blue_dolphin

Yum! When I get perfect fresh figs, all I want is a crusty baguette, gorgonzola, a handful of walnuts and a great bottle of wine!

It made me smile. The only ones to offer us virtual treats! I didn't realize there was an intrastate clam conflict - I was just glad that he didn't wade into chowder!

Crusty baguette slices smeared with pesto, tomatoes, feta. Edited to add that a hard boiled egg would have been a nice addition to the plate. Next time!

As mentioned, it's in Diana Henry's How to Eat a Peach. This recipe, credited to Mario Batali is remarkably similar although Diana adds 1/2 cup finely grated pecorino Romano cheese. She calls for a little more zucchini, 18 oz instead of 14 and ricotta, 6 oz instead of 1/2 cup. She specifies that the ricotta be drained in a cheesecloth-lined sieve for a couple of hours and that the coarsely grated zucchini be be wrapped in cheesecloth and squeezed to get rid of as much moisture as possible. She also says to use 1/2" of oil for cooking instead of 1/4". I followed her direction but 1/4" would have been fine. Otherwise, it's basically the same recipe. They were quite good!

Ordered and received. Anyone want to come over and taste with me? Sorry, I meant you guys, not cats!

Oh my, that meal would keep me happy all day long! Zucchini, ricotta & pecorino fritters from Diana Henry's How to Eat a Peach: Sour cream and salmon roe on the side. These were lovely, light fritters. I failed to stop at the three on my plate and ate several more than I should have!

May I ask what drives your quest? Are you missing a piece?

Wow! Thank you so much, @teonzo!

I know some people are haters, but I very much like star anise so I will try that. I used frozen pineapple chunks for those last pops. I'll track down a fresh one as I'd like to broil or grill it to get some caramelization on it to go with the star anise. Figs and saffron sounds very decadent. Do you think the saffron will stand out in a frozen preparation? Any tips on that? Today's unmolding.... Peaches & cream: Toasted coconut (before): Toasted coconut (after):

These all sound like fun. Can I suggest adding a date to taste some bubbly bottles?

In honor of the topic, I think I will treat myself to this box of 6 Summer Whites from Beaune Imports to add a little variety to my usual Trader Joe's wines. 2019 Côtes du Rhône, La Colline, La Cabotte (Rhône) 2016 Rueda Verdejo, Villa Narcisa, Javier Sanz (Rueda, SP) 2019 Soave DOC, Tamellini (Veneto, IT) 2018 Pont Bourceau Chenin, Julien Delrieu (Loire) 2012 Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu, Origine, Haut Bourg (Loire) 2018 Citrine Chardonnay, Enfield Wine Co. (California, USA) I like that there are links to info on the producers and individual wines on the website. Unfortunately, Beaune ships wine to CA, WA, OR, ID, NM, and NV only but I imagine they can send the very excellent anchovies to other states 🙃

There's a lime pop in Fany Gerson's book that I've adapted to lemons. Basically, you make a lemon zest-infused sugar syrup and use that to sweeten & dilute the lemon juice. Since there's no fruit pulp in them, they're a juice pop and fairly icy, but still refreshing. 2 cups water 2/3 cup sugar 3 strips lemon zest (I microplane the zest from all the lemons I'll be juicing, not just 3 strips) 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice Bring the water, sugar and zest to a boil in a small saucepan and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Allow it to cool completely and then strain out the zest, combine with the juice, pour into the molds and freeze. I recommend tasting as you add the sugar syrup to the juice so you can adjust the sweetness level to your taste. You can add other ingredients to flavor the sugar syrup as it's being heated. I like to put in a few sprigs of rosemary. Or sub in some honey for part of the sugar and use several slices of fresh ginger. If you want to make them into poptails, you can add some limoncello or other liquor. Keep that to less than 10% of the total volume to avoid them being too soft and melty. Great minds think alike! There's already some lime juice in the pineapple layer and I came oh-so close to adding pineapple rum to the top layer and coconut rum to the bottom. I've been sharing them with friends who have kids so I decided to skip it in this round but it's on my list!

Pineapple and Toasted Coconut The toasted coconut part is from Fany Gerson's recipe in her book, Paletas, for Quick Coconut Ice Pops. Toasting the coconut really brings out the flavor. I have another set in the freezer, without the pineapple and am debating a chocolate dip or drizzle.

My friends made a bakery run this AM. In addition to the baguette I requested, they brought me this: I cut it, imagining for a moment that I'd only eat half...🤣🤣🤣

Got some beautiful satsuma plums at the farmers market the other day. They are now plum & yogurt pops:

After a while of not sharing, I've been giving out popsicles again. I ask in advance and say that I completely understand if they'd rather take a rain check on a future batch. I'll usually text a photo of the pops and ask if they'd like some. We coordinate a masked hand-off via text. I wouldn't surprise anyone by showing up at their door or dropping off an unexpected package. A lot of my friends are scientists and understand this is a respiratory virus so contracting it through food isn't an enormous risk. They've all eaten my food before so they trust that I'm using appropriate kitchen hygiene. I've been sticking to cooking my own food and haven't done any take-out either, saving my splurges for indulgent ingredients. I wouldn't hesitate to accept reciprocal offers of food from friends. Especially peach ice cream! Bottom line: If the choice you offer is now or later rather than yes or no, I think you'll avoid having anyone accept and toss.

Yeah, if I were to try this again, I’d go the savory route - add Gorgonzola, goat cheese or Parm to the ricotta, maybe a hint of garlic or some green onions. Diana Henry has a version with zucchini that I’d consider trying.

Ricotta Pancakes with Gooseberry Relish from Ottolenghi's Plenty More I'm sure that this relish is to be made with proper gooseberries, not the cape gooseberry/ground cherry/goldenberry that I used but I had these in hand so I ran with it. The header notes caution that these are not light, fluffy pancakes but more eggy and cheesy and describes them like as a cross between cheesecake and clafoutis. Their flavor is quite mild, I think I'd like some lemon or orange zest added to the batter but the mildness made for a nice contrast to the relish, almost a jam, which has a tart, bright flavor. I subbed yogurt for the crème fraîche the recipe calls for. Also, those are slices of satsuma plum on the plate - not beets! Both the satsumas and the leftover gooseberry relish will be making an appearance in popsicles sometime soon!

I bought some fresh, locally caught black cod at the farmers market this afternoon and decided I should make an evening meal of it, cooked as simply as possible. Crispy-skinned fish per Eric Ripert (also here) with lemony orzo and sugar snap peas.

Yes, absolutely! Thanks for sharing it. It gave me a lot of ideas for other things to try but was also an excellent reminder that perfect summer fruit doesn't need to be gussied up. I used a late harvest Sauvignon blanc vinegar from Katz that's delicious, so that helped, too. I spooned it over greens (baby kale, chard & spinach) in part because I figured it would look pretty but I very much enjoyed the slight bitterness they added. Very enjoyable. I'll make it or some variation again and wouldn't hesitate to serve it to guests.

At your service....nothing like a little anchovy to wake up the tastebuds in the morning! Beautifully ripe Z Lady Peaches from Tenerelli Orchards at my local farmers market. If one wishes to pay the premium, Tenerelli is now shipping their peaches. Seems pricey, but their peaches are stellar

I'm interested in playing along! I missed the spring wine tasting trip to Santa Ynez or Paso that I usually do with friends and it doesn't look like the fall trip will happen either. I sometimes follow along with the NYT Wine School articles, but I don't always stay on top of it - like I search out some wines and try them but forget to go back for the follow-up article. I check in with eG pretty regularly so that won't happen and I'd love an opportunity to taste with my virtual friends!

Love the bug plate - I have to admit that it gave me a start 🐜!

I don't think it's universal, although perhaps it's become more so as this article suggests it's easier for national chains to standardize: Are mid-week circulars better for supermarkets? I always figured the mid-week sale starts were to draw shoppers away from the crowded weekends to even out their business but I have nothing to back that up. The LATimes print food section ran on Thursdays for many years and sometimes included a casual restaurant review. Most restaurant reviews were in the Sunday Calendar section, so more under "entertainment." Then both were reduced to a page in the Saturday section. Now, a full print section is back with both restaurant news and reviews and cooking/recipes and it's in the Sunday paper.

I made some lemon pepper pasta dough the other day and it was resting in the fridge. Last night, I happened to watch this on YouTube: so I had to try Eva's recipe for Pasta all'Alfredo that appears below the video if you follow this link to watch on YouTube. Basically just fresh pasta tossed with butter and Parmigiano Reggiano. Eva described it as something one would eat if you were sick, not entirely appealing but their reactions sold me anyway so I cooked up a portion this morning. My portion of lemon pepper fettuccine, before: And after: So good. I can't tell you how close I came to cooking up another portion. I am equally proud and saddened by my restraint.