Cooking With Jazz

The cool jazz is playing on Jazz 24 and the smells from the kitchen are amazing! What could be better?

It’s been a busy summer, but a good one. I apologize for being away for so long. Right now I’m heating up some left-over Ratatouille and ground beef in the oven while the rice cooks and the lovely peach and blueberry cobbler bakes in the convection/toaster oven.

We haven’t been doing much in the way of exciting new things in the kitchen. A lot of grilling out and making basic food has gotten us through the busy last couple of weeks.

One exciting thing I’ve been meaning to write about though is how wonderful it is to be able to make Ratatouille in my own kitchen! If you’ve never tasted fresh eggplant, you truly are missing out. It has an odd texture, but the flavor is… indescribably delicious!

Eggplant is one of those odd foods that hardly anyone eats on a regular basis. After all, when was the last time you saw an eggplant in your friendly neighborhood grocery store? Eggplants are delicate and don’t last very long – nor do they travel well – so, depending on your location, local sources are probably your best bet for finding some good eggplants.

Anyhow, one of the benefits to being in a CSA for us is actually getting to experiment, cook with, and eat things like eggplants which we would otherwise either not buy or maybe not even have access to.

The food is just about done and I’m going to go enjoy it now. I just want to encourage everyone to try something new this week. Try eggplant if you can. It’s a truly amazing food – but remember not to eat the skin raw.

~B.