But the whole point of these dishes is that they’re food of the people, made with what is normally in the pantry, and always slightly different from one family to another.
For example, I’ve never used a recipe for ratatouille. The finished product ranges a bit in taste, depending on where in the season we are and how much of each of the vegetables I used, etc., but my kids would be able to tell you in a blind taste test which ratatouille was mine. That’s how these sorts of dishes work.
So much this.
It’s peasant food, and coming from a long line of peasants, I can definitively state it’s made with what’s cheap and available. 
I make a lot of cassoulet in the winter months, because it’s good value and easy.
and @chgoliz–it is not lost on me for a moment that cassoulet is a peasant food. and that is precisely why people get so passionate about it. just like when @chgoliz makes a ratatouille and everyone knows it is hers. that is what i am trying to express. i am not intimidated at the least by any food, but i am respectful. so when i attempt a cassoulet this winter i am just gonna name it Stewart 
(why yes, i can be obsessive :D)
Lolz. 
I always thought of it a bit like that quote about porn. You don’t need to define it exactly, but as long as you can point to it and say what it is, that’s good enough.
I taught a mate to make rice patties over the weekend. Seems a lot of people that grow up eating meat never learn to make much in the way of vegetarian savouries.
I do to. And often not that nice with chicken and all that. And lots of time the day before, the better the next day. The kind of beans divert, also the kind of meat. It’s most of the time the only meat we eat. Sometimes I even put one or two potato’s in it. Depending on what is in the house. But indeed, there is a kind of signature, like @chgoliz ratatouille. And it is different from a ‘stew’, but why…
Awwww, hellz yeah. I make one of my own devising with pork cheeks, sausages, apple wedges and a bottle of scrumpy in it. There’s never any left over.
Are these like hamburger patties, or rice balls, or what?
You know we love recipes around here (hint, hint!).
There’s something called Brunswick Stew that seems to be a somewhat North American version (beans + local cheap meat + some basic veggies; not much liquid). Like you say, not really stew. Maybe because the chunks are a lot bigger in stew?
That nicely gets around the chili wars. (Even as an omnivore I find the concept of meat soup, I mean Texas style chili, odd)
Over the years, it has become apparent to me that being a good cook trumps everything, unless someone (like my dad, unfortunately) is so committed to a meat-centered lifestyle that they categorically refuse to eat food outside their highly restrictive diet.
A good chili is really about the spices and long, slow cooking. Meat is one way to get the umami flavor that is a key component, but it’s not the only way.
Rice patties are kind of in between those two things. Recipe is as follows:
2 cups cooked rice
250g carton of cottage cheese
250g carton of cream cheese
2 eggs
1 pkt of French onion soup mix or cream of mushroom soup (chef’s choice)
Small grated onion
Mix all ingredients together. It will be a fairly wet mixture. Roll a bit into a ball, roughly pingpong or golf ball size. Flatten a little and roll in dry breadcrumbs. Shallow fry in any oil you want until beautifully golden and crispy on both sides.
Eat and enjoy your brand new vegetarian savoury.
Great. Now I want a proper S. Island cheese roll.
ha! found the cookbook, it’s a Nigerian dish called Ala (or so the book wants me to believe)
as I’m too lazy to translate it - very similar to this one but with added chopped tomatoes.
An article about the soup says that the soup is common all over the country with more variants than citizens (more or less).
In a forum I found “my” version but the author used a whole fish
I am not the biggest fan of soup* but it was interesting when I tried it (one time with a European-hot amount of chili pepper and once for the lulz and giggles with much MUCH more - it’s true, we weren’t able to discern if the soup was cold or warm)
* Struwwelpeter is a lie, though. I did not die within five days after declining soup.
I often make an asian influnced version of this…
2 cups cooked rice
4 Tbs Flour
2 Eggs
Green Onion Finely chopped.
mix all together and form into 2" medallions and press into seasme seeds on both sides and fry in toasted sesame oil and serve with soy sauce for dipping.
Sesame oil doesn’t take high heat well…could I suggest using something like peanut or canola oil for the actual frying, then drizzle some toasted sesame oil on at the end for the flavor?
good suggestion. i only pan fry them and the oil doesn’t smoke, but the peanut oil sounds lovely, i’m sure coconut oil would work as well. then drizzle with the hot toasted seasome oil…yum. darn now i’m hungry.
I know, right?
Dinner tonight was taking every cooked veg in the fridge plus cannellini beans plus leftover tomato pasta sauce and putting them over pasta. This was not one of my prouder moments in culinary history, but we need to get these leftovers outta here!
If you want to maximize crispiness, use a fat that’s mostly saturated such as coconut, palm, or ghee. If you don’t want a coconut flavor, use the refined stuff rather than virgin.
And to generalize on @chgoliz’s excellent advice: don’t fry with anything that’s mostly polyunsaturated fat, such as sesame, walnut, or flaxseed. These oils have a very low smoke point and polymerize rapidly when subject to high heat. Drizzle them over the dish only after it’s cooked and plated.
A dry sherry, preferably cheapish, works pretty well for both risotto and most Asian cooking. Barring that, old leftover Sauvignon Blanc (dry) or Pinot Grigio. Always useful as de-glazers.
I use a homemade veggie stock (in this case, devoid of herbs or bouquet garni) and any/all mushrooms I can find. I find I do not miss the cheese part much (I often run out of cheese in our house since some family members will gnaw it straight off the block) esp. if I manage to garnish with caramelized leek or mild (like a Walla Walla Sweet or a Texas 1015) onion. It’s nearly spaetzle at this point.
Serve with a salad that has bitter greens, whatever fruit is in season, flash-roasted walnuts, a dry hard salty cheese (Asiago can work, I prefer it over Parmegiano Reggiano), and/or prosciutto. Toss with a good olive oil and a dash of mildish (non-wine) vinegar.
