• the217
• Food + Drink
• Ratatouille!

Related Media

Related Articles

• Hummina hummus

This week I decided to take on my most difficult of cooking endeavors thus far: a recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which has become a staple for anyone serious about learning the best ways to cook any type of cuisine. After flipping through the book several times, I decided on my first challenge: ratatouille.

I’ve never eaten ratatouille before, or even seen it in person (unless you count in the movie Ratatouille with the rodent chef). So, I figured, if I mess it up, I won’t even know! That was a plus. With a bevy of vegetables that I love in the ingredient list, it sounded simply delicious.

I knew there were a lot of steps, and it did take a while to make. I made sure to buy all the ingredients a few days before I knew I’d have the time to make it so that everything was fresh and I’d have ample time.

Ratatouille- From Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Directions can be found here: http://cooking.knopfdoubleday.com/2009/08/03/julia-childs-ratatouille-recipe/

Ingredients

1/2 pound eggplant
1/2 pound zucchini, trimmed
1 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 8-ounce onion, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
2 green bell peppers, thinly sliced into strips
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 pound firm but ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, cut into 3/8- to 1/4-inch-thick strips
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Following Julia’s directions as precisely as I could without a few ideal cooking dishes and instruments, first I chopped a lot. One of the things I didn’t have was a peeler to peel the eggplant. I was fine without it though, and just used a large knife and carved off the skin. This really shows that you can cook anything even if you don’t have the exact cooking supplies that a recipe may include.

Once I got to the part about seeding and juicing tomatoes, it became clear I had no idea what I was doing. I just squeezed out the centers like the recipe told me to. I didn’t worry too much about the exact sizes listed in the book, but followed pretty much everything else in the recipe. I used a plate to cover the large skillet I used, and made sure to cook everything for as long as the recipe calls for and to add those juices back in a few times.

Another added bonus of this recipe was the tip that this dish can be prepared hours or even days before you want to serve it. Apparently, it even gains flavor with reheating. For someone cooking for one most of the time, this was great news. I just tried my leftovers and they were chock full of juicy veggie flavor. Maybe it was worth the prep time after all.