Bill’s Big Carrot Cake

        This past weekend, we were delighted to have friends from Mexico here for dinner. Whenever they visit, we try to stick to classic American food.  In this case, Ribs, Corn on the cob with Basil Lime butter and Carrot cake.  Carlos and his friend, Tachi, are a great audience.  Carlos really enjoys his food and he’s always very enthusiastic about whatever we serve him.  But I have to say that this Carrot Cake knocked Carlos right out of the ballpark.  He was so impressed by it, that he wanted the recipe on the spot.  Andrew and I said goodbye with a promise that we’d put in on Chewing the Fat as soon as possible.  So here it is.  And it is exceptional in every way.

Ratatouille with Fairy Tale Eggplant

      






If you’ve read much Chewing the Fat lately, you may remember David Falkowski, our local “Mushroom Man”, who supplies us with wonderful fresh and dried mushrooms at our local Farmer’s Markets. (You can read about these markets and David by on the most recent New York Times article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/nyregion/18dineli.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Sag%20Harbor%20Farmer's%20Market&st=cse). A couple of weeks ago, while we were at the Saturday morning market in Sag Harbor, we were visiting David’s table and there we saw some tiny little eggplants about 2 or 3 inches long.  David told us they were Fairy Tale eggplants.  He said customers were coming back weekly to buy more so he knew he had a hit on his hands.  The next thing we knew, there they were in New York magazine’s August 2nd Food section being extolled for their lack of both major seeds and any bitterness associated with their larger cousins.  We hustled home with ours and decided to make them the basis for the best ratatouille we’d ever tasted.