Grandma's Kitchen Table

Wednesday with Donna Hay: Free-Form Ratatouille Tart

       My forty-eighth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay is Free-Form Ratatouille Tart, chosen by Margaret, and found in Modern Classics I on pages 166-167. 

      The ingredient list:  1 shortcrust pastry, garlic, onion, red bell peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, olive oil, feta, marjoram leaves, salt, and pepper. 

      Oh, this was a fun recipe.  First you cut all the veggies and roast them (one of my favorite things to do actually, they are all so good roasted).  While that is happening, you make a dough (another one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen).  After you roll the dough, you place the veggies on it, wrap an inch or so up around the sides and over, and bake in the oven. 

      Simple, easy, delicious, and definitely a repeat.  The dough stayed flaky and it was fun to have that bit of crunch with the veggies.  This is a great way to present veggies and make them seem a little special and out of the ordinary.   Delicious! 

      Wonder what the others thought?  Gaye's post on this is here.  Margaret's post is here. Chaya's post is here.  Next week we are making Chaya's choice, Smoky Roasted Gazpacho,  found on page 30 of Modern Classics I. Join us and leave a link to your post, no commitment required.

Wednesday with Donna Hay: Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

      My forty-seventh recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay is Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni, chosen by me, and found in Modern Classics I on page 144, you can also find it online here. 

      The ingredient list:  tomato pasta sauce, pasta, parmesan cheese, spinach, ricotta, parsley, dill, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper. 

      Pasta dishes are always a hit with the guys and this one was no exception. It was full of flavor and filling with the rich cheeses, sauce, and pasta.  We liked the spinach addition, and really really liked the dill in the recipe...all the ingredients went together nicely. 

      This is a quick recipe to make, reheats fairly well, and the only thing I would try to "fix" next time is to add a bit more sauce as the pasta got a bit dry in places as it baked and I think that the extra sauce would have prevented that...one cannot have too much sauce with pasta, in moderation of course.  My favorite part was the dill...I had never had dill in a recipe like this before, so that was fun and surprising. Will add that to similar dishes in the future just to shake things up a bit occasionally.  Delicious! 

      Wonder what the others thought?  Gaye's post on this is here.  Margaret's post is here. Chaya's post is here.

      Next week we are making Margaret's choice, Free Form Ratatouille Tart,  found on pages 166-167 of Modern Classics I. Join us and leave a link to your post, no commitment required.

Wednesday with Donna Hay: Indian Lamb Curry

      My forty-sixth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay is Indian Lamb Curry, chosen by Gaye and found in Modern Classics I on page 100. 

      The ingredient list:  cubed lamb shoulder, coriander, cumin, cardamom, chili powder, oil, onion, garlic, chicken stock, and thick yogurt. 

      I prepared this (with the exception of the yogurt, which I added after reheating) early in the day while I was doing laundry, etc. so that it could sit in the refrigerator until dinner and I could reheat it at that time as I figured the flavors would all have time to get nicely acquainted.  That worked great.  It was also nice to have that part finished as the recipe is easy to do but requires browning the meat, cooking the onions and garlic, assembling it all, letting it simmer for an hour, and then removing the lid and simmering to reduce the liquid for another 15 minutes, so having all that done made dinner hour much easier.  I made rice, steamed asparagus, and cardamom carrots at dinnertime to serve with it.  The flavors do acquire a depth of spicing by letting it sit a bit longer, so the results were smooth, creamy, and wonderfully Indian in flavor. 

      The whole recipe was easy and I would definitely make this one again for ease of preparation and for taste.  Delicious! 

      Wonder what the others thought?  Gaye's post on this is here.  Margaret's post is here. Next week we are making my choice, Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni found on page 144 of Modern Classics I. Join us and leave a link to your post, no commitment required.