Brrrrrrr - "Freakin' Amazing Soup"

Today.... another freakin' blizzard.

I'm really getting sick of Winter... but it is only February, so I have a while to go before I don't see Snow for a few months.... WHY oh WHY could my ancestors have moved somewhere warmer?!?

ANYWAY
Since it has been so FREAKIN cold, I've been cooking a lot of soup/stew, etc. Warm food, since we both work outside for a lot of the day.
This is the soup I made this weekend, which was "freakin' amazing" according to the Boyfriend. (so that's what I'm calling it)

"Freakin' Amazing Soup"

3 carrots, sliced pretty thin
1 Zucchini, sliced and quartered
4 tomatoes, cut up however you want to cut them up for soup... Don't discard the tomato guts inside.. they help make the broth
1 Bell Pepper - cut up however you want to cut them up for soup... You can also use more, I only used 1, since that is all I had left in the Fridge
6 cloves garlic -minced (more or less, depending on how much you like garlic)
Small Meatballs - mine were about half an inch in diameter... (and how ever many you want in your soup... none for veggie version, or more for carnivorous version... mine was pretty carnivorous)
Celery- cut up in large pieces (but spoon-sized).. about 3-4 stalks
Frozen Peas - about 1/3 bag
Beef Broth (or whatever kind you want... I went with Beef, since I had beef meatballs)
Lots of Water
Spices to taste
Olive Oil

Put a "glug" of Olive Oil in LARGE soup pot... heat up and then add in minced garlic. Cook til fragrant. About 1-2 minutes.
Add in the chopped Carrot, and about 1-2 cups of water - and some beef broth ( I used the powdered Knorr Beef Bouillon stuff, so i just mixed it in with the water i was adding). Let it boil and the carrot cook for a few minutes... Add more water and the Zucchini... more boiling and then slowly drop the temperature, so the soup stays at a Simmer.
Add in Tomato, bell Pepper, Celery and more water/beef broth and Simmer some more.
Veggies should be starting to soften up a little by this point, so add in peas and the meatballs, and more water/broth if needed. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Once the flavours start to all mix together, check the taste, and then add seasoning to suit your own tastes. I personally stuck to a little Italian seasoning, and Cayenne Pepper, and basic salt and pepper. Make sure you let the soup simmer for at least an hour, and Longer if possible, so it has time to really mix together. AND it is much better the next day too!

It makes for a really good Lunch at work... By the way, the Wind Chill outside today was -37 degrees Celsius. So I was really happy to have nice warm soup for Lunch.


I'm a horrible person and didn't take any pictures... except this one, from my cell phone, of my lunch at work (the post to follow will be for the Cheese Men)

Stay warm out there!

Ratatouille (with sausage)

I have wanted to make Ratatouille ever since I saw the movie. I had no idea what it was, but I knew I wanted to make it... Same with Bavarian Sugar Cookies at the ending of Stranger Than Fiction, And boeuf bourguignon when I watched Julie & Julia... Plus a ton of other dishes from movies that I can't think of off the top of my head.

I've been looking at Ratatouille recipes online for a few weeks now, and with the weather being as crappy this week as it is going to be.... I decided to go and buy all the ingredients and finally make my ratatouille come alive.


Obviously I wasn't going to slice everything super thin and plate it like a high class restaurant in the movie.. I'm more a fan of old school recipes that are so good that people keep making it for centuries. So I cubed everything.

When the boyfriend came home, and tried it, he said "It tastes like Unicorns dancing on my tongue" Which i am going to assume is a good thing, even though I accused him of being the reason why there are no Unicorns anymore... Because how else would he know what Unicorns dancing tastes like .... ANYWAY.... (Ps... I dressed my Pony up as a Unicorn one Halloween and we went trick or treating to the neighbors house)

Ok, back to the Ratatouille

The grocery store didn't have any of the nice long thin Eggplants, just the big fat ones, so I bought them anyway, and then salted them so they could sweat (my dad told me to do it, I don't know if it really made a difference, but I did it anyway)
I bought a bunch of Zucchini because it is one of my favourite Veggies. So I will probably make a bunch of Zucchini dishes for us to eat sometime soon.... And maybe my grandma's Zucchini soup (If you've never had it... I will try and post the recipe soon... it is AMAZING and a favourite childhood memory)
Tomatoes were on sale (YAY!), and I bought a bag of the stoplight Bell Peppers, so I got a range of colours.
And a purple onion... I'm not an onion fan, but the boyfriend is, So if I have to buy an onion, I go for the purple ones because they are prettier... Sole reason I always buy them... And they make me cry less
I didn't really use measurements, I just kept the size of the pieces I cut up in the same general size.
I used one large eggplant, 2 Zucchini (so the cut up zucchini pile was the same size as the eggplant pile), 2 bell peppers (I used yellow and orange), 1 medium purple onion, 4-5 cloves of garlic (minced), 5 Tomatoes cut in cubes, salt, pepper, and some spices (use whatever flavours you want to add to your dish)

Put some olive oil in a large pot (dutch oven). Make sure you have a lid that fits for later.
Heat the oil over medium heat
Add onions, cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, cook about 1-2 minutes til fragrant (don't let the garlic burn though)
Stir in Eggplant and Zucchini, and add some salt and pepper as desired
Add some water, 1/2 cup to 1 cup, depending on your pot and how many veggies you are using.
Cover and Simmer until Vegetables are beginning to soften. Stir occasionally to make sure the top and bottom Veggies are all being cooked evenly
Stir in Bell Peppers, return lid and simmer until softened.
Stir in Tomatoes and spices.
Reduce heat to low-medium. Simmer, stirring often until Vegetables are tender. About 20 minutes.
Remove from heat
Serve and Enjoy
(You can also freeze and have it later)

I also added some sliced Kolbassa sausage to my ratatouille, because we like meat, and I have been on a bit of a vegetable kick lately, and we are both starting to crave more meat. But it would also have been amazing without the sausage.


I would also like to mention, as I was making about 3 other dishes at the time (so we can eat all week with minimal effort on my part after a long day at work), The Boyfriend said "you are a kitchen goddess"
Must be the black bottom muffins I fed him just before he said that (Don't worry, I'm working on a post for those too)