207 replies to this topic

[FrogPrincesse]

Hi Elise,

Great start! I knew I'd enjoy this blog when I saw the cookbook lineup. It will be fun to see how French and So. Cal food cultures mix.

Though I will say, it's hard for those of us in the northeast not to be consumed by envy when we see your farmers markets.

Hi LindaK,

We are lucky in San Diego, but I am sure your area has a lot to offer as well.

[FrogPrincesse]

This is what we ended up buying today at Chino Farm.

Yellow and bicolor corn for tomorrow's barbecue, yellow peaches, and raspberries.

[FrogPrincesse]

We had to do a quick run to 99 Ranch today after Stone. One of our guests doesn't eat red meat, and I wanted to get some head-on shrimp. Initially we wanted get them at Catalina Offshore, however they were not open today.

So we ended up going to 99 Ranch, which has a pretty amazing seafood section (amongst other interesting things).
99 Ranch is a an Asian supermarket chain, primarily Chinese.



We only spent about 10 minutes there, but here is a sampling of the seafood section.

Live blue crabs


There is a large selection of fish that you don't typically find in other places.




Oysters and stone crabs


For a quick meal tonight we bought some cockles.




Everything looked good but there was little, if any, local seafood which is why we generally prefer Catalina Offshore, Point Loma Seafoods or Bay Park Fish, which is next door to Siesel's and five minutes from our place.

The cockles were from New Zealand.

[FrogPrincesse]

After 99 Ranch, we came back home and spent some time in the pool.

Then I decided a tiki drink was in order. I settled for an Ancient Mariner from Beachbum Berry Remixed, which is my go-to book for tiki drinks.



This cocktail includes lime juice, grapefruit juice (the recipe calls for white, but I used a star ruby grapefruit from my farmers' market bag), simple syrup, allspice/pimento liqueur, Demerara and dark Jamaican rums, with a mint and lime garnish.

This was my very first attempt at scoring lime for the garnish, and I need a little practice.

[FrogPrincesse]

Our daugther had her favorite meal tonight - oeufs a la coque, aka soft boiled eggs, with "mouillettes", which are strips of toasted white bread with butter, used for dipping.

Her French grandmother gave her the little "egg cosy". The cat egg cup belonged to me as a child.

[FrogPrincesse]

I undertook another meat grinder project this afternoon.

Yesterday I ground meat for sweet Italian sausage. Today I made an Indian lamb sausage, based on a recipe from Vij's, a great restaurant in Vancouver. My brother lives there so we had a chance to go to this restaurant.

Here are the ingredients for the lamb sausage.



For the meat, I used lamb shoulder, which was surprisingly hard to find. Also, the butcher refused to debone it (they were quite busy as the store was flooded with people shopping for the celebrations on the 4th) and tried to convince my husband - who was doing the shopping - that he should be buying leg of lamb instead for the sausage (which would have been a very expensive sausage).

But we got the shoulder in the end, and I was able to debone it relatively quickly.

Ingredients ready to go. I was a little optimistic with my large dice for the onion, and ended up having to cut it finer for the next step.



Pureeing the onions in my mini food processor. I had to do this in two batches.



Frying the onions in peanut oil



Then everything was combined together, chilled in the freezer for about 45 min, and then went in the grinder.



It came out of the grinder super fast at first, and then about mid-way through, I got up close and personal with sinew again as a large piece got stuck in the blade. But overall it went relatively fast. I guess I just need to be more careful when I trim the meat.

[FrogPrincesse]

While my daughter was having dinner, I made a quick batch of fromage blanc that I plan on using to make raita to go with the lamb kebabs.

Half a gallon of organic whole milk from Trader Joe's, 1/2 packet of direct-set fromage blanc starter.

I get all of my cheese-making supplies at Curds and Wine. Their cultures and enzymes are from New England Cheesemaking supplies.

I heated the milk to 86F, then added the culture and mixed.



Now it's covered and setting at room temperautre for 12 hours. I will be draining it first thing in the morning.

[kalypso]

FrogPrincess, what a delight to read your blog. Your first day was certainly jam packed, I can hardly wait to see where else you take us

[FrogPrincesse]

Hi kalypso,

It's nice to see all the San Diegans on this thread!

Not all my days are as jam packed, but we had a lot to do to get ready for the 4th.

[SusieQ]

Hi FrogPrincesse! I'm loving your blog already, but one thing you said makes me curious: you have a hard time finding lentils? Are you talking about some special kind of lentils? Because I can find lentils in every grocery store here in Seattle. Thanks for doing your blog and thanks to your husband for the wonderful photos!

Hi SusieQ,

You are right, I should have been more specific. We can also find lentils in grocery stores in San Diego.

I was referring to the Puy lentils, which are green lentils from France. They are so delicious that they are the only ones I use. They keep their shape better after cooking and have a wonderful taste.

My favorite thing to do with them is a warm lentil salad with a drizzle of red wine vinegar and some herbs, especially in winter.

Sounds yummy! I'll have to look out for them. Thanks for answering.

[FrogPrincesse]

Finally getting to post tonight's dinner.

The key words for our meal were fast and simple. We had done so much today, there was not a lot of energy left for something too elaborate.

So I cooked the French version of fast food - steamed shellfish.

Here are the ingredients. Notice the espelette pepper that I bought during my recent trip to Paris. It definitely has a kick, but is extremely flavorful at the same time. It smells sweet and a little fruity, almost like roasted bell peppers.




A couple of other favorite ingredients are herbes de Provence, and dry vermouth that I use instead of white wine to add extra flavor.

Here I am blanching some baby bok choy that I got in my farmers' basket/CSA last week.





Then I diced the onion and peeled the garlic.



I gave a quick rinse to the cockles.



At that point, I started frying the onions in a mixture of butter and olive oil, to which I added herbes de Provence and the espelette pepper.



Then it was time to add the cockles.



I also added the bok choy after getting rid of as much water as possible by squeezing them dry.



Adding vermouth.




I closed the lid and cooked the cockles for about 5 minutes, until all of them were open.


The plated dish with a little drizzle of arbequina olive oil, and toasted rosemary bread with a light garlic rub on the side.

[FrogPrincesse]

I am happy to report that I have successfully stuffed sausage tonight! It was a little involved but went quite well thanks to my husband who was in charge of pushing the sausage in the stuffer attachment (and taking pictures at regular intervals...). It was a bonding exercise for us (only half kidding). The 4th is also our wedding anniversary!

To the ground meat from yesterday, I added red wine and water, then mixed everything together in the Kitchenaid for a couple of minutes. The mixture tried to climb out of the bowl a few times so I had to keep a close watch.



The casings had been soaking in water for > 30 minutes. I gave them a good rinse.



I was having fun with the casing which surprisingly did not smell much (but you have to keep in mind that this comment comes from someone who considers andouilette, a kind of tripe sausage, as a delicacy...). My husband refused to get too close.



The setup. Sliding the casing onto the stuffer attachment was not very difficult. With a little water, it slid on fairly easily.



Then we started stuffing. At first, it was hard to control the stuffing and we were under-stuffing for a while. Then we started getting the hang of it.





I decided not to form the links during stuffing, which may have been a mistake. When I twisted the links at the end of the process, a couple of them ended up bursting open...



Next time I will try forming them as I go.

Overall, my yield was 21 sausages.

I am calling it a night. See you all tomorrow!

[Mjx]

Sausage making is something I've considered trying for a while, so I enjoyed seeing this step-by-step.

And happy anniversary!

[kalypso]

FP, you have the same KA mixer I do. I love it, for me it handles better and does more than the artisan mixer with the tilt head. I have the pasta attachment for it that I'm pretty happy with. I also like the grinder attachment (the quality of my hamburgers has improved markedly ) but I've been less than enthralled with the stuffing attachment. It does take a little it of practice and it's been my experience, your milage may vary, that if the meat mixture you're trying to push through has the least bit of texture or is a little loose, it becomes a difficult process.

Did you use the salted casings from IMFs? I actually like those quite a bit, they're very easy to work with and you're right, no odor. Your sausages, by the way, look great. I'm sure they'll taste even better.

[menuinprogress]

Very fun to see a San Diego based blog here on eGullet!

Everything looks great so far. I'm particularly interested in the lamb sausage - never tried that before, and it sounds really good. We use a Kitchenaid for grinding, but have switched to a separate vertical press unit for stuffing.

[FrogPrincesse]

Sausage making is something I've considered trying for a while, so I enjoyed seeing this step-by-step.

And happy anniversary!

Thank you, Michaela!

[FrogPrincesse]

FP, you have the same KA mixer I do. I love it, for me it handles better and does more than the artisan mixer with the tilt head. I have the pasta attachment for it that I'm pretty happy with. I also like the grinder attachment (the quality of my hamburgers has improved markedly ) but I've been less than enthralled with the stuffing attachment. It does take a little it of practice and it's been my experience, your milage may vary, that if the meat mixture you're trying to push through has the least bit of texture or is a little loose, it becomes a difficult process.

Did you use the salted casings from IMFs? I actually like those quite a bit, they're very easy to work with and you're right, no odor. Your sausages, by the way, look great. I'm sure they'll taste even better.

kalyspo,

I got the pasta attachment too, to replace an old manual pasta machine that was no longer working properly. I am hoping to use it soon.

The casings that I used at "Nature's Best", from International Casing Group.

[ellevan]

Wow! I am loving your blog and I can't wait to see what the rest of this week brings! My husband and I love Stone brewery, although it is somewhat hard to find here...great beer. I am jealous to say the very least.

[FrogPrincesse]

Very fun to see a San Diego based blog here on eGullet!

Everything looks great so far. I'm particularly interested in the lamb sausage - never tried that before, and it sounds really good. We use a Kitchenaid for grinding, but have switched to a separate vertical press unit for stuffing.

Thanks for chiming in, Mike!

What vertical stuffer do you use?

Your blog is great, by the way.

[Genkinaonna]

Really enjoying the blog so far! Happy Anniversary as well! Ours is the 7th. It's nice to know that it's not user error on grinding in the KA...I had a less than satisfactory experience when I tried, but I'm pretty sure that it was gristle that did me in.

What else do you use Piment d'espelette for? I bought a jar for a recipe from Around My French Table, but I'm not sure what else to do with it, and it was waaay to expensive to just sit there looking pretty...

[Kim Shook]

I am so much enjoying your blog. My BIL lives in AZ and spends lots of time in San Diego and just raves about everything there. He's not much into food (he seems to live on oddly colored smoothies), so I'm thrilled to get THAT aspect of the area! Everything you are making and buying looks incredible and please tell your husband that he's a wonderful photographer.

Happy Anniversary!

[andiesenji]

Your blog is terrific and the photos excellent.

Love your depiction of sausage stuffing. There are so many varieties of sausage that it is almost impossible to run out of combinations.
I used to prepare a lot of wild game sausage when I had an arrangement with some hunters but as most have moved away, I now have very little chance at it.

I am a big fan of the San Diego area and used to get down there a couple of times a year at least, either for dog shows or for visits to friends who live down that way, Lemon Grove, La Mesa, El Cajon, National City and Imperial Beach (all Basenji owners). I also recall some wonderful meals at various restaurants but unfortunately can't recall the names, except for the Beach grill and a Mediterranean place that I think was in El Cajon. I also recall a dinner at a Nepalese/North Indian restaurant in a little strip mall, next door to a UPS store in which the food was excellent but the service a bit rattles because there were nine of us and it was somewhat confused until the tables were arranged and everyone settled. There were three servers working our group, which caused a bit of confusion in itself but as I said the food was well worth it.

You are correct that San Diego and the surrounding area does not get the kudos it deserves, especially since there are more really great restaurants in a much smaller area than in the L.A./OC area which means a lot less driving.

It is also great that there are some terrific farms and fruit growers not too far away to make it difficult to drive out to the farm stands. One of my friends owns an avocado grove in Vista but doesn't have a roadside stand, she sells to a co-op that in turn sells at local stands and to restaurants.

I simply can't wait to see all that you have planned for this week to delight and inspire us.


Phoned my friend who lives in El Cajon. The restaurant is Himalayan Cuisine and is on El Cajon Blvd in La Mesa. The Mediterranean restaurant is Haritna Mediterranean Restaurant, also on El Cajon in La Mesa. She says the baklava is the best she has ever tasted and she has traveled extensively in the middle east.
She says that when you visit, have a big appetite because the portions are extremely generous.

Edited by andiesenji, 04 July 2011 - 12:00 PM.

[FrogPrincesse]

Really enjoying the blog so far! Happy Anniversary as well! Ours is the 7th. It's nice to know that it's not user error on grinding in the KA...I had a less than satisfactory experience when I tried, but I'm pretty sure that it was gristle that did me in.

What else do you use Piment d'espelette for? I bought a jar for a recipe from Around My French Table, but I'm not sure what else to do with it, and it was waaay to expensive to just sit there looking pretty...

Hi Genkinaonna,

Thank you.

I just use piment d'espelette in recipes that call for cayenne. I find the flavor more nuanced and interesting.

It's excellent in the Basque dish piperade (bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes).

[menuinprogress]

What vertical stuffer do you use?

We use a 5lb Northern Industrial vertical sausage stuffer, and have been really happy with it.

[FrogPrincesse]

I am so much enjoying your blog. My BIL lives in AZ and spends lots of time in San Diego and just raves about everything there. He's not much into food (he seems to live on oddly colored smoothies), so I'm thrilled to get THAT aspect of the area! Everything you are making and buying looks incredible and please tell your husband that he's a wonderful photographer.

Happy Anniversary!

Thanks Kim! I am glad you are enjoying my blog. I am having a lot of fun doing it as well.

[FrogPrincesse]

Here is a summary of my morning.

I started by draining the fromage blanc that I made last night. After about 12 hours it was quite thick and ready to go into the colander.

I am using a synthetic reusable cheesecloth that I got at Curds and Wine.



I drained it for about an hour. It can be drained much longer depending on what texture you want. Since I was doing to use it to make raita I wanted to keep it pretty loose.



Then I gave it a whirl in a blender, about one minute to make it smooth.

I followed the recipe from Vij's for the raita and grated my cucumber directly into the fromage blanc. Their recipe calls for yogurt but really I don't think that you can taste the difference in this recipe. I added salt, pepper, and garam masala.




Normally I would keep the whey and use it in smoothies, but since my fridge is pretty full, I discarded it.

[FrogPrincesse]

In the mean time, our daugther was enjoying her breakfast. She had one of the peaches we bought yesterday. She tried it both with and without the skin, and decided that she liked it better without the skin (like her mom! This is a source of constant debate in our household).

The peach was nice, altough it could have been sweeter.

She also had a glass of milk and nutella on toast, again, since it's the weekend (her rationale).




We had a couple of espressos.

[FrogPrincesse]

Hi Andie,

It's always good to have recommendations for restaurants in San Diego. Thanks!

We don't get out to East County very often, but we should explore that area more.

[percyn]

My oh my.... fresh Uni on the shell, homemade sausage, farmers market and fresh cheese all in 1 day !! This is going to be good !

[FrogPrincesse]

The shrimp from yesterday needed to get deveined. I had no experience doing this, but this was fairly easy. I tried using a knife at first but it proved inefficient and dangerous as the blade kept sliping on the shell. So I just switched to scissors.



From that point on, it went very fast.