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Confit Byaldi

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gracoman View Drop Down
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    Posted: 11 August 2013 at 16:00

Confit byaldi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Confit byaldi is a variation on the traditional French dish ratatouille by French chef Michel Guérard.


History

The name is a play on the Turkish dish "İmam bayıldı", which is more of a stuffed eggplant.[1][2]

The original ratatouille recipe had the vegetables fried before baking. Since at least 1976, top French chefs have prepared the ratatouille vegetables in thin slices instead of the traditional rough-cut.[citation needed] Michel Guérard, in his book founding cuisine minceur (1976),[3] recreated lighter versions of the traditional dishes of nouvelle cuisine.[4] His recipe Confit bayaldi, differed from ratatouille by not frying the vegetables, removing peppers and adding mushrooms.

American celebrity chef Thomas Keller first wrote about a dish he called "byaldi" in his 1999 cookbook, The French Laundry Cookbook.[5] Keller's variation of Guérard's added two sauces, a tomato and peppers sauce at the bottom (pipérade), and a vinaigrette at the top.[6][7] Beginning in mid-2000, he served as food consultant to the Pixar film Ratatouille, allowing its producer, Brad Lewis, to intern for two days in the kitchen of his restaurant, French Laundry. Lewis asked Keller how he would cook ratatouille if the most famous food critic in the world were to visit his restaurant.[1] Keller decided he would fan the vegetables accordion-style with a palette knife.[8]


Preparation and serving

Vegetable rounds arranged on a baking tin

Per Thomas Keller's recipe, a pipérade is made of peeled, finely chopped, and reduced peppers, yellow onions, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. The piperade is spread thinly in a baking tray or casserole dish, then layered on top with evenly sized, thinly sliced rounds of zucchini, yellow squash, Japanese eggplant, and roma tomatoes, covered in parchment paper, then baked slowly for several hours to steam the vegetables. The parchment is removed so that the vegetables may then roast, acquiring additional flavor through caramelization. To serve, the piperade is formed into a small mound, and the rounds arranged in a fanned-out pattern to cover the piperade base. A balsamic vinaigrette is drizzled on the plate, which may be garnished.[9][10]

Despite the delicate preparation and presentation, confit biyaldi, like most ratatouilles, improves with age overnight in the refrigerator.

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I love this dish. It is spectacular in every way.  And the lovely story of its development only adds to it’s charm.  It is a celebration of summer.  

Light, little added fat (EVOO), nutritious, visually stunning and absolutely delicious.  I can’t say enough good things about this dish because it has it all.


As with many things during bbq season, I like to add a touch of smoke.  But only a touch.  An enhancement.  It's all about balance.


The Recipe

RATATOUILLE (CONFIT BYALDI)

Slightly adapted from Thomas Keller


Ingredients:

½ red pepper, seeds and ribs removed

½ yellow pepper, seeds and ribs removed

½ orange pepper, seeds and ribs removed

5 tbsp. olive oil, divided

1½ tsp. minced garlic (or more to taste), divided

½ yellow onion, finely diced (about ½ cup)

1 28-oz. can San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes, seeded and chopped, juices reserved (or 3 to 4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped, juices reserved)

2 sprigs fresh thyme (plus 1 extra sprig for sprinkling) 

1 sprig Italian parsley

1 small bay leaf

1 zucchini (about 7 to 8 oz.), sliced in 1/16-inch rounds

1 Japanese eggplant (7 to 8 oz), sliced in 1/16-inch rounds

1 yellow summer squash (7 to 8 oz.), sliced into 1/16-inch rounds

4 to 5 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/16-inch rounds

1 to 2 tsp. aged balsamic vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the peppers cut-side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast until their skins loosen and begin to brown slightly, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest until cool enough to handle. Peel and chop finely. 


Combine 2 tbsp. olive oil, 1 tsp. garlic, and the onion in an 8-inch cast iron skillet (or other ovenproof skillet), over low heat until very soft but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, their juices, 2 sprigs thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Simmer over medium-low heat until very little liquid remains, about 10 to 15 minutes. Be careful not to brown.


Add the peppers and simmer for a couple of minutes to soften them. Season to taste with salt and discard herbs. Reserve 1 to 2 tbsp. of the mixture for the vinaigrette, leaving the rest in the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat.


Reduce the oven temperature to 275 degrees F. Starting from the outer edge of the pan and working your way in, arrange alternating slices of zucchini, eggplant, yellow squash, and Roma tomatoes. Allow the slices to overlap so that about ¼-inch of each slice is exposed. Repeat until the pan is filled.


Sprinkle the pan with the remaining garlic and the leaves from the remaining sprig of thyme. Drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil and season with salt and pepper.


Cover the pan with foil and seal well. Bake until the vegetables are tender, about 2 hours. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes more. If the pan has accumulated any excess liquid after baking, carefully drain it off. 


To make the vinaigrette, combine the reserved tomato and pepper mixture with the remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle around plate and serve hot. 


Yield: 2 to 4 servings


Notes:

   

  • Look for vegetables that are similar in size, which makes arranging them in the pan easier and more uniform.
  • Feel free to puree the tomato and pepper mixture with the balsamic in a blender to create a smoother vinaigrette. You can also omit the vinaigrette altogether and simply drizzle each plate or serving with a few drops of balsamic.
  • When serving, use a cake spatula for ease in lifting the veggies out of the pan and plating.
  • If you have any leftover veggie slices that didn't fit in the pan, use them in a frittata or vegetable stir-fry. 
  • To add smoke throw on 1 small chunk of apple wood 15 minutes before removing foil from the pan for the final cook.  This will give the wood time to burn off impurities.  The smoke will fail about 15 minutes into the final cook.  Plenty of time to add desired smoke flavor to these veggies.

The Piperade


Assembly


Cover tightly


Cook at 275 deg F


Done with a hint of smoke (Optional)


Prepare the Vinaigrette 


Plated On The Piperade, Whole Wheat Couscous, Freshly Shaved Parmesan And Surrounded By The Vinaigrette.  

A little bit of Heaven on this Earth!!!

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Effigy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Effigy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 August 2013 at 16:52
Wow! I could just sit and look at it, too beautiful to disturb it - awesome tutorial - thanks!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gracoman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 August 2013 at 17:42
Don't tell anybody but this dish is as easy to put together as it is to present.  Let it be our little secret LOL
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 August 2013 at 19:16
I've got only one problem with this dish. It takes what is, at base, home-cooked comfort food and elevates it to "gourmet" status. Which, in turn, makes it expensive.

The list of such dishes and ingredients just keeps growing. As I've mentioned in the past, I all but grew up on things like short ribs, because they were cheap. Now you need a second mortgage to afford them.

That aside, Gracoman, a great looking dish. I especially appreciate the touch of smoke you added. Sort of like the difference between traditional Baba Ghannouj, and the anemic versions often served today.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gracoman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 August 2013 at 19:42
Oh man, you are so wrong!

The cost of producing this wonderful dish is identical to the cost of producing any ratatouille.  And ratatoullle is what it.  Only the brilliant configuration created by Mr. Thomas Keller separates this dish from the peasant culture from which it came..  The dish is composed entirely of vegetables, garlic and couscous and the couscous is optional LOL

Perhaps you are referring to the balsamic vinegar  Question


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 August 2013 at 20:13
I wasn't referring so much to the cost of this dish, as prepared at home, as to the concept of elevating home-cooking or peasant food to gourmet status.

Restaurants are another question, however. Would you care to offer a guess what that dish costs at The French Laundry as a result of Keller's brilliant configuration?

It's just an on-going issue with me. And certainly doesn't detract from the beauty of the dish.

Significantly, that might have been the very point of the film. Certainly one of them. The snooty critic was in rapture not just because it was ratatoullie, but that it was served just the way his mother made it. Comfort food by definition.

That scene was non-credulous because one doesn't expect to find peasant food (in both execution and presentation) in a fine-dining establishment. Which is my very point.

BTW, like you, I'm a big believer in presentation, and am quite willing to put in the extra time it often requires. I take the idea that you eat first with your eyes very seriously.

But most home-cooks, nowadays, unfortunately, do not. They call it unnecessary fussing with the food.

Mebbe so. But, IMO, they and their guests suffer because of it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gracoman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 August 2013 at 20:49
Originally posted by HistoricFoodie HistoricFoodie wrote:

I wasn't referring so much to the cost of this dish, as prepared at home, as to the concept of elevating home-cooking or peasant food to gourmet status.

Restaurants are another question, however. Would you care to offer a guess what that dish costs at The French Laundry as a result of Keller's brilliant configuration?

It's just an on-going issue with me. And certainly doesn't detract from the beauty of the dish.

Significantly, that might have been the very point of the film. Certainly one of them. The snooty critic was in rapture not just because it was ratatoullie, but that it was served just the way his mother made it. Comfort food by definition.

That scene was non-credulous because one doesn't expect to find peasant food (in both execution and presentation) in a fine-dining establishment. Which is my very point.

BTW, like you, I'm a big believer in presentation, and am quite willing to put in the extra time it often requires. I take the idea that you eat first with your eyes very seriously.

But most home-cooks, nowadays, unfortunately, do not. They call it unnecessary fussing with the food.

Mebbe so. But, IMO, they and their guests suffer because of it.

The world has somehow become an even crazier place than it was as little as 10 years ago.  Venezuelan and Columbian Arepas are an excellent example of the misappropriation of peasant foods.  Probably why I don't frequent the restaurant circuit.  I neither need to or want to.  I can produce identical and many times superior dishes at home and the atmosphere is what it should be.  Friends, family and neighbors partaking in an experience that can be reproduced in no other way.
 

But this only further serves to negate your reasoning.  I am the peasant to which you refer and I am the peasant cooking grand meals at a minimal prices.  I am the peasant and I revel in it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 August 2013 at 22:58
Exquisite presentation and beautiful recipe. Thank you for your posting.
Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gonefishin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 August 2013 at 07:34
   That looks so wonderful gracoman, really!  Not only did you display a wonderful dish, but you created a full tutorial...bravo!

Dan
Enjoy The Food!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 August 2013 at 09:00
I love it, GM ~ that is really a beautiful and inspiring dish there, at all stages of preparation ~ another example of how the "grandmother dishes" never die and can even become works of art in any circle. It was impressive in the movie, and even moreso to see it come alive here!
 
 
Thank you for posting such a great pictutorial, that makes it look easy ~ Clap
 
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