What are you cooking now?

[french frank]

All now in hand for a pichade for lunch, just the sauce to make. Shall bake a loaf at the same time.

[BBMmk2]

All now in hand for a pichade for lunch, just the sauce to make. Shall bake a loaf at the same time.

Oh, multi tasking!

MrsBBM is cooking a mushroom risotto today.

[french frank]

Pasta Toscanini. Lumachette with a standard tomato and onion sauce, added to which everything now getting very old in the fridge. Two rashers of chopped streaky bacon, a couple of spikes of tenderstem and what I could rescue of half a packet of cooked chestnuts which I'd forgotten about. Shall not add Italian herbs or Parmesan cheese. Might add some garlic.

To drink: one glass of Bull's Blood.

[I'll let you know ]

It was quit edible but in my excitement at just receiving a Christmas card from cousin in Australia I knocked over my glass of Bull's Blood, half of which went into my bowl to go with the last morsels of pasta. Other half went on my clean unbleached string pullover.

I think the Parmesan cheese could have been replaced with freshly toasted flaked almond, but that might have been a taste too many.

[BBMmk2]

For tea today, MrsBBM will be cooking Kidney Bean Chilli. Very nice.

[Joseph K]

I made the meal as mentioned in #1245 & #1247.

Except, I use way more shallots, onion and tofu (And corresponding garlic, thyme and miso) and also added some fried vegetarian sausages and also, I fry the tofu before as well. Also, the onions and shallots are fried in quite a bit more than the suggested amount of oil. So there is much more of it and it is more oily but it is really really tasty! Miso is really what they call 'umami'. Because of all the shallots I like to use (rather than the mere two suggested!) preparing this takes bloody ages... but it provides meals for a week or more, depending on whether any of it gets frozen.

We listened to Pixie's Doolittle and some live Joni Mitchell album whose name I don't know.

[Joseph K]

I made a pizza.

[teamsaint]

I made a pizza.

Was it good ? Looks nice.

Today, doing an oven baked Ratatouille.

Not done it this way till recently.
Recipe here.

https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/oven-baked-ratatouille-slow-cooked-courgette-aubergine-peppers-and-tomatoes/

Tried it a few weeks ago and I have to say it was really good, and very easy.
Prep time…exactly the length of RVW Symphony #4, ( Haitink).

To go with…probably a small G and T later.

Incidentally, one of life’s little mysteries, why does Aldi tonic in small cans contain aspartame, but the same brand in bottles doesn’t ?

Edit: actually, I increase the cooking time to about 75-90 mins in total.
Further edit: not a fan of parnesan, so used Grana Padano.

[Joseph K]

It was very nice, team saint. Perhaps could have done with a few fewer toppings, and I would have liked grated mozzarella - not the store-bought grated stuff, but rather fresh (my dad, who gave me the recipe for the base, gets fresh grated mozzarella from an Italian shop round where he lives in Michigan) but never mind. I will make it again, soonish...

Your ratatouille looks good.

[french frank]

Further edit: not a fan of parnesan, so used Grana Padano.

One of my great discoveries was freshly cut Parmesan, served as a table cheese rather than grated, grilled or whatever. A really intense flavour - as you'd expect from a long-matured cheese - slightly nutty taste. To be eaten in small quantities!

Surprised to see how many times pissaladière has been mentioned here, not always by me. I made quite a large one for lunch and ate one quarter. Onions, anchovies, black olives and freshly cut, freshly dried thyme on my slightly (70/30) wholemeal bread base. Simple, classic and satisfying.

[Joseph K]

I made this today. It was nice, though I thought it could be a bit spicier. I used tofu instead of paneer.

[kernelbogey]

One of my great discoveries was freshly cut Parmesan, served as a table cheese rather than grated, grilled or whatever. A really intense flavour - as you'd expect from a long-matured cheese - slightly nutty taste. To be eaten in small quantities!

Surprised to see how many times pissaladière has been mentioned here, not always by me. I made quite a large one for lunch and ate one quarter. Onions, anchovies, black olives and freshly cut, freshly dried thyme on my slightly (70/30) wholemeal bread base. Simple, classic and satisfying.

Coincidentally Rachel Roddy's recipe today in A Kitchen in Rome is the related pissadella.

[french frank]

Coincidentally Rachel Rody's recipe today in A Kitchen in Rome is the related pissadella.

Yes, the article does mention 'a tomato-less version called pissaladière'. For me the illustration is exactly the French pichade Mentonnaise with a layer of thick tomato and onion sauce with herbs, and olives and anchovies on top. Pissaladière has a layer of (caramelised) onion with the anchovies and olives arranged in the same way. No tomato. Pichade and pissaladière both delicious.

[HighlandDougie]

I must try this as an apéro alternative to pissaladière - and see if the neighbours throw up their hands in horror at the tomatoes. It also looks like a lot less faff than peeling then chopping/slicing 1.5kg of onions then cooking them down to just the right consistency which, in my experience and depending on the onions, takes anything up to 2 hours. Patience is required as it shouldn't be too wet. Sourdough dough works really well with it, btw.

[french frank]

I must try this as an apéro alternative to pissaladière - and see if the neighbours throw up their hands in horror at the tomatoes.

If you call it pichade, why would they throw their hands up in horror? It's supposed to have tomatoes. On the other hand, it does seem as if 'pissaladière aux tomates' is a Thing, which I'd never heard of. I rather enjoy cooking the onions, adding a bit of white wine to 'sweeten' them and drying them on paper if they seem too oily. I don't caramelise them in the skillet, just let them get slightly browned in the oven.

[HighlandDougie]

If you call it pichade, why would they throw their hands up in horror? It's supposed to have tomatoes. On the other hand, it does seem as if 'pissaladière aux tomates' is a Thing, which I'd never heard of. I rather enjoy cooking the onions, adding a bit of white wine to 'sweeten' them and drying them on paper if they seem too oily. I don't caramelise them in the skillet, just let them get slightly browned in the oven.

Indeed, but pichade is not from Nice - but, the horror, the horror, Menton. Seriously, though, it can all get a bit tribal. Never thought of preparing the onions in the oven. I use the merest whisper of oil and some thyme but will indulge in the iconoclastic touch of a small glass of white wine (or decent rosé) next time - and not tell the local cuisine police. I think I've said before that, due to a lack of black olives (of the correct local variety), I used green ones than had to endure the humiliation of them being removed in a very disdainful fashion - très français.

Incidentally, ate in Bristol last week en route to Cornwall - Marmo: almost irredeemably awful. If you've never been, I wouldn't recommend it, unless you take an ear trumpet with you.