Bon appétit!

Ra-ta-too-e's fancy-sounding name is probably the reason my mom never made it for us. She made eggplant parmesan, so I know she knew how to cook eggplant. Maybe it's because it's not really meat and potatoes. Or because she had to hide onions in my dishes because I absolutely hated them when I was little. I didn't know any of the ingredients commonly found in ratatouille until fairly recently and I definitely had no idea that it's vegetarian. I thought (for some weird reason) that there was seafood involved, so I kept skipping it in the cookbook. Sometimes, it helps to actually read the recipe. No meat nor potatoes were harmed in the making of this dish, but lots of veggies were slaughtered.

"Ratatouille" (6 quart pot)

~3 T olive oil, divided
~4 garlic cloves, minced
~1 yellow onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
~2 medium eggplants, peeled and cut into 1 inch dice
~salt and pepper to taste (I didn't use any)
~1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch dice
~1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch dice
~3 small zucchini, cut into 3/4 inch dice
~2 c crushed tomatoes
~1 T dried basil
~2 T fresh thyme
~1/2 t crushed red pepper

Heat 1 T oil on medium-low heat until hot.
Add garlic and onion and cook until translucent.
Add eggplant and salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.
Turn heat to low and cover and cook for 5 minutes or until tender.
Transfer to crock pot.
Add peppers and zucchini.
Combine tomatoes, basil, thyme, pepper flakes, and remaining 2 T of oil in a medium bowl and stir well.
Pour into crock pot and stir together all ingredients.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until veggies are tender.
Adjust seasonings.

6 servings.

This was delicious, but as meat eater, I don't think it was worth all of the effort for something that could just as easily be made on the stovetop. Especially because you're not aiming to tenderize any meat. It was also tomato-y which makes me think "Italian" and I'm not big on Italian food, so as tasty and flavorful as this was, it wasn't my favorite thing. Dessert on the other hand...

The only time my mom's food related adventurous side appears is when someone else does the cooking. Like on a cruise. I went on my first cruise when I was 16. It was me, my mom, and her mom. They MADE ME (ha!) order all sorts of crazy desserts I'd never heard of like dulce de leche, creme brulee, and flan. Then, I promptly forgot which was which and which one was my favorite. I've crocked dulce de leche several times and of course now, 14 years later, I know the difference between the three of them. Still, I thought I should crock a creme brulee just to be sure. Absolutely positively sure. Crocking a dessert wasn't originally on the menu for tonight, but we had plans to have company over, so I Googled  "French desserts". Creme brulee is French! How did I not know that? Seriously. Bonus: I had leftover heavy cream and raw sugar (Thanks Molly!) from Shamcrock, so I didn't even have to go to the store.

"Creme Brulee" (6 quart pot)

~2 cups heavy cream
~5 egg yolks
~1/2 cup sugar
~1 T vanilla
~1/4 cup raw sugar (11 packets)

Place a stoneware baking dish (I used the same 1.5 round Corningware dish that I'd used for the cheesecake) into crock pot.
Pour water into crock pot until it's 1/2-3/4 of the way up the sides of the baking dish. (Press the dish down if it starts to float.)
Remove dish from crock pot.
Whip 5 egg yolks in medium bowl.
Slowly add cream and sugar while mixing.
Add vanilla and mix.
Pour mixture into dish and carefully lower it into the crock pot. (Be careful not to get water IN the dish.)
Cover and cook on high 2-4 hours. Custard should be set when the center is still jiggly. (Mine was done after 2.5 hours.)
Use oven gloves to remove dish from crock pot.
Allow to cool completely on the countertop. Then chill in fridge for 2-3 hours.
Sprinkle raw sugar evenly over the custard.
Move oven rack to the top rung and broil for 3-10 minutes, checking often. (Mine was done after 3 minutes on high.)
The sugar will boil and brown.
Cool in fridge for 2 hours.

It should look something like this:

And then after you cut it, it should look something like this:

6 servings.

Oh. My. Goodness. This was absolutely perfect. I'll definitely make this again and maybe next time, I'll even use little ramekins because that's how it's "supposed to be served". Go make it. Now. Show off for your friends like I did. (Hi Amanda and Karina!)