Pissaladière

Sorry for the short interruption in posting. Mr. Stripey Cat has been here and very sadly the poor old Black Cat has died. We've been a bit quiet and miserable.

This pissaladière is a variation on tradition, the well known version from Southern France includes anchovies, olives and sometimes capers on the onion topping. This one has mushrooms and some strips of roasted red pepper for garnish. It also forms another entry in my informal series of 101 things to do with a sheet of ready rolled puff pastry.

Chop plenty of onions, any sort will do and cook very gently in plenty of olive oil and a good grinding of black pepper until they are very soft and beginning to turn golden. Stir in some fresh thyme leaves stripped from their woody stalks. Remove the mixture from the pan and set aside to cool. In the same pan quickly fry off some fresh white mushrooms so that they take on a golden glow and lose a little of their moisture.

On a greased baking sheet, unroll your puff pastry. Spread the onions over it to within 25mm of the edge. Top with mushrooms. I used some lemon thyme for herby seasoning and it was o.k. but I think I'd stick to the more usual form in future.

Decorate with thin strips of roasted red pepper. If you have none you can lightly fry off strips of a fresh one before starting assembly.

Cook at about 200C for 25 minutes until puffed and golden. Serve with a green salad and a good chilled rosé.

Two Courses, Two diners, Two cooks

Ratatouille - that most abused and currently most filmic, almost unique example of French vegan dishes.

To cook authentically; Each vegetable must be prepared and cooked separately before assembly into the final glorious melange. Use onions, courgettes, aubergines, peppers and combine with tomatoes, basil, black pepper and as much olive oil as you can accommodate. Don't forget the garlic. This was my contribution to the meal.

For pudding we had

Bananas - Drunk as punch.

Unlike my rather caramelly and browned coconut milk simmered bananas these are cooked in sugar and alcohol alone. The simmering reduces the alcoholic content considerably leaving soft and soothing bananas in a rich sweet sauce that calls out for the addition of vegan vanilla icecream. This is Paul's own creation.