Ratatouille!

Ratatouille!

If you have not heard of the dish ratatouille... odds are you haven't watched many animated movies in the past few years.
Though there is some debate on how on earth you are *actually* supposed to make the stuff, (and there seem to be as many versions as there are people who've tried to make it.) the general consensus remains that it is a " traditional French provincial stewed vegetable dish, made of tomatoes,egg plant, zucchini, onions and peppers." And it generally served with (or over) some form of grain, such as pasta, bread or rice.
So! After some research... Yup, you've guessed it. I made my own. =)
This particular recipe is not the fancily layered kind that you saw in the movie, but the slightly more conventional, provincial stew style. Of course, " more conventional" is relative with me. ^_^ But my family really loves it. I hope you all will too.


Sarah and Susie's Provencal style Ratatouille


One medium/large onion, diced

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, diced ( opt.)

One half of a medium sized eggplant cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Two pint cans diced tomatoes (3 1/2 to 4 fresh tomatoes can be substituted. blanch and peal tomatoes, dice into 3/4 inch pieces and drain off excess liquid.)

One half of a green bell pepper cut into1/2 inch pieces

One medium zucchini cut into 1/2 inch cubes

One medium summer squash cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 Tbs fresh thyme chopped

Two small bay leaves

½ tsp onion powder

1 1/2 to 2 tsp salt ( or to taste)

1/2 to 1 tsp pepper ( or to taste)

2 tsp olive oil

1 (15 oz) can canned beef (opt)

Saute onions and in olive oil until tender.
Add egg plant, garlic and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add green pepper, zucchini, summer squash, thyme, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and extra olive oil ( and beef if using beef) and simmer until vegetables are tender and tomatoes are reduced slightly. (approximately 10 -20 minutes) Ratatouille should be the consistency of a thick soup or stew when finished. (This may take slightly longer if using fresh tomatoes)
Remove bay leaves and serve over rice, polenta or other grain. =)
( A time saver tip; I like to use the "Ten minute brown rice" it is quick [ takes SO much less time than regular brown rice] and has basically the same nutritional value as the long cook kind.)

( note: Traditional ratatouille does not contain beef. I just added that because my family has a distinct protein preference. =)


Special thanks to Susan T! Her and I spent quite a fun afternoon in her kitchen creating this recipe. =D

Breakfast! ( well the recipe is for the pancakes ) ...* nom*

Soooooooo it just so happens... that I have been craving pancakes like crazy for the past few days. Now they say cravings usually don't last more than an hour or so... But I tell you, this has NOT been the case. Yesterday and today, I have been craving pancakes like you wouldn't believe. lol SO! Today I made myself a recipe, and made myself and mother pancakes for lunch. (Lol Yup, lunch. *quirky smile* Yes, I am perfectly aware of what I titled this.)

So anywayzz.. Here 'tis! My egg free, gluten free dairy, free recipe for pancakes... And it is now being blogged for all of you. Because? Well, I happen to like pancakes very much, and figure I'm not the only one. ^_^

Pancakes

¾ Cup millet flour

½ Cup white rice flour

1 Tbs Potato starch

¼ Cup oat bran ( Note: Although oats are not technically a gluten grain, a lot of people with sensitivity to gluten also have trouble with oats. I personally can do some oats ( and oat bran) as long as I don't eat a whole ton of it at once, but this may not be the case for some of you. If you have a sensitivity to oats, you could either leave this bit out or just add a little whole grain flour or another grain bran [ maybe brown rice] for the same general effect.)

1 ½ Tbs cornstarch

½ tsp salt

¾ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

----

Mix together dry ingredients then ...

Combine; 1 Tbs ground chia ( salvia ) seed with

¼ cup cold/room temperature water ( this serves as my egg substitute) Stir and let jell.

Next add;

1 Tbs light olive oil ( or grape seed oil)

2/3 cup rice milk

¼ tsp apple cider vinegar

½ tsp agave nectar ( or honey)

2 Tbs water

------

Mix wet and dry ingredients together, and set pan to heating on stove to about medium heat.

Add approximately a tablespoon ( or a little less) of oil to the pan and wait until it is hot enough so that a droplet of water “ dances” when it is put into the pan. ( without spattering)

And this, my friends... is where cooking becomes art. Lol It seems making pancakes ( especially ones as delicate as these) takes a certain knack. I will try to explain how I to do them in as detailed as I can. It really is not that difficult. Though, if you're like me, it may take a smidgen of practice. =)

Once the pan is sufficiently heated, pour a 3 inch round dob of batter into the pan. ( using a fork or spoon) flatten the batter a little until it is about 4 inches around. (I highly suggest not making the pancakes much (if any) bigger than that, because it becomes extremely difficult to filp them in one piece.)

The oil should sizzle around the edges where the batter meets the pan juuuuuuust a little.

Cook for about a minute, until the edges and sides near the pan start to stiffen ever so slightly.

Using the metal spatula, “loosen” the pancake from the pan by sliding the spatula under it against the pan from all sides..... Aaaand flip!

Now there is a rule of pancake making that my mother taught me long ago, and it is this:
“ The first pancake from every batch never turns out.” Lol

Even in spite of my best efforts... I have always seen this to be true. I wish you could have seen the first pancake ( or what was left of it anyway) that came out of this batch. *laughs* I should have taken a picture. It was a hopeless pile of pathetic looking crumbs -Tasty pathetic looking crumbs - but pathetic looking crumbs none the less. Don't worry though, the rest of the batch *points to picture* turned out lovely!

Repeat with rest of batter! I do suggest that you clean out any straying fragments of pancake, and re-oil the pan in between each pancake. It makes things cook so much better. ( You also may tilt the pan around a little while the pancake is in transit during being flipped so that the oil is again beneath the pancake.

Another tip would be make sure to keep the heat as correctly as possible. ( you may have to turn the heat down after the first pancake) This is a little hard to describe, but it needs to be hot enough so that the pancake sizzles slightly, but not so hot that the oil is smoking or forming patterns on the bottom of the pan.

Recipe makes approximately 5 four inch pancakes. ( four/ four and a half-ish depending on how you do or don't include the first one. ;)

Options:

If you can eat eggs,

The chia seed mixture would be replaced with one egg. =)

Serving suggestions... ( Wow, I always laugh at the cereal boxes when they do this so I find it ironic that I now am. haha! )

I like my pancakes with banana slices and MAPLE SYRUP! ( I love this stuff! lol =)

Also for a protein source turkey bacon is delicious. * nods* I have been able to find it without soy or any other allergic-ly objectionable ingredients. You have to check the labels though, because most of them do.