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ratatouille

1K views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  slayertplsko 
#1 · (Edited)
When I cooking I like to pull out my tablet and watch this movie. I read the way ratatouille was made is a recipe some chef came up with. Has anyone ever made it that way? Hard to get crazy about trying it out since it has no meat
 
#3 ·
In my opinion the definitive method of making ratatouille is Thomas Keller's. http://www.justasdelish.com/ratatouilles-ratatouile-confit-byaldi/

As for not getting excited about it because it's meatless... well that's just silly. Ratatouille makes a wonderful side dish to any number of proteins, I like it primarily with fish or chicken but it's great with pork too. It can be tricky to make because the vegetables have to be selected very carefully for their size in order to match perfect circles but you can also make it a little more homestyle and cut the veggies less precisely. Try it, you'll find it divine. The piperade is something you can make on its own as well and it's wonderful with all kinds of dishes.
 
#5 · (Edited)
The dish you saw in the film ratatouille is not a ratatouille. It's a Confit Byaldi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confit_byaldi

I personally much prefer ratatouille, even if the presentation is not as impressive.

Ratatouille is delicious hot or cold right out of the fridge. It's great alone and goes wonderfully with rice. Cold ratatouille with hot rice is a rare treat in the summer.

If you like meat, just serve meat along with it. A grilled pork chop, or some grilled sausages, roast or grilled chicken would go great with it.

Here are two recipes, one "fancy" and the other "quick", that I use. Use more olive oil than you think is necessary:

French Fries' Ratatouille
Serves many for several days

Eggplants 2 lbs
Zucchini 2 lbs
Red bell peppers 1 lbs
1 big onion finely minced
Tomatoes 2 lbs
Garlic to taste, crushed and minced
Bouquet garni with thyme, celery and fennel

All quantities are guidelines. Some people make ratatouille without eggplant. Or without zucchini. Or without pepper. Adjust the recipe to match the season, the market, and you and your family's taste.

1) Prep all veggies, dicing everything in about 1/2'' cubes.

2) Make the tomato fondue:
Sweat onion in a little olive oil. Add tomato, garlic and bouquet garni. Season, and if necessary, add sugar and or tomato paste. If you use good ripe tomatoes, it's not necessary. Cook on low heat until all the water from the tomatoes evaporates.

3) In a pan with a little olive oil, lightly saute the zucchini, giving them a light golden color, until almost cooked but still firm.

4) In another pan with a little olive oil, lightly saute the eggplant, light color, still firm.

5) In another pan with a little olive oil, lightly saute the bell peppers, keeping them a bit firm.

6) Add zucchini, eggplants and bell peppers to tomato fondue, gently mix and let cook very, very slowly for 15-20mn.

The result should be an amazing mix of vegetables that still have their individual identity, and still have some bite. All the flavors are layered. There shouldn't be much juice at all in the pan.

Note: Ratatouille is absolutely delicious served cold. In that case you can add black olives, capers, basil...

Now for the week nights:

French Fries' Quick Ratatouille
1) Lightly saute the onion in olive oil.
2) Add the bell peppers, lightly saute and let soften a bit.
3) Add the eggplant, lightly saute and let soften a bit.
4) Add the zucchini, lightly saute and let soften a bit.
5) Add the tomato and the bouquet garni, and let cook until all veggies are tender.

The result will be more mushy, more juicy than the first recipe. It will be more "one taste", with no layers of flavors, and veggies most likely wont' have a bite to them. This is quite good served with white rice to mop up the juices. But nowhere near as good as the first recipe.

Tip: If you like the taste of garlic, reserve some of the minced garlic and add it 5-10mn before the end of the cooking.
 
#6 · (Edited)
This is the way I do it. I've based my recipe on Jacques Médecin's. By the way, if you read French, do get his book La cuisine du Comté de Nice. Amazing stuff. Actually, I think there is an English translation, too, although I don't know how good it is and if it's the whole book (sometimes it's really worth getting the original if possible as translations can be abridged).

1, Equal quantities of small aubergines, small courgettes, onions and green peppers (not bell peppers, more like Italian frying pepper or whatever it's called). About a pound of each. Slice them all. You can cut the peppers into large cubes if you want. You may want to dust the courgette slices in flour and salt and squeeze the aubergines. But it's not necessary.

2, The old Niçois, where the dish comes from, insist that each vegetable be fried in a separate frying pan. In my opinion that's not necessary, at least onions and peppers can be fried in the same pan. However, you are advised to fry aubergines and courgettes separately. Of course, only virgin olive oil can be used for frying.

3, Make a tomato sauce: fry several cloves of garlic, sliced, and chopped leaves from one sprig of thyme (optional) in olive oil, add about a pound of more of tomatoes (skinned and chopped) and let it cook for like 20 minutes.

4, Add the fried vegetables to the tomato sauce and let the whole thing cook for like 15 minutes, adding a handful of torn basil leaves towards the end. Done.

Ratatouille is a side dish. Serve it with grilled poultry, roast lamb, grilled pork chops or something like that. Fish is another possibility. If you think you still need some carb, a simple butter-and-onion rice pilaf is worth considering.
 
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