Ratatouille

For some reason this dish just makes me feel warm and cozy inside! I think I just have a passion for it because of the movie Ratatouille, and therefore am reminded of Remy and his whole demeanor... Whatever the case, I enjoyed making this dish, and I hope if you all make it as well that you like my rendition of it too.

Ratatouille

Main:

• Baby Eggplant (Trimmed, Thinly Sliced)
• Zucchini (Trimmed, Thinly Sliced)
• Yellow Squash (Trimmed, Thinly Sliced)
• Red Pepper (Trimmed, Cored, and Thinly Sliced)
• Olive Oil (3 Tablespoons)
• Thyme (1 Teaspoon)

Sauce:

• Tomato Paste (6 Ounce Can)
• Tomato (2 Cups, Diced)
• Onion (1/2, Diced)
• Garlic (3 Cloves, Minced)
• Olive Oil (1 Tablespoon)
• Heavy Cream (1/4 Cup)
• Salt (To Taste)
• Pepper (To Taste)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 Degrees Fahrenheit. 
• In a medium sauce pan, sauté the Onion and Garlic till translucent. Then bring together all the remaining Sauce ingredients to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Spread all of the sauce mixture into the bottom of a casserole dish, making sure that it is relatively even.
• In a large bowl mix together the Main ingredients so they are all coated lightly in Olive Oil and Thyme.
• Alternately arrange the slices starting at the outer edge of the casserole dish and moving concentrically towards the center. 
• Cover the dish with a piece of parchment paper that will fit inside the casserole dish, and bake for 45 minutes. (Or until the vegetables are tender.)
• Plate it and enjoy!

I absolutely loved this dish, I love how all the colors play off of one another. It truly has such a beautiful presentation piece to it, and everything is very simple and basic. Precisely the ideology that Hassan wanted to do when he mentioned going back to basics. I also loved how in the movie Ratatouille Remy went back to basics cooking for Anton Ego - the result was that he loved the dish.

Something that many chefs say, and that many people say in regards to earning Michelin stars is the following: less is more. 

I'm not saying that my home cooking is ever going to leave my kitchen, and its certainly not Michelin star worthy. I will say though that when I've taken the concept of "less is more" to heart, that it is those meals that end up being my favorite dishes. 

So tell me, what dishes have you all made where you've done the "less is more" concept?

Tomorrow I'm Making Ratatouille!!

First of all let me just start by saying the following: thank you for all of you that have now started following Cook and Books, or have shared my blog through your own sources. It means a lot to me and I appreciate the support. So thank you!

I know that my posts have lately been shortened in regards to context, and I truly don't mean to neglect my writing just because I may not have liked what I've read. Therefore I promise from today onward, that even if the book I'm reading is something I ultimately despise, I will still write good content to make it worth while. Hell it will probably just highlight more of my sarcastic tendencies. (Something my Professors said I could never eliminate from term papers...) 

So in this regard I bequeath to you a more detailed description of the meal I'm cooking tomorrow and how it ultimately ties back in to The Hundred-Foot Journey!

"Tomorrow we throw out our menu, everything we have done for the past nine years. All the heavy sauces, all the fancy dishes, they are finished. Tomorrow we begin afresh, entirely. From now on we are only going to serve simple dishes at Le Chien Méchant, dishes where the most beautiful and freshest ingredients speak for themselves." (Morais 203-204).

I absolutely love this about Hassan, because he finally is going back to his roots. This was the first time in this part of the book that finally invigorated me again. Personally this section really touched upon me in an interesting way because it made me think of Maine. I know you may be wondering how a book taking place in France can make me think of Maine - but it has to do a lot with Maine's (specifically Portland's) strong local food growth. There are a quite a few restaurants popping up that believe firmly in the concept of farm-to-table dining now, and to me that's amazing. (And difficult to implement here on off-season.) 

To me for Hassan to finally touch back on the roots of pure simple cooking was huge because it finally brought into him a sense of character. Something I find lacking in him as a whole. 

I chose to cook Ratatouille because Ricky and I have a lot of homegrown tomatoes that need to be cooked, and also because the ingredients are in season here in Maine. I wanted to keep in the realm of what this passage had a deeper meaning to - therefore this dish is going to be implemented.

I hope you all tune in tomorrow to see how my Ratatouille comes out. (I plan on making it look more like the one from the movie Ratatouille.)

Bacon Wrapped Cornish Hen in a Red Wine Reduction

I'll admit something, I don't know what it is, but I absolutely adore cornish hens. I think it has something to do with how small they are, and how easy it is to make a meal for two people with a whole bird. (Try doing that with a full chicken…)
I also love how much you can do with a baked chicken dish - it's limitless. Hell I've even made a cornish hen for my cat's birthday cake. (Yeah I'm not joking…)

Moving on, I'd like to introduce the following dish:

Bacon Wrapped Cornish Hen in a Red Wine Reduction

Main:

• Cornish Hen
• Tooth Picks (3, Rinsed)

Sauce:

• Baby Bella Mushrooms (1/4 Cup, Chopped)
• Onion (1/2, Minced)
• Butter (2 Tablespoons)
• Red Wine (Merlot, 1 Cup)
• Thyme (1 Teaspoon)
• Garlic Powder (1/2 Teaspoon)
• Salt (To Taste)
• Pepper (To Taste)
• Cornish Hen Stock (4 Tablespoons)

Cornish Hen Wrap:

• Baby Bella Mushrooms (3 Mushrooms, Thinly Sliced, Save the the Stems)
• Apple Wood Smoked Bacon (3 Slices)
• Cloves (4 Whole)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit. 
• Put the Cornish Hen in a large pot of water, and bring to a slight boil. Cook until the Hen is 50% done. (Only pink in the middle.)
• Put all the Sauce ingredients together in a sauce pan and cook until reduced by half. 
• For the Cornish Hen Wrap, you'll be placing the Hen in a baking dish, and carefully lay the sliced Mushrooms on the top of the Hen. 
• Place the four Cloves evenly on each corner of the Hen, inserting through the Mushrooms. Take the remaining stems from the Mushrooms and insert into the Hens cavity. 
• Carefully wrap the Bacon on top of the Cornish Hen, tucking the sides under as best as you can. If necessary you can help secure the bacon by inserting the Toothpicks as a placeholders. 
• Take half of the sauce and poor over the Hen. Making sure that the pan has a sufficient amount of liquid in it. 
• Bake for about 60 minutes, or until the chicken is done. 
• Plate and enjoy!

This dish seems labor intensive when you're reading the instructions, but I promise it's not. It's a set it and forget it type of meal once you prep for it, and everything flows together. 

The bacon helps keep the bird moist, and the apple wood smoked flavoring seeps into the hens meat. The sauce brings all of the flavors together and adds a bit of robust flavoring. I imagine a more delicate white wine would make the hen pop for a summer dish bringing out more lighter fruit flavors - I personally prefer the robust and rich flavoring of this pairing. 

I think the biggest testament though is when Ricky eat's the whole thing. To me nothing speaks louder than an empty plate. Honestly and truly if there's one thing I can count on it's that Ricky will always be honest about a dish - after all I never live down the disastrous Peanut Butter Chicken recipe I made one time… So for Ricky to finish a dish, it means I'm doing something right. 

I also find that the French flair of cooking has more heart in every meal because each of the ingredients is paired harmoniously with one another - neither steps above another in this dish. 

I don't want to get to sentimental here over a damn Cornish Hen, so I'm just going to say this: try this, and let me know what you think!

If you didn't do a cornish hen, then what is your favorite bird to cook? (Don't say Turducken…)

See you all tomorrow!

A Cornish Hen Tomorrow - Merci!

For the love of God, am I glad I finished The Hundred-Foot Journey today… I've already begun typing up my review of the book, which I shall be posting Wednesday of next week. (You'll get to hear my sarcastic rating!)

Since we aren't yet there for this review, then I would like to move on to what my next dish is - a Cornish Hen for Friday's dinner. 

"Paul's Partridge in Mourning, as I named the dish, was the highlight of the evening, as the papers reported the following day. Up until that point, I was, I must confess, trying to hide my terror of performing before such a demanding audience, but the generous comments I received from my table suggested that my risky menu had paid off. In particular, I took great joy in seeing Le Comte de Nancy - who always called things as he saw them, was in fact capable of an insincere remark - tearing a bread roll apart with great gusto before lunging in to mop up the last smears of juice." (Morais 211-212).

I know - I'm not cooking a partridge… (You try finding one at a regular grocery store.) The recipe that Hassan made is actually based off a hen dish - he substituted partridge instead, thus I shall substitute back to hen. (It all comes full circle anyway.) 

I've actually made a cornish hen before, and I do love how it's a perfect meal for two people. Half a hen each, and there's really no difficulty determining how to do a "serving" size. I have the worst time shrinking recipes down for two people, and because of that I tend to waste food sometimes. (At least it makes great compost!)

So tune on in tomorrow evening for Cornish Hen! I'm personally excited to make Cornish Hen again, I love baking dishes in my oven. 

Crock Pot Lamb Stew

Hello everyone, I'm posting this as my Seahawks are making a remarkable recovery against the Chargers right now. I also want to post this before the other big game tonight between the 49ers and Bears. (Da Bears!)

I have no idea really what else to call this recipe except simply - Crock Pot Lamb Stew. It's different, I'll give it that. It's good though - very simple and nice for just a basic meal.

Crock Pot Lamb Stew

Main

• Lamb Chunks (1 1/4 Pound)

Broth

• White Wine (1/2 Cup)
• Garlic (3 Cloves, Crushed)
• Carrot (1/4 Cup, Diced)
• Celery (1/4 Cup, Diced)
• Pear (2, Cut In Eighths)
• Thyme (2 Sprigs)
• Salt (To Taste)
• Pepper (To Taste)
• Water (2 Cups)

Instructions

• In a decent sized pan, braise the Lamb on all sides prior to placing in the crock pot.
• Meanwhile place all of the Broth ingredients (except the Water) into the crock pot, making sure some of the liquid seeps through to the bottom. 
• Add the Lamb, including any of the grease contents from the pan to the crockpot.
• Cook on high for one hour allowing some of the broth to seep into the meat. 
• After an hour add the Water and cook on low for another hour, or until the Lamb is done.
• Plate and Enjoy!

This is a very basic stew, and is very hearty. I personally find it soothes a sore throat, and would also pair favorably with a stout instead of a wine as a broth base. For what it is though, sometimes you just can't go wrong with a very simple stew, especially on cold fall days, and watching Football Sunday with family. 

Let me know what you guys think - and also start swinging book ideas my way. (I've only one more week people!)

Crock Potting a Lamb Stew for Tomorrow!

Hello everyone! Sorry for the late post - tonight was Ricky's sister's birthday dinner at the family's. His dad even lit off some fireworks for us all - they were great for the unseasonably cool night tonight. (No really, it's unseasonably cold.)

Tomorrow's recipe is a little different than the one in The Hundred-Foot Journey, mainly because we can't just go out and buy meat such as rabbit at a grocery store. Ricky came up with the idea however of buying lamb because it has a similar taste to a gamey meat. The reason why I'm choosing to make this rendition of a recipe is due to the similarity of the first time Hassan made a dish for his family's kitchen and it was complimented. This is the first time Hassan makes a dish solely on his own in Madame Mallory's kitchen, and in the book he's making a hare stew.

This may not seem entirely like a compliment - but coming from Madame Mallory this truly was a change for Hassan's status in the kitchen. 

Mine won't truly be a game dish - however I hope that you all will come back for a recipe that I whip up tomorrow. It's going to be a crock pot meal - perfect for a chilly Football Sunday. (Also perfect for lazy individuals.)

Aphrodisiac Oyster Soup

In case you all need some "sexual desire" food, then make this soup right here!

I personally don't need it right now anyway, I'm so sick I just wish I could curl up in a ball and wake up all better - but we know that never happens. Mainly because I'm tired this post isn't really going to be that uber-awesome, or full of sarcastic jabs. Unless you all want to hear about the dozens of nasty cold symptoms I'm having. (I'm sure you don't.)

So let's just get down and dirty tonight (slipped that pun in there)!

Aphrodisiac Oyster Soup

Main

• Butter (1/2 Cup and 2 Tablespoons)
• Carrot (1/2 Cup, Finely Chopped)
• Onion (1/2 Cup, Finely Chopped)
• Celery (1/2 Cup, Finely Chopped)
• Flour (1/4 Cup)
• Chicken Broth (4 Cups)
• Can of Artichoke Hearts (14oz - 8 Hearts)
• Bay Leaf (1/4 Teaspoon)
• Cayenne Pepper (1/2 Teaspoon)
• Herbs De Provence (1 Tablespoon)
• Heavy Cream (1 Cup)
• Oysters (12 Shucked, with Brine)

Instructions

• Take 2 Tablespoons of Butter and sauté in a large saucepan the Carrot, Onion, and Celery. This should be around 5 minutes of time.
• Add the Chicken Broth and simmer for 10 minutes.
• In a separate pot melt 1/2 Cup Butter with the Flour and whisk till creamy. 
• Place the Butter and Flour mix with the soup, drain the can of Artichoke Hearts and add.
• Add the Bay Leaf, Cayenne Pepper, Herbs De Provence, and Heavy Cream mixing for just a few minutes.
• Take the shucked Oysters and add to the soup with the brine. Simmer for approximately 3 minutes, or until the edges of the Oysters curl in. 
• Put in a bowl and enjoy!

I loved the blend of herbs in this dish, I think the Cayenne Pepper was honestly needed to help balance out the richness of the dish. I didn't add any salt, mainly because the Brine from the Oysters generally would give it enough salt flavor - it's truly a preference thing.

So now that you guys have some food to set the mood to, go out and eat it! 

Aphrodisiac Oysters for Tomorrow Night

Hello all, sorry for the late post this evening.

Ricky and I just failed a State of Maine exam tonight and needless to say we needed to go drink a bit at the Great Lost Bear this evening. (Sorry for random misspellings - I'm sure you'll figure out why!)

I have no freakin' clue what the hell I'll be making tomorrow - the only certain thing is that it'll involve oysters! Why oysters you may ask? Because that was precisely what Madame Mallory secretly tested Hassan with after he started working at the kitchen. I'm not joking when I say it took up like four pages of just straight oyster talk. (I mean seriously.)

I double checked the amount of oyster talk - it was only two full pages about it. (But still.)

As you may also have noted, the way this book hit me this week I'm not nearly as much of a fan of The Hundred-Foot Journey as I was when I first started. I still think it's a great read, but I'll leave the rest about this on a book review sometime in a couple of weeks. If anyone else has read this I'll hope you chime in and let me know what you think.

Anyway I'm also losing in my Fantasy Football Team right now, and I must at least go watch the game tonight. Nothing beats failing a test like coming home to see your fantasy stud player walk off the field injured to boot.

PS: I promise this will be the last mopey post for at least another month, I'm entitled to one dammit.

See you guys tomorrow!!

Tomorrow is Apricot Almond Pastry Day!!

Wanna know a secret? I've never (not even once) baked a pastry! I've baked cakes, muffins, bread, and cookies - just not pastries. I've no idea why, there are so many really nice pastries out there. Therefore I jumped at the first opportunity to make the Apricot Almond Pastries that Madame Mallory bakes Hassan.
I'm not going to completely elaborate, but I will say this is the very first thing Madame Mallory does to right things with the Hassan's family. I found that these simple pastries opened up the door for an important eye-opening revelation for Madame Mallory. In doing this it has thus far changed the momentum of the book - granted it will never truly fix her mistakes in the first sections, but it is a start.

I don't really have a recipe for the pastries I'm making tomorrow, I have a general idea so I guess we'll all be in the same boat when I make them tomorrow.
I'm excited to bake for a while tomorrow because it has finally cooled down here in Maine, and compared to the heat we had just a few days ago it's almost freezing. I also believe firmly that I'm just a pansy when it comes to seasonal changes in temperature… I do know though that yesterday evening Ricky and I caved in and placed our feather down duvet on our bed. Yep, it's only September - I value comfort however over "seasonal" norms.
A nice hot stove baking away tomorrow though, sounds infinitely nice…

Steak, Frites, and a Beet Salad!

Hello hello hello! Happy Friday everyone! Today's post is actually kind of a three-for-one deal! Basically I have the one main meal recipe, and two sides! This steak is so simple you could almost pair it with anything, so experiment, experiment, and experiment. That's the best way to devise a meal that works for you and yours. Quite honestly more than half of my recipes come from the need to purge anything that's about to go bad... Thrifty cooking at its finest! However sometimes I find that my best recipes have arisen from those situations, and it forces you to think simple (I.E. Less is more).

Moving on though, I'll split this recipe into three separate parts for you guys! (It makes it a lot easier). 

Steak with Shallots

Main

• Vegetable Oil (1 Tablespoon)
• Steaks (2 of any cut)

Sauce

• Butter (2 Tablespoons)
• Shallot (Minced)
• Red Wine Vinegar (2 Tablespoons)
• Red Wine (1/2 Cup)
• Parsley (1/2 Teaspoon)

Instructions

• Place oil in a skillet, and cook steaks till desired temperature. Remove the steaks and set aside.
• Using the same pan place the Butter, Shallot, and Parsley for five minutes. Add the remaining Sauce mixture and reduce for 15 minutes.

Frites

Main

• Potato (Sliced Thin)
• Oil (2 Tablespoons)
• Salt (To Taste)
• Pepper (To Taste)
• Thyme (1/2 Teaspoon)

Instructions

• Place the Potatoes in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes.
• Grease a pan, add the seasonings and bake at 425 Degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes - flip halfway through. 

Beet Salad

Main

• 2 Beets with Greens (Sliced Thin, and Greens Chopped)
• Butter (3 Tablespoons)
• Shallot (Minced)
• Salt (To Taste)
• Pepper (To Taste)
• Blueberry Mead (1/4 Cup)
• Cheese (Any Kind, 3 Tablespoons)

Instructions

• Saute the Butter and Shallots until caramelized.
• Add the Beets, Salt, and Pepper cooking for around 15 minutes or until the Beets are tender.
• Add the Blueberry Mead, and the Greens. Cook this until it's wilted.
• Place in a bowl and add the Cheese.

Once all these things were done I plated them up, and this was quite honestly a pinch to make. A perfect meal for a late summer or early fall evening. I liked this very simple French flair of cooking, but I'm kind of looking forward to delving more into it as The Hundred-Foot journey progresses! 

French Food for Tomorrow!

I'm officially introduced to Madame Mallory from The Hundred-Foot Journey now.  I will say damn what a spit-fire old woman! I do not want to start giving away little tidbits about her now just yet! I want to give a full review later when I've completed this novel!

For Friday I will be cooking a French dish - not to French just yet mind you… However it will be a little taste of France (I hope). I'm going to make the following dish - steak with frites (fries), and a beet salad! (The beets are grown from someone in Ricky's family!)

I know this may not seem too French to some of you, however I found that this simple meal was a nice introduction to Madame Mallory's establishment - Le Saule Pleureur. It also helped unlock something in Hassan that he never quite mentioned since leaving India.

I'm still not 100% sure what I'm going to make for the steak (or the cut of steak), but I know that it'll be perfect for my dinner tomorrow night with Ricky. (Plus grilling in nice weather is a plus for both of us!)

PS: In case anyone cares, tonight the Seahawks are playing, and I want everyone to know that I hope I kick everyone's butt this week in my two fantasy leagues!