Ratatouille a la Provencale

Yes, this is ratatouille, the very same dish that features in the Pixar film of the same name. It’s easy to see why the chef Collette called it a “peasant dish”, and why the characters actually upgrade the ratatouille to make what is properly called Confit Byaldi, which is a twist on the original ratatouille. Confit Byaldi involves arranging the vegetables in a beautiful pattern within a pan lined with a sauce called piperade, then baking the entire dish till the vegetables are delicately roasted to perfection. The original ratatouille though is a stovetop creation, and we do get to see it in a flashback scene in the movie.

We put off making ratatouille for a while owing to the time it takes to put it together. However on this lazy weekend when our friend Trisha gave us some vegetables, including two plump zucchinis, we knew exactly what we had to do.

I suspect that there are as many ratatouille recipes in Provence as there are cooks or chefs who make it. The recipe we used was compiled by our favorite French culinary editor/gourmet Curnonksy in “Traditional Recipes of the Provinces of France.” This is the same book where we found our recipe for soupe aigo-saou, another Provencal dish.

Curnonksy’s ratatouille recipe serves six hungry people. We adjusted the portions however to serve two.

Ingredients

• 2 small eggplants

• 4 green peppers

• 6 tomatoes

• 4 zucchini

• 2 onions

• 2 cloves garlic

• 5 tablespoons olive oil

• salt and pepper

Team Glasses Tweaks: Aside from using fewer vegetables since we were not cooking for 6, we chose red peppers as opposed to green peppers. We also used more garlic as a matter of taste.

Making Ratatouille

• Chop all the vegetables into small pieces.

Tip: They do not necessarily have to be in round slices, but we chose this shape because it’s pretty. A mandolin slicer may come in handy here. We also soaked the eggplant slices in salted water for a few minutes to remove that slimy bitter taste that sometimes comes with this vegetable. This is a trick we learned from the Pasta Grannies!

• Put all the vegetables into a pot. Add olive oil, salt and pepper.

Tip: Don’t just drizzle the olive oil and seasonings on top of the vegetables. Add the olive oil spoonful by spoonful, and stir between spoons. Do the same when adding salt and pepper to taste.

• Add 1/2 cup cold water to the vegetables

Tip: Does this look like too little water? Actually it isn’t. The vegetables will let out a lot of liquid while being cooked, and this will make quite a thick and rich sauce. More water can be added if using more vegetables or if a thinner sauce is desired.

Cover the vegetables and let simmer for 90 minutes over very low flame. Cook the vegetables until very tender.

Tip: What about induction cookers? This dish can be cooked at a 80-100 degrees Celsius setting. 80 is perfect for that slow simmer but 100 may be needed if working with a lot more vegetables and water.

• Serve the ratatouille hot, in bowls. Sliced bread is a great side to this to mop up the delicious sauce at the bottom.

Cooking this was quite an experience. Not even 20 minutes after setting this to simmer, we could smell that crisp scent that can only be produced by very fresh vegetables stewing at just the right temperature. This aroma pervaded the apartment, and probably even the hallway, until it was time to eat.

I had the pleasure of sitting back and tucking into my bowl of ratatouille, and remembering exactly why one of my beloved character iterations has to eat this dish at least once a year. As for Lee, who never had ratatouille before…he ended up staring into space, contemplating the mysteries of the universe, and wore an expression exactly out of *that* scene in the Pixar movie.

Yes it takes time to cook. It’s worth it. It’s healthy. May everyone’s tastebuds never be the same again.

Married Cooking: Scrambled Red Rice and Tofu

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  Just before serving

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  Voila! Scrambled Red Rice and Tofu!

We usually have two to three types of proteins along with some vegetables for variety on our weekly grocery list. This time around, we had some tofu on hand. While our Mapo Tofu recipe is great, it was time to scour our cookbooks for a change. After a while, we found the recipe for Scrambled Poha Rice from V Street by Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby, but we had to make some tweaks because we didn’t have many of the ingredients on hand.

The ingredients for their Poha Rice recipe are:

• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp cilantro leaves
• 2 tbsp + ½ cup of finely diced red onions
• ½ tsp minced garlic
• ½ tsp minced ginger
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp sriracha
• ½ tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp curry powder
• ½ tsp cumin
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 ½ tsps sea salt
• 1 cup poha
• 8 oz firm tofu
• ⅛ tsp turmeric
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp Latin Spice Blend
• 1 tsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp vegan butter

For the Latin Spice Blend:

• 2 tbsp paprika
• 2 tbsp cumin
• 2 tbsp granulated garlic
• 2 tbsp granulated onion
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp freshly ground pepper
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 2 tsp chipotle powder
• 1 tsp coriander
• ¼ tsp ground cloves

Team Glasses Tweaks:

1. Changed Poha rice with Red rice
2. Only used our olive oil on hand
3. Used more cumin powder and curry powder since we didn’t have ketchup, sriracha, cayenne, turmeric, and cumin seeds
4. Replaced the vegan butter with actual butter
5. No nutritional yeast, granulated garlic, granulated onion, dried thyme, chipotle powder, coriander, and ground cloves for the vegetable stock.
6. Didn’t have a food processor, so I chopped it all by hand.

How we made the Scrambled Red Rice and Tofu:

1. Cook the red rice first by washing the rice twice and placing a ratio of 1 cup rice for 2 cups of water, then cook on a medium-low heat for around 15 minutes or until the liquid is nearly gone and the rice is somewhat fluffy.
2. While the rice is cooking, start on the tomato chutney by combining the chopped tomatoes, cilantro, two tablespoons of red onion, ginger, garlic, olive oil, ½ teaspoon of curry powder, cumin powder, and ¾ teaspoon of salt. It is much better to pulse this chutney in a food processor until the herbs are lightly torn for a consistent and smoother chutney.
3. In another bowl, place the tofu, teaspoon of curry powder, and the rest of the salt then mash it together by hand until the tofu is coated well.
4. Using a separate container, whisk the vegetable stock with the remaining curry powder, pepper, and Latin Spice Blend together until the spices are incorporated into the stock.
5. On a pan, pour in some olive oil over medium-high heat and saute ½ cup of the diced red onions until translucent. Add in the tofu mixture and stir around occasionally until the tofu is yellow and with some golden brown on the sides.
6. Add in the butter and red rice then cook for three more minutes.
7. Pour in the vegetable stock mixture after and bring to a boil. Scrape up the brown bits stuck underneath so it doesn’t burn. 
8. Transfer the rice mixture into two bowls in equal portions and garnish with the tomato chutney to serve.

We’ll definitely try this one again with the complete ingredients since this managed to replace beef giniling and rice as one of Kat’s favorites. 

Please let us know what you think of this recipe in the comments below.