Ratatouille
“If you are what you eat, then I only want to eat the good stuff.” Out of the mouths of rats…
Ratatouille is, to this day, one of the best foodie films ever made. Even Anthony Bourdain thought so! Once you get past the very weird concept of a rat inexplicably being able to control the physical actions of a human man by puppeteering him through his hair (…), Ratatouille’s democratic thesis of “anyone can cook!” is pretty perfectly executed. In a world where (as Collette aptly points out) haute cuisine is an antiquated hierarchy built upon rules written by stupid, old, men, Remy the rat is challenged not only to push culinary boundaries, but to do so with integrity. Big props to Patton Oswalt in the title role, who brings a level of earnestness and humility to Remy the rat– not to mention the rest of the stellar voice cast and genius animation from Pixar.
I’d continue to summarize and gush, but I’m tired. It’s not that the recipes were particularly hard– the food just looked so EDIBLE onscreen that I wanted to make each and every bite live up to the visual inspiration. I blame famous celebrity chef Thomas Keller, who consulted on this film. And then hope he reads this one day and gets me a free res at The French Laundry.
Happy 15th Birthday today, Ratatouille, and bon appetit!
The Movie
The Menu
I found a mushroom... Ah, oh, oh... You found cheese? And not just any cheese-- TOMME DE CHEVRE DE PAYS?! That would go beautifully with my mushroom!! And... this rosemary! This rosemary with maybe with a few drops from this sweet grass. You got to taste this! This is... It's got this kind of... It's burny, melty... It's not really a smoky taste. It's a certain... It's kind of like a... It's got, like, this Ba-boom, zap kind of taste. Don't you think? It's lightning-y!! Except, turns out mushrooms don't puff up when you light them on fire, electrocute them, or subject them to high roasting temperatures. But puff pastry does! So here's an alternative to Ratatouille's first recipe-- a super simple apertif bite reminiscent of a gougere. But instead of a choux pastry I opted for the aforementioned pre-made puff pastry. Yes, I cheated. Sue me. Seriously, so few ingredients. And, don't forget the saffron. A little saffron would MAKE THIS! Preheat your oven to 400 and heat your butter in a small cast iron skillet. Chop your mushrooms and add to pan together with rosemary, saffron, salt and pepper. Place in your oven and roast for 10 mins, tossing occassionally. Your mushrooms should start to brown and get all deliciously crispy charred (... lightning-y!). Remove from the oven and stir in your saffron and honey, adding a splash of water if the mushrooms are sticking to the pan. Set aside and allow to come to room temperature. Cut your puff pastry into 2 inch squares, stretching them out a bit as you go. Place a big nubbin of cheese and a tablespoon full of mushrooms into the center of each square-- wrap the dough around the filling to create little balls. Bake at 400 on a parchment lined cookie sheet for about 25 minutes until pastry is puffed and golden brown. Serve hot for optimum gooey-ness! Chanterelles are a pain in the ass to find sometimes. If you can't locate these delicate French shrooms at your local grocery store, you can sub in another fungi (shitake mushrooms for example). What'd you throw in there, oregano? No? What, rosemary? That's a spice isn't it, rosemary? You didn't put rosemary in? Then what was all the flipping and... the throwing the... Who can say what Remy ACTUALLY did to fix a soup that was ruined by Linguini and all his Linguini-ness. Was it a tomato soup that became a clam chowder? What were the little white chunks our favorite rat added first? I've watched this scene several times and this recipe is my best guess-- a version of a potage parmentier (French potato leek soup) that has a little bit of carrot to add a lovely warm this-might-have-been-red-once-but-is-now-creamy hue. The soup is a delightful second course, but could also be a main if you're too scared of the ratatouille recipe to come. Look it's ingredients! Add your leeks to a medium pot together with your butter and garlic. Sautee on medium low heat until caramelized (but not browned!). Season generously with salt and pepper. Add the potatoes and carrots to the pot, followed by your herbs tied up in a little bundle with kitchen twine (we call this a bouquet garni (very French and fancy). Pour your broth over all, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for roughly 30 minutes, until potatoes and carrots are softened. Remove the herbs and (off the heat) puree the soup with an immersion blender or some other kind of blender (but immersion blenders are super cool). Once smooth, add cream and continue to puree until thick and, well, creamy. Keep warm on the stove until ready to serve, with fresh thyme and a drizzle of cream for garnish. Ratatouille. It's like a stew, right? Why do they call it that? If you're gonna name a food, you should give it a name that sounds delicious. Ratatouille doesn't sound delicious. It sounds like "rat" and "patootie." Rat patootie! Which does not sound delicious. Except that it is. It really, REALLY, is. Especially when it's made this way-- ie a slightly revised version of Thomas Keller's confit byaldi. Thomas Keller's confit byaldi <flourishes apron>. First, the yummy tomato-y base of your "ratatouille"/confit byaldi. Set your broiler on high, and place stemmed and seeded pepper halves onto a sheet of aluminum foil, skin side up. Spritz with a little olive oil and broil for 5-10 minutes (this will depend on your oven, just keep an eye on your peppers you want the skin to be consistently black, but not burn your peppers to a crisp!). Addto a bowl and cover tightly with your aluminum foil, allowing the peppers to steam for another 10 mins. This is what will allow the skins to peel off easily: In a saucepan, caramelize your onions in your remaining olive oil for about 10 minutes on medium low heat. Add garlic and continue to sautee for a minute more, followed by your tomatoes and their juices, squashed. Chop your peppers roughly and add those to the pot as well, together with thyme, parsley and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer over low heat until very soft and very little liquid remains, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard herbs and puree with immersion blender. Reserve 1/2 cup of mixture and spread remainder in bottom of a 9 inch pie plate. Now for your vegetables. Thomas Keller appears to skip this step and I don't know why cause it's crazy. When making squash recipes I almost ALWAYS sweat out my veggies by sprinkling fresh slices with a bit of salt. Lay them out on paper towels for a good 10 minutes, then pat dry-- this helps prevent them from becoming all gross and soggy while they cook. Arrange vegetable slices in concentric circles over the sauce, in this order: zucchini, eggplant, squash and tomatoes. Roughly 1/4 inch of each slice should be exposed. You might have a few extra vegetable slices-- if so, these will keep for a couple of days, don't stress. Mix garlic, oil and thyme leaves in bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste-- brush the surface of the vegetables with the mix and lookit how pretty. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake in an oven preheaded to 275-- the vegetables will be tender after about 2 hours. Uncover, and continue to bake for an additional 30 minutes to steam off any excess liquid. At this point your ratatouille can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days (you can always reheat in 350-degree oven until warm). Top with a thinly sliced chive and bon appetit! A peasant dish fit for the snobbiest of all snobby food critics. Ratatouille's Remy loves his synesthesia. After all-- good food is like music you can taste, color you can smell. There is excellence all around you. You need only to be aware to stop and savor it. Enter the cheese plate-- which, traditionally in a French meal, is served AFTER the main course. Feel free to switch it up, however, since this is where we also bring in the WINE. Since Remy's first synesthesia experiment is strawberry meets cheese, I decided to make a super simple strawberry drizzle-- all you have to do is add chopped strawberries, cornstarch, sugar, juice, and (for something a little extra special) balsamic to a small saucepan. Add a splash of water to help the ingredients mix, bring to a boil, and then allow to simmer until thickened. Drizzle onto a small plate or cutting board, and arrange your cheeses all fancy like over it. Sprinkle with pomegranate arils (another favorite of Remy's it seems--see synesthesia moment with Emille) and walnuts for crunch and VOILA, a mix of salty, nutty, sweet, deliciousness! When it comes to wine-- champagne with the camembert (bubbles and cream, always lovely), a dry rose (emphasis on the Provence!) with the comte (the most popular cheese in France, btw), and a rich cabernet sauvignon for the darker, saltier mimolette (also a classic pairing). There's no Cheval Blanc 1947, but we can't all be as frou frou as Anton Ego. Nopety nopety noooooo. I chose these cheeses because, as Remy says, the best food in the world is made in France. But, per Collette, haute cuisine doesn't have to be snooty. See what you can find, and employ those mix and match skills! There are tons of guides online, but here is one from Serious Eats to get you started. One of my favorite Ratatouille scenes involves Remy making Linguini a basic omelette (that he then doesn't get to eat!). But since there wasn't really a dessert in the film, I took a risk and made this up-- a Frenchified souffle dessert omelette. This wasn't an easy one to figure out. But, I channeled my inner Gusteau-- "You must be imaginative, strong-hearted. You must try things that may not work, and you must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul. What I say is true - anyone can cook... but only the fearless can be great!" I settled for pretty good. The whipped cream put it over the top :). Preheat your oven to 400. Then, separate your yolks from your whites, adding the whites into a small mixing bowl. Whip those whites into stiff peaks with a hand or stand mixer, and add your sugar, cocoa powder, yogurt and vanilla to your yolks. Whisk your yolks with all that stuff together until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth. Fold this chocolate-y yolk mix into your egg whites, doing your best not to deflate the whites too much. In an oven proof skillet, melt half of your butter. Pour in half of your egg mix and smooth into a rough circle-- sprinkle 1 tbsp of chocolate ships onto half of the circle. Now this is key-- THESE ARE NOT REGULAR OMELETTES. After many failed attempts to cook these, uncovered and covered, on the stove, I realized that the fluffy whites need all around heat to set. So, slide your pan into your preheated oven and bake for roughly 7 minutes until chips are softened and souffle omelet is set. Fold your souffle omelettes over a hefty dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle with chocolate shavings. Serve warm, before your cream starts to weep! It's a little messy, but we'll just say I "Linguini'd" the presentation.
Lightning-y Mushroom Puffs
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Remy's Soup
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"Ratatouille"
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When ready to serve, combine 2 tbsp of your reserved 1/2 cup of tomato/pepper base sauce with oil, vinegar, and salt/pepper to taste. Drizzle this in a circle around your plate and sprinkle with fresh herbs. In the center of the plate, wrap your layered vegetables vertically around themselves, almost like you would if you were forming a rosebud. Then, take another line of layered vegetables and lay it over the top of your vegetable spiral. It looks more difficult than it is but trust me-- it ain't. 
Synesthesia Cheese Plate
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Chocolate Souffle Omelette
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Epilogue
There are very few animated films where I would appreciate a sequel– this is one of them. Even Roger Ebert agreed with me.
Someone find me the president of Pixar’s hair…
For more menus, check out my movie directory here!