Happy Bastille Day!

Yup, I'm celebrating French independence day.  Why? because that is where my father's family is from.... and also I'll make any excuse to cook my favorite comfort food recipes from my ancestral heritage.  Also, this is the 3rd day in a row I'm stuck at home nursing a sinus infection. When I am stuck at home & get a dose of cabin fever or if I am really upset about something, I cook. Any of my dear friends and family have witnessed this because I channel my grandmother during tough times and then feed everyone way too much food until whatever the current storm in my life passes over. Cooking calms me down, gives me a project to work on by myself providing time to think  and also some sort of peace knowing that a little bit of myself is in every dish I make and that the people I care about most in this world will get to enjoy it.

So for today, I've  made two things: a triple berry pie because I have berries from Strite's orchard that I refuse to go to waste and they happen to be the patriotic colors of the French flag as well. I also am making a variation of Ratatouille.

My grandmother and her sister, my great aunt Jeanette, grew up in a tiny farming village in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. They ate simply growing up, living off the land. this was not because it was the right thing to do, but it was because that was what they had to do.  One of my favorite stories from their childhood, was that often it rained, they ran out in the grasses outside, picked snails and enjoyed escargot for dinner.  I always found it funny how dishes that many American think of as fancy French food, actually started off as peasant fare.  Ratatouille is one of those dishes that a lot of folks in farm villages ate. It consists of summer squashes, tomatoes and eggplant with garlic and herbs cooked together until it forms a stew. To me, it is the taste of summer on a plate.

Michelle's Ratatouille Pasta

• 2 eggplants (1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• coarse salt to taste
• 4 yellow squash (1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 large red bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 8 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 7 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 1/2 pounds penne rigate (with ridges) or fusili
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil

I actually halved the above recipe since its just myself & my hubby enjoying this tonight. Traditionally this dish is a vegetarian one, but since my hubby wanted some more "oomf" to it, I also added some spicy andouille sausage sliced up.We also used whole grain & vegetable fusili. This time we tried Hodgson Mill brand & its not bad.  If you have a gluten free diet, this dish is excellent on its own and really doesn't need the pasta, I just use it to turn it into a full meal as opposed to a side dish.

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Stir together eggplants, onions, 1/4 cup oil, and kosher salt in a large roasting pan, then roast mixture in middle of oven, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Stir in squash, bell peppers, 2 tablespoons oil, and more kosher salt and roast mixture, stirring occasionally, until bell peppers are tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

While vegetables are roasting, simmer tomatoes, garlic, thyme, remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and kosher salt in a heavy saucepan, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir tomatoes into roasted vegetables and season ratatouille.

Cook penne  in a  pot of boiling salted water until al dente (to the bite) and drain. While pasta is cooking, stir parsley and basil into ratatouille and season. Toss pasta with 1/3 of ratatouille and serve topped with remainder. Enjoy with a nice light red wine and a crispy hunk of a baguette.

Getting tired? I tend to keep myself  going with some inspiring tunes. Today I'm enjoying the sounds of Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier while I'm relaxing and then maybe I'll play some French house music later when I have to motivated for the cleanup.


Triple Berry Summer Pie
Ok so first things 1st, the pie.  In France they usually eat tarts or free form pies called galettes, as pie is more of an American dessert. Unfortunately  I'm out of almond flour  to make a proper crust, and galettes are a huge mess in the oven, so pie it is!  First I tossed a mixture of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries together with 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup cornstarch and about 1 and a half teaspoons of cinnamon.  You can use any mixture of berries you like, these were just what I had on hand.  I added 2 hearty splashes of Cointreau (Note: Cointreau is an orange flavored liquor, using Grand Marnier will give you the same flavor profile) liquor (about 2 tbsp),    and then tossed the mixture with my hands. when its was mixed it looked like this:

Next I poured this mixture into my pie dough shell which I had already formed in my stoneware pie plate. Incidentally my mom always taught me to keep homemade pie dough in the freezer, ready to go. If you're not this fortunate to have it on hand, the ones in the refrigerated section of the grocery store work too. For those of you with Gluten intolerance, Wegman's carries some great ready to use gluten free pie shells in their frozen section.  I took a second piece of pie dough and cut it into strips to make a lattice.  Once I placed this on top I baked the pie for 35 minutes at about 350F in my convection toaster oven.  (I didn't want to waste the energy of heating up an entire oven and the apartment for just one pie).

Et voila! We're sure to be enjoying this later tonight with some vanilla ice cream while watching some of our favorite french inspired films. I think Pixar's Ratatouille & French Kiss will be our movies of choice. I hope you have as nice an evening as we will and happy summer!