Ratatouille Stuffing Bake & Potato Leek Soup

It's hard to believe July is half over, and so, by default summer is flying by.  Weather wise it's been an odd year - a few days of marvelous sunshine and heat, and the days of grey skies, thunder storms and rain.  Maybe August will feel like summer should.
We've been busy, or it feels like it, but when I try to catalog what we've been doing I am at a loss.  This past weekend Emily dressed up like Pippi Longstocking to hand out candy with the library float in the parade.  It was a fun costume to do; the kids were supposed to choose literary characters to dress up as.  Pippi seemed easy enough to me, second choice would have been Heidi (OK, they're favourites of mine, but I had to put the costume together!)
In any case the weekend slipped away, and I never made time to write and document Emily's cooking.  It was more important to spend a few hours visiting with my son, and to spend Sunday at my mom's.  So you, lucky reader, get two recipes today.

One afternoon last week Emily texted me a picture at work with the caption "Supper tonight?"  I couldn't make out the recipe at all, and had chicken thawed out, so I told her I'd look at it when I got home and consider it for the following day.
The recipe was for ratatouille, but not with eggplant.  I have to admit I've never tried eggplant, much less cooked it, so I would have tried to dissuade her - it is hard to teach what you do not know.  As it turned out the recipe called for yellow zucchini, and sounded very nice.
We eliminated the green pepper, replacing it with roasted red peppers in the can of diced tomatoes.  I also had her halve the recipe.  Not only did we not need a 9x13, 16 serving pan of ratatouille, but it was good math practice.
Emily sliced the zucchini and chopped the onion, putting the dish together with no help from me, although I should have helped her make sure all the mixture found its way into the baking dish.
She grilled a couple of steaks and made a simple salad to round out the meal.  The canned tomatoes we chose had spicy red peppers, so the ratatouille had a nice bite to it.  There are so many varieties of seasoned tomatoes this dish could easily be customized.

Ratatouille Stuffing Bake

1 tablespoon olive oil                                   1 can (28 oz/796 ml) diced tomatoes, undrained

2 yellow zucchini, sliced                              1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil

2 green peppers, chopped                             2 packages stuffing mix

1 small onion, chopped                                1 cup shredded cheese (Italian blend)

3 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Heat the oil in a large skillet.  Add the zucchini, onions & peppers, cook 6 minutes, until tender crisp.  Stir in garlic, cook 1 minute.  Add tomatoes & basil, heat through, stirring occasionally.

Stir in stuffing mix, spoon into a greased 9x13" baking dish, top with cheese & cover.  Bake 3 minutes, until heated through, uncovering for last 5 minutes.  

*Substitute yellow peppers for the green & green zucchini for yellow.

On Sunday, when we got back from my mom's Emily brought me a recipe for hotdogs topped with beans & barbecue sauce.  They looked like a fun summer treat, but  I had to ask her if she would actually eat them, given that she doesn't like beans.  She perused the recipe again and started looking for something else.  This morning, with the weather report promising another cool day with rain I suggested potato leek soup.  I've made this recipe often, it's fast and easy, and really good.  I dug it out and the choice was made.  

I stopped for leeks on the way home, and once the rest of the groceries were stored away showed her how to trim leeks and cut them most of the way to the root & clean out all the sand.  She sliced them and an onion, setting them over low heat to sweat while she peeled and diced potatoes.  She added the potatoes to the onions and leeks along with chicken stock and thyme (I never have chervil or bay leaves) and brought the mixture to a boil.  Once the potatoes were done Emily got to use my hand blender, a toy she loves to play with.  The soup was rich and creamy, and a sprinkling of grated cheese just made it better.

Potage Parmentier (Potato Leek Soup)

2 tablespoons butter                                       6 cups warm chicken stock

2 sliced leeks, white part only                        1/2 teaspoon each thyme & chervil

1 Spanish onion, sliced                                  2 bay leaves

1 1/2 pounds  (4 large) potatoes,                    2 teaspoons fresh chopped parsley

peeled & diced                                               salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Add the leeks & onion & cover.  Cook for 15 minutes over low heat; stir occasionally.

Add the potatoes, stock & herbs,  Season with salt & pepper.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium & simmer the soup for 40 minutes, uncovered, stir occasionally.

Correct the seasonings and puree the soup.  If it is too thick stir in a little more chicken stock.

Before serving stir in 2 tablespoons cream & fresh parsley.

Tuna Cakes

Summer is in full swing now.  With no school Emily is babysitting even more, and when she's not, is spending her evenings at the pool.  I can't believe how quickly she is growing up.
We were busy enough last week that she never got an opportunity to cook, and this week was one thing and then another, but she did make supper on Thursday.
She had selected a recipe for pasta shells stuffed with a mixture of chicken and cheese, which, while sounded very good, but the thought of baking a pasta dish when the temperatures have been in the high 20s just seemed like a less than ideal meal plan.  We'll have to try that recipe in the fall.
Emily combed through our cookbooks and magazines, finally suggesting this recipe.  Originally it was for bite sized appetizer patties.  They would be wonderful as such too, but I suggested she make them bigger & we turn them into an entree.
On my way home Thursday night I stopped at the grocery store for the few things we were out of and got caught in a downpour.  Once I dried off and changed I helped her out by peeling potatoes to make mashed potatoes as a side, and let her mix together the tuna patties themselves.
Our one error, the patties are actually supposed to chill for an hour before you bake them.  We skipped this step for expediency.

Dinner was very good. Emily decided she didn't like the sauce for her tuna, but she ate two, and finished them off for lunch the next day.  Always a good sign.

Mini Tuna Appetizer Cakes

1 package stuffing mix                       3/4 cup water

2 cans tuna, drained & flaked             1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing (Miracle Whip) 

1 cup shredded cheese*                      1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

1 small stalk celery, finely chopped    1 teaspoon lemon zest

3 green onions, finely chopped           1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix first six ingredients plus 1/4 cup mayonnaise until just blended.  Shape into patties (30 small one, using a tablespoon of tuna mixture for each, for appetizers; use about 1/3 cup of the mixture to make larger patties as an entree) Place on a greased baking sheet; refrigerate 1 hour.

Heat oven to 400F. Bake patties, 8-10 minutes on each side (longer for lager patties, about 15 minutes) until golden brown on each side.  

Meanwhile combine remainin 1/4 cup mayonnaise, hot sauce, lemon zest and lemon juice. 

*The original recipe called for shredded mozzarella, we had a Mexican blend of cheddar, Moneray Jack & mozzarella.

Sweet & Sour Meatball Skewers and Herb & Cheese Stuffed Burgers

I've been a little neglectful, finding it hard to get motivated to do a lot.  We are well into June and Emily's schedule is busy with year end exams and projects, band concerts and babysitting.  By default I find myself busy too.  It's true her busyness often leaves my evenings free, but by the end of the day I don't want to do much more than watch a little tv and go to bed early with my book.  It's a comfortable existence and I am content.  In any case, because of this contented ennui I didn't share last week's recipe.
I mentioned in my last post Emily had wanted to make a recipe that called for frozen, cooked meatballs.  Sunday afternoon, while she was off with her dad, I prepared meatballs; nothing fancy - a couple of pounds of ground bison, an egg, some oatmeal, salt and pepper.  I also stirred in the last of a bottle of ketchup and a few tablespoons of mashed avocado that were taking up space in the fridge.  I baked the meatballs for about an hour at 325F then froze them, once they had cooled.  Monday before I left for the day I put the frozen meatballs in the fridge to thaw.
Emily's recipe called for a red & green pepper cut into 1" chunks, but neither of us like peppers much.  She had suggested carrots as a substitute, I thought the would take too long to cook.  Instead I had her slice a couple small zucchinis into 1" chunks.  I had boiled a pot of baby potatoes until they were just tender, and she threaded the meatballs onto skewers with the zucchini and potatoes.
When the skewers were ready she put them on a pan and stirred together the sauce; apricot jam and barbecue sauce.  Once the sauce was brushed over the skewers she took them out to the grill.
It was a simple enough recipe, that tasted wonderful....but anything on a stick is good, right?
My one caveat would be to advise cooking the skewers on a griddle place onto the grill.  Several of the meatballs stuck to the grill & broke when Emily tried to turn them or remove them for serving.
Despite the less than perfect results this would make a nice summer barbecue change from burgers and hot dogs....especially for those picnickers who prefer to forego the buns.

Sweet & Sour Meatball Skewers

32 frozen, cooked meatballs, thawed (I made my own, but you can purchase them at the grocery store too)

1 green pepper & 1 red pepper, cut into 1" chunks (or any veg you prefer, zucchini, mushroom caps, etc.)

1/4 cup apricot jam

1/4 cup barbecue sauce.

Thread the meatballs & vegetables alternately onto wooden or metal skewers.  

Combine the apricot jam & barbecue sauce, brush over the skewers, place on a preheated grill, cook until heated through, baste with remaining sauce.

Extra sauce also makes a lovely condiment to serve at table.

The following Sunday Emily decided she wanted cheese stuffed burgers.  I've attempted this idea before, and found myself with a gooey mess on my hands, and I know it's not quite as simple as "You just stuff some cheese into a hamburger" as Emily insisted.  I went online and checked out a few of my favourite sites and found this recipe.  I also found one with bacon, but surprisingly Emily wasn't interested.  

When I got home from work Monday I tossed together a fruit salad, deciding it would be a nice change of pace.  While I did that Emily stirred together cream cheese, shredded Cheddar, and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard.  Next she combined ground bison with two more teaspoons of Dijon, two green onions, ketchup and some oatmeal (I was out of dried bread crumbs)  The recipe called for dried rosemary and sage, but I have neither in my pantry.  Instead I chopped a few fresh sage leaves and some fresh thyme for her.  She shaped this into thin patties (the recipe said 8, we only got 6 out of a pound of meat) onto half the patties she spooned a portion of the cheese mixture and topped it with another patty, pressing the edges together to seal them.  We had extra cheese so I quickly mixed up another pound of meat and we repeated the process. Once the burgers were ready to go Emily put them on the barbecue to cook.  

 The burgers were juicy and creamy, and taste of the fresh herbs was apparent.  I don't like much on my  burgers besides ketchup, good Dijon mustard & cheese, so we skipped the usual burger toppings, but that's just my preference, which is why my burger looks under dressed.

Herb & Cheese Stuffed Burgers

1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese                         2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons cream cheese                                  1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley                     1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary*

3 teaspoons Dijon mustard, divided                     1/4 teaspoon dried sage*

2 green onions, thinly sliced                                 1 lb ground beef, lean

3 tablespoons dry bread crumbs

In a small bowl stir together Cheddar, cream cheese, 1 teaspoon mustard & parsley.  Set aside.

In a large bowl combine remaining ingredients.  Shape in 8 thin patties.  Top four patties with a portion (1-2 tablespoons). Top with remaining patties, seal edges gently.  

Grill until cooked through (4-5 minutes/side, 160F)

*I used about 6 fresh sage leaves, chopped, and about 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme.

I also used quick cooking oats in place of the bread crumbs.  As well, we had extra cheese, so we doubled the meat recipe.

Serve on rolls with your favourite burger toppings; lettuce, tomatoes, onions, etc.

Lemon Barbecue Meatloaves

Somehow May has slipped through our fingers.  In a matter of weeks now school will be done and Emily will embark on another summer of adventure.  I am envious, a little.  I remember the anticipation of June and the promise of long, lazy summer days.
She spent the long weekend at her dad's, and judging by the texts I received throughout the weekend I suspect she was a little homesick.  I collected her Monday evening on my way home and we both turned in early.
On Tuesday she had no school, and mid-day I got a phone call.  She had found the recipe she wanted to make for supper.  I put her off for a day, as I had plans to go out with the girls, and she was supposed to babysit later.  The recipe she chose called for cooked, frozen meatballs, so I suggested she set it aside for the following week and make something else.  With some grumbling disappointment she quickly suggested meat loaf.  Meat loaf is a meal that lends itself to fall or winter days, but it has been rather cool and rainy.  I pulled out one of my favourite cookbooks, one well perused and falling apart and tuned quickly to the recipe for Lemon Barbecue Meatloaves.  It was already bookmarked, the page stained; it is an old favourite.  She looked it over and decided to give it try.
When I left for work Wednesday I advised her to peel 4 or 5 potatoes when she got home, and to dice them and put them in cold water.  It is not a speedy process for her yet, so I figured she could get a head start on that part of the meal.  When I arrived home she had done as I suggested, but the potatoes looked more like they had been minced for hash browns than cubed for boiling, but the job was done.
While Emily began collecting her meatloaf ingredients I minced an onion for her (some how, for someone who had just minced 5 potatoes, she would have only diced the onion) I also ran a few slices of bread through my manual food processor to make her some fresh bread crumbs.  To ground beef Emily added the onion, breadcrumbs, lemon juice, an egg and some seasoned salt.  I showed her how to shape the mixture into six small loaves and once they were in the oven she began making the barbecue sauce.
After 15 minutes she removed the meatloaves from the oven and spooned sauce over them, finally topping each one with a slice of fresh lemon.
The meatloaves were as good as I remember, the sauce sweet and tangy.

Lemon Barbecued Meat Loaves

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef                               1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups fresh bread crumbs (about 4 slices)            1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 cup lemon juice                                                1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 cup minced onion                                             1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 egg                                                                       6 thin lemon slices

2 teaspoons seasoned salt 

1/2 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a large bowl combine ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg, lemon juice and seasoned salt.  Mix well and shape into six individual loaves.  Place in a greased baking pan.

Bake 15 minutes.

While the meatloaves are baking prepare the barbecue sauce.  Combine ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, allspice and cloves.  Mix well.  Spoon the sauce over the meatloaves and top each with a lemon slice.  Return to the oven and bake 30 minutes longer, basting occasionally with remaining sauce.  Serve any remaining sauce on the side. 

Gnocci With Chicken & Four Cheese Sauce

Spring is rapidly becoming summer, and I am finding it harder to find time to write, even these brief posts.  This week has been busy enough we haven't found a night for her to cook.  Hopefully next week will be better organized.  Then again, Emily is babysitting more too, and that often shifts the evenings too.
I tripped across this recipe a week or so ago and suggested it to my chef in training.  She thought it looked good so the decision for last Monday.
I helped Emily slice chicken breasts into thin strips when I got home,  She had an onion already chopped, and the garlic minced when I walked in the door.
As it happened I had thawed out twice as much chicken as we needed.  I put half of the strips into the fridge and made chicken fingers a couple of nights later.  I had also purchased the larger bag of gnocci, so we had the second half another night with a lovely garlic & thyme butter sauce.

While the water for the gnocci was coming to a boil Emily browned the chicken and onion in hot oil.  I had neglected to purchase rosemary, so we left it out.  Once the chicken was done Emily stirred in the garlic and cooked it another minute.  To the chicken Emily stirred in a can of four cheese pasta sauce and seasoned it with black pepper, simmering it for 5 minutes or so, until it was heated through.  In the meantime she had cooked the gnocci.  She drained it and stirred the pasta into the sauce.  It was delightfully simple and very good.  I had never cooked gnocci before and will definitely be adding it to the menu more often.  It cooked quickly, which is always a bonus.

Gnocci With Chicken & Four Cheese Sauce

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts,                1 jar (650 ml) Four Cheese pasta sauce

      cut into thin strips                                                  1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 onion, chopped                                                         1 package (500g) gnocci, cooked

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary                         2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley    

2 cloves garlic, minced         

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large, deep skillet.  Add chicken, onion & rosemary, cook 6-8 minutes, until the chicken is done.  Stir in garlic, cook one minute longer.

Add the pasta sauce & pepper, simmer until heated through.  Stir in gnocci and parsley.                               

Spinach & Potato Frittata

It's Mother's Day.  Like lots of holidays, especially the rather arbitrary ones, it tends to make some of us reflective.  It's always been an emotional day for me, although it is better than it used to be.  Before Emily was born Mother's Day celebrations in church were painful, as more often than not, it seemed, it was not my weekend with my sons.  We were supposed to shift the schedule around so I got Mother's Day & he had them for Father's Day, but somehow that never seemed to work.
I had a few epic battles with my ex mother-in-law when she was still my mother-in-law....the kind that strengthen one's resolve to be a beloved mother-in-law when the time came.  I love my mother dearly, and I admire her immensely.  She is an amazing woman, but like all mother/daughter relationships there have been some rocky places.  I know Emily and I will likely have our share, she is not yet a teenager.  Regardless of all of that the best name I have ever worn was that of "mom".   Further musings on that matter however is grist for another mill.
Last weekend Peter brought me a couple dozen eggs from a friend he was visiting, and while eggs are never in over abundance, this seemed a good opportunity to suggest quiche, or some other egg based dish to Emily for her menu.  After all eggs are generally inexpensive and readily available.  Having a few of these kinds of dishes in one's recipe box is always good for a fast and easy meal.  I suggested this recipe to Emily and she seemed to think it was a good idea, so we were off.
When I got home on Monday night I showed her how to cut a thin slice off the side of a potato to give it a flat surface to make slicing it into thin slices easier.  Once the potatoes were sliced she cooked them until they were just tender in hot oil, before stirring in spinach, green onions and garlic.  When it came time to add the egg mixture though she kept stirring, rather than letting the eggs cook into a solid, slice-able dish, so our frittata looked more like scrambled eggs.  Nonetheless it was  very tasty.  I made a fruit salad to go with it rather than a lettuce salad, which made a nice change of pace.

Spinach & Potato Frittata

2 Tablespoons olive oil                             salt & pepper

6 small red potatoes, sliced                       6 eggs

1 cup torn fresh spinach                             1/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons sliced green onions*             1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Place the potatoes in the skillet, cover and cook about 10 minutes, until tender but firm.  Mix in the spinach, green onions and garlic.  Season with salt & pepper.  Cook 1-2 minutes, until the spinach is wilted.

In a mixing bowl combine eggs and milk.  Pour over the vegetables, sprinkle with cheese.  Reduce heat to low, cover & cook 5-7 minutes, until the eggs are firm.

Meatball Subs with Marinara Sauce

Emily's school has a hot lunch program in which, once a month, the students are given an opportunity to order & enjoy a meal from a local restaurant.  Sometimes it's pizza, other months have been wraps and sliders from another eatery.  In April it was Subway.  Emily opted for the meatball marinara, which she ordered the last time Subway was the restaurant of choice.  As we filled out the order form and she began raving about how much she loooovves these sandwiches, I commented that perhaps she could find a recipe and make her own.  This struck her as a novel idea, and two weeks ago she did just that.  This past week was uncommonly busy with other thing, we never got around to having Emily prepare a meal, and last weekend was busy....I regrettably never found (ok, made) the time to write.
In any case, meatballs marinara.  As easy, if mildly labour intensive as I suspected.  I thawed a couple packages of ground bison and stopped at the store for canned tomatoes, submarine rolls and spinach.  I even indulged in a bag of preshredded Italian blend cheese, a time saver.
Emily combined the meat with an eggs, minced garlic and a chopped onion. Her initial chop was rather coarse, so I rescued as  many bits as I could and ran them through my food chopper, then readded them.  She was annoyed, but I pointed out no one wants huge chunks of onion in their meatball.  Once everything was seasoned and well blended Emily shaped the meat into ping pong bal sized balls and arranged them on a baking sheet and baked for about 12 minutes.
While the meatballs were baking she made her marinara sauce.  We did find recipes on line that used bottled sauce, but there's no learning in that.  She combined garlic, tomatoes, parsley and oregano and simmered it all together, stirring in the meatballs once they were cooked.
We spooned meatballs and sauce into the submarine rolls and added the shredded cheese.  The original recipe also advised shredded fresh basil or arugula, I opted for spinach.
Emily had also made oven fries as a side dish.  Dinner was great, as always.  The next day I cooked spaghetti and reheated the sauce; just as delicious.

Meatball Subs

Meatballs:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef                             1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 large egg, beaten                                        2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 cup bread crumbs                                       1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped*

1/4 cup grated Parmesan                               salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400F.  Combine all the ingredients and mix well, without over mixing.  Divide meat into meatballs (the original recipe advises dividing the meat into 4, and then each quarter into 4 balls, we just made manageable sized meatballs)  Place, evenly spaced, on a non stick baking sheet and roast for about 12 minutes, until cooked through.

* We used about a tablespoon dried parsley, I was out of fresh

Marinara Sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil                                     1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

4 cloves garlic, crushed & chopped                 1 -28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes           2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1- 14 ounce can chunky style crushed tomatoes 

salt & pepper

Heat the oil in a deep sauce pan, add garlic, and once it starts to sizzle add the herbs and crushed red pepper.  Allow to infuse for about 30 seconds then add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a simmer and simmer until meatballs are done.

Combine meatballs & sauce.  Top sub buns with meatballs, sauce, shredded cheese and  place under the broiler until the cheese is melted, add spinach/arugula/basil

Oven Fries: 

4 medium, white skinned potatoes, cut lengthwise into 8 wedges, tossed with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil & grill seasoning, or coarse salt & pepper.  Place on a non-stick baking sheet and roast 20 minutes, until just tender.  Stir after about 10 minutes to avoid sticking.