In My Kitchen: June 2024

Buckle in everyone for the monthly review, there's a lot going on this month! 

Spring is here in Paris and lots of fresh produce are tempting us from the markets. It's a wonderful time of the year, except that the weather seems confused and it has been on and off grey & drizzly...  

Beautiful things in my kitchen...

We are in France, hence one must eat gorgeous heirloom tomatoes... 

Here in a caprese salad, with fancy organic buffalo mozzarella from our local fromagerie. 

The basil came from a pot at our local greengrocer. It was so alluring with its large perfect leaves, I have repotted it on the balcony hoping it will give us some more basil.. 

Patrick Roger is one of the master chocolatiers in Paris, all the chocolate is handmade and delicious. This block "Ecuador" is 70% and comes with a romantic description Floral, notes de jasmin, légèrement fermenté, rond, assez amer. (Floral, notes of jasmine, lightly fermented, round and quite bitter)

S came back from the market one day with these strange morel mushrooms, they are so bizarre they look like they would come from a fairy tale book!

Wontons - these were made on my grandma's birthday, she passed away 2 years ago at the age of 100. I remember her teaching me how to fold them when I was very small, she was a kind and loving soul. I made them while G sat in the bouncer watching me intently, it felt like the cycle of life...

Another day, another fancy patisserie from Cyril Lignac, this was a seasonal special of entremet abricot

 

An afternoon tea with my friend visiting from Sydney - strawberry tart, raspberry tart and a chocolate praline dessert. Yes, we should buy shares in Cyril Lignac's bakery...

The Asparagus Project...

Well we knew it was the end of asparagus season we had to make the most of it - 

here the asparagus was roasted, with a risotto of the morel mushrooms 

White asparagus and corn fritters

White asparagus and chèvre tart - this was absolutely delicious!

Steamed asparagus to top our buckwheat galettes, with a filling of mushrooms and the leftover goat cheese 

Boiled white asparagus in a picnic plate with bresaola, potatoes, tomatoes and an egg - we were actually copying our friend's lunch in Germany because she was also doing an asparagus project!

White asparagus soup - this was so creamy and velvety, superb texture and flavour

A quick trip to Italy...

We went to Italy for a week to attend S' sister's wedding, a magical event. She was like a princess and the reception was in the family mansion where we had our wedding last year. I didn't manage to take many photos of the food since my dress had no pockets (women's clothes problems), but I did manage to take a photo of this beautiful risotto...

My favourite place in Italy (I know it's a big call) is this pasta shop in Padova called Artusi where they have fresh pasta. Here we had cappellacci stuffed with wild asparagus and ricotta. It was so delicious that I have no words to describe it. Doesn't it look like giant wontons?

This pizza was excellent, I ordered it because I thought it was an interesting combination of ham, burrata and pistachio. The pistachio creme was just an additional touch of luxe.. 

A few things I brought back from Italy - porcini mushrooms, saffron and pistachio creme (I couldn't resist, I was thinking about it all the time after Sherry posted hers last month)

The curveball... 

G is growing up! He is 5 months today and I think he's pretty adorable. Here he is in Italy wide-eyed at his first gelato (coffee mascarpone with dark chocolate bits, and double salted pistachio), arm around his new friend the kangaroo which was S' toy from when he was a child 40 years ago... 

I'm sending this to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings who hosts the monthly IMK series. Have a great month everyone!