Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Rain, Rain and Rain but Sunshine on my Plate

It has been raining, raining and raining here in Provence. I really can't remember ever having had such a cold and wet May and I feel especially sorry for all our visitors to Provence who came here looking for sunshine and poppy fields and landed in a total washout. The weather forecast promises sunshine and rising temperatures for tomorrow but taking into account how often they get it wrong I thought I'd better get myself some sunshine on a plate. This "Tian de Légumes de Soleil" (Tian of sunkissed vegetables) is just that and a perfect aside to some BBQ'd lambchops.


The word Tian in this Provençal recipe refers to the round earthenware dish it is prepared in. You need 4 zucchini, 2 eggplants, 6 tomatoes, one sweet onion, 3 cloves garlic, herbes de Provence, salt and pepper, olive oil and 300g or 1 cup of thick tomatoe sauce (coulis de tomate).
First of all you take two of the prettiest zucchini and two or three of the firmest tomatoes and cut them in even rounds.  Set aside. Take all the rest of the veg and cut them into smallish cubes. Finely chop the garlic. Add some olive oil to a pan and gently fry all the vegetable cubes, then add the tomato coulis. Leave to gently braise for about 10 minutes, then pour this mixture into the tian. Season well and cover with the tomato and zucchini rounds. Scatter with some Herbes de Provence and sprinkle with some olive oil. Bake in a preheated oven (180°C/356°F)
Talking about Herbes de Provence: As long as you have some needles of fresh rosemary and a few sprigs of fresh thyme all you need to do is pick the little leaves off the thyme and chop them together with the rosemary needles into a very fine powder - the idea is to have the taste but not to bite on rosemary. These "Herbes de Provence" are much better than any of the dried stuff you can buy.
Gotta go now and put my Tian into the oven - and I really hope to remember to take a picture of the baked Tian this time round....

Et voilà - Tian fresh out of the oven

24 comments:

  1. ahhh...tians. i just planted my tian garden. eggplants, peppers, tomato and basil. my neighbors live for tian cooking season. they love them. it will be a couple months until i have the vegetables and then i will make so many of them we will be sick of them by fall. i wish we were having some of your weather. we are going to be in the 90's this weekend. if you want to see my tians, just type tian in my search bar!

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  2. Yes the rain is starting to get a bit boring, but the garden seems happy even though everything is very late due to the winter.
    This dish is just the sort of thing we both love. Yum yum. Diane

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  3. I love making Tians and yours looks really yummy! It is getting close to lunch here in Northern California and I would like a nice portion for me. Thanks for sharing your recipe and picture.

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    1. Hi Michel, sending one right over!
      Thanks for the sunshine award - I feel very honored!

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  4. Beautiful creation to make any meal brighte.
    Rita

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  5. Barbara, it looks beautiful! While talking about Herbes de Provence, I have a question. Does it always, sometimes or never have lavender added to it? This has been a discussion with us and our friends for some time. Wishing for sunshine for you. Perhaps October weather will be better? (smiling)

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    1. Yes, there are Herbes de Provence with lavender added. Mostly those to be found in tourist shops. Seriously: who'd like to eat perfume?
      And I am absolutely certain: we will have a magnificent october!

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  6. Thanks for the tip on Herbes de Provence, I have both almost always in the garden but for some reason use the dried stuff. The dish is simple yet delicious. I would eat it without even baking it! :)

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    1. Once you chopped the fresh herbs smell those and then compare to the dried stuff...

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  7. I have that very casserole. I will have to try your Tian. It is raining a lot in NC this May also. Hoping for better weather for you (and us, since we will be in France) in June.

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    1. Penny, things have definitely improved - the sun is out and the roses are in full bloom.

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  8. I think it has been raining a bit everywhere in the north of europe but do you have some sunshine now? In England it is hot and very pleasant (finally!) so I am enjoying it whilst it last! This dish looks great!!!

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    1. It is not as hot as in Britain right now but we will be getting there!

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  9. This kind of vegetable tian is one of my favorite dishes to make when tomatoes are thriving in my garden! I'm so sorry for all the rain and hope your spring and summer arrive warm and dry;-)

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    1. Thank you Patty and welcome to Cuisine de Provence.

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  10. Hello Barbara,
    That's indeed a sunshine in a plate, a beautiful looking dish, can't wait to try it! Sorry about all the rain, could you believe we had about 30C in England? it has been lovely.
    I just did a blogpost, and again showered you with some lovely awards!! Any excuse for recognition, many thanks for all the wonderful recipes. Here is the link, if you'd like to check out:
    http://ozlemsturkishtable.com/2012/05/fresh-delicious-and-fun-cooking-turkish-food-made-easy/
    One Lovely Blog award is especially lovely, and I hope it brings more sunshine to your day :) xx Ozlem

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  11. one of my favourite dishes, and definitely will try your recipe this weekend with guests (hope it doesn't rain or hail)

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  12. This looks so delicious! I must try once my zucchinis and tomatoes have harvested. There's nothing like fresh vegetables from the garden and what a great recipe to make.

    By the way the rain is also here in Canada. We went from high 30s down to the low teens overnight last week and we've had rain for 5 days since. Finally, the sun has returned this morning!

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  13. Dear Barbara, just give this wonderful recipe of yours a link at my post, for an Olympic feast, hope you enjoy it:)!
    http://ozlemsturkishtable.com/2012/07/olympics-london-2012-indeed-inspires-a-generation-and-mens-cycling-road-race-by-our-street/

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  14. Dear Barbara, I gave a link to this lovely recipe at my post below, for an Olympic feast, hope you enjoy it! xx Ozlem
    http://ozlemsturkishtable.com/2012/07/olympics-london-2012-indeed-inspires-a-generation-and-mens-cycling-road-race-by-our-street/

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