raw white asparagus salad

April 12th, 2013

white asp salad

spring sun throught the curtains and inspiring lunch 

raw white asparagus salad 
with parmesan and baby spring greens

For France it has been one of the coldest winters in recent history. While the Parisian snow long disappeared, it remains chilly especially for this California native. The remodeling of my apartment was nearing an end and although it was primarily a grey week, one morning the long-awaited sun shone through the window, through my newly hung curtains, and the illumination called me from the warmth of my tiny place to the still-chilly open air market. It was this morning which inspired this week’s simple pleasure: raw white asparagus salad with parmesan and baby greens.

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cucumber and avocado salad (salade de concombre et avocat)

March 8th, 2013

cucumber and avocado salad

 “a pinch” should apply only to seasoning

cucumber and avocado salad

It was the threat of a Saint Patrick’s Day pinch which inspired this week’s simple pleasure: avocado and cucumber salad. Read the rest of this entry »

fennel and orange salad with toasted walnuts and Argan and honey dressing

January 7th, 2013

 fennel and orange salad with toasted walnuts and Argan and honey dressing

 

fennel and orange salad with toasted walnuts and Argan-honey dressing

 serves 4-6

what you need:

2 fennel bulbs, sliced (about 8 ounces)
1-2 beautiful oranges 
⅓ cup walnut pieces, toasted
2 tablespoons Argan oil (or toasted nut oil)
½ teaspoon fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon quality honey
gros sel de Guérande (or fleur de sel), as needed Read the rest of this entry »

radicchio and fennel salad with pears and hazelnuts

November 15th, 2012

 

radicchio and fennel salad with pears and hazelnuts

THANKSGIVING TIP:
Serve a balanaced (in color, texture, the food and its components itself).
This seasonal and crunchy, light  salad is perfect to  balance to a starchy Thanksgiving meal!

 serves 8

what you need:

salad
1 small head radicchio, core removed
2 small fennel bulbs, core removed
1 ripe Taylor’s Gold or Bosc pear, sliced (core and seeds removed)
¼ cup hazelnut pieces, toasted
¼ cup dried currants
⅓ cup fresh pomegranate seeds

dressing
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
4 tablespoons walnut oil
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon heavy cream
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon gros sel de Guérande (or sea salt) Read the rest of this entry »

“Newdorf” Salad (the Waldorf salad revisited)

November 1st, 2012

 

A new version of the Historic Waldorf Salad. The Newdorf

“Newdorf” Salad
(Waldorf salad revisited)

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rolling with lobster, California style (and a little French influence)

September 24th, 2012

  

 

rolling with lobster, California style
(and a litle French influence):

lobster “roll” California style

Lobster season. In America, lobster is generally enjoyed two ways: steamed and served with a bath of melted butter; or, if you are on the East Coast, in a “lobster roll”(lobster meat combined with melted butter and mayonnaise served in a roll). However, we cannot forget that it is also the season for apples and Asian pears (and in California, heirloom tomatoes and avocados are delicious right now). 

seasonal fruit 

It is in the nineties in southern California (and will be for some time).  In this heat, hot, heavy food does not sound appealing. Sliced, Asian pears, apples, tomatoes and cucumbers all look like wheels and it seems to me that with these seasonal fruit wheels we can create our own “roll” that uses the West Coast bounty and is compatible with this summer weather. These thoughts inspired this week’s simple pleasure: lobster “roll” California style (mille-feuille de homard à la Californie).

apple wheels sliced 

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lobster “roll” (California style)

September 24th, 2012

 

lobster “roll”  California style
(mille-feuille de homard à la Californie)

serves 4

what you need:

lobster 
4 lobster tails 
1 cup seafood stock
½ cup dry white wine
1 sachet (1 bay leaf, fresh Italian parsley, fresh cilantro, black peppercorns, 1 strip lime peel)

salad
1 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
1-2 apples, thinly sliced, seeds removed
1 Asian pear, thinly sliced, seeds removed
1-2 cucumbers, thinly sliced
1-2 tomatoes (preferably Green Zebra), sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced

dressing
2 teaspoon gros sel de Guérande (or sea salt)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
⅓ cup olive oil
¼ cup avocado
¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon fresh minced Italian parsley
pinch piment d’espelette
freshly ground black pepper (as needed)

lobster apple and avocado ingredients

garnish
pinch piment d’espelette
pinch minced fresh Italian parsley Read the rest of this entry »

harmony on your plate

August 13th, 2012

heirloom tomatoes chef morgan

dischord on the farm; harmony on your plate: 
melange of garden heirloom tomatoes with burrata and whipped tomato purée

Mean girls in the coop and a surprise male in the hutch. This is how we arrived to my home in Los Angeles. Despite the dischord amongst the animals, we also arrived to a hillside of sun-ripened tomatoes in all shapes, sizes and varieties. So while the animals were in a “time-out,” our harmonious plates inspired this week’s simple pleasure: melange of garden heirloom tomatoes with burrata and whipped tomato purée.

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melange of heirloom tomatoes with whipped tomato purée

August 13th, 2012

melange of heirloom tomatoes with burrata and whipped tomato purée chef morgan

 melange of heirloom tomatoes with burrata and whipped tomato purée

serves 4

what you need:

5-6 beautiful heirloom tomatoes, various colors
burrata cheese (as needed)
fresh sweet basil leaves (as needed)
quality olive oil (as needed)
gros sel de Guérande or kosher or sea salt (as needed)
freshly ground black pepper (as needed)
8 yellow or orange heirloom tomatoes, juiced (seeds and skins discarded) Read the rest of this entry »

deep roots

April 15th, 2012

Chef Morgan at McGrath Family Farm 

deep roots, significant growth, and organically so:
McGrath Family Farms and three fresh salads for spring

kale and turnip slaw with mustard seed dressing
strawberry and wild arugula salad on a Ciabatta plank
spring pea and fava bean salad with fava leaves

Mustard seeds are powerful things. When I was a girl my mother gave me a necklace with mustard seeds in a little locket. It represented a parable about the power of faith and how significant growth can come from humble beginnings (tiny seeds). It was also significant to me because her family came from generations of famers. I wore it all the time and when it broke I was girlishly devastated. 

My draw to the mustard plant was not unique. In 1868, Dominick McGrath, a sheep herder from Northern California, journeyed to Southern California where he discovered six foot high mustard plants.  Significant growth from tiny seeds. Dominick McGrath had found fertile soil and the place where he would sow seeds and plant his family’s roots. McGrath Family Farms was born. I recently visited the McGrath Family Farm and as I picked (and ate) my way through the organic fields, it was the very soil underneath my feet which inspired our lunch that day and this week’s simple pleasure: three fresh salads for spring (and yes, one includes mustard seeds). 

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