FrogPrincesse

Kate - I was looking for a simple recipe for the "zephyr squash" that I got last week in my CSA and am inspired by your dish (which looks fantastic, as usual). Is the shredded zucchini simply sauteed in olive oil with the almonds and lemon zest? I am thinking of using some lemon confit for this.

I can comment on it directly. It is very easy and tasty, and works great with frozen fish fillets. See here for a picture of my version on the dinner thread.

What's an authoritative recipe? I thought it had a lime coin as a garnish? The Robert Hess version sounds fine. A small wedge cut from the side of the lime (coin) can be used instead of just the zest - see Ed Hamilton's version in RecipeGullet. There is also this extensive thread about Ti Punch. The ice is actually optional but quite common.

That's funny, I can't find a recipe for Ti Punch in my copy of Joy of Mixology. And you are right, although the above cocktail does look tasty, it's not a typical Ti Punch (you'd have to use rhum agricole for a start!). What kind of falernum did you use?

Great produce shots. I think those warty green things are Indian bitter melon and the smoother ones also are a variety of bitter melon versus cucumber? You are right, Heidi, these are bitter melons.

That's the plan. I got a few that were already wrinkly so I will start with these first.

Kouign Aman and Kalypso both talked about the City Heights market so I decided to check it out this weekend. It's a fairly small market, only about a block long (2 rows), with a nice community-feel. It's geared towards the local low-income residents with affordable produce and vendors that accept food stamps. In addition to the produce (mostly Asian and Mexican), there were a few options for prepared foods and, more unusual (but a great idea) a bicycle-repair booth! Here are some pictures taken last Saturday. Different varieties of cucumbers Chili peppers I got a few of these beautiful baby eggplants Pea shoots Chinese okra I bought some galangal because I was intrigued by it. Now I need to find a good recipe. Fresh eggs and also balut eggs (I decided to pass...) Miniature tomatillos Yellow peaches - I bought a few. Also got some apricots from the same vendor. The elusive passion fruit. It's the first time I see passion fruit at the farmers' market, and I am not familiar with this variety (only the one with much darker skin). I bought a half basket. We will see how they turn out.

An excellent use for aged rhum agricole is an original Trader Vic's Mai Tai (recipe from Beachbum Berry Remixed). 1 oz lime juice 1/2 orange Curacao (I use Cointreau) 1/4 orgeat (I used homemade) 1/4 sugar syrup 1 oz dark Jamaican rum (I use Appleton 12 year) 1 oz Amber Martinique rum. I tried it with Saint James Hors d'Age (very nice, some deep caramel notes but a little flat in that drink), but I much prefer it with La Favorite Coeur de Rhum which has an amazing "funk" and keeps making the drink better as the ice melts. With the homemade orgeat the drink has the most amazing semi-opaque pearl appearance. I thought it was a little odd, being used to sunset-colored mai tais, until I saw a vintage picture that looked identical.

I love your spontaneous and cross-cultural cooking style. Sydney looks like it has a great deal to offer, food-wise. Wonderful blog. Thanks for sharing your week, Kate!

Dinner last night - grilled veal chops from Siesel's my favorite butcher shop (with a little lemon zest and juice, herbes de Provence, olive oil, s&p, finished with butter), red oak lettuce salad (from my CSA), and grilled baby eggplant from the farmers' market in the background, with a little crumbled homemade ricotta.

Dinner tonight was simple but comforting. Locally-made fresh basil angel hair pasta & mozzarella with my favorite tomato sauce, the basic tomato sauce recipe from Babbo, Parma ham, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

The Sidecar is a wonderful cocktail, but please, for the love of all that is holy, invest in a better brandy! I made a decision to bite my tongue and not comment on the cognac in my earlier post, so I would not sound like a complete snob. But Matt is right, since it's such a simple cocktail, the cognac quality does make a difference. I use Remy Martin VSOP after being disappointed with cheaper cognacs I experimented with.

ScottyBoy - Beautiful collection. Thanks for sharing! Meanwhile I found more info about the market in City Heights. It takes place on Saturday mornings (9 am - 1 pm). It looks like this may be a smaller market, but it's neat that they have a "consignment" booth, where people can bring their homegrown produce for sale.

Sidecars! I love these! I think this was the first cocktail I ever made successfully (I had found the recipe in one of Jamie Oliver's early books, of all places, when I knew absolutely nothing about cocktails). Hopefully it will grow on you. I am thinking a Tantris sidecar is in my near future. A good tip that I found on eGullet was to only rim half of the glass with sugar. That way you can savor your cocktail both with and without sugar.

Kouign Aman, I have not tried that one. Do you know when it takes place?

Everything is looking wonderful on this thread, as usual. Last night's dinner was Halibut Grenobloise based on a classic French recipe; I used the version from Les Halles. The fish is sautéed in butter, then more butter is added once the fish is flipped over. The sauce is primarily butter with capers, lemon juice, parsley, and croutons that were extra tasty as they soak up some of the sauce. This dish still manages to taste relatively light (!). (It must be the acidity from the lemon juice and capers that is tricking my senses). I served the fish on top of yellow wax beans and pencil asparagus from my CSA. Normally this recipe calls for skate wing but it's hard to find, so I used local halibut instead.

I wrote about my favorite farmers’ market in San Diego, the Little Italy Mercato, a few weeks ago on my Foodblog. I also talked about the legendary produce stand at Chino Farm, which may be one of the best in the country. There are a lot of other good farmers’ markets in San Diego that I visit occasionally when I am in the area, so I plan on posting pictures on this thread which, unfortunately, has not been active in a while. It would be great to see pictures of other markets in California as well! I just heard that a new market opened in Pacific Beach on Tuesday afternoons (2 – 6:30 pm), organized by Catt White, who also manages the Mercato. I plan on visiting it soon. In the meantime, here are some pictures from another market that I really like. It’s the Cedros avenue market in Solana beach. It takes place on Sunday afternoons (1 – 5 pm). It’s smaller so shopping is very efficient. The selection is good and there are a few good options for lunch, including crepes and handmade ice cream sandwiches. There are very few non-food oriented vendors. We went there a couple of weeks ago and bought some corn (which was good, but not as good as Chino!), dandelion to use in salads, Rainer cherries, eggs, yellow wax beans, and purple carrots. Corn grown in Oceanside Free range & vegetable fed eggs Green, yellow wax and purple beans Fresh herbs Purple kohlrabi, purple carrots Sunflowers (my bags were getting heavy at that point!) Heirloom tomatoes The lunch area I would love to try the meat as well (I need to remember to bring ice packs next time) Our daughter enjoying a chocolate ice cream sandwich from Peke’s

I love Marco Polo from Mariage Freres, which was my favorite tea house when I lived in Paris, but never had a chance to try it in the "green tea" version, only black. I bet it's wonderful too.

Squash, zucchini, tomatoes - ratatouille is the first thing that comes to mind. Good on its own, and you could make an omelette with the leftovers, or a vegetarian lasagna.

Kate, Amazing food so far! I really like your use of fresh ingredients in your cooking, so this week should be a lot of fun. I am also in awe with all the beautiful seafood. This uni lardo on toast is something I've been dreaming about since I saw Anthony Bourdain having this dish at Marea in No Reservations. Well done! Yes indeed, in an hour or two from now, it'll be breakfast! I cure salmon a lot actually, I've posted this before, but other variations I've tried for the cure flavourings: Chineseish - flavourings of sugar, salt, Sichuan pepper, a little five spice, shaohsing wine, scallions and ginger Vietnameseish - sugar in the form of both sugar and caramel sauce, salt, fish sauce, cassia/cinnamon, star anise, black pepper and chilli. Added a splash of Vietnamese moonshine. Thaiish - palm sugar, salt, lemongrass, galangal, red chilli, tamarind, crushed coriander roots and leaves, and garlic. Didn't use alcohol here and it was fine, slightly different texture. Japaneseish - yuzu koushou, Okinawan black sugar, soy sauce and a mirin/sake combo Frenchish - sugar, fleur de sel, herbes de Provence, lavendar petals, and some Pernod. I used fresh thyme too but it was too overpowering by the end of the cure so would omit that next time. I love cured salmon but have been sticking with a traditional gravlax recipe (juniper berries, coriander, allspice, pepper, lemon zest, salt, sugar, mint, and gin or vodka). Your use of beet looks great, and the other cures that you mentioned are really inspirational. One question - you say that you only cure the fish for one day; is that because you are curing a relatively small piece of fish? My go-to recipe, which is for a whole fillet, calls for a curing period of 4 to 5 days. Well, actually, the two Dudes at Animal in LA already thought of that! Two nights ago I had their seared foie gras, biscuit, and maple sausage gravy, and I can confirm that it's a pretty amazing combination!

I had a wonderful time reading your blog, and laughed out loud a lot. Thanks for sharing your week.

A quick braise with garlic and bay leaves, a la Molly Stevens (from All About Braising). That recipe works well with new potatoes and takes less than 30 minutes.

How can you not fall in love with a young Catherine Deneuve singing while baking a "cake d'amour"? This is from Peau d'Ane, a musical by the French director Jacques Demy (score by Michel Legrand), who directed Deneuve in several other movies early in her career. In the story, she is forced to escape from her father, the King (played by Jean Marais), who wants to marry her after the Queen dies. She uses a donkey skin as a disguise. In this scene, she bakes a cake intended to cure a Prince who has fallen ill. She can be seen both as the Princess and as Donkey Skin during the song. Notice how she places her ring in the cake... It's all going to end with a beautiful wedding of course! The movie has a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor, so it's more interesting than a typical fairy tale. I am convinced that this scene must have contributed to my love of baking since a young age! (And no, she does not weigh her ingredients, and all of her measurements are very approximative - a hand of this, a drop of that, etc)

Ok, I hate to add to the confusion, and also it’s going to start sounding like a classic Columbo line, but here we go… My husband, the business traveler and amateur photographer, who still does not have an eG membership, tells me that RHR (Ramsay Hospital Road) has the reputation for being the most “gastronomic” of them all, and is priced accordingly. He has eaten there and enjoyed the experience. Frankly, the most disappointing thing about it was the bill at the end. Considering the difference in price, he didn’t find it to be THAT much better than what he typically gets at Claridge’s, where he has eaten on multiple occasions. He also loved Maze but hasn’t been back since the chef left so can’t speak for it now. In any case, it was a less classic experience than Claridge’s. If he had to pick just one Ramsay restaurant to go back to, Claridge's would be the recommended option if price is any consideration (and it's also easier to get a reservation). Petrus was very nice, as well, but also fussier than Clarridge’s – and more expensive.

Excellent! (the book, not the shipping fees...) Just ordered a copy as well.