Ratatouille Again...after AIP

This dish always made a hit–it’s hearty peasant fare with a slightly sophisticated air, and I'd been missing it (you can see our original recipe here.)  I've since discovered that nightshade vegetables and I are not good friends, so today I worked up a new version that works better with my dietary needs.

Nightshades, as you may know, don't do well with arthritis or many autoimmune situations, so I'm mostly skipping tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplant (*sob!*)...and all but potatoes are liable to show up in a traditional recipe for this dish!

I love summer squash and we had both yellow and zucchini, so I just used them and a bit of what we had on hand to fill it out.  Turned out it filled it out a LOT, I've got a huge pot of it.  Good thing we both liked it!

Sweet Italian sausage and onion

1-2 lbs sweet Italian sausage

1 Vidalia or sweet yellow onion, chopped
4-5 cloves of fresh garlic, give or take (we love garlic!)
2 summer squash (yellow or zukes or both), chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery (optional)
I had a piece of white sweet potato I cubed and threw in...a bit too sweet, I think...
Mushrooms would be good...didn't have any...

Extra virgin olive oil
Spices to taste – basil, oregano, extra fennel

Salt and pepper to taste 

Splash of white wine (we had leftover) or a little water if needed...

 

Note: as each item is browned, it is added to a large pot on low heat on the back burner. To brown this much you either need a BIG skillet (ours is an antique chicken fryer made of enameled iron, with a lid) or you can do it in smaller batches and then dump it all together to finish cooking. (Otherwise it just sort of steams...)

Brown cut-up or broken-up sausage in a little oil.

Brown onion in oil and grease from sausage. 

 

Joseph likes  carrots really done, so I sauteed them with the celery...add the chopped summer squash and brown them together.

Everything should now be put together in the large pot which you will leave on low heat for at least a couple of hours prior to serving.

Saute' carrots, celery and sweet potato, if you've used it...

Zucchini and yellow summer squash...

A little fresh AND dried basil--the dried was from last year's garden...

Toss in the basil, stir it all together, cover and simmer...

If you can stand NOT to eat this the same day, it gets even better overnight, as the flavors “marry.” 

 

You can also remove most of the fat, which rises to the top when cold--but if you've used good ingredients, this is good healthy fat your brain needs, and we don't remove it. (There will be a lot less fat, of course, if you’ve opted for turkey instead of pork sausage, but we virtually never do.)

I missed the green and red sweet peppers, sometimes miss tomato, but hey, it is what it is. (I didn't miss the eggplant!)  I'm still AIP, in the reintroduction phase...I can have fennel seeds with no problem, so I do!

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Joseph pronounced this delicious, and I didn't mind it a bit myself...leftovers will be more than welcome!

Old-fashioned Oxtail Soup!

I grew up on this hearty winter soup--or stew, if you prefer!--and I love it.  Remember the old saying "it sticks to your ribs?"  Well, it does.  It's wonderful, rich, simple peasant food and you really don't even need a recipe. 

Soup-making is sacred, to me.  Whatever combination of ingredients, I feel deeply connected to my ancestors stretching all the way back to the first pots that would hold a bubbling liquid, some meat, and some vegetables. (Tightly-woven baskets with hot stones dropped in, anyone?)

But I digress...

What do you have on hand?  Throw it in there!  We try hard to use organic vegetables and if that's not possible, fresh locally grown, and from the "clean 15" list of those least affected by chemicals.

All you really need are a variety of vegetables (think variety, color, and nutrient-dense!) and good quality oxtails, not always easy to find in today's hurry-up, ready made "cuisine."  A good butcher should be able to fix you up, even if you have to call ahead, and of course we look for locally sourced, pastured, hormone-free, grass-fed beef if at all possible.

I had a couple of pounds on hand--we buy the good stuff from Moink,  The Local Pig in the City Market in Kansas City, or Barham Family Farm in Kearney (MO), but I know there are plenty of other sources out there.

I lightly brown the meat in an iron skillet to bring out the rich flavor, then put it in the crock pot with bone broth, beef broth (home made or commercial) or water, and add whatever vegetables I have on hand.

This time it was onions (always), garlic, carrots, turnips, celery, zucchini, and radishes (yes, radishes!  They are wonderful cooked), and a few greens (baby spinach?  Chard?)  Sometimes I have celeriac or parsnips, but above you see the basics. 

Cut in bite-size pieces and add to the pot. Make sure the liquid covers most of the ingredients, but not to worry, they will squish up (the zucchini sure did!) and cook down into the broth.

Add what herbs you like (we make an Italian seasoning mix), season to taste, and put the lid on the pot.  Set to high and come back later to a wonderful dinner!  (If you use an instant pot, that's good too, I just don't have one.)

 
Oxtails are so rich in collagen and protein that the broth will partly solidify or gel when cool.  This is GOOD.

This was soooo good I even had a bowl for breakfast the next morning AND dinner the next night.  And had leftovers to freeze for later.