Since I am not a professionally trained gourmet chef, I am
humble and accept the fact that there is room for me to learn.
Since I am not a professionally trained gourmet chef, I am humble and accept the fact that there is room for me to learn.
During the past few years or so, I have concentrated on learning more about the art of French cooking. When I have a little free time, I read about the subject, but I didn’t have anyone to teach me.
That all changed last weekend, thanks in part to a cute, little animated rat by the name of Remy.
Remy is the main character in the newly released Walt Disney Company and Pixar animated film, Ratatouille. In this story, we find that Remy’s dream is to become a fine cook.
Later, he ends up in Paris at a once well-regarded restaurant that was started by his idol chef. Remy’s keen sense of smell and taste works to his advantage as he soon becomes involved in the kitchen with the help of a former trash boy.
At this point in the film, you have to ignore the reality that there is a rat in the kitchen. If you have not seen the movie, I won’t reveal any more of the details.
Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I feel that I need to mention that I own stock in the Walt Disney Company.
In this movie, Remy decides to recreate what was referred to as a classic peasant dish called Ratatouille. I have heard of he dish, but really didn’t know too much about it. The recipe calls for a variety of vegetables and I was able to determine that one of them is zucchini. The vegetables were layered into a dish similar to a short, oblong ramekin, covered with what I believe was parchment paper and baked. Once the ratatouille was ready to serve, it was arranged onto the serving plate with a sauce accompaniment.
It seems that in a round-about way, Remy just became one of my teachers of French cooking. I knew this for sure because after I arrived home from the movie, I had to research the dish.
I am sure many other moviegoers did the same, but probably not as quickly and extensively as I did.
The dish consists of tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper, onions, garlic and herbs.
The thing that makes this dish interesting is that traditionally, each vegetable is cooked separately and then added to the tomato sauce. Remy made this much more simple by cooking all the vegetables together.
Since Remy was able to adapt this classic, I would adapt a version for the grill.
The vegetables, except for the tomato, are grilled. Finding inspiration from the movie, I determined how a sauce similar to the movie version could be made.
This is the one step that must be prepared on the kitchen stove or on a grill’s side burner. A variety of recipes became the influence for my version of the tomato sauce. My version is very simple to make.
Ratatouille can be made and served fresh or made in advance and served chilled. It is also well suited for Multitask Grilling techniques. You may chop the vegetables into smaller pieces, add a little of the tomato sauce and toss with pasta. Or mix the vegetables into eggs to create a frittata and serve the tomato sauce over the finished product.
Grilled Ratatouille
Sauce
(From Mitch Mariani; Serves 6)
Ingredients for the Sauce
1 pound fresh tomatoes, skinned, seeded, cored and hand crushed
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
Salt to taste
Step 1: In a medium sized saucepot, heat the olive oil over a medium setting. With the heel of your hand, crush the cloves of garlic and add to the heated olive oil and saute until soft.
Step 2: Add the tomatoes; reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 20-25 minutes.
Step 3: Add the chopped herbs and salt. Finish cooking an additional 2 minutes. Allow the sauce to cool slightly.
Step 4: Pour the sauce to a blender and puree until it becomes smooth.
Ingredients for the Grilled Vegetables
1 pound zucchini, sliced into thick rounds
1 pound eggplant, sliced into thick rounds
2 bell peppers, seeded and quartered
2 onions, sliced thick and skewered
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
Salt to taste
Step 1: Mix the olive oil and garlic. Allow the mixture to sit and combine flavors while the vegetables are prepared. To prepare the onion, insert the skewers through the onion prior to slicing them.
Step 2: Spread a little of the garlic olive oil over each onion slice. With the rest of the vegetables in a bowl, pour the rest of the garlic olive oil over the vegetables and toss them until they are well coated.
Step 3: Place the vegetables on the grill and salt the exposed side to your own taste. Continue to grill the vegetables until they are done how you like.
Step 4: Arrange the grilled vegetables into a decorative display on a platter and spoon a small portion of the sauce over the vegetables. The rest may be served on the side.
