French Cooking and Greg Brown Singing

I am amazed and inspired by my parents garden. It's full of wonderful veggies and every time we head over there I come home with fresh flavorful goodness. Looking at our booty the other night I decided we had the makings for ratatouille, to be quite honest I had never heard of this dish until i saw the cartoon 'Ratatouille'. It's a great movie about a rat that loves to cook. Anyway Ratatouille is a French stewed vegetable dish that uses an abundant array of veggies that I personally adore. I didn't have an onion so I just used what I had and went with it, it turned out fantastical! All the veggies minus the garlic are from my parents grand garden and so....

This shall be deemed

My Parents Are Unbelievably Amazing Ratatouille!

1 medium Rosa Bianca eggplant quartered and sliced

1 medium zucchini halved and thickly sliced

1 large heirloom tomato cubed

2 small cloves garlic minced

1 heaping tsp thyme

1 heaping tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Tbs olive oil

On medium heat, heat the oil and garlic in a pan, add the eggplant and zucchini, stirring often till veggies begin softening. Add the tomatoes and the herbs, stir. Cover for 5 minutes letting flavors meld and veggies cook. Remove from heat, and eat!

On a different note, I wanted to share the lyrics to a Greg Brown song that inspired this blog title. I love Greg Brown he's a seriously talented poet. I hope you like it.

Lyrics to Steady Love :
She wants your passion, your caress
She wants your hands on her and a soulful kiss
But she's lookin' for more than just that, son
Gotta be somethin' under all the good times and fun

Oh steady love, steady love
When the chips are down
The kind she can be sure of
Oh steady love

She might like flowers, might like a poem
Might like it better if you were home
And cooked with her and did a little dance
Where the kitchen is happy, love has a chance

Oh steady love, steady love
When the chips are down
The kind she can be sure of
Oh steady love

She's seen the cool boys hangin' around
With their sad dark eyes they never settle down
They might've written books or made CDs for the shelves
But they mostly just think about themselves

She wants steady love, steady love
When the chips are down
The kind she can be sure of
Oh steady love

When the kids are cryin' and the bills are due
And you wonder what you have gotten into
And you think the whole deal is not to be
Give her steady love, you'll find out how hot a woman can be

Steady love, steady love
When the chips are down
The kind she can be sure of
Oh steady love

I've heard men say, "Well look at that
She's such a babe, he's kinda dull, a little fat"
He must know something about kind and fair
When she needs somebody, the man is there

He gives her steady love, steady love
When the chips are down
The kind she can be sure of
Oh steady love

Mmmm, steady love
When the chips are down
The kind she can be sure of
Oh steady love