You win some and you lose some...

But lately I seem to have been having more loses than wins! 

Last week I had some strawberries that desperately needed using up, and I decided to make muffins with them.  I also had some natural yoghurt that was nearing the end of it's life and decided to adapt the recipe to include that too.  The strawbs were quite old and dry so I cooked them down in some sugar first - so far so good, they came out just the consistency that I wanted and I thought I was on a roll.  I should have left it at that but no, I had to play around with the batter recipe to include the yoghurt.  Big mistake.  While the muffins looked beautiful, they were dense and heavy as rocks!

So, after quite a list of failures (you really don't need to know about them all) I was quite pleased with myself last night when I made this bastardised version of a ratatouille to go with the pork steak we had for dinner.  In the end this turned out more like a warm vegetable chutney than a ratatouille and the flavours, with the slight sweetness from the wine and paprika and heat from the chilli worked beautifully with the pork.  not to mention the lovely colours on the plate!

Warm Vege Chutney
Ingredients
1/2 red capsicum

1/2 yellow capsicum

1/2 large red chilli

1/2 red onion

1 large zucchini

2 cloves garlic

3/4 c red wine

1/2 c thick tomato juice

1 T tomato paste

1/4 t sweet smoked spanish paprika

handful chopped flat leaf

parsley and basil

2 T olive oil

1. Chop capsicums, chilli, onion and zucchini into bite-sized pieces.  I used half of a large red chilli and left the seeds in, which gave the chutney just a hint of mild heat.  Heat oil in saute pan and lightly brown veges.

2.  Finely chop the garlis and add to the pan, along with the wine.  Allow the wine to bubble and reduce slightly and then add the tomato juice and paste.  I had the tomato juice left over from a can of whole peeled tomatoes that I used earlier in the week.

3.  Cook for five to ten minutes so that veges are soft but not mushy and the sauce has thickened and reduced.  Stir through the paprika and herbs and season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper and you're good to go!