Provençal Vegetable Stew

Yes, I had to look it up too, but then it's fairly obvious. Provençal implies that it's a dish from Provence, France, meaning Mediterranean. As to how Mediterranean eggplant is, well, I'll leave that up to you to decide. I made this vegetable stew (though it ended up more chili-like) to bring to Allison and Jeremy's for Easter. I tried to pick something simple, since I'd be cooking with the constraint of having to transport it and arrive in time for the meal proper. And it is a fairly straight-forward meal (or side-dish).

What you're seeing is basically all the work. This meal serves "four", and, this time, I decided not to cut the quantities in half. Chop up four garlic cloves, a yellow onion, two celery ribs, a green (or red) bell pepper, and cube an eggplant. I couldn't find button mushrooms, but since I don't know the difference, shiitake worked instead. Sauté the garlic, mushrooms, onions, celery, and peppers together in olive oil (there's something Mediterranean, though, of course, this is a Rachael Ray recipe) for a few minutes. Then add the eggplant and seasoning (rosemary and thyme) and cook until the eggplant is soft.

That is, well, all there is too it. Rachael recommended serving with some crusty French bread, so I bought a baguette at Price Chopper and cut it up to serve along with. I don't have much else to say about this dish. It's good if you like all the ingredients! I guess I'll just post the pictures of the bread since I need to fill out some space. How was your Easter? Good? I'm glad to hear it. Did you eat some ham with your family? Yeah? Some mashed potatoes? Some, uh, rolls? And, uh, greens and stuff? That's cool. So, um, I like your shoes. Are those new? No? Well, they're cool. Oh, you gotta go? Me too, I guess. See ya around.

Smoky Black Bean and Rice Stoup

I assumed that "stoup" was a real cooking term that I just didn't know, but it looks like it's an invention of Rachael Ray's - a portmanteau of "stew" and "soup". (Full disclosure: it's also a real word with (possibly) a completely different meaning.) Rachael described this meal as "chop, drop, and open", which seemed like a nice break from my more complicated dish of last week. And, since I had experimented with other black bean soups the previous week, I'd like to see what a real version tasted like.

It was easy to lay everything out at the start. I picked up some Worcestershire and Tabasco along with coriander to supplement my seasonings. Chopping up celery, half an onion, and some garlic, I left these out on the cutting board. The recipe called for bay leaf, but I had no idea what that was until later (it's a spice? I was looking with the fresh greens). I measured out half a cup of frozen corn kernels and half a cup of rice to add along with the chicken broth, tomato sauce, diced fire-roasted tomatoes, and black beans.

I sliced up some bacon and started cooking it in the pot. After a few minutes, I added the celery, onion, and garlic. After these had simmered together, the corn and black beans were added. I poured in half the beans' can and its juices and then (on Rachael's recommendation) smashed the rest together to achieve a more paste-like consistency. I then seasoned this concoction with the Worcestershire, Tabasco, coriander, cumin, and chili powder. The smell now coming off the stove was to die for!

Next to go in was the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and chicken broth (I told you this was a simple recipe!). The pot was nearing capacity now and, adding the final ingredient - rice, I left it to simmer for ten minutes. I halved the ingredients for this meal so as not to make way more than I'd eat (even though soup will store well). As such, I decreased the final recommended cooking time for this last step. The rice came out not as soft as probably intended, but OK nonetheless. Jeremy and Allison bravely volunteered to join me again for dinner before watching Blade Runner. Here's to hoping they're still alive to read this!