A Simplified Bouillabaisse

A little bit of France in the kitchen this evening.  A pot of bouillabaisse for Sunday Supper! Bouillabaisse which originated from the South of France -- in the city of   Marseille is not your average everyday recipe so I took some shortcuts and made a simplified version. 

On the pot -- two pounds swordfish, a pound and a half of black mussel, six cloves crushed garlic, a cup of onions, celery, leeks, tomatoes, potatoes and bouquet garni. 

Garnished with sprigs of fresh thyme. 

Served with warm baguette. 

C'est tout!

Summer Bounty

It's Sunday morning. The usual routine -- church, brunch and a trip to Whole Foods stocking up mostly on what's in season produce, meat, seafood, Little Guy's milk and some dried goods.

Here's a snapshot of what we will be eating this week... tomatoes, eggplant, corn, potatoes, collard, watermelon and pappardelle pasta.

The short-ribs, skinless/boneless chicken breast and hot Italian sausages went straight to the fridge. Along with fish and mussels which will be made into bouillabaisse for tonight's dinner.

Sunday Brunch by a Picturesque Creek

The beautiful scenery, the soothing sound of the water flowing on the creek,  the birds singing in the trees, Pedalers Fork in Old Town Calabasas is such a perfect place for a laid-back Sunday brunch. 

On the table... 

Skuna Bay smoked salmon, poached eggs, spinach, caramelized onion, hollandaise on grain English muffin 

Belgian Waffle with rock sugar, strawberries and vanilla bean yogurt 

A side of Tomato Bisque, a cup of Latte and a cup of Kenyan coffee. 

Happy Sunday!

Panini in the Kitchen

The first time I had a panini or panino, as it is commonly called in Italy, was in Rome in a small cafe next to the Pantheon. 

If time is of the essence, like when you're traveling and you would like to cover as many places as you could, panino is really a convenient grab and go lunch.

Back to the kitchen... 

I sliced the ciabatta in half then cut into three portions. I spread the Camembert cheese on one side then placed on the panini grill. When cheese has melted I added jamón serrano, chorizo de cantimpalo and egg cooked over easy.

 
The other side I topped with super juicy tomatoes, sprinkled with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil.

Put them together. Then closed the panini press.

There you go, a fusion panino with cheese from France, cured meet from Spain, Italian bread from Whole Foods and organic tomatoes and organic cage-free egg from somewhere in California.

And yes, that's me enjoying a panino in Rome.

 

Carne Asada Tacos

Holy moly… it’s taco day!

Carne asada wrapped in warm flour tortilla,

topped with radish, avocado, tomatoes and Mexican cheese…

a squirt of lime,

a dab of hot sauce,

then garnished with herbs from the garden.

Fold, eat, burp!

Sunday Brunch by the Roses

And so we are back at The Commons in Calabasas -- just a stone's throw away from the spot we had brunch a couple of weeks ago.

At Le Pain Quotidien

Sitting crossed-leg in the middle of a rose garden.  Oh, the roses, the beautiful roses!

And the weather couldn't have been better -- with the sun shining beautifully.

 A cup of coffee later, our food arrived.

Smoked Salmon Breakfast, Salad Niçoise and Belgian Waffle

There's no more laid back time than Sunday morning!

Noodles for Long Life

Which we did not have during lunch as we ended up having dim sum. So for dinner we headed to another Chinese restaurant, one of my favorite since they serve my favorite noodles in special sauce with crab. Unfortunately, they ran out of crabs --  so we had noodles with mushroom instead. Alongside Three Flavors Sizzling Rice Soup, Shrimp and Scallop with Garlic Sauce and Steamed Fish. 

Happy Birthday Grammy! Cheers to many more years of happiness!

Tea Time at Ten Ren

After dim sum we walked to Ten Ren for dessert. 

Grammy had caramel Icee with egg pudding and soft grass jelly. Hubby had litchi green mango Teazer.  And, it's Snow Ice with mango, taro and egg pudding for me.

Brain freeze...

Dim Sum

It's Grammy's birthday week and in the Philippines birthdays are usually celebrated with noodles which symbolizes long life. 

So we drove to San Gabriel Valley. To the Chinese restaurant we had dinner couple of weeks ago, but the wait was almost an hour. So we keep on driving looking for a new place to try -- while keeping an eye on the restaurant rating posted on the door. We pulled over into two spots that caught our attention, but decided to turn around and ended up at Atlantic Seafood & Dim Sum Restaurant located at Atlantic Times Square in Monterey Park. 

Some of the dishes on the table: Fung Jeow (chicken feet), Har Gow (shrimp dumplings), Lo Bak Goh (turnip cake), Shu Mai and Pai Gut (steamed spare ribs). 

And a pot of tea.

Friday Supper

I had a cooking frenzy this evening preparing for Friday supper.  As mentioned in my previous blogs, Friday used to be our date night, but now with a toddler in tow it can be challenging most of the time.

So back to the kitchen.  On one pan, thinly sliced beef are sauteed in olive oil and paprika. On the other pan, baby bella mushrooms are sizzling in butter. 

The other burner is on low fire with a Dutch oven on top cooking Spanish rice with olives and potatoes. Behind it is a pan with cubed and seasoned mahi-mahi.

Heirloom tomatoes have been cut in half and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  Figs have also been cut in half lengthwise.   To be served with Camembert cheese.

 Elderflower have been poured in glasses with cubed ice. Vodka and tonic water added later.

Supper is ready!

Figs & Camembert

Figs + Camembert Cheese = a surprising perfect match-up!

Wishing you all a Happy Weekend!

Chicken, Olives & Potatoes

The weather here has been back and forth lately. Today was a bit on the cold side so I thought why not make stew?

I put the Dutch oven to work again. Drizzled some olive oil. Added thinly sliced garlic and chopped onion. Threw in three whole chicken legs. Seasoned with salt & pepper and cooked both sides until golden brown.  Poured a can of San Marzano tomatoes and about a cup of chicken broth.

Simmered.

After 30 minutes I tossed in the diced potatoes and olives. Cooked covered for another 45 minutes.

Periwinkle

Oh, the periwinkle... they are so very pretty!

Beef, Tofu & Leeks

What to do with the soft tofu on the fridge whose shelf life is about to expire?  There's no ground meat to make Mapo Tofu. But there is beef destined for pot roast.

So I cut about a quarter of that beef then minced. Sautéed in onion and garlic. Poured in about a cup of ponzu sauce. Then added the soft tofu and leeks.

Garnished with fresh parsley.

Girls Lunch Out

Met-up with a friend for lunch at a Japanese restaurant serving Japanese soul food today.  We both ordered albacore poki bowl with brown rice.

Green tea ice cream tempura/deep fried green tea ice cream for dessert.

Yum!

Cavatelli Pasta with Italian Sausage and Kale

We were wandering around the pasta section at Whole Foods when my eyes fell upon the boxes of cavatelli.  So I picked up a package. 

While the water was boiling and the pasta was cooking, I drizzled the olive oil on a pan over medium heat.  Then, I added the mild pork Italian sausage, breaking it apart into smaller pieces with the end of a wooden spoon until cooked all the way through.

I spooned in the cooked pasta on to the pan with the sausage.  Added the kale ripped into bite-size pieces.  Then, poured in the store-bought pesto alla Genovese. 

I stirred until the pasta was covered in pesto sauce.  

Buon appetito!

Ratatouille with Goat Cheese

I've got ratatouille on my mind when we went grocery shopping on Sunday. It's been years since I cooked the last one. I think I was inspired by the movie back then. 

I sautéed the onions and garlic in olive oil until lightly caramelized while I diced the veggies. Then I added the eggplant. Five minutes later I added the zucchini, Italian yellow squash, red bell pepper and thyme. Simmered. Added the tomatoes and basil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Stirred well. 

Topped with goat cheese and sprigs of thyme. 

Served with baguette and fried liver.  

Fried Chicken Liver

First, I caramelized the garlic and onion.  Then, I added the chicken liver and bay leaf.  Poured in the soy sauce and lemon juice.  Ten minutes later I spooned them up into a separate pan with a sizzling hot olive oil.  

Plated and garnished with fresh rosemary from the garden.

Ratatouille is cooking on a separate pan. 

After Supper...

Husband and the Little Guy watch Peppa Pig while I wash the dishes.

Figs & Prosciutto

For Sunday supper...

I sliced the organic figs and served with freshly-baked baguette topped with Brie, prosciutto and basil from the garden.

Messy-Yummyness

The Little Guy just finished eating one of his favorite fruits this Summer... WATERMELON!

Today's Shopping from Whole Foods Market

Figs, nectarines, watermelon and blueberries. A bunch of kale, a box of mushroom, some tomatoes , eggplant, potatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, zucchini and Italian squash. Beef, whole chicken legs, Italian sausage and chicken liver. Pasta, puttanesca sauce and chicken broth. French bread.

The goat cheese and Camembert went straight to the fridge.

Sunday Brunch at French Market Cafe

After hearing Mass we drove all the way to Abbot Kinney in Venice to have a brunch at a charming French cafe.

On the table:

Le Cheval - Open toasted sandwich with two fried eggs on top on ham and melted swiss cheese. Served with baby mixed greens.

French Style BLT - Open toasted sandwich with bacon, fresh greens and tomato with two fried eggs on top. Served with organic baby mixed greens salad.

And, coffee...

 

Sashimi Night at Home

Japanese rice sprinkled with Furikake. Bincho Maguro (Albacore Tuna), Hon Maguro (Blue Fin Tuna) and Hamachi (Yellowtail) dipped in wasabi soy sauce added on top along with Uni, Ikura (Salmon Roe) and Wakame (Seaweed Salad).

Also on the table is a carafe of green tea iced tea. 

Burp!

Nijiya Japanese Market

After the picnic we drove to Sawtelle also known as Little Osaka to get some sushi-grade fish from our favorite Japanese market/grocery store Nijiya.

By the entrance, on the left side, there is a food stall with no cashier so payment is made inside the store. Once you hand-over the receipt they will prepare the food.

Husband grabbed a skewer of grilled octopus and a box of udon and we three sat in one of the set-up tables.

Back to shopping, we grabbed Wakame (Seaweed Salad)  in the prepared food section. Then proceeded to the fish section and got Bincho Maguro (Albacore Tuna), Hon Maguro (Blue Fin Tuna), Hamachi (Yellowtail), Uni and Ikura (Salmon Roe). From the grocery section we got ponzu sauce, sashimi soy sauce, ginger dressing, Japanese rice, wasabi and furikake.

Picnic by the Creek

Off to picnic down by the creek before it gets hot-hotter-scorching Summer hot.  Weather forecast for today is in the high 90s.

I packed some blueberries and artichoke hearts.  Olives and hardboiled eggs garnished with fresh dill. Biscuits and currants. Tuna salad and bread. And water infused with lemon and fresh mint from the garden.