What is this nifty thrift-store dish?

General Questions
#1

I bought this dish (two, actually) at Goodwill, because I was just too intrigued to pass it up. Ya never know, that’s MY philosophy.
It’s clear glass or Pyrex, about 9 inches round with straight sides, rather like a round casserole dish. The bottom, however, has holes in it–a random pattern of holes that are about 1/4 inch around. These are through-and-through holes, not just indentations.
There are no identifying markings except for a very tiny “France” on one edge.
Any ideas? Thanks!

Best,
karol

#2

Hmmm, does it look like it might have been part of a set? The only thing I can imagine is that it sat inside another dish for roasting and then you could remove the “holey” dish with the veggies or meat inside and leave the juices in the bottom dish.

#3

How thick/heavy is it? Could be used to keep pie crusts from rising and poofing if it’s light enough and there’s enough holes.

#4

In the same direction as belladonna, it could sit in another dish/pan filled with boiling water, for steaming purposes.

#5

Yep, maybe it’s for steaming or something. It’s about as heavy as a Pyrex casserole, maybe a tad lighter. It doesn’t look like a set to me, but I do notice that the two I have will stack nicely, so perhaps there are two larger pieces out there that would serve as the outer dishes.
Hmmmm. I may have to experiment a bit…

#6

Very large flower frogs ?

#7

It’s for draining cheese, soft white cheese for dessert, I think.

http://www.cooking.com/advice/adfeatu1.asp?Alias=AR_cheryl_light

has a diet version of this but the original French recipes are very rich.