Ratatouille (Updated)

This is a recipe we do quite frequently when we want something light but satisfying. We had tried ratatouille once before but it tasted really bland, and it was disappointing to say the least, especially after we watched Pixar's film of the same name.  We wanted to create something worthy of its significance in the film, and had hoped it would create itself somewhat.

I hated vegetables for a long time. Zucchinis were scorned, and eggplants were simply out of the question. I'm glad to say my tastes have broadened since I was younger. I'd hate to think what I'd be missing out on if I hadn't developed somewhat! It's very easy to destroy vegetables and turn them into mush, especially if you're boiling them. I'm always satisfied making this dish, both in the construction and when eating it. It's one of the simplest main courses in our arsenal, but it goes a long way. It's warm and comforting and tastes richer than you'd expect for the simplicity of the ingredients.

This is one of those recipes that looks like so much less than it is. Solaris got it through a work colleague and after several weeks, finally convinced me to give it a try.  It was this battered black-and-white photocopy from an economical meals cookbook and I just thought 'Ugh. It has so little spice and so little... anything. How is this going to be any good?' Thank goodness I was wrong! This is now one of our favorite recipes, and easily one of Solaris' signature meals.

Ratatouille

Servings: 6-8

2 tbsp olive oil

2 red onions, chopped

2 red peppers, chopped

1 eggplant/aubergine, cubed

2 corgettes/zucchini, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tins chopped tomato

½ tsp dried oregano

Basil to taste (small bunch?)

75 grams cheese, grated or shredded

 1. Preheat oven to 200 C

 2. Chop all vegetables.

 3.Pour oil into large sauté pan, and fry onions, aubergine, peppers, courgettes, and garlic for 10 minutes.

 4. Add chopped tomatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes. (Cooking time is optional. Otherwise, proceed to step 5.)

 5. Add oregano and basil. Add salt and pepper if needed.

 6. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.

 7.Spoon mixture into pre-oiled baking dish, and top with shredded cheese.

 8. Cover and bake 15/20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Chefs' notes: And that's it! For the chopped tomatoes, we often use a big jar of passata; it ends up being about 800g total, I think. The number of servings depends on how hungry you are, and you can always add more of anything, especially cheese (we use lactose-free cheese, but anything goes- you can even make this a vegan dish). Generally I can eat more than we serve but it's also really nice to reheat. There aren't many vegetable-based meals that reheat well, but this always retains its flavour and consistency.

The nice thing about ratatouille is that you can serve it with almost anything. It goes with crusty bread, pasta, noodles, rice, spelt... I think we've served it with all of these before. If you're looking for something a little less vegetarian, we have also served it with roast chicken.

I hope Anton Ego would approve.

Our regular meal - roast chicken, ratatouille, and egg noodles with or without broccoli

Mom's 7-Layer Dessert Bars

In my childhood home, the scent of coconut, chocolate, and butterscotch was the smell of Christmas Eve night. Almost every year, as my sister and I would sit in the glow of the Christmas tree lights, my mom would make what we only knew as her 7-Layer Dessert.  It would waft over the kitchen and into the living room, down the staircase and into the den, and all of us would just bask in the warmth and wholeness of the smell.

 It was all we could do to wait long enough for it to cook and then cool down to a temperature my mom could serve it.  Some years, we wouldn't have any that night. We would cut a piece for Santa and then wake it the morning to find a thank-you note in its place and some crumbs on the plate.  Then we would have a piece each between breakfast and lunch - or as a dessert with the Christmas meal. Other years, when we would section off a piece for Santa, the rest of us would get a piece, too. Those were the years it was rare for  even a piece of 7-Layer Dessert to make it to Christmas morning.

Now my sister and I can make 7 Layer Dessert, too, and we often will try to treat Mom to it on a cold winter's evening - especially around Christmas.  It's more than a recipe to us, silly as it seems. It's a memory.  It's of family and tradition and a warm kitchen looking out onto a neighborhood of Christmas lights. It's only to be shared with people and never to be kept solely to one's self.  It's Christmas spirit in a bar form for us, I guess. And now it's transcontinental!

Mom's 7-Layer Dessert Bars

Servings: Dependent on size of pan used.
Bigger pan = thinner bars and more servings.
Smaller pan = thicker bars and less servings.

For the following recipe, we used four casserole-size baking dishes, and got approximately 70-80 1-inch squares out for our respective co-workers.

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs or 20 crushed digestive biscuits
• 140 grams melted butter
• 140 grams butterscotch chips*, fudge chips*, or chopped caramel-flavored chocolate (must be able to melt entirely at oven temperature) *For UK readers, please see chefs' note at bottom for sources.
• 180 grams chocolate chips/chunks (dark bakers' chocolate is often best)
• 70 grams chopped nuts (pecans, peanuts, or walnuts)
• 172 grams dessicated coconut
• 1 can light OR regular sweetened condensed milk (405 gram can)

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F and lightly grease a glass or ceramic pan. This will be VERY sticky  so I don't recommend using a metal or foil-lined pan.

2. Blend crushed digestives/graham crackers with melted butter and press into pre-greased pan with a fork or spatula. Keep the crust as even as possible.

 3. One by one, sprinkle the butterscotch (or caramel) chips, the chocolate chips, and the chopped nuts over the digestive/graham cracker crust. Again, keep as even as you can. The layer effect makes it!

 4. Sprinkle the preceding layers with the dessicated coconut. It doesn't have to cover everything entirely - but the more even coverage you have, the better!

 5. With an old-school can opener, pop two holes in opposite sides of the top of the condensed milk can. Pour evenly over the coconut layer, making sure to get into the corners and along the edges.

6. The condensed milk holds all of it together, so the thicker it is, the less likely it is that the bars will crumble when served.  Coverage should be at least as thick as in this picture.

 7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

8. Cool at least 20 minutes before serving so that the milk and chocolate will have time to thicken up. Otherwise, dig straight in. And bring a napkin!

Chefs note: Finding a UK alternative to my mother's beloved American butterscotch chips can be quite tricky.  The best option we found was a caramel flavored milk chocolate sold at Hotel Chocolat for a time. However, when they stopped selling these, we found the next best thing: Sainsbury's brand butterscotch chips (click the link for more information and availability). Silver Spoon's mini fudge chunks are also comparable but we find they get very, very sticky and then harden into sugary layers of fudge cement in the pan once they have cooled. If you love your pan (and your serving utensils) try to find a caramel flavored chocolate or the Sainsbury's butterscotch chips first, and only use the mini fudge chunks as an alternative.

Vegan Peanut Butter Brownies

Whenever we have Solaris' extended family over, multiple food allergies must be taken into account for the menus.  We have his mother who is allergic to some type of beans, his older sister and uncle who are gluten intolerant, and then my own lactose intolerance too.  After a few years of this, the menu has become some what of a pattern - there are really only 2-3 different items and they just revolve as each year or so goes by.

Now as you'll probably have guessed by now, neither Solaris nor myself are ones for conformity or complacency. We love the tried-and-true comfort foods, but we also love to experiment and find new favorites. Fortunately for us (and our families), recently we found Emily Mainquist's Sweet Vegan and took this weekend as an opportunity to try out a recipe and see how it went.

The following is a slightly modified version of Emily's dairy-free, vegan brownies. These are NOT gluten free but can be made so with a flour substitution. Try them out - we're serious. They are absolutely gorgeous!

Vegan Peanut Butter Brownies

Serves 9-12

260 grams unbleached plain flour (or rice or spelt flour for Celiac sufferers)
340 grams unrefined cane sugar
25-50 grams cocoa powder (dependent on preference - 25 is a good base and 50 is quite strong)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
65 grams natural unsweetened peanut butter
90 grams dairy-free and gluten-free chocolate chips (or chopped bakers chocolate)



1. Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 F and lightly grease a baking tin or line with bakers' parchment.

2. Combine flour, cane sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. (You may need to use a pastry cutter to work the sugar into the flour.) Add the water, oil, and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Pour into the pre-greased pan.

3. In a double boiler or glass bowl over a warm pan of water, melt the chocolate chips.

4. If you have an all natural, very runny peanut butter, spoon the peanut butter into each corner and the centre of the brownie mix.  If you have a thicker peanut butter, thoroughly mix it with the warm, melted chocolate, and pour it over the brownies.

5. Using a table knife or spatula, swirl the peanut butter into the brownie until the mixture has a marbled appearance. If you have used runnier peanut butter and still have the melted chocolate, drizzle this over the brownie mixture.

6. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out MOSTLY clean. Cool completely before cutting. This is a very moist brownie, so I'm afraid cutting it neatly it easier said than done!