I love not working and going to the market on a weekday. (sigh).
Eat your greens
Tuesday, April 20 2010
Spring market: asparagus, morels and gariguettes
By esther on Tuesday, April 20 2010, 13:17
Saturday, April 7 2007
Thinking spring
By esther on Saturday, April 7 2007, 20:34
With the warming weather comes a desire for all things fresh and green. On one hand, I know that the very early delicious produce that I'm finding at the market, as well as the afternoons spent sitting in the sun at sidewalk café with a Perrier citron are both part of the negative effects of the ever increasing global warming. I keep reminding myself that these are bad things but yet I am enjoying them oh so much.
And along with my need to eat fresh and green comes a desire for the most simplistic dishes. When it's been months since your last stalk of asparagus, you really want to enjoy it in its purest form. Also, my time allotted to make something interesting for dinner has decreased since my visits to outdoor cafés has increased exponentially.
The only thing that needs real preparation is the asparagus and the positive point is that you can make it in the morning or even the night before and let it sit in the fridge all day long while you are off doing more important spring things. We devoured this fresh vitamin filled salad served with crusty Poilâne bread and big pieces of Tomme after our weekend without vegetables spent in the mountains.
Wednesday, July 19 2006
Keeping it simple
By esther on Wednesday, July 19 2006, 11:01
One of my friends gave me a cookbook last year on all things stuffed called, petits farcis. I don't naturally lean toward this style of preparation since it brings memories of zucchini longer than me stuffed with whatever leftovers were lying around in my grandmother's fridge. But the pictures were so appetizing that I decided to give it a whirl. I was particularly taken with the little round zucchinis stuffed with mozzarella di latte di bufala and herbs. The recipe called for cilantro but at the last minute I listened to my instincts (which happened to be a good thing in this case) and I substituted two of the rounds with fresh basil from my window box. The final results were utterly disappointing. The cilantro was bitter and the zucchini/buffalo mozzarella was completely bland even after a generous douse of fleur de sel. In the end I felt like a wretched cheese waster.
Summer squash: I saw them at the market nestled together all yellow and happy next to their green counterparts and I was thrilled. I couldn’t have been more pleased with myself when I said, “Quatre courgettes jaunes, s’il vous plait”. When I was little, both green and yellow zucchini were a staple but I always had a secret preference for the latter. All the way home I thought about what I was going to do with them. Since they were perfectly firm and slender and shiny, I rubbed them with some garlic, sprayed them with some olive oil and threw them on the grill till they were just a little wrinkly and charred. The perfect compliment to Korean style barbeque beef.
Monday, July 3 2006
Summer Roots
By esther on Monday, July 3 2006, 22:23
Carrots!! Couldn't resist these lovely ladies at the market. One of my favorite producers comes direct from Brittany and always has the best root vegetables with the dirt still intact.
I decided to do something simple since the carrots were sweet and tender. I tried a recipe from Food and Wine for spicy coriander carrots and since I didn't have any paprika, I substituted with piment d'espelette which I think has a more interesting flavor anyway. The chilled carrots mixed with the fresh coriander and cayenne werea perfect for all the hot weather we've been having.
