Ratatouille

So apparently the amount of time I spend in the kitchen is either inversely or directly proportional to the amount of studying I have to do...the problem is that I can't quite figure out which is true. I find that when I have to study a lot I either have absolutely no time or energy for cooking, therefore resulting in an inverse relationship, or I find myself retreating to the kitchen to bake and take a break from studying, producing a direct correlation. Based on the amount of food I have recently cooked and baked I would say that this time, my studying vs. cooking has produced a direct, linearly proportional relationship. Although this may not be good for my studying, I don't think my faithful food testers mind.

I had actually come across recipes for ratatouille many months ago and had been meaning to make it but somehow it had slipped through the cracks until last week, when I saw some beautiful yellow zucchini at the market and was instantly reminded of my desire to make this dish. There are many different versions of ratatouille, ranging from stews to terrines to tarts. I made mine loosely based on Thomas Keller's Confit Byaldi, which he carefully explains how to make in one of the DVD extras of the Pixar movie Ratatouille. I say loosely based because I took my own liberties with the ingredients I used in the piperade, the tomato and pepper layer that comprises the main substance of the dish. Also, because I am slightly impatient and do not have many consecutive hours to spend in the kitchen I split my work over two days; I made the piperade the night before and then the next day I layered the sliced vegetables and baked it.

While I was preparing the piperade the night before, it was extremely difficult not to eat it up as soon as I made it because it smelled delicious and the tiny sample I tasted was amazing. The thyme and parsley leaves gave it a great flavor, reminiscent of Greek food though ratatouille is actually a French dish, and the roasted pepper was very smooth and sweet tasting. I think that in the future I might just even make the piperade as its own dish and skip the vegetable slices on top if I don't have the time to wait for the ratatouille to bake.

I was fortunate enough to have a new palette tasting my cooking as my friend came over for dinner. We are both entering the nursing program at University of British Columbia this fall, or rather in one week, and today was our first day of orientation. After spending the day being bombarded with information it was nice to come home and get back in the kitchen...my happy place and domain of relaxation. My friend said she greatly enjoyed dinner and I loved being able to share my cooking with her as she is usually only privy to sampling my baking. Now that she has moved to Vancouver and lives so close to me I hope that we can have dinners together more often and she will get to sample even more of my cooking, as well as my baking of course.

Ratatouille

For the Piperade:

• 2 large red bell peppers, seeds and ribs removed
• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4-5 large button mushrooms, chopped
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 1-2 small bay leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil

1. Cut the bell peppers in half and place, cut side down, on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray.
2. Bake the peppers at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, until the skins become charred. Remove from the oven and allow the peppers to cool before gently peeling off the skins and slicing the peppers.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat and then add the onion and cook until translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Make sure to keep stirring so that the pieces do not brown. 
4. Add the garlic and saute for another minute before proceeding to add the mushrooms. Continue to cook until the mushrooms turn brown, about another 5 minutes.
5. Add the crushed tomatoes, thyme, parsley flakes, and bay leaves and mix well to incorporate all of the ingredients. Reduce the heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer for 15-20 minutes, giving it an occasional stir. 
6. In the last five minutes, add the sliced bell peppers and stir well to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper accordingly. Once finished, remove from the heat and set aside to allow the piperade to cool and thicken.

For the Ratatouille:

• Piperade from above
• 1 Japanese eggplant (the long, skinny kind)
• 1 long zucchini
• 1 long yellow zucchini (also called Summer squash)
• Note: It helps if all of the vegetables are roughly the same size in diameter

1. Slice each of the vegetables into extremely thin slices, about 1/16" thick. The easiest way to ensure uniform slices is to use a mandolin or the slice disk on a food processor...I used the latter and had all of my vegetables sliced in 5 minutes.
2. Spread the piperade in the bottom of a 9" pie plate, reserving the juices for the top of the ratatouille.
3. Arrange the vegetables in a concentric circle on top, alternating slices and overlapping them so that about 1/4" peaks out. Repeat until the entire pan is covered and no piperade is visible. Note: you may not have to use all of the vegetable slices up to achieve this.
4. Drizzle the piperade juices over the top of the vegetable slices and cover the pan with aluminum foil.
5. Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour, or until the vegetables on top are tender. In the last 15 minutes, uncover the pan and allow the top to crisp up a little.