Month: August 2011

Ratatouille Pizza

~ Lynn ~ 14 Comments

I’ve changed my blog theme again. I think I might have theme ADD. That’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed with wordpress.com, it’s incredible easy to change everything. I think I might stick with this one for awhile though. Last time I changed themes I wanted something cleaner, but what I ended up with felt heavy to me. It was just too manly. This is more what I was looking for; clean, light, with a little touch of girly. I like it, and I hope you do too.

In other news, I’ll Have What She’s Having now has a Facebook Page. I realized recently that I had advertised this on Twitter and Stumbled the page, but I never actually told my readers. I’m using it as a forum to share my posts as well as posts from other bloggers that catch my, plus the occasional food news.

And finally the recipe. I saw a photo in the most recent issue of Ricardo Magazine of Ratatouille Pizza and I knew I just had to try it.

This is the perfect time of year to make ratatouille; peppers, zucchinis, and eggplants are all at their peak. It’s great as a side a couple of times but then what? I like to use it as a pasta sauce for baked pasta dishes. Ricardo recommends canning it and using it at a pizza sauce in winter when vegetables are just kind of sad. I obviously couldn’t wait that long. I used his ratatouille  recipe (translated to English below) and some store bought pasta dough as I have yet to master the art of homemade pizza dough. I topped it with cooked Italian sausage and mozzarella.

This was hands down the best pizza I have ever made, and it was better than most delivery pizzas I’ve had too. This recipe is definitely a keeper. The photos I took were all a little out of focus, but I’m sharing anyway because this was just so good.

As this is a magazine recipe I will be submitting it to Magazine Monday. It’s been forever since I did a Magazine Monday Post so for those of you who don’t know, it’s an informal blog event hosted by Ivonne over at Cream Puffs in Venice. Make a magazine recipe, send her the link, and she’ll share it with her readers. Easy peasy.
Ratatouille

  • 1 medium egglant, cut into small cubes
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1/2 mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 zucchinis, sliced
  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 1 can diced tomatoes or 2 cups Italian tomatoes diced
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 5-10 basil leaves, chopped
  • olive oil for frying
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. In a very large pot on medium high, heat about 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the diced eggplant to the pot along with a touch of salt and pepper, brown the eggplant. Once browned, remove the eggplant from the pot and set aside in a large bowl.
  2. In the same pot brown the diced onion, adding more oil if necessary. Once browned add the onion to the eggplant bowl.
  3. Brown the sliced mushroom then add them to the eggplant and onion.
  4. Brown the zucchinis and green pepper, along with some salt and pepper.
  5. Add the tomato to the zucchini and green peppers, followed by the eggplant/onion/mushrooms. Add the time sprigs to the pot then simmer for 30 minutes.
  6. Remove the time sprigs then stir in the fresh basil. Turn off the heat.
Serve as a side dish, pasta sauce or on pizza.
Ratatouille Pizza
  • Pizza dough
  • Ratatouille
  • Italian sausage, sliced and cooked
  • Mozzarella Cheese
  • Basil for garnish
  1. Preheat the oven to 450.
  2. Roll out the pizza dough then place it on a greased and floured baking sheet.
  3. Top with the ratatouille as a sauce, then the sausage and cheese.
  4. Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling, about 10 minutes (keep an eye on it!)
  5. Garnish with fresh basil.
Enjoy!

Raspberry Charlotte

~ Lynn ~ 26 Comments

This weekend we celebrated my dad’s birthday. When I asked him what he wanted, he said it didn’t matter. Birthday’s aren’t important to him because growing up they were never celebrated. To me that’s all the more reason to want to celebrate now. At the very least, a birthday needs a cake.

I was eventually able to get a request for cake with pudding out of him. I had originally planned to make a chocolate pudding tart, but when my mom came home with raspberries those plans changed to a Charlotte. Charlotte’s are molded cakes filled with mousse or custard and surrounded by cake or lady fingers. They are relatively easy to make and look very impressive.

I say relatively because I had a really, really hard time getting the Lady Fingers to stand up. I read several recipes from blogs, cook books, magazines, they all gave the same instruction: stand the lady fingers around the mold. None of them explained how to get them to stand. In the end I cut them in half to give them flat bottoms, making them more balanced.

I filled the Charlotte with a layer of Grand Marnier flavoured pastry cream and another of whipped cream, then topped the whipped cream with raspberries. To tie the flavours together I dipped the Lady Fingers in a Grand Marnier simple syrup. The result was creamy and decadent; the raspberries added the perfect touch of freshness.

Raspberry Charlotte

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar (divided)
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 tbsp Grand Marnier (divide)
  • 1 package store bought Lady Fingers (or home made)
  • 250 ml whipping cream
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar
  • 1 pint raspberries
  1. Make the pastry cream: In a heat-proof bowl whisk the egg yolks with 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Whisk in the flour and cornstarch, the mixture should look like a paste. Set aside. Heat the milk and vanilla in a medium sauce pan. Heat till just before boiling (there will be some small bubbles popping up). Pour a small amount of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine (this will temper the eggs). Pour in the remaining milk, whisking constantly. Return the custard to the saucepan, turn the heat to medium and whisk constantly until thickened. Stir in 1 tbsp Grand Marnier. Pour into a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap then set aside to cool.
  2. Place the Lady Fingers: In a small sauce pan, heat 1/2 cup water with 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tbsp Grand Marnier. Let cool slightly. While cooling cut some the Lady Fingers in half, you will need enough to line the inside of a 9 inch springform pan. Lightly dip one Lady Finger in the simple syrup, then stand it up in the closed springform pan; the flat bottom of the cut Lady Finger should help it stand. Repeat until the entire rim is lined, then fill the base with dipped Lady Fingers. Pour the pastry cream into the springform pan. Refrigerate until set (about an hour).
  3. Once set whip the cream with the icing sugar. Spread on the pastry cream, then top with the raspberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve, then remove the springform mold.
Enjoy!

Grape and Rosemary Cake

~ Lynn ~ 30 Comments

Another of summer treasures has arrived in Quebec over the last couple of weeks: Concord Grapes. Concord Grapes are a little smaller than the standard varieties, and I find them to be much sweeter. Their season only lasts a couple of weeks and they’re really easy to miss. I bought a small box and started munching on them right away.

As I was stuffing my face with grapes I wondered how else I could use them. Then I remembered this month’s Bake Together. Abby Dodge has asked us to bake a simple fruit cake our way. Concord Grapes were clearly how I wanted to go. I struggled with how to flavour the cake for awhile. I considered following Abby’s original instructions, or maybe some cardamom. Then Janice suggested rosemary, which sounded perfect. I didn’t want an overwhelming rosemary flavour so I used Janice’s infused honey method from her Lavender Honey Cakelettes.

Grape and Rosemary Cake

  • 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon table salt
  • 6 tablespoons clarified butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp rosemary infused honey
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 pint Concord Grapes
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp flour
  1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 9 in round pan with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang to pull the cake out of the pan once done.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Mix in the honey. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
  4. Mix in the dry ingredients alternating with the sour cream.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. During this time prepare the fruit, toss the grapes with 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp flour. Once the 15 minutes are done pour the fruit on top of the cake (you’ll have to work quickly). Bake for and additional 25 to 30 minutes.
  6. Serve with a drizzle of rosemary honey.
Enjoy!

Nectarine Basil Iced Tea

~ Lynn ~ 43 Comments

Sunday in Montreal was oppressively hot, so humid the air felt wet. My mom and I spent the afternoon going to thrift shops on the West Island. There are 3 Nova Stores in our area. Nova is an organization that provides nursing home care services in Montreal. To raise money they have thrift stores around the city. Run by volunteers, often retired nurses, they sell everything from furniture to fabric remnants. I could spend hours in those stores. And there’s no need to feel shopping guilt because all for a great cause.

My goal today was to find props for photos, and I did; antique bowls, 25 cent glasses, and a tiney tiny silver spoon. I also picked up a copy of Anne of Green Gables for $1, just because I love that book. But the best find of the day was a teak chair for $35, very similar to this one. It needs to be reupholstered, but still an amazing deal. I can’t wait to start searching for fabric for it!

The drive from store to store is a very pretty stretch of road along the water. We had the windows rolled down enjoying what the summer has to offer. By the time we got home we were quite parched. Thankfully I had this Nectarine and Basil Iced Tea waiting for us. I was a little hesitant to add the basil, but it actually gives the tea a really nice almost spicy flavour. It was surprisingly refreshing. I kept the iced tea alcohol free, but feel free to booze it up.

Nectarine and Basil Iced Tea

  • 4 bags black tea
  • 4 nectarines, sliced
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 5-10 basil leaves
  1. Steep the tea in 8 cups boiled water for 5 minutes, then discard the tea bags.
  2. While the tea is steeping, bring the nectarine slices and sugar to boil with 1 cup of water. Reserve 1/4 of the nectarine slices. Simmer for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and add the basil leaves to the pot for 5 minutes to flavour the syrup. Discard the leaves and pour the nectarine mixture into the tea.
  3. Chill, then serve with ice and remaining nectarine slices.
Enjoy!