Hobbies

Did you hear about Sister Anastazja Pustelnik? In Poland this nun is just as popular as Jamie Oliver is in Britain. She cooks every day for the Jezuits of Krakow and now books with her recipes are selling like…well, hot cakes A book with 123 cake recipes sold over 400,000 copies. Not bad for a cooking nun.

Maybe I should also write a book : “Vegetarian Cooking with Brother Frank” (or in Polish: Wegetariañskie Gotowanie z Bratem Frankiem)

Here is already a nice recipe for Ratatouille, adapted for both metric users and those who are metrically-challenged

Chilli Ratatouille (serves 4 priests or 5 nuns)

Ingredients

2 aubergines (USA = eggplant)
3 courgettes (USA = zucchini)
a quarter cup of olive oil (extra vergin)
1 big onion
2 (sissy) to 4 (wolverine) cloves of garlic
1 to 2 teaspoons of white sugar
1 spoon of chilli powder or freshly cut cilli
salt & pepper (for seasoning)
2 tablespoons of vinegar (preferably red wine)
250 grams / 8 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes or even better: a bunch of fresh tomatoes
a quarter cup of dry white wine

Procedure

1. Wash the aubergines and cut them into small cubes

2. Wash and slice the courgettes into long thin slices. Sprinkle everything with salt and set aside for 20 to 30 minutes. This removes any bitter taste that may rise from the aubergines.

3. Rinse the salt off under running water.

4. Cut the onion into thick wedges and crush the garlic. Yeah baby, crush it!

5. Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan (so you can easily stir everything) and add the onions and sauté until they are golden brown.

6. Add the courgette, aubergine and garlic and again cook until golden.

7. Mix the sugar, red wine vinegar, chilli, tomatoes and wine.

8. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

9. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with fresh baguette or with rice. You can also serve it as a side dish if you wish, it goes well with fish and on spaghetti.