a client photo shoot

A client of mine recently asked if I would provide food for a photo shoot he was doing to update the website for his property.  You can see this amazing property at his website.


I had cooked at the Ranch multiple times in the past and had a pretty good idea what he was looking for.  Since I knew the food would be a supporting character to the architecture shoot, I decided to go for large shapes and big splashes of color.  The shoot was in late May and the markets were just brimming with color!


Here is the great kitchen in the main house...

The covered patio that leads out to the pool area...

Have a seat, lunch is served!

The photography was done by the uber talented, crazy cool and ridiculously calm Cesar Rubio...go take a look at his gorgeous work.

He was so great about letting me hang out for the day (after my part was done), ask questions, and even help out a bit with the shoot.  I definitely have a new appreciation for architecture photography!

summer's here and the time is right...

Berries are one of the many great things about Summer!  And here is my take on a classic dessert...summer berry pudding.

Most recipes call for cooking the fruit or some of the fruit.  I like to skip the cooking so that I can keep the flavor of the berries as fresh and lively as possible.

Here, I've cut up the strawberries and added them to the blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.  I then tossed them with some sugar, lemon juice and a few sprigs of fresh lemon verbena (fresh mint would work equally well).  The amount of each is basically up to you, but you do need enough sugar to help the berries release much of their juice and enough lemon juice to balance out that sweet.  Let the berries macerate for about an hour, stirring them up occasionally.  (remove the verbena before moving on)

Here I have cut most of the crust off some light and airy pain de mie, but I have also used brioche.  I would say the amount of the bread I added was about 3/4 the volume of the berries I had.  I suggest starting with about 1/2 the volume and stir it in every 5-10 minutes and really let the bread soak up the syrup created by the berries.  Add more bread as needed until the mixture is thick enough that it will hold together  (this part is tricky...it will all make more sense the second time you make this)

 Still soaking...

Here you can see how the mixture has changed.  The blackberries and raspberries break down and join the bread to become the mortar and the strawberries and blueberries act as the bricks.  I lined a loaf pan with plastic and pressed the mixture in tightly to make sure there were no air pockets.  I folded the plastic back over the top and weighted it down for a full day in the refrigerator.  I used a brick wrapped in tin foil...but you can use whatever happens to fit your pan. 

The next day, carefully pull out the plastic wrapped pudding.  Wrap it in an additional few layers of wrap.  The pudding is barely being held together by the bread, so the additional wrap will hold it together as you make slices.  A super sharp knife is a must...a long thin slicer being the best choice.  You can place the slice on a plate, then carefully remove the plastic and there you have it...I like mine with a dollop of just slightly sweetened and whipped crème fraîche!

Try this soon before all of the berries are gone...

Crazy for Citrus!!!

I've been buying citrus from Desantis Farms for years now but I guess I never really realized just how many varieties they grow (though I knew it was a lot!).  I asked Rosa Desantis how many they grow and even she did not know, so maybe it is more than a lot.

I was curious both as a chef and as a photographer, so my last trip to the market, I picked up two of everything they were selling that day.  The colors and the flavors are simply amazing!

Here are the 20 varieties I got that day (and it is but a fraction of what they sell...there will be other later ripening varieties in the weeks to come).  I had a hard time trying to decide on their arrangement, but finally put them in order of relative size, from kumquat all the way up to the mighty pomelo...

kumquat

These can be eaten as is, though it is an acquired taste...or one of those love-it-or-hate-it kind of ingredients (I'm firmly in the 'love' category).  It can be sliced thin to go into salads, but my favorite is to candy them in a light syrup.  I've used them this way with duck confit, foie gras and as a garnish to citrus based desserts.

limequat

This one has huge pucker factor and really does taste like a lime with more interesting flavors.  Personally, I would probably candy this one as well. 

mandarinquat

This might just be my favorite new-to-me discovery.  The flavor is all mandarine, but with a bracing acidity.  I think this could work sliced thin and sparingly in certain salads, but I think it would make an amazing marmalade!

rangpur lime

Looking at this, you could be fooled...it looks very sweet, like a mandarine, but it is definitely all lime.  It is super high in acid with a VERY unique flavor.

page mandarin

These are so great, not just because their flavor is amazing, but they are easy to peel and seedless...YUM!!

seville orange

This is the quintessential fruit for making marmalade.  It is very high in acid and has a bitter rind.  There are few culinary applications where 'bitter' is a desired trait, but marmalade is a key exception!

moro blood orange

That beautiful color is not the only reason to get some of these...they are also very tasty.  It's tough to compare this to anything else...not much acid...don't wear white!

satsuma mandarin

Another great fruit for simply peeling and eating.  This has a nice balance of sweetness and acidity, making it great for both savory and sweet applications.

pink lemon

Very much a lemon, but with a more floral flavor and aroma...beautiful color.

lemon

Not much to say...high acid, great lemon flavor...

meyer lemon

A cross of a lemon and a mandarin, this one has become very well known and hugely popular.  As a lemon it is unique in that it is low enough in acid to be eaten as-is.  I love it as a salad dressing, squeezed over some fish and it has so many uses for desserts!

sweet lime

The name pretty much says it all here.  It tastes just as you would imagine something called a 'sweet lime' to taste...I bet this would make a great sorbet!

bergamot

If you're an earl grey tea drinker, you'll be familiar with this one.  It is very tart with amazing aroma...cut off a little zest, bend it in half and squeeze...smells so good (and familiar)...

clemenvilla

WOW...this one gets 'best-in-show' for me!  It has a great mix of sweet to acid.  it is very much a large clementine in its flavor and appearance...sooooo delicious!

tarocco blood orange

This is one of my absolute favorites!  The flavor is very much like a cara cara orange, but somehow different.  The bonus with the tarocco is its amazing appearance...very summer-of-love tie-dyed kinda feel.

cara cara orange

This one used to be hard to find outside of the farmers market, now it can be found even in large chain grocery stores.  The color of the flesh is a bit navel orange meets pink grapefruit and the flavor is sweet with little acid...great for peeling and eating.

navel orange

You know this one...these are so sweet and great for peel-and-eat!

cocktail grapefruit

Though loaded with seeds, this has great flavor.  I would describe it as a cross (both in flavor & appearance) between a navel orange and a good white flesh grapefruit...this would be great for juice.

pink grapefruit

This one has a huge amount of acid...you've got to be a grapefruit fanatic for this one.  Though it looks like a 'ruby red' it is far from that sweet.

pomelo (melo gold)

This has a nice flavor, much closer to a ruby red grapefruit.  The flesh is very firm...you could almost cut it into dice and it would probably keep its shape.  As you can see there is a huge amount of pith, but the flavor is worth all of the trimming.

Well, I thought I knew my citrus varieties pretty well, but I'm really glad I went through this exercise.  I learned some new things and it's given me some great new ideas for my winter/spring menus!

Enjoy these while they are around and go visit Rosa & Mateo at the Marin Farmers Market on Thursdays and Sundays...