Book of Yum

You know, when I was watching it, I never would have guessed that the star recipe of the new foodie movie, Ratatouille, was both vegan and gluten free. It never even occurred to me that it might be, as French restaurants are not generally what I think of when I think of gluten free, vegan cuisine. Imagine my surprise as I read at Becks & Posh that the featured recipe for Ratatouille was both vegan and Gluten Free. When I discovered this, of course I had to make the recipe! I love dishes that “just happen” to be gluten free AND vegan, as they usually end up being DELICIOUS as well. The recipe was created by Thomas Keller, the genius behind French Laundry, and can be found here at the New York Times (with a free login) or at the Lunch Lady’s Blog.

But what is Ratatouille, anyway? According to Stacy Finz of the San Francisco Chronicle,

“Traditionally, ratatouille is a late-summer dish from Provence, incorporating the mainstays of the harvest in that southern French region — tomatoes, eggplant, onions, bell peppers, zucchini, garlic and fresh herbs, simmered in local olive oil. In Turkey, cooks prepare imam biyaldi, in which the eggplant acts as a shell to hold the vegetable filling. The name translates as “the cleric swooned” — presumably with pleasure when the dish was served. ” (source: BAY AREA FLAVORS FOOD TALE)

Thomas Keller’s recipe for Ratatouille is called Confit Byaldi, and has three components- a piperade (an olive oil sautee of onion, sweet bell peppers, and tomatoes), the main vegetable layer, and a vinaigrette. It sounded absolutely lovely, but I felt that it needed a side dish of pilaf or perhaps French Bread to make a complete meal. Therefore I dipped into The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook : 250 No-Fail Recipes for Pilafs, Risottos, Polenta, Chilis, Soups, Porridges, Puddings and More, from Start to Finish in Your Rice Cooker to find a delicious recipe for French Pilaf that I adapted to be vegetarian. Because making Confit Byaldi is a lengthy process (about three hours from start to finish!) I started the piperade before beginning my rice, although I could have just let it sit in the rice cooker. This recipe relies on fresh, seasonal vegetables, and so I harvested some of the first tomatoes from the organic, heirloom tomatoes I’ve been growing on my balcony all summer. I heated olive oil in a pan and sauteed garlic, onions, diced roasted red peppers and tomatoes, letting them caramelize. Next I prepared my vegetables. Fist I tried using a mandoline to thinly slice disks of yellow squash and zucchini, but when I tried to slice my eggplant, it didn’t work well, so I finally dragged out my food processor. When I saw the perfect, beautiful disks it created in seconds, I wished I’d sliced all the vegetables in my food processor. (Note to self: next time forget the mandoline and go straight to the electronic appliance!) Next was the fun part. I took my simmered vegetable piperade and spread it evenly across the bottom of the cast iron pan. Next I took my gorgeous vegetable disks, along with sliced heirloom tomatoes, and placed them in the pan on top of the piperade, spiralling out from the center and making sure that 1/4 inch of each vegetable disc was exposed. Then I drizzled garlic thyme olive oil over the vegetables and seasoned them to taste. And next, because I’m silly that way, I took about a billion photos of the pretty thing that I’d made:

After patting myself on the back a few dozen times, I baked the vegetables, covered, on a low temperature for two hours. Then I started the French Butter Rice in my rice cooker, put the confit back in the oven, uncovered for another thirty minutes. I made the accompanying vinaigrette, and when it was done, placed the confit under the broiler for final browning, and plated my delicious, delicious gourmet French feast. DH, who ordinarily isn’t exactly thrilled by ANY of the ingredients, gobbled up his Confit Byaldi and French butter rice with as much enthusiasm as he would have for any meaty French dish, which is saying a lot. I thought it was a delicious summery dish, full of vegetable goodness. If it didn’t take so long, I would make it all the time. It’s an ideal dish for using up some of the most bountiful vegetables of the summer. If you have a surplus of tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant in your garden, why not take a leaf from a “little chef” from Disney that was inspired by a real live Bay area chef, and make your own Ratatouille? Your own in house critics of summer veggies might just have to change their minds, once they taste a bite of this heavenly summer dish.

Related Links:
Interested in more French Laundry cuisine? Try the gorgeous blog French Laundry at Home that tests recipes from the French Laundry cookbook.

Want more Ratatouille Recipes?
A simple recipe for Ratatouille from the Canadian Food Network
Provence and Beyond’s recipe for ratatouille
An English/French recipe for Nicoise Ratatouille by La Tartine Gourmande
Smitten Kitten’s recipe for Ratatouille
Kalyn’s Ratatouille Wanna-Be
The Ratatouille Recipe from Cooking for Engineers

And if you’re in the mood for this recipe, you might like my original Eggplant Parmesan Recipe or my Zucchini Flatbread Pizza Recipe

For the first time in ages, I finally had time to bake again. My supply of bread in the freezer was rapidly dwindling, and I was starting to use Kinnikinnick bagels as my bread for sandwiches because they were all that remained. Bagels are fine, but there’s nothing better than homemade bread. I had trouble deciding what to make, and finally turned to a book I really haven’t used much- Bette Hagman’s “The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods.” I decided to make the Potato Bread on page 203, which calls for a blend she calls the Potato Flour Mix. Apparently it was developed for corn intolerant people and is an alternative to her featherlight mix for creating a white bread. This recipe called for one cup of sorghum along with the potato flour mix. I was intrigued, so I threw some together, let it rise, and baked it in the oven. It resulted in a pretty loaf, with an unexpectedly hard and crunchy exterior that I had never seen before in gluten free baking. I was excited to try it, and when I did, I thought the texture was really pretty good. Unfortunately, I wasn’t wild about the flavor. I gave a slice to DH with some honey and he said it was pretty good, but he’ll eat anything if you put honey on it. Hmmm. The next day when I tried it again, it was much less soft and seemed “gluten free” in texture. It also had a flat flavor from the potato starch that wasn’t especially appealing. It did seem like it would have a good texture for bruschetta, so I made some into garlic toast and added some yummy sheep cheese at the end. Doctored up, it wasn’t bad, but I think it’s one of my least favorite Bette Hagman breads that I’ve tried. I’d give it a 5/10, and probably wouldn’t make it again due to texture and flavor, although the crust was appealing. While I was baking, I also prepared Bette Hagman’s sourdough starter so that I could make some sourdough bread in the next day or two.

The next day I made one of my favorite breads by Bette Hagman, her Honey Almond Sourdough on page 87 of “The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread.” Because I use a Zojurishi Bread Machine, I have to be careful when making sourdough breads- the extra yeast in the sourdough can result in bread that rises, rises, rises, and then falls when it reaches the top of the pan. I always make the small recipe in the bread machine for sourdough, although I can get away with making a medium loaf if it isn’t sourdough. I also never add gelatin to my recipes, although Bette recommends it. It’s just not necessary, and by using the four flour bean mix, xanthan gum, and a little egg replaces, you end up with fantastic soft, spongy texture and a flavorful, delicious bread. I’ve made this bread many times before- and this time, just like always, I ended up with a wonderful loaf of bread for sandwiches. I decreased the water a bit, as her recipes can sink a little in the bread machine, and might decrease the water even more next time as it did dip slightly inward after taking out of the machine. This bread is incredible when freshly sliced (slice after it cools or the bread may get compressed) with a little margarine and (optional) honey. It’s also fantastic the next day, toasted and used in a sandwich. (I prefer toasted bread in general, but it’s a matter of taste- you could possibly eat it without toasting it, even the next day.) I used it for one of my favorite simple veggie sandwiches- hummus, avocado slices, sprouts, and fresh basil. Sometimes I add cheese, olives, or sliced tomatoes. Mmm mmm good. This bread also freezes exceptionally well. I would give it a 9/10 as one of my favorite breads for flavor, texture, and overall appeal.