Bonjour! I hope everyone is doing well today. Wouldn’t it be lovely to take a trip to France, (the French Riviera to be specific) to relax and enjoy these few last days of summer? Sailing, wine and fine dining are just the beginning of what awaits you in the South of France. If we can’t make it there today, at least we can eat like it tonight! How about a nice…ratatouille?
Ratatouille is a traditional French Provencal dish that originated in Nice. It is typically prepared as a side dish, but if you serve it with bread over pasta or rice, it is definitely sufficient enough for a meal.
Ratatouille
2 tbsp olive oil
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 large onion, sliced thinly
4 large tomatoes, diced
1 small eggplant, cubed
2 bell peppers, chopped
4 zucchini, sliced about ¼ inch thick
1 tsp basil
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
½ tsp oregano
¼ tsp thyme
Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add onions and garlic, stirring often until softened. Stir in eggplant and peppers. Cover. Cook for about 8-10 minutes, stirring often.
Add tomatoes, herbs and zucchini. Mix well, cover and cook over low heat for an additional 15 minutes.
A nice trip to take during the cooling, autumn weather is to Turin, located in Italy’s Piedmont Region. This part of the country is located in the extreme northeast, sharing alpine peaks with Switzerland and France.
Piedmont is famous for many things in the name of gastronomy: truffles, wine, cheeses, herbs and meats. A culinary tour of this fantastic Italian region is a great way to spend your vacation, especially if you travel to Italy during the wine harvest’s prime time (October through December). And, while you’re in the area, a must-stop is the town of Alba. If you visit Alba between September and January, you can hunt white truffles (said to be the best in the world). Yum!
Today, in a tribute to the Piedmont Region and its famous white truffles, I will share a recipe for a wonderful sauce you can serve over pasta or vegetables or on the side with grilled steak or chicken.
2 tbsp butter
1 c dry white wine
2 c heavy cream
1 c sliced porcini mushrooms
1 ¼ oz fresh white truffles, finely chopped
1 c finely chopped shallot
1 ½ c fresh grated parmesan
Salt and Pepper to taste
Heat butter in a large pan until melted, add mushrooms and shallots, sauté until golden.
Add wine and cook until reduced halfway, then pour in cream. Carefully cook, stirring often, until thickened. Stir in cheese and truffles. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
A trip to Madrid may have you coming home with a new tradition to start your dinners. In some parts of Spain, dinner does not begin with just the meal, rather, tapas are served; and when they are, the socializing commences.
Wikipedia notes “According to The Joy of Cooking, the original tapas were the slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers in Andalusian taverns used to cover their glasses between sips. This was a practical measure meant to prevent fruit flies from hovering over the sweet sherry. The meat used to cover the sherry was normally ham or chorizo, which are both very salty and activate thirst. Because of this, bartenders and restaurant owners began creating a variety of snacks to serve with sherry, thus increasing their alcohol sales. The tapas eventually became as important as the sherry.”
Not only are tapas a delicious meal starter, but the time spent consuming them also makes for an excellent occasion to catch up with and enjoy those in your company. Today, there is a large variety of tapas, not just meat and bread. On this World Cuisine Wednesday, I will share a recipe for my favorite, empanadillas! (Miniature versions of empanadas.)
Chorizo Empanadillas
3 tbsp olive oil
1 egg white
5 tbsp chopped onion
2 bell peppers, chopped
3 oz pimento stuffed olives
3 tbsp chopped capers
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
12 oz chorizo
1 package puff pastry sheets
Preheat oven to 375°. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, peppers and garlic; sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the chorizo and cook until chorizo is browned.
Add chorizo mixture into a bowl with paprika, olives, capers salt and pepper and mash together. Set aside.
On a floured surface, roll out pastry to about 1/8” thickness and cut out circles with a 3 inch cookie cutter. Spoon about a teaspoon of the mixture into the center of each circle of dough. Using a pastry brush, brush the outer edges with egg white and fold filled pastries in half to form a crescent. Pinch edges together to seal in mixture, then use a fork along the curved part of the empanadillas.
Bake until golden brown and puffed, approximately 15 minutes.
Back in the olden days, the peasants of Yorkshire, England would cook something called “Dripping Pudding” which could be used as a first course filler when they could not afford much meat. It was made from batter and meat drippings, sliced thinly and served with gravy. This was given to children as their main entrée.
Today, Dripping Pudding has been renamed Yorkshire Pudding and is one of the most popular staples in British cuisine. It is almost always served with roast beef and gravy as part of a traditional dinner.
There are many ways that Yorkshire Pudding can be prepared. One of the most common ways it is made is as an individual, bun-sized serving with a bit of a depression in the middle to fill with gravy. Making it this way, each person gets their own edible bowl!
When you travel to the United Kingdom, you must try this delicious bit of history. No matter if you’re on a vacation in Yorkshire, London, Manchester or Liverpool, this popular dish is served at just about every traditional English restaurant around the country. Catch a cheap flight to the UK and give it a taste!
Yorkshire Pudding
¾ c all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
¾ c milk
3 eggs
½ c beef drippings*
Preheat oven to 450°.
In a large bowl, beat eggs and milk until texture is light and foamy.
In a separate bowl, sift together flour and salt. Add to the milk and egg mixture until just mixed.
Pour beef drippings into each individual cup of your muffin tin and place the pan in the oven until your drippings are smoking hot.
Bring the hot pan out of the oven, pour in batter carefully and cook approximately 15-20 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
Serve with roast beef and gravy.
*If beef drippings are not available, melted butter may be substituted. Also can be served with your favorite jam or jelly instead of gravy.
