beautiful Mess and Jen at

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, and this week for What’s cooking Wednesday with The King’s Court IV. and

Whatcha Makin’ Wednesdays at Scrapaddict4sure.

Have a great week everyone!

Yvette…x

Creamy Eggplant and Cherry Tomato Flan

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Yvette

What more could you ask for on a Summers day, this flan can be served hot or cold accompanied by a tossed green salad, a glass of chilled white wine over a little chat with girlfriends. The flavours of sweet eggplant,garlic and cherry tomatoes, magically combine in this flan, a real Summer treat. Read on for the recipe…

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In my Garden

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Yvette

I’m enjoying the last of the Summer days left, and my garden is showing signs already of the changing season…these roses are the second blooms, still beautiful..take a look at what’s happening in my garden…

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Can’t live without basil…

Posted on June 13, 2010 by Yvette

herbs

I have to admit I’ve grown to love and adore Basil. He’s great to work with flavouring my summer salads, ratatouille, and my pesto sauce for my pasta. He’s always on hand outside my kitchen door or in the veg patch, not much looking after needed, baking up the full sun and a little water. I remember basil growing in my grandmothers herb garden, and from a young age picking fresh basil leaves and watching my grandmother make pesto sauce and tomato sauce with basil.

Basil is associated with love rituals in some cultures. In Italy when a woman placed a pot of basil on her balcony, it meant she would be receptive to her lover. I placed mine outside my kitchen door, so that its only a dash away to add to any dish that I’m making at the time. I’m also not sure about the burning of basil, as noted by Bruce Burnett who is the author of the book – Herbwise:growing cooking wellbeing – a book about the creative use of herbs.

“When two lovers place two basil leaves into a fire and the leaves are immediately consumed, it signals that the relationship will be harmonious.If the leaves sizzle,there will be some quarrelling, and if the leaves crackle fiercely and fly apart, the relationship is doomed. ” Bruce Bennett

There are countless types of basil the most common used in pesto – genovese basil, and sweet basil preferred for cooking. The Italian cuisine is full of many recipes using basil, one of the royals, up there with oregano and rosemary.

I don’t always have the time to make my own pesto sauce, but good quality pesto can be found in most gourmet delicatessen’ s, although if you have the opportunity to make your own..try it..your kitchen is filled with a cloud of a divine sweet basil aroma.

I’ve said before that Italian style recipes are simple, mainly using 3 or 4 ingredients. These ingredients are the same used in Eggplant flowers. Eggplant, tomatoes, mozzarella and the all important basil pesto.

Recipe: Eggplant Stacks

Ingredients: for 4 serves

eggplant stacks

1 Eggplant (round type)

6 cherry tomatoes

1 mozzarella

generous helping of basil pesto

Preparation:

Slice the eggplant into medium size circles, grill on barbeque hot grill, slice cherry tomatoes into circles and also the mozzarella. When the eggplant has been grilled on both sides, start stacking…eggplant, tomatoes and mozzarella, doing only two layers. Add the pesto sauce on top in abundance.

eggplant stacks

These are quick and a great eye pleaser, easy entertaining! Serve as a side dish with grills or as an entrée.

Enjoy!

Eggplant Flowers

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Yvette

In a mad lunchtime rush I was able to visit the fresh fruit and vegetable market yesterday. With the start of Summer upon us the range of seasonal produce at the moment is at a high, from green leafy salads, green beans, broad beans, peas, zucchini, the plump reds of tomatoes , peppers and cherries and the “Black Beauty” of the bunch the dark shiny, glossy purple of Eggplant (melanzane).

eggplant * melanzane

Eggplant is one of those vegetables used a lot in Italian cuisine. The best known recipe I think you would know is ratatouille. But there are many recipes I’ve learnt since experimenting with many Italian dishes.

Italian food is simple, each recipe using two or three main seasonal products. That ‘s the key, quality produce and what’s in season. Italian food is also regional, what you may find as the main dish of Veneto – Treviso isn’t the same as you would find in Rome, Sicily or Naples.

Recipe:Eggplant Flowers * i ”fiori” di melanzane, is one of my favourite eggplant dishes.

ingredients:eggplant flowers

Ingredients for 4 persons

2 eggplants ( long type)

8/10 cherry tomatoes

1 mozzarella

1 tablespoon olive oil

fresh basil

dried oregano

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 200°c.

Cut the eggplant long ways, leaving the top uncut.

cut eggplant

Cut cherry tomatoes into small slices.

cherry tomatoes

Cut mozzarella into slices, placing both tomatoes and mozzarella between each slice of eggplant, add fresh basil, I coat mine with olive oil. Sprinkle with dried oregano, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the top. Place on oven proof paper on oven tray.