dairy free Archives - Tartelette

I have to say that I am enjoying the extra bit of time given by my mom cooking some dinners while I can work on the usual, the new and/or the collaborated. Spring has me "springing" but as I proofread I am also in the "oh my God this is not good enough" phase….forgive my freaking out!!! Fortunately mom is here to bring my sanity back with a bowl of warm soup, a piece of cake or her delicious ratatouille.

It’s not often you see or will see again a savory recipe on this site but when I asked mom what she wanted to make for a guest post, she immediately replied "Je pourrais faire ma ratatouille!" (I could make my ratatouille!). "Pourquoi pas une tarte ou un gateau plutot?" (why not a tart or cake instead?). She admitted being more of savory cook than a baker and made me blush by saying that she already uses my recipes for baking so no need for a redo. But after a little nudging from you guys, we are also going to make a tart before they leave and we will do it completely together.

Indeed, for the ratatouille, I pretty much shot the veggies in their raw and cooked form while she did everything else. I went to teach a class and when I came back the house was foggy with the wonderful smells of her ratatouille. A whiff of it is enough to let my mind wander home. There is no particular or nostalgic moment associated with it. She made it everyweek. I grew up on it like others do on collard greens or lasagna. It’s us. It’s simple. It’s home. I keep telling her that hers is special. It’s mom’s. It’s good.

I wanted her to write about it with her own words but she left me the duty instead (I guess too busy playing cards with B. and my dad!). Mom will be the first one to tell you that every cook in Provence (where the dish is said to have originated) and in the world has a different recipe for it and a different method of cooking. She laughs out loud when she hears other cooks complain "did you see how he makes his ratatouille? Heresy!" She says the only heresy would be to cook something that you end up not eating.

She was told by reference cookbooks back in the day that "the" ratatouille recipe was made with each vegetable cooked separately then all added together then braised. Mom does what most homecook does: cooks all the vegetable in layers in one pan. As I was writing quantities down for this post she came over my shoulder and said "the only rule I follow from those old stuffy book is to add the vegetables in the pan by alphabetical order. That’s important". Ah well, yes mom, but that does not work from French to English! The spices also can be different from household to household. Ours traditionally include thyme, parsley, oregano, a pinch of lavender and basil and some "Quatre Epices". I ran out of the first and last one for the photo shoot but they did make it to the finished dish.

Mom also added "tell you readers that I have no diploma in ratatouille making. This is simply the one that has been handed down from generation to generation in the family. I would not want to sound presumptuous about such a simple dish". How sweet can she be?!! I should warn you that we like ours on the soft and stewy side and it’s not really the best thing for a beauty shot but I hope the pictures did mom’s version justice.

Here is what I love about ratatouille, hers, mine and all the other ones in between: it can be a side dish, a bruschetta topping, a main meal with a fried egg on top (known as piperade), or a vegetarian meal with a sprinkle of parmesan or Gruyere. It makes a lot and that’s perfect for a gathering of friends. So without further ado…

Mom’s Ratatouille:

1 medium onion (peeled and diced)
1 eggplant (peeled every other strip and diced)
3-4 zucchini (peeled every other strip and diced)
1 red bell pepper (we used orange because no red ones at the farmers market)
1 green bell pepper
4 tomatoes
1 can good quality tomatoes (we used one 14oz can of fire roasted tomatoes)
5 garlic cloves (we like ours unpeeled and whole but some don’t…do as you prefer)
Herbes de Provence
Or a mix of thyme, parsley, oregano, lavender, all spice and a pinch of basil
salt and pepper to taste
extra virgin olive oil

In a large saute pan set over medium (and I mean the largest you have that you can put a lid on), sautee the onion in a bit of olive oil until translucid. Add the diced eggplant and sautee until it becomes golden in color. Add a dash more olive oil and add the zucchini, then the peppers, tomaotoes and canned tomatoes. Add the whole unpeeled garlic cloves, the spices, salt and pepper. Do not stir. Cover with a lid and let stew for aout 15 minutes. At this point the vegetables will have reduced a bit in volume from cooking and you will have room to stir and mix the herbs with the rest of the ingredients in the pan. Turn the heat down to medium low and simmer for at least 30 to 40 minutes. Uncover and let simmer 20 to 30 minutes on low until most of the cooking liquid has evaporated.
Et Voila…

I need to start with an apology…or two. First, as you can tell my blog posting schedule has slowed down to 2 posts a week instead of every other day. Hmmm…wonder why?!!! I really wanted to thank you for keeping on reading and checking back, especially right now that I have noticed some stressed induced grey hair. Ok, only two..but still! Second, I wanted to apologize for being such a ghost commenter on your blogs. I sometimes have to pack a whole week’s worth in one evening so do not worry if it seems like I am stalking your blogs on Friday night….whole pages at a time. In that regard, I wanted to thank you for coming here and leaving comments, you have no idea how supportive I find them, especially at midnight when I am tweaking a recipe for the third time and recalculating metrics one more time.. just to be safe. So peeps….from the deep dark corners of my kitchen, thank you!

It is funny how things happen in series. Right after I posted the Daring Bakers challenge on gluten free crackers and vegan dips, a close friend of ours told us that he had been diagnosed with an allergy to dairy. While not an immediate concern since we do not live together, it became one fast since we had just invited them over for dinner. My initial thought was to look closely at the menu and remove all dairy from it until he called and asked if I could help him come up with dairy free options of his favorite foods. Absolument! Avec plaisir! Yes, it would be my pleasure!

One of his favorite desserts is panna cottas, this delectable Italian concoction of cream, sugar and milk and precisely what he thought he would have to give up on this new eating regimen. I reassured him that there were tons of dairy free milks and creams available nowadays that it would not be difficult to satisfy his sweet tooth. He had just bought a carton of soy milk that tasted just like cardboard and he was starting to have serious doubt he’d find something he’d like. I reassured him that he had probably picked up the only cardboard tasting one in the bunch and pushed him to persevere and try rice milk, oat milk, hazelnut milk and my personal favorite, almond milk.

I actually think he gave me an easy one to tweak first. There are so many ways to approach panna cottas: milk, cream, yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream, creme fraiche, fromage blanc. All can be used in making this dessert. I like yogurt based ones a lot but I have a fondness for rich "creamy cream" ones, so does our friend. Problem with almond milk is that it tends to be on the thin side consistency wise so I added some dairy free creamer to the base, like I would in my usual recipe (whole milk and cream). I was a little concerned that the overall taste would be to his liking so I came up with a little diversion just in case: a little raspberry and redcurrant pureed at the bottom of the glasses.

The end result could have fooled the best dairy lover out there (hmmm that might be me!) and the almond milk added a little extra nutty flavor that was perfect with the berries. No grittiness, no cardboard after taste, no "fake" taste lingering after that last bite. Feel free to substitute your favorite dairy free milk and cream as well as fruits to go along. On the other hand if you’d rather stick to regular dairy full panna cottas, click here to get some ideas.

Red Berry Almond Milk Panna Cottas:

Serves 4-6 depending on the size of your glasses or ramequins

Kitchen Notes:
1/ When you pour the liquid over the fruit, you will notice that the fruit and liquid mass have a tendency to get a little mixed and some of your fruit starts to float in the milk. One way to remedy that is to freeze the glasses once they are filled with the fruit puree while you prepare the panna cotta. Make sure the liquid is at room temperature before pouring it into the glasses or you will shatter your glass.
2/ I used Almond Breeze milk.

1 cup raspberries
1 cup red currant
1 cup almond milk
1 cup dairy free creamer
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons powdered gelatin bloomed in 2 Tb water (means to pour the water over the gelatin and let it sit while you prepare the panna cotta)

In a food processor, puree the raspberries and redcurrant together and divide the mixture among 4-6 glasses. Freeze (see Kitchen Note).

Combine all the ingredients, except the gelatin, in a saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Heat the gelatin in the microwave for 8 seconds and quickly stir it in the cream mixture. No microwave at our house so I set the cup with the gelatin in large saucepan with enough water to come up halfway up the sides of the gelatin bowl, on medium heat and let the gelatin melt that way. Let the panna cotta mixture cool to lukewarm. Remove the glasses from the freezer and slowly pour the cream over the red berry puree and let set in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. Decorate with fresh berries if desired.

To make your own almond milk, you can check this recipe here, I have not tested it.

dairy free

Ratatouille – In The Kitchen With Mom

Red Berry Almond Milk Panna Cottas