Tag Archives: tomatoes

Ratatouille!!!!

12 Sunday Aug 2012

Posted by in Side Dish

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My mom and I both bought the same recipe book from a Southern Living At Home party a few years ago; The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. I made a Boston Cream Pie out of it recently but there are a few recipes in this book that have turned up again and again at family get-togethers…namely this Ratatouille and a Black Bean and Corn Salsa. My mom and sisters and I made this Ratatouille together last weekend and served it with a thai marinated flank steak (recipe to come soon) and it was GONE. No leftovers. Seven people and a baby made short work of the whole pot of stew. Since I didn’t get enough last weekend and the farmer’s market had all the right ingredients I decided to make it again.

Almost everything that went into the Ratatouille was from the farmer’s market that I shopped at yesterday (with the exception of the red onion and the wine and spices). The beer was to help me get through all of the chopping involved for this dish :)

The finished stew:

It was so hard to take this picture and have to wait a minute to dig my spoon into the veggy-goodness.

Ratatouille

Slightly Adapted From The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook

  • 1 large eggplant (I used 5 small eggplant), cubed
  • 1 large zucchini (1 used 2-3 smaller ones), cubed
  • 2 medium yellow squash, cubed
  • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 peppers (red, yellow, green), coarsely chopped
  • 1 medium red onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans tomato wedges (I used a large pint of fresh grape tomatoes cut into wedges)
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • freshly grated parmesan cheese and pitted black olives, for garnish

Method

  • Saute first 3 ingredients in hot oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Add peppers, onion and garlic and saute for another 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes, wine and spices and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender. Discard bay leaf.
  • Serve with olives and some grated parmesan cheese. Can be served hot or cold. I prefer it warm. Makes great leftovers!!

Farmer’s Market picks

11 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by in Travels

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Travis and I took a short ride to our local South of the James farmer’s market this morning with our dogs. I haven’t been in the mood to take pictures of my food this past week but this beautiful bounty inspires me. I made a large pot of Ratatouille last weekend and it was gobbled up before there were any pics taken. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making it again with all the peppers, zucchini, squash, tomatoes and eggplant that I have here. Happy Saturday!!

Tomato Bruschetta

22 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by in Appetizers, Garden

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I’m trying to get back into “food blogging mode” since returning from vacation. I cooked while we were gone but our internet connection at our rental house wasn’t very good and I didn’t bring my personal laptop with me. It’s amazing to me that even though my boyfriend and I have the same exact laptop I have such a connection to my own laptop. I missed all of my saved favorites and preferences and settings and saved passwords. Can you tell?? It was uncomfortable to use his for more than simple browsing.

I came back home to tons of tomatoes waiting for me on the kitchen counter. My younger brother had picked them the day before. He house-sat for us while we were gone and was supposed to be harvesting them and eating them. I don’t think he paid as much attention to the garden as he said he was because I found rotten, ripe tomatoes in the garden. Such a waste!! But I was glad to have the ones that he left on the counter for me.

I made a version of this recipe a few years ago for a friends baby shower but didn’t write it down so I tried to recreate it again from memory. It’s a good way to use up tomatoes if you have plenty laying around from your garden :)

Tomato Bruschetta

  • 4-5 cups diced roma tomatoes and halved cherry tomatoes (a mix depending on what you have around)
  • 1/2 white onion, diced
  • 8 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes
  • handful basil leaves, cut into chiffonade
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese crumbles

Method

  • In an 8 cup mixing bowl (I use one by Pampered Chef) combine chopped and halved tomatoes. Add all ingredients except cheese and stir together well. Add cheese and fold so that the cheese doesn’t break up too much.
  • Serve with toasted baguette or wheat thin crackers. Would also be good on grilled chicken or shrimp.

Rockfish Baked with Lemon and served with Herb Buttered Bruschetta

10 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in Fish and Seafood

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I went shopping at one of my favorite stores this evening, Ellwood Thompson’s. I had been out all afternoon taking our labradoodle, Walter, to the vet and then running company errands with my boyfriend, Travis. Dinner was on our minds after our long day out. Ellwood’s had some local, sustainably caught rockfish and I decided that would be our dinner this evening. Of course, I didn’t leave without a few other lovely purchases…bone-in pork chops from Polyface Farms (that will be dinner tomorrow night), locally grown bok choy and shiitake mushrooms, locally made artisan baguette and an organic wine from Oregon.

I knew that I wanted to bake the rockrish and did a quick Google search for some inspiration. I found in-depth and easy to follow instructions on Livestrong.com and my idea for the following recipe was taken from there. I’m excited to share this recipe because it’s the first recipe on my blog which features rosemary and olive oil :)

Rockfish Baked with Lemon and served with Herb Buttered Bruschetta (adapted from Livestrong.com)

Ingredients

  • A little over 1 pound fresh rockfish
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 small lemons (or 1 large), sliced into rounds
  • handful of fresh asparagus, ends trimmed
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 400°. On a baking sheet covered with foil place the rockfish fillets and asparagus.
  • Use the ends of the lemons that can’t be used as slices and squeeze that juice over the fish and asparagus. Drizzle the EVOO over everything and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay the rosemary springs on top of the fish then cover the rosemary with the lemon slices. Sprinkle the fish with the red pepper flakes.
  • Cover the baking sheet with another layer of foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and move asparagus around to make sure it is baking evenly. Cook for another 5 minutes uncovered.
  • While the fish is baking prepare the bruschetta.

Ingredients for Bruschetta

  • baguette, sliced
  • cherry tomatoes sliced in half
  • gorgonzola cheese
  • Herb Butter: 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 clove garlic minced, 1/4 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary (I used just a bit of the butter, can be used within one week if stored in fridge)

Preparation

  • Slice the amount of bruschetta that your family will eat that night. Spread butter on the top, add half of a cherry tomato and lightly sprinkle with gorgonzola.
  • Once fish is removed from oven re-cover the fish with the foil used during the first part of baking, turn oven up to 425 degrees and bake bruschetta for 5-8 minutes until crisp.

The recipe turned out very, very well (if I do say so myself) so I will certainly make it again!

Urban Herb Garden

09 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by in Garden

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I have been obsessed with growing herbs for about 5 years now. Last year I had what I consider to be my most successful year of growing. Today I want to share with you where they grow and some pictures of what I’m growing. My rosemary is whispering in my ear telling me that it wants to be written about first. It is included in the name of my blog, after all.

My rosemary grows, along with the rest of my garden, in a spot that has one of the most beautiful views in Richmond. My roof. We live in an urban neighborhood right on the James River in the downtown area of Richmond. The neighborhood is a mix of privately owned condos, townhouses and businesses. We have a pool, 3 restaurants and a boat marina. This is a photo of the seating area and part of the “growing” roof top.

Back to the rosemary…it grows inside of an old broken fire pit that was too cool and rustic to throw out. Here is a view from the top as it grows up toward the sun:

And another view of the rosemary:

Here are some shots of other herbs growing on the roof:

Lemon thyme, planted in 2011

Tarragon, planted April 2012

Sage, planted April 2012

Oregano, planted April 2012

Tomatoes (because they didn’t want to be left out), planted April 2012

The largest and most abundant herb that I grew last year was sweet basil. I had 3 very large bushes. One large plant would fill up a large colander once was it was cleaned and stemmed. This season I have planted sweet basil and thai basil, it’s currently about an inch tall and I’m hoping it’s going to get just as big as it did last year!

Basil, stemmed and washed. 2011

I also have a few things growing in pots on my front porch. The dill has been planted from seed I saved from last year.

Dill, planted March 2012

Chives, planted April 2012

Jalapeno pepper, planted April 2012

Thai Basil seedlings, started March 2012. A stray dill seed got in there somehow!

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my recent plantings. I will keep you updated as they grow and as I use them in recipes! – Elissa

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