creme fraiche
Heirloom Apple Salad
The sort of hearty apple salad I love. It has heirloom apples, shaved celery, and toasted nuts of your choosing. The dressing is creamy and spiked with rosemary, garlic and champagne vinegar.
A Vibrant Beet Caviar
Inspired by a loaf of 100% einkorn bread passed to me by a friend (and the cookbook by Silvena Rowe I had in my bag at the time) - a beet caviar. Perfect for slathering - sweet earthiness of roasted beets accented with toasted walnuts, chives, dates, and a swirl of creme fraiche.
Summer Melon Salad
A simple summer melon salad. Sweet chunks of melon combine with toasted almonds for crunch, serrano chiles and scallions counter the sweet, there's small dollops of crème fraîche, cilantro, and a wash of sake. A real summer refresher.
Chicory Soup & Camino Photos
Camino in Oakland hosted a celebration dinner last week based on recipes included in Near & Far - I though I'd share some photos. Also, one of my favorite soups made the menu that night(!) and I've included the recipe here - a brothy, restorative barley soup with chicories punctuated with flecks of preserved lemon, a bit of chile confetti, and a silky dollop of creme fraiche.
Soba, Chives and Crème Fraîche
The quickest and easiest of lunches. Soba noodles tossed with dollops of crème fraîche, and showered with lots of chives and grated hard-boiled egg yolk.
Sopa Verde de Elote
There is an wonderful Sopa Verde de Elote (green corn soup) in Diana Kennedy's Recipes from the Regional Cooks of Mexico published in 1978, I used it as inspiration for this variation - sweet corn and peas are off-set by a spike of green chile, a finishing dollop of creme fraiche, and generous squeeze of lime.
Fennel Mushrooms
A fennel mushroom recipe inspired by one of my vintage cookbooks, The Seasonal Kitchen by Perla Meyers. It's a simple, brilliant twist on everyday sauteed mushrooms with dill, chives, fresh fennel, and a kiss of creme fraiche.
Farro & Herbs
Because I can't seem to get enough farro lately- a lunch made from farro, bocconcini, a bit of homemade creme fraiche, and herbs from last weeks farmers' market. And a couple pics from Golden Gate Park.
Meyer Lemon Risotto
I prefer this barley-based risotto recipe to many other rice based versions - and it is more nutritious. A pearl barley base is accented with white wine, creme fraiche, lots of meyer lemon zest, chopped greens, and Parmesan cheese.
Cauliflower Soup with Gorgonzola
From Skye Gyngell's cookbook A Year in my Kitchen this simple, satisfying cauliflower soup recipe is perfect served up with a bit of cold winter weather.
