This last month has been non-stop at work and I felt like crap this weekend, had this nasty canker sore under one of my vital chef tools, my tongue! Won’t describe it but it really wiped me out, so I took this weekend sabbatical to visit my mom to get some R&R (“west and we-waxation”) I caught some serious zzz’s on the couch, read and slept some more! Then was enlisted by mom to cook dinner! What did she have? Rabbit, and some serious amounts of ratatouille vegetables as well as some corn!
So what do you think of when you’re doing a meal that is thrust on you, mom wanted me to cook it but she wanted to direct the show! So she gathered ingredients, gave her interpretation of what she thought I wanted to do and said go ahead! This is not what she had in mind, she liked it though and since we forgot to buy some wine we sipped a very nice sparkling wine, a malbec from Argentina!

Ratatouille
6-8 servings

3 Zucchini
4 Italian eggplant
2 White onions
4-5 cloves garlic
3 sweet red peppers
4-5 Thyme branches
3 tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 Tbsp. parsley

Cut vegetables into 1 1/2 cubes and keep separate from each other.
Sauté  onions and garlic till slightly golden and translucent, follow with each successive  vegetable separately, seasoning each with salt and pepper. Put into a pan and cover cook in pre-heated oven @350 F
for about 20 minutes, check seasoning and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Roasted Rabbit with olives and orange zest
serves 4
1 Rabbit Whole or quatered
1/2 cup green olives (Picholine)
2 Rosemary branches
salt pepper
2 dried orange peel or 1 orange zested
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 bay leaves
1 head garlic cut in half
1/2 cup stock (veal or chicken)
Brown the rabbit, put into a shallow roasting pan, de-glaze pan with balsamic and a small amount of chicken broth or veal stock if you have any?
Roast uncovered @400F for 25-30 minutes

Fresh corn Polenta
4-6 servings

2 shucked corn cobs
1/4 cup of polenta or corn meal
2 cups water or chicken stock
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese
chives snipped

Lightly sauté corn in pan for a minute, add stock, season. Boil and sprinkle over with cornmeal, stir till thickened, simmer for about 8-10 minutes until done, salt and pepper to taste fold in butter and cheese at the end off the heat.