Southern comfort

Every other night, usually at the dinner table, my other half quizzes me about what I was doing, eating, or where I was, one year ago. Since we were in Italy at that time, it's an easy game. The food is generally the key to the answer.

With the multitude of eggplant (less the few the racoons have sampled) that are ripening in our garden, we are recreating the simmered summery vegetable dishes we enjoyed in Calabria last August. Stewed in ripe tomatoes, fresh herbs and earthy, crispy fried peppers, eggplant truly shine in this dish. We skip the olives (preferring to eat them on the side before and after the meal) and add a few dried chiles to the fry pan (before the garlic) cooking them until they are fragrant and crisp. We also add a zucchini or two depending on what is garden ready.

Eaten under the vines at 'room temperature' with crusty bread and the local ciro..

Southern comfort perfected.