FrogPrincesse

Great punch too. That's the one I do for Mother's Day.

More ideas here about things to do with guanciale.

Robert Lambert sells a calamondin marmalade ($18 for 8 ounces... artisan marmalades with rare citrus aren't exactly cheap!). Here is what he writes about it. The ingredients in his marmalade are as follows: sugar, Calamondin, water, Rangpur lime juice, orange juice, Meyer lemon juice.

While looking for things to do with the Buddha's Hand I got in my CSA this week, I came across this video from a local San Diego chef that I found inspiring. More interesting recipes at this link.

I couldn't resist. There were more calamondins at Specialty Produce this morning when I picked up my produce box, and I had to get some... In the box there was a Buddha's Hand, so I am thinking of combining the two for marmalade. Should I add a third citrus? Any advice is welcome!

Gathering the necessary ingredients for the Fish House Punch that everyone requested once again!

It's really good as a little "snack" on a charcuterie platter, sliced thin and fried till slightly crispy, as @Okanagancookdid it!

Interview with June Taylor where you can see her at work. In this other video she is making blood orange marmalade. http://www.chowhound.com/videos/obsessives/obsessives-marmalade

Interesting... The Blue Chair Jam Company is for sale, with the sale currently pending. $225 000 for $280 000 in gross revenue. http://www.bizbuysell.com/Business-Opportunity/Blue-Chair-Fruit-Jam-Company-for-Sale/1294604/

Orange & passion jam (recipe from Christine Ferber). There aren't too many fruit suitable/exciting for jam-making right now, so I was super happy to find great-looking passion fruit at the farmers' market this weekend. The jam set after ~ 20 minutes of boiling, but it was a fairly loose set. If it had been for me I would have been fine with it, but since I am planning to sell them at a small market in a few weeks, I ended up recooking it for about 10 minutes (and lost 1 full jar in the process due to evaporation, etc). All the fruit is local & organic. Edited to add: The Valencia oranges are from Polito Farms, which is one of the best citrus growers I have access to.

My Costco sells Stravecchio, and I find that it's in better condition than the one from TJ's, which often tastes moldy close to the rind. But of course you have to buy a much larger piece!

I have. Trader Joe's sells both the Vecchio and the Stravecchio. I prefer the latter. And I've tried them all while in Italy, but my preferences depended on the type of milk/cow (red cow), season, rather than just the age of the cheese. Here is a good article explaining the differences. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/26/dining/to-every-parmigiano-a-season.html

That's the only way I do poached eggs, because it works every single time!

@rotuts It was, trust me! I had made carbonnade flamande before using other recipes, and this version was by far the most flavorful I've ever made.

Thanks for the tips, very much appreciated. My success rate is barely above 50% it seems, which is a bit frustrating.

Another nice one from Central Coast Creamery, Bishop's Peak. It's a semi-hard cheese with a good nutty flavor. It didn't last long at all.

Recently I was looking for a nice braised dish for a dinner party. I decided to make Carbonnade Flamande, which is a beef stewed in dark beer. I used an entire bottle of Chimay Bleue for the dish, and served it with braised red cabbage, boiled potatoes, and a magnum of 2011 Grande Reserve Chimay. The only complaint was that there weren't enough leftovers! The browned meat, with the onions cooking in the background (I find that properly browning the meat is the key step is all meat braises, and like to really take my time to get to a dark brown color on all sides). This was a large piece of chuck/shoulder that I cut into smaller pieces. There is a ton of onions in the recipe, which gives a wonderful flavor not too dissimilar to French onion soup. What it looks like after spending time in the oven The red cabbage cut a bit of the richness of the dish and was a nice counterpoint. I cooked it with white wine and a few smashed juniper berries, a bit like sauerkraut. Leftovers

So I've made Chouquettes before, with good success, but for some reason recent batches have been a complete flop (same thing with gougeres) due to the dough being runny. It starts all perfect and then, when I add the last egg, and it becomes too liquid. I rescued this batch by keeping it in the fridge before piping it, but still it tasted too eggy (we ate the whole thing though...). Are large eggs bigger than what I they used to be? Next time I will use skip the last one. This recipe is from The Sweet Life in Paris.

FINALLY a cheese from Andante Dairy that I really loved! This one, Largo, was really creamy and nutty, super delicious and a fantastic texture.

Niçoise-inspired salad with red leaf lettuce, romaine, cherry tomatoes, Arzak poached egg, and a really nice smoked albacore tuna from American Tuna.

The most delicious pork chop there ever was (at least in my world! ) This was a one-pound chop from a heritage-breed pig I butchered at a butchery class. It was super juicy and flavorful; nothing like I've ever bought at other places. I cooked it on the grill for a few minutes on each side, and served it with roasted cauliflower from my CSA.

This is a great book to pick up again for fall/winter. I had a bunch of leeks from my CSA and wasn't sure what to do with them. I tried the braised leeks with bacon & thyme. I used homecured fresh (unsmoked) bacon that was fried. The bacon drippings are mixed with stock (I didn't have any so I used a bit of veal demi glace diluted with water) to make the braising liquid. Then the sliced leeks go in the oven for 30 minutes covered (with some garlic cloves cut in half), turned and cooked for another 20 minutes, and lastly 15 minutes more with the bacon. I didn't bother reducing the braising liquid, but the little squeeze of lemon juice at the end is important. This reminded me of a childhood classic, endives au jambon (braised endives with ham). This was really tasty and dead simple. I served it with steak.

Big Rock Blue from Central Coast Creamery. This is creamy, pungent, just the right level of saltiness.

The other day at a restaurant a friend ordered a Bibb & Blue salad. I thought - this is so basic, why would anyone pay $11 for something like that. Well, I still think $11 is a lot of money for a simple salad, but I was blown away because it was so wonderful. So when I got a beautifully crisp and sweet butter lettuce in my CSA and a nice slice of Big Rock Blue, I knew exactly what to do. The dressing was olive oil and sherry vinegar.

Another simple one from Monday (equal parts drinks are perfect for Mondays!). Negroni with New Deal Portland 33 dry gin, Campari, and Margerum amaro.