A Beautiful Day for a ....

                              It was a beautiful day for an afternoon walk in the park..

Admiring doors and ironwork on old buildings..

And stopping by the market to pick up the ingredients for tonight's Ratatouille on a bed of Polenta with a salad.


Creamy Polenta

 

From The Gourmet Cookbook

3 cups water

1/3 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup polenta (not quick-cooking) or yellow cornmeal (not stone-ground).  I used Bob's Red Mill

1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Salt the water in a 2-quart heavy saucepan and bring to a boil.  Add the polenta in as thin a stream as possible, whisking all the time.  Cook over medium heat, still whisking, for 2 minutes.  Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer.  Whisk again for 1 minute every 2 minutes until done.  For some brands this might take 45 minutes, for Bob's Red Mill it took about 30 minutes.

Remove the polenta from the heat and stir in the cheese and butter.  Add the salt and pepper to taste.

Ratatouille

Adapted from the Easy French Food  Cookbook

1/4 cup olive oil

2 onions chopped

1-2 bell peppers chopped

2 eggplants cubed

2 zucchini cubed

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 lbs tomatoes

basil salt pepper

Heat olive oil in soup pot on medium heat 

Add onions

While onions cook, chop peppers and add to pot.

Chop eggplants, add to the pot, stir often to avoid burning.

When softened, add zucchini

Add garlic

Add tomatoes

Add seasoning and basil 

Lower heat, cover pot, cook 30-40 minutes.