The Little Paris Kitchen (6 page)

How to make a
ratatouille
can be a touchy subject at dinner parties in France, with everyone claiming their recipe is the best. Some people prefer to cook each vegetable individually and mix everything together at the end, others prefer to throw it all in a pot, and then there are some who like to carefully arrange the vegetables and make a sort of gratin. At the end of the day it all depends whether you like your
ratatouille
soft and jammy or with a bit of bite.

Of course, being someone who wants to have it all, I like my
ratatouille
to tick both boxes. Partially cooking the vegetables on top of the stove and then baking everything together in the oven gives you the best of both worlds—creamy soft onion and tomatoes, with freshness and crunch from the zucchini and peppers.

SERVES 4 AS A SIDE DISH OR STARTER

• 1 clove of garlic, crushed to a paste • 1 onion, finely chopped • 1 sprig of thyme, leaves only • 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling • 1 eggplant, thinly sliced
*
• 1 zucchini, thinly sliced
*
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced • 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced • 6 tomatoes, cut into quarters • a pinch of sugar • salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Gently fry the garlic, onion, and thyme leaves in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Once the onion is translucent and soft, add the eggplant and continue to cook until soft (roughly 5 minutes).

Toss the remaining vegetables in a large roasting pan with another tablespoon of olive oil. Add the cooked onion and eggplant and mix together.

Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil (making sure the foil doesn't touch the vegetables) or with parchment paper. Bake for an hour, then stir the vegetables a little and add the sugar. Taste for salt. Set under a hot broiler for 3–4 minutes or until the top layer of vegetables is caramelized around the edges. Drizzle with olive oil and serve warm, or cold the next day.

*
A mandoline makes an easy job of cutting vegetables into thin slices.

Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 1
¼
hours

It was the Romans who introduced mustard seeds to the Gauls; and by the ninth century, monasteries all over France were making money from selling mustard. The stone quarries in the Meaux region provided the millstones to grind the mustard seeds, turning the area into one of the top French mustard producers, and yet
moutarde de Meaux
is probably less well known than its southern relative—the spicy yellow mustard from Dijon.

Unlike Dijon mustard, which is creamy, the grains in the traditional mustard from Meaux are only partially ground, giving it a crunch that makes a great crispy crust when combined with breadcrumbs.

SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE

• 2 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil • 4 rabbit legs
*
• 4 heaped tbsp Meaux mustard or another grainy mustard • ½ to 1 cup breadcrumbs (fresh or dried)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Swirl the oil around a baking sheet and place in the oven to get hot.

Meanwhile, brush the rabbit legs with plenty of mustard and then press the breadcrumbs onto the mustard to coat the rabbit evenly.

Place the rabbit legs on the hot baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes or until cooked through. The juices should run clear, not red or pink, when a thick part of the flesh is pierced with the tip of a sharp knife. Serve hot.

*
Chicken legs are also good cooked this way.

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes

There's not much you need to make
moules marinières
. Add a splash of white wine to some softened onion, throw in the mussels, and finish with a dollop of crème fraîche and some crusty bread—that's more or less it. Who said French food was complicated?

SERVES 4 AS A STARTER OR 2 AS A MAIN COURSE

• 4 lb mussels • 1 onion, thinly sliced • 1 bulb of fennel, thinly sliced
*
• 1 tbsp butter • 1 bay leaf • 2 sprigs of thyme or a pinch of dried thyme •
⅔
cup dry white wine •
⅔
cup crème fraîche • a handful of chopped parsley

Clean the mussels using plenty of cold water. Pull out the fibrous beards and scrub off any barnacles. Toss any that have cracked or broken shells, or that do not close when lightly squeezed.

In a large pot (big enough to hold all the mussels with some extra room to spare), soften the onion and fennel over a low heat with the butter, bay leaf, and thyme. When the onion and fennel are soft and translucent, add the wine followed by the cleaned mussels. Increase the heat to high, cover the pan, and cook for 3–4 minutes or until the mussels open, shaking the pan a few times to help them cook evenly.

At the end of the cooking time, remove the bay leaf and sprigs of thyme (if used) and discard any mussels that have not opened. Stir in the crème fraîche and serve immediately, with a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

*
I've included the fennel because it adds a subtle aniseed flavor that goes extremely well with the white wine and crème fraîche, but you don't have to use it.

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes

This easy bake makes good use of leftover cooked potatoes. You can also mix in leftover vegetables such as zucchini, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower.

For the
béchamel
sauce:
2 tbsp butter • ¼ cup all-purpose flour • 2 cups milk, lukewarm • ¼ onion, skin removed • 1 clove • 1 bay leaf • a pinch of nutmeg • salt and white pepper

SERVES 4–6 AS A MAIN COURSE

• 1½ lb (8–10 medium) potatoes, peeled and already cooked (you can use leftover roast potatoes) • 7 oz smoked haddock, skin removed • a handful of chopped parsley • a handful of grated mature cheese, e.g., Gruyère, Comté, Parmesan, or mature Cheddar

TO MAKE THE
BÉCHAMEL
SAUCE:
Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the flour and beat hard until you have a smooth paste. Take off the heat and leave to cool for 2 minutes, then gradually add the milk, whisking constantly. Place the pan back over a medium heat, add the onion, clove, and bay leaf, and simmer gently for 10 minutes, whisking frequently. If the sauce becomes too thick, whisk in a little more milk. Finish the sauce by removing the onion, clove, and bay leaf, then adding the nutmeg and seasoning with salt and white pepper (although black pepper is fine if you don't mind the speckles). Leave to cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Slice the potatoes into ¼-inch-thick rounds. Cut or flake the haddock into small chunks and add to the
béchamel
sauce with most of the parsley (save a little for garnish). Mix together, then add the potatoes. Pour into a baking dish, sprinkle with a little grated cheese, and bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Garnish with a little chopped parsley before serving.

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 35 minutes

Papillote
sounds a lot more fancy than it actually is—ingredients simply popped into a paper parcel and then baked. The only thing to remember is to seal your parcel well, so that none of the delicious juices can escape.

SERVES 2 AS A MAIN COURSE

• 10 oz baby potatoes, scrubbed • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil • finely grated zest of 1 lemon • salt and pepper • 2 freshwater trout, cleaned and gutted (with bones left in) • 1 bulb of fennel, thinly sliced • 4 heaped tbsp crème fraîche • lemon wedges

Steam the potatoes until almost tender, roughly 10 minutes. Leave until cool enough to handle, then slice. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Mix the olive oil with the lemon zest and 1 teaspoon salt and season with pepper. Rub this mixture inside the fish.

Place each trout on a large sheet of parchment paper and stuff with the fennel slices. Place the sliced potatoes on the paper, alongside the fish. Now bring the edges of the paper together and fold over to form a sealed parcel, tucking the ends underneath. You may need to use kitchen string or aluminum foil to keep each parcel closed.

Bake for 15–20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. To test for doneness, open a parcel and lift up the skin of the fish—the flesh should look opaque, not translucent, and flake easily with a fork. Serve with the juices from the parcels, the crème fraîche, and lemon wedges.

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 25
–
30 minutes

Mackerel makes a wonderful alternative to the classic salmon
tartare
seen on French bistro menus. Cucumber adds a crunch factor and the acidic note of the raw rhubarb cuts through the oiliness of the fish. Don't worry about eating raw rhubarb. It's the leaves that are poisonous, not the stalks.