Author: Dino

Dino agreed to join the supper club based on the assumption that he wouldn't be preparing dishes, only tasting them. Even though he was completely misled, Dino has begrudgingly learned to enjoy dabbling in the culinary arts.
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Ratatouille’s Ratatouille

As envisioned by Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

  • ½ onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
  • 1 cup tomato puree (such as Pomi)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 small eggplant (my store sells these “Italian Eggplant” that are less than half the size of regular ones; it worked perfectly)
  • 1 smallish zucchini
  • 1 smallish yellow squash
  • 1 longish red bell pepper
  • Few sprigs fresh thyme
  • Salt and pepper
  • Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.
  3. Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.
  4. On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.
  5. Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.
  6. Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.
  7. Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. (Tricky, I know, but the hardest thing about this.)
  8. Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.
  9. Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain.

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Shrimp Dumplings

Gourmet January 1999

Serves 2

Shrimp Dumplings

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound shrimp (about 8 large)
  • 1/2 cup drained canned water chestnuts
  • 2 scallions
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh gingerroot
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 14 won ton wrappers, thawed if frozen
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup boiling-hot water

Directions

  1. Peel shrimp and, if desired, devein. In a food processor purée 3 shrimp. Rinse and drain water chestnuts. Finely chop water chestnuts and remaining shrimp. Finely chop scallion greens, reserving white parts for another use. Lightly beat egg white and put 1 tablespoon in a bowl. Stir in puréed and chopped shrimp, water chestnuts, about two thirds each of scallion greens and gingerroot, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce.
  2. Put 7 won ton wrappers on a dry surface, keeping remaining wrappers in package, and lightly brush edges with water. Mound about 1 tablespoon filling in center of each wrapper. Fold each wrapper over filling to form a triangle. Press down around filling to force out excess air and seal edges well. Make additional dumplings with remaining wrappers and filling in same manner.
  3. In a small bowl stir together sugar and remaining scallion greens, gingerroot, and soy sauce to make dipping sauce.
  4. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown dumplings on both sides, about 3 minutes total. Add boiling-hot water to skillet and cook, covered, 5 minutes. Serve dumplings with sauce.
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“Mitty” Chawal: Dirty Rice with Caramelized Onions

660 Curries: The Gateway to Indian Cooking – Raghaven Iyer

Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Indian or Pakistani white basmati rice
  • ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 8 to 10 green or white cardamom pods, to taste
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 2 cinnamon sticks (each 3 inches long), broken into smaller pieces
  • 2 tablespoons Ghee or canola oil
  • 1 large red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt

Directions

  1. Place the rice in a medium-size bowl. Fill the bowl halfway with water, to cover the rice. Gently rub the slender grains through your fingers, without breaking them, to wash off any dust or light foreign objects (like loose husks), which will float to the surface. The water will become cloudy. Drain this water. Repeat three or four times, until the water remains relatively clear, drain. Now fill the bowl halfway with cold water and let it sit at room temperature until the grains soften, 20 to 30 minutes.
  2. While the rice is soaking, combine the peppercorns, cardamom pods, cloves, and cinnamon pieces in a mortar. Pound the spices with the pestle, breaking them down into smaller chips and releasing their aromatic oils.
  3. Heat the ghee in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, sugar, and pounded spices, and stir-fry until the onion turns dark purple-brown and soft, 10 to 15 minutes.
  4. Drain the rice and add it to the onion mixture, tossing them together gently. Pour in 1 1/2 cups cold water and add the salt. Stir the rice once to incorporate the ingredients. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook until the water has evaporated from the surface and craters are starting to appear in the rice, 5 to 8 minutes. Now (and only now) stir once to bring the partially cooked layer from the bottom of the pan to the surface. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes (8 for an electric burner, 10 for a gas burner). Then turn off the heat and let the pan stand on that burner, undisturbed, for 10 minutes.
  5. Remove the lid, fluff the rice with a fork, and serve.