He Cooks, She Cooks

With an eggplant, zucchini and bell pepper in the fridge the other day, I couldn’t help but think of ratatouille. Since I couldn’t justify another trip to the market, canned tomato sauce would have to suffice to complete the traditional four-fecta of produce in the dish.

I wanted to make a meal of it, so I opented up the pantry. Hmm polenta…That sounds a big bowl of mush, unless…yes, I could make some firm squares and pan-fry the outsides. Althought I didn’t have success in my first crisp polenta attempt this summer…

I’ve since found the proper 3-1 ratio of liquid to dry polenta, and I haven’t had any similar fails. (I’ll note that the polenta in that photo, while melted out of its square shapes, ended up with a most pleasant grill flavor.)

Serving an untraditional ratatouille with polenta, of all things, is a departure from the French spirit of honoring culinary tradition, but a Google search shows I’m not the first to have bastardized a classic in this way. Yet when it works so deliciously, why fight it?

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Isn’t ”sparkle cookie” a great term of endearment? As in, “Ohhh my little sparkle cookie!” When I’m a grandmother, I’m absolutely calling my granddaugher that and making this recipe for her all the time.

Until then, I occasionally refer to my friend Kat as “Sparkle Cookie,” and I made her a batch when she was feeling sick. Can’t you tell I’m gonna be a good grandma?

Anyway, these cookies are a cross between a corn muffin and shortbread. They aren’t too sweet, which I always appreciate. Although I don’t drink coffee, I bet they’d be nice with a cup. So, from now until I’m someone’s favorite grandma, I’ll be having mine with tea.

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Senior year of high school I went to my best friend Annabelle’s house every Friday night for Shabbat dinner. I’m not Jewish, but I went for the food and the company. Annabelle’s family is from Venezuela so both are always enjoyable.

One of my favorite foods we’d have were arepas, which are fried cornmeal patties. Sometimes they had cheese inside, otherwise I topped them with it myself. Annabelle’s house always had a good selection of cheeses and dips.  Burrata, queso fresco, crema, salsa…

I don’t get to visit Annabelle too often these days, but I have learned to make arepas. They’re very simple: precooked cornmeal (like PAN), water and salt. Mix all that together, form into patties, fill or don’t fill, then fry them in a little oil.

You might not know any Venezuelan Jews, but you’ll appreciate these nonetheless. 

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Most of the recipes we offer on He Cooks She Cooks are more like guidelines. We know we don’t have the authority to tell you how exactly to make something. We barely listen to the great chefs whose recipes we look at. The way we see it, there are infinite ways to make great food. As long as you have an idea how you want something to taste in the end, you can keep adding till you get there — or somewhere close.

This chili, for instance, is unbelievably forgiving. Beans, vegetables, meat (or not) and spices. Throw varying amounts of those in a pot, simmer for a while, then serve.

We had ours with homemade cornbread. I finally made the New York Times recipe I’d been wanting to try all year: Brown Butter Cornbread with Thyme and Farmer Cheese. How could you go wrong with those ingredients, right? Well the result wasn’t bad. It just…wasn’t how I like my cornbread. I guess I, like Deb in the Smitten Kitchen, like my cornbread on the sweeter side, but didn’t know it until I had this much more savory version. If you’re in the camp that would prefer something like this, then by all means, go thyme and brown butter crazy.

In the meantime, here’s a list of what we put in the chili. Add and subtract ingredients as you wish.

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Dessert recipes usually aren’t as forgiving as savory dishes, but I still can’t ever seem to follow the rules. I had a big bag of cornmeal and frozen cranberries — the main ingredients — but didn’t want to go to the store for anything else. I swapped plain yogurt for ricotta, honey for maple syrup, dried orange rind for fresh zest and some margarine since we only had one stick of butter.

No one had any complaints about the result. The cake is a nice, not-too-sweet dessert. And on Day 2, it’s more moist, and the cranberries are a little less tart. I have a lot of hungry friends, though, so it didn’t make it to Day 3.

I can only imagine how great it would be with ricotta and maple syrup. Yogurt was a good substitute though, and I would always choose pure honey if your only other option is fake maple-and-butter-flavored corn syrup.

This would also be great with an orange glaze, as Kat suggested.

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