Ratatouille!

Ratatouille (Joy, p. 274) is a French peasant dish made with cubes of eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, onion, red peppers and herbs. In short, just about everything ready in my garden right now. The veggies are sauteed in a dutch oven or heavy pan in olive oil and then left to simmer with a bay leaf and thyme. A sprinkling of fresh chopped basil finished the ratatouille. The result was a hearty vegetarian dish, the olive oil laden eggplants meaty enough for my meat-loving husband.

East to West SH #20 Fruit Buckle

Just returned to Whidbey Island from Eastern Washington via SH #20. After spending the night in cowboy country, Omak, Wa. came home over the North Cascades Highway. Stopped at a fruit stand just outside of Okanagon and bought organic peaches and nectarines. Once we hit the west side, took a short detour through Bow-Edison, Wa to pick up some blueberries at a farm we have been going to for years. Most of the blueberries went into the freezer to be carefully portioned out over the long winter months.

Wanted to make something to eat now, but not the usual. Looking through the index of Joy of Cooking a recipe for Blueberry and Peach Buckle (pg 691) leaped out. Great, I could use both of my fruits in one dessert. Reading the intro, I learned that a buckle is a cake with fruit folded into the batter before baking and finished with a streusel topping.

The buckle reminded me of a coffee cake with the cake and topping overshadowing the fruit. That was a little disappointing as I really wanted more of a fruit taste, especially since I had such nice fresh fruit, I would make this again if I had canned fruit or some fruit that I wanted to use up. We still had no trouble eating the entire cake.

If you want to know how this type of cake got the name "buckle", you will have to read page 690 in the Joy cookbook.

Stick to Grandma Peggy's oatmeal cookies

Joy's oatmeal raisin cookies (p. 767) stink. The dry texture sent us hurtling toward the fridge for some milk. I experimented with different baking times, even under baking one batch and the result wasn't much better. The perfect oatmeal raisin cookie ought to be chewy and moist, the kind of cookie you'd pack on a long hike for a slightly spicy, oatey, satisfying snack. Even Grandpa Rich, famous for sucking down even burnt cookies, hardly touched these. Need I say more?

A tasty way to use up leftover rice

Rice pudding is near the top of my list of comfort foods. Creamy, filling, warm, sweet and spicy -- does it get any better than that? After a stir fry left me with some rice, I decided to try Joy's recipe (p. 820). I was surprised to see this recipe doesn't use the usual baking method of placing the custard dish in a larger dish and filling the space with boiling water. Instead, Joy calls for buttering the dish and, if one chooses, dusting it with a layer of cookie crumbs. The usual components are all there: milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, rice and Joy adds more butter to the custard mixture and recommends experimenting with grated lemon zest or chopped dates instead of raisins. My verdict: Not bad, and I'm not sad to do away with the hot water bath.

Use fresh herbs while they're plentiful

The herbs are nearly galloping out of their raised bed this summer so why not try a roast chicken with the Mediterranean Garlic Herb Paste (Joy, p. 589) on a rainy day. Joy called for 2 cups of mixed fresh herbs. I loaded the colander with fresh sage, flat-leaf parsley, rosemary, thyme and oregano. Into the food processor with garlic, black peppercorns, salt, red pepper flakes and a healthy glug of olive oil. A quick whir and then a rub over and under the skin of the bird, already cleaned and patted dry. The house smelled divine.

At the same time I tried a similar paste with Asian flair (Asian Ginger Spice Paste, p. 589) on a second bird. This paste called for fresh ginger, cilantro, mint, basil, white peppercorns, salt, red pepper flakes and toasted sesame oil. Fine enough. But everyone seem to prefer the more satisfying flavors of the Mediterranean rub.

Tomato soup in a cake?!

Gut reaction: tomato soup in a cake sounds revolting. But as Joy points out (Mystery Cake, p. 721), tomatoes are, after all, a fruit. Haven't we all enjoyed an applesauce cake or pumpkin loaf? Even veggies in baked goods can be all right, if masked with enough sugar and maybe chocolate chips (think zucchini bread).

I threw together this cake with nobody home, so taste buds wouldn't be prejudiced with the sight of that condensed cream of tomato soup slurping out of the can. Joy suggests baking the cake in a 9-inch square baking pan, a direction I would recommend following. I tried using a round cake pan and that lengthened the baking time and probably resulted in a denser cake. Still, this moist cake, with nuts and raisins and spices, tasted like a good spice cake, albeit one with a slightly orange tinge. And, once the cake had passed my 6-year-old lips, it was fun to reveal the mysterious ingredient. -- Debra

Chicken Cordon Bleu not so hard

Chicken cordon bleu (Joy, p. 437), a bit of thinly sliced Swiss cheese and proscuitto folded neatly inside a chicken breast, breaded and pan fried, always seemed like a fancy pants recipe. I learned tonight it's not.

Today's new skill was getting the chicken thin and supple enough to fold. Joy instructed me to place the chicken breasts between waxed paper and pound them with a mallet or rolling pin until about 3/8 inch thick. I must admit whomping away on the poultry was a very satisfying activity after a long day at work. Apparently I didn't whomp thoroughly enough because it took me 15 minutes instead of the recommended four to get the bird cooked through.

Frankly, the dish was a bit heavy for my taste. But if you need something fancy pants to impress, you can do this dish. -- Debra