Alice Waters Archives - Good Food St. Louis

Ratatouille

Ingredients

1 medium eggplant, or two small cut in 1/2" pieces
4 Tbs. olive oil divided
2 medium onions cut into 1/2" dice
4-6 garlic cloves chopped
1/2 bunch fresh basil, tied in bouquet with kitchen twine plus 6 chopped basil leaves
pinch dried chile flakes
2 sweet peppers cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 medium summer squash cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 ripe tomatoes cut into 1/2-inch dice
Salt to taste

Instructions

Toss eggplant cubes with teaspoon , or so, of salt. Set cubes in colander to drain for 20 minutes.
Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil in heavy skillet. Pat eggplant dry, add to pan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden. Add a bit more oil if needed. Remove eggplant when done and set aside.
In same pot, pour in 2 more tablespoons olive oil. Add onions and cook for about 7 minutes, or till soft nd translucent. Add garlic, basil bouquet, dried chile flakes, and a bit more salt.
Cook several minutes more adn stir in peppers. Cook for a few more minutes, then stir in summer squash. Cook for few more minutes, the stir in tomatoes.
Cook 10 minutes longer, the stir in eggplant and cook 1-15 minutes more, until all vegetables are soft. Remove the bouquet of basil, pressing on it to extract all its flavor. Adjust seasoning with salt.
Stir in chop0ped basil leaves and more extra virgin olive oil, to taste. Serve warm or cold.
(Recipe of Chef Alice Water's from her 2007 cookbook "The Art of Simple Food,"

Cornbread Can Rescue Any Meal

October 6, 2019

Hot, buttered cornbread muffins with a smear of Swedish-made Lingonberry Jam.

Last night I had a hankerin’ for baked bread. Not just the taste, but the smell cooking in the oven. But it was 6 p.m. and no time for yeast and dough rising and rolling. So I did the next best thing: I made a batch of cornbread.

I know. . . I know, you’re disappointed I didn’t find a way to make yeast rolls in 18 minutes, but I haven’t uncovered that secret yet. So I went with this cornbread. It’s so easy. Just a matter of putting together the dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt) with the wet (egg, milk, oil). A mix would even shorten the time, but this is a no-fanfare recipe you can make with pantry items.

Keep It Quick and Easy

I’d been scanning recipes from the famed chef, restaurateur, and cook book writer, Alice Waters of Chez Pannise in Berkeley and her one-time acolyte Chef Austin Leslie, whose menus always included the humble fare.

Just out of the oven. This small batch recipe from Chef Austin Leslie (Chez Helene’s) is perfect for 1-2 people.

As I assembled the ingredients, I realized i had no muffin tins; they were all at the farm. Then I come upon this crumpled, disposable tin, that for some reason, I’d saved. It worked fine and within a half hour, I had me a platter of hot cornbread muffins, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Alice also suggested including 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese to the batter and sprinkling some more atop each muffin before baking. In my haste, I neglect the addition, but it would be a good one for variety.

Now I have some blueberries in the fridge. If I can squeeze one more use from this bedraggled muffin tin, I may bake and freeze another batch of muffins—this time blueberry muffins.