What to make when I have a bowl full of sweet green and red peppers and I've already used some previously to make ratatouille? Lucky for me, Julia had the solution with this light and refreshing appetizer. Not only did it give me something new to make but it introduced me to a whole new series of goodies to make "a la Grecque." These dishes are intended to eat chilled as either an appetizer or part of a cold lunch. By the way -- I say "lunch" but Julia would refer it to as a "luncheon." To me a luncheon is a big fancy lunch with lots of people and tablecloths as opposed to a lunch consisting of a bag of chips and a sandwich.
If you're interested in trying this lovely dish you first need to start by making a "Court Bouillon." It turns out the Court Bouillon ( the "aromatic broth") is the start for an of the vegetables being prepared "a la Grecque" with the difference being how long the vegetables are cooked in the broth. The broth is made with water, olive oil, lemon juice, and a bouquet of herbs and spices. Adding the sweet peppers turned it into "Poivrons a la Grecque."
Let's talk about this bouquet for a minute. I thought a bouquet was what I gave Elizabeth on our anniversary, her birthday, Mother's Day, or when I'm in trouble? A bunch of flowers with weeds stuck around the flowers, things like baby's breath or grass -- essentially a non-edible garnish used to make flowers look prettier. That's a whole different discussion -- how does adding weeds to a bunch of flowers make them prettier but if the weeds were in a flower garden we'd think the flowers were uglier and we'd be pulling out the weeds? Humans are strange.
If we're making this Court Bouillon, it starts with boiling the liquid and spices for 10 minutes. For the peppers, the're added to the boiling bouillion for 10 minutes and then the vegetables are removed. When I made this I was able to do another one of those fun diet tricks - I "reduced" the liquid by rapidly boiling the remaining liquid (see photos below) until it was down to about 1/4 cups -- almost a syrup. I love "reducing" -- it makes a ton of steam and makes the kitchen smell pretty good. I'm pretty sure "reducing" makes the calories evaporate and turn the food into a skinny treat. The lemony syrup was then poured over the cooked veggies and then everything went into the fridge to chill until time to serve.
Of course, preparing the bouquet was a new experience as well. I used cheesecloth for the first time. I managed to find it at the grocery store and bought my first bag of it. After adding the spices and herbs (parsley, coriander, salt, pepper, etc.), Julia said I needed to tie the bag closed. Uh oh -- I forgot to get white string. Luckily, Kathryn was home and came to the rescue with some white floss used for cross-stitch projects. She saved the day and all my spices remained contained in the cheesecloth and I didn't contaminate my sauce with a bunch of floaties. Kathryn maintains her sous chef status.
Once everything was boiled down and poured over the cooked pepper slices it was ready to be placed in the fridge to chill for awhile. Chilling is good! We used about half the first dinner that night as a snack by itself and the rest the following day -- leftovers were even better!
The first bite was pretty lemony and tart but it quickly grew on us and everything disappeared pretty quickly. This was a very light and refreshing dish that I'll be making again with all sorts of vegetables.
I cheated and broke my rule after tasting the tart lemony flavor. I wanted to know if "a la Grecque" mean lemony or something similar. According to Google Translate, "Grecque" means "Greek." What?!?!?! Julia, you've tricked me into using a French cookbook to prepare Greek food? I suppose those French foodies are pretty well traveled and well fed.
I'm looking forward to trying some of the other vegetables Julia has listed. If you need help deciding what vegetables to use, let me know!
Bon Appeit!
I think I want to try this! I've never thought of having bell peppers as a side dish on their own. I always have them added to things, like in our fajitas, or on my salad.