Grape Hol­low Farm Rata­touille (serves four)

Grape Hol­low Farm Ratatouille
(serves four)

3 tbsps olive oil
1 egg­plant, cut small, soaked in salt­ed water for 1 hour
1 zuc­chi­ni, quar­tered length­wise and sliced
4 cloves gar­lic, minced
chopped red and green pepper
chopped jalapeno, cayenne and habanero pep­pers to taste for hotness
1 red onion, minced
two hand­fuls heir­loom toma­toes, chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
splash red wine vinegar
fresh thyme, basil, rose­mary, sage to taste, chopped
salt and pepper

Saute egg­plant and zuc­chi­ni for 5 min­utes, then add gar­lic and pep­pers, and onions, and saute till soft. Add toma­toes, lemon juice and vine­gar and cook down, then at last minute add herbs and sea­son to taste.

Chris served this to us room tem­per­a­ture, hav­ing had it hot the night before. He assures us that any left­overs (ha!) would be deli­cious under a bed of shred­ded cheese and baked.

Ah, well, tomor­row will see us cel­e­brat­ing Jane’s two-half birth­day. And in the mean­time I’ve got to tell you about paint­ing the fence! And the ulti­mate salmon sauce… and lob­ster roll, and… my day with my best friend Alyssa, and our nos­tal­gic after­noon in Tribeca! Well, there’s plen­ty to tell you about. Sum­mer is going by much too fast.