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Pissaladiere |
“I don’t eat bait,” said my faithful sous chef, and with
that announcement began my task to honor the spirit of this week’s French Fridays with Dorie (FFWD) challenge
in a manner that satisfied our provincial taste buds.
I look forward to these weekly challenges for they expose me
to new recipes, new ingredients, and the FFWD group’s helpful comments about
their experiences with and interpretations of the recipes. Although I consider myself quite an
adventuresome chef and diner, my limits are tested when a recipe includes unfavored
ingredients such as egg yolk and, like this week’s recipe, anchovies. While I don’t share my sous chef’s staunch
aversion, I am not a total fan of this slimy little fish. I can eat anchovies in a Caesar Salad, or if
they are mushed into something so they are unrecognizable, but even I was
unwilling to see them stretched languorously across the top of my food. A substitute was needed.
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Why do I always forget something when prepping? Thyme anyone? |
Fortunately, Dorie is very good at explaining the origins of
a dish in Around My French Table. Her section on Pissaladière mentioned it is a
“treasured street food” in Niçoise (or, for those non-Francophiles, the area in
and about Nice). The wheels started
turning and the Salade Niçoise became a bit of inspiration. I decided to substitute cracked- black pepper
seared ahi tuna for the anchovies and top off with arugula. Unfortunately, my usually dependable sous
chef forgot the arugula—he said he was distracted by a comely shopper checking
out melons. Since necessity is the
mother of invention, the spring lettuce mix in the refrigerator became the
topper.
I have made a lot of homemade pizzas and done a lot of
baking, so I am not a dough-novice. But
for some reason, this was the stickiest yeast dough I have ever
encountered. I felt like Spiderwoman and,
try as I may, could not get the dough off my hands and board without vigorous
scrubbing. When I finally got the dough
into the bowl to rest, I felt as though I had gone ten rounds with Hillary
Swank.
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Drizzling olive oil into dissolved yeast |
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Pouring yeast mixture into well of flour |
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No matter how much flour I add, still sticky |
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Nap time for dough, cocktail time for me |
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Dough has doubled in size |
The main ingredient, and the whole reason for the Pissaladière,
is caramelized onions. My last
experience caramelizing onions was not so successful, probably due to the fact
I was multi-tasking and you shouldn’t caramelize anything while doing laundry,
decorating for the holidays, and walking Sasha, The Wonder Dog. I was determined to make the perfect
caramelized onions this time and took to heart Dorie’s instruction not to rush
the process. In 45 minutes, Dorie’s
estimated time to complete, my onions were still in a virginal state. But in 90 minutes the onions looked like
golden tanned bathers along the Cote d’ Azur.
Perhaps the heat was a tad too low and I a bit too cautious because of
the onion debacle last Christmas? In any
event, the result looked great and the room was redolent with a sweet, nutty
aroma.
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What did I do before onion goggles |
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There is just never enough Thyme - MIA again |
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The Thyme finally made it in, but I forgot to photo the finished caramalized onions |
This recipe is from a region where anchovies are a precious
ingredient. I try to remain true to
Dorie’s recipes, so I needed to work anchovies into my Pissaladière. I did so by adding a small amount of anchovy
paste to the caramelized onions and lightly reheating to fully incorporate it. When that was done, I rolled the dough to a
thin consistency, lathered it with the caramelized onion- anchovy mixture, and
baked for 20 minutes.
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Punched down dough, still a bit sticky |
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The second nap for the dough before rolling out |
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Ready to bake |
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Olives ready |
In the meantime, I rolled my ahi tuna in cracked black
pepper and cooked it briefly in a very hot non-stick pan until the edges had
blackened and the center remained a bright pink. I put the seared ahi tuna aside to rest and
put the spring salad mix in a bowl and tossed it with a small amount of salt
and olive oil. I took the dough from the
oven and sprinkled black Niçoise olives all around and baked in the oven for
another 4 minutes. When done, I removed
the Pissaladière from the oven and transferred it to a serving platter where I
added the seared ahi tuna, along with the lightly dressed spring lettuce mix
and a few feta crumbles for good measure.
It looked quite pretty and made me think about sitting on the French
Riveria with a glass of wine to enjoy with the dish.
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Seared Anchovy substitute |
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Lunch anyone? |
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The ahi is a beautiful color, wonder if I can get a dress that color |
The Pissaladière dough was thin and crisp – just like we
prefer. The caramelized onion and
anchovy mix, with its infusion of thyme and bay leaf, subtly suggested the
terroir of Niçoise. The black cracked
pepper crust of the seared ahi added a robust heat to the dish that was cooled
by the spring salad mix. Plus the firm,
tasty meat was a welcome and very successful substitute for anchovies. The Niçoise olives added yet another layer of
taste and texture. But a word or
warning: the olives are small and their
pits very hard, so use pitted olives if available and, if not, be very careful
when
you bite into one or you risk bankrupting the Tooth Fairy.
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Notice the Fire Tulips - Open Sky sent them as a Thank You for shopping |
This dish was a definite winner and I am going to serve this
for my next ladies brunch!
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Crispy Pissaladiere |
To read more about the French Friday with Dorie experiences:
Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Your version is absolutely gorgeous - wonderful post and photos!
ReplyDeleteYum, that ahi tuna and arugula gave such beautiful colors on your pizza! I definitely want to make your version next time.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love the seared tuna! Great substitute!
ReplyDeleteThe tuna looks absolutely stunning! And as for your "provincial" taste buds, a friend of mine lived for a while in Provence, and she says they ate this every week.
ReplyDeleteLovely meal and your sticky-dough "P" turned out nicely. Mine was fairly dry, however I did add a little extra flour. If you used bread dough, sometimes it is hard to wash off, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe tuna and the greens make the pissaladiere so pretty! It probably made for a much heartier meal as well.
ReplyDeleteWow! You are so CLEVER in your substitutions!!!
ReplyDeleteMy husband let me in on a little secret several years ago about the French anchovies. They are nothing like the version that we know here in America. They're actually not very salty, and they're a bit pickled. We have some at the shop, so if you want to make a second version with the real deal, stop by!
That looks so pretty with the ahi, greens, and feta on top! It seems like many of us had trouble with the dough.
ReplyDeleteI ended up using the puff pastry because I wasn't in the mood to commit to the yeast dough! I love you onion goggles!
ReplyDeleteYour pissaladiere looks gorgeous - the pink of the tuna is so lovely. I also found the dough very sticky.
ReplyDeletei had to add more flour to my dough cause it was just too "runny". still ended up with a very nice dough.
ReplyDeleteI also added more flour to my dough...it seemed to be very moist. Love, love, love your substitutions on this. The tuna is amazing! Your pissaladiere looks picture perfect!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like an amazing and fancy meal!
ReplyDelete