FrogPrincesse

After Bristol Farms in UTC, we headed south to Hillcrest. When we moved to San Diego 13 years ago, we used to live in this neighborhood that we still visit regularly. I felt right at home since it is the home of a European-style bakery, Bread and Cie. Their bread is baked in a 10 000 pound stone hearth French oven and they use traditional French techniques. When they first tried to use their European bread recipes in San Diego, they could not understand why they would not work as well, and spent considerable time tweaking them to adapt to the local conditions. What I love with their breads is that they have the most amazing crust, and deep flavors. We brought this epi home, together with some cheese from a nearby cheese shop. (To be continued)

Of course, I have to go to the grocery store every once in a while. My usual stores are Trader Joe's for everyday items, and Bristol Farms for the rest. Bristol Farms is somewhat similar to Whole Foods, without the sometimes preachy politics. The olive bar They have a very extensive cheese selection. More cheese The meat department The produce section. A lot of it is local and organic. I never venture into that aisle, but my husband pointed to me their array of old-fashioned sodas. Their liquor department is well stocked... including a few hard-to-find bottles. I bought this for my collection. I am sure I will find a use for them!

We had lunch today at a place I often eat at during the week, MIHO Gastrotruck. It's a food truck whose philosophy is to use local seasonal produce, and made-from-scratch ingredients. It was created by two former employees of the Linkery (a local restaurant known for its sausages and cured meats), Kevin Ho and Juan Miron. There was a long line as we got there a little late. Here was their menu today - Daily Menu fresh, seasonal produce sourced as locally as possible... all natural, sustainable meats raised without hormones or antibiotics... hand crafted street food made from scratch every day...unless it has an * RASPBERRY ALMOND SALAD local raspberry, almond, local mixed greens, pt. reyes blue cheese, poppyseed vinaigrette PADRON BURGER grass fed beef, all natural Duroc bacon, fire roasted local padron pepper, all natural white cheddar, local avocado, cilantro lime aioli, local brioche bun* MARGARITA FISH TACOS tequila, lime, & agave marinated wild rock cod, pico de gallo, crema fresca, local cabbage, local corn tortilla* INDIAN FRYBREAD TACOS hand made frybread, roasted local summer squash, local torpedo onion, black beans, pico de gallo, crema fresca BELGIAN STYLE FRIES hand cut kennebec potato, hand made moroccan spice ketchup We ordered a burger & fries for him, and the fish tacos for me. We also got a bottle of Mexican coke, and a Hawaiian soda. We passed on dessert, but it looked pretty good. Our orders were handed to us with a big smile (as advertised!). Then we settled on a grassy area nearby to have our picnic under a tree (it is very hot today!). It was wonderful as usual. The fish tacos Burger and fries

Honkman, Good to know. I was just at their Hillcrest branch today. Thanks!

Heidi, I wish I did but I don't make my own baguettes. I make rustic no-knead breads that I cook in a cast iron dutch oven (Le Creuset), but obviously that would not work very well for baguettes. The bread for the ricotta tartine was from Bread & Cie, a local bakery (more on them later). Saba is cooked grape must. It's rather sweet, and was used traditionally as a sweetener when sugar was more scarce. It's very good drizzled on a bitter salad such as treviso. It's called for in a few recipes in several books that I own, including Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin, and Babbo by Mario Batali. It took me a while to find a place that carried it. I finally found it at the little store at Mozza (mozza2go), Batali's restaurant on Melrose in LA. Here is an article on saba that was published in the New York Times. Here is a picture of the bottle I have at home. That Saucisson en Brioche sounds amazing! If you make it again, please post pictures on eGullet! "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" is worth looking into. So far I've only ventured into the peasant loaf and enriched bread sections, but the flatbreads are on my list too. Their website has a ton of information too, in addition to the excellent eGullet thread.

After the final proofing step, I brushed the dough with an egg wash before it went in the oven. 35 minutes later, the brioche was finally ready and the house smelled wonderful ! For some reason, it cracked a little more than usual.

It is indeed very simple and requires very little active time, just some planning. It's also my experience that the flavor improves if the dough stays in the fridge for a few days before baking.

On the second day (yesterday), when I took the dough out of the fridge, it had deflated a little. I sprinkled some flour so the dough would not stick, lifted it out of the container, and cut off a large piece. Then I formed the loaf and put it in the buttered pan. It went in the oven again for its second rise.

I started making this brioche a couple of days ago. Here is the process, based on Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Here are the ingredients. Normally, I would use honey from one of the vendors at the farmers' market, but I had run out. The flour is added to a mixture containing lukewarm water, salt, yeast, eggs, honey, and melted butter. Yes, I measure the flour by volume, and this is only because this recipe does not need to be precise. The water content can always be adjusted to obtain the right consistency, which is supposed to be fairly loose. Otherwise I always use a scale for baking recipes. I use my handheld mixer to make sure that all the flour is incorporated. The mixture does not have to be perfect, and this should take less than a minute (no kneading, just mixing!). I finish by mixing the edges with a rubber spatula. Here is what it looks like, before the first rise. I use the proofing function on my oven. For dense batters, the setting is 125F. Here is what it looks like after the first rise, which takes about an hour. At that point, it went in the fridge until the next day. Corrected typo

This morning, for a change, I had breakfast. Homemade brioche with locally-made blood orange marmelade. Corrected typo

Loved that Barely Buzzed from Beehive - chocolot brought me some when she came for the chocolate conference - she is good friends with the cheesemaker. I was fortunate indeed - wish I could get it here. Loved all those other pupus! We really liked the cheese! The idea of a cheddar with coffee & lavender buds sounds strange on paper, but it really works.

As promised, here is the rest of the kitchen tour. Our tiki drink station The bar (There is some overflow in the other cabinets) The tea and coffee station The Kitchenaid and a few of our dishes The pantry, which is in the hallway in the back of the kitchen

Dessert with chocolate from our local chocolatier, and black emerald grapes from our farmers' market bag.

I seasoned the steaks with olive oil, salt, pepper and herbes de Provence, and let them reach room temperature. I used a modified version of Alton Brown's method to cook them. I warmed a cast iron skillet in the oven for at least 30 minutes (longer is better) at high temperature, and cooked the steaks for 1 to 2 minutes per side for rare (me) to medium rare (him). It works because I had the steaks cut fairly thin (at least by American standards).

Before coming home, we also stopped by Specialty Produce to pick up our farmers' market bag. I have to explain that I realized this morning with horror and complete embarrassement that, with the excitement of the blog, I had completely forgotten to order my bag last Sunday. But they were nice enough to let me get one of their spare bags when I explained my situation. This is what we received this week. Our daugther started devouring the plums almost immediately. For tonight's dinner, I made a piperade inspired by the tomatoes, bell peppers, and garlic in the basket. After frying some onions at low temperature, I added the sliced garlic, some salt, and a good amount of Espelette pepper. After a few minutes, I added the chopped bell peppers and tomatoes, and let them cook at low heat until they became soft (about an hour).

For our dinner tonight, we picked up a couple of dry-aged prime rib eye steaks from Siesel's, our favorite butcher shop. They're always really friendly there and take care of all my "strange" requests for unusual cuts of meats without giving me a hard time. The shop is not huge but it carries a good selection, including the local breads from Bread & Cie, Stone beer, and El Indio chips, which is really convenient for us. They also have a deli and a small produce section. Beef Pork Bacon & sausage section

Here are some pictures of the original kitchen, per FauxPas' request. The wall you see behind the oven no longer exists. The remodel. This photo, like the other recent photos, was taken standing where the wall used to be. The framed area is now a bathroom.

While tonight's dinner is still cooking, here are some pictures of the making of the ricotta last night. (My husband calls this another white blob story, after the fromage blanc, raita, and orgeat! ) Heating whole milk with citric acid and kosher salt to 185F - 195F It has reached its temperature. Notice the tiny little curds. It's time for a 10-minute rest. After the resting period, it needs to be drained for about 20 minutes. It looks dry enough for me (I like it still very creamy) It's done!

Thanks Pam! The countertops are Ikea laminate in dark grey.

With our cocktails, we had French-style pupus. Barely Buzzed cheese from Beehive, rubbed with coffee and lavender buds Toma from Point Reyes Sungold cherry heirloom tomatoes (from last week's CSA, but still delicious!) Then, a tartine of homemade ricotta, with fleur de sel, mint, and saba.

It feels SO good to be back at home after a tough day at work, and to enjoy this wonderful cocktail. This is a Trader Vic's Mai Tai, with the orgeat I made the other day. I used my favorite rum combination (La Favorite Coeur de Rhum + Appleton 12 year). The homemade orgeat takes it to another level. Life is good again.

kayb, Shelby, and johhnyd, Thanks for the nice comments. They mean a lot, especially coming from veteran foodbloggers!

Thanks FauxPas. I am sure that I can find a picture or two showing the old kitchen, to give you a better idea of the extent of the renovation. Frimousse, our cat, seems to like the fragrance of the freshly-made orgeat! Corrected typo

Last night we had a little dessert before going to bed. Chocolate chocolate-chip cookies from David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert, and raspberries from Chino Farm.

Matthew, Thank you for your comments. I don't have an ice crusher. My fridge has a crushed ice option, so that's what I use. It may not be perfect , but it's really convenient! I will keep your tips in mind when I make sausage next time. I realize my sausage was overstuffed. I am glad that I got you interested in cheese-making. There will be more on that topic soon!