Day 1

This morning, Jed and I went down to the farmer’s market to shop for the week. We were pleseantly surprised by how friendly everyone at the market was… despite the fact that Greg was filming their every move.

The menu for today:

Brunch

Poached Eggs and Toast with Spring Vegetable Salad and a Mustard Vinaigrette. (see e-mail)

Desert

Pistachio Crème Brûlée.

Serves 6

You will need:

• 1 ½ cups whipping cream
• ½ cup milk
• 6 tbls pistachio paste (I brought the pistachio paste for our crème brûlée from G. Detout in Paris, but you can also make this tasty patisserie flavoring at home!) *
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 pears
• ¾ cup sugar
• a lemon
• unrefined cane sugar (or brown sugar, for the brûlée part)
• 2 saucepans
• 6 ramekins
• 1 large bowl
• 1 deep baking sheet

*This is the pistachio version of almond paste. If you want your paste to not be green, soak the pistachios overnight, and then remove the skins with a tea towel. If you leave the skins on, you end up with a product whose color can best be termed "unfortunate". You can always add some green food coloring if you want the end product to be green.

• 1/3 cup pistachios
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2-4 Tablespoons water

Grind the pistachios in a food processor for 1-2 minutes, until it's a near fine powder. Add the sugar and incorporate into the nuts.

This step is critical. Add water to mixture in the processor, one tablespoon at a time, until the paste has the consistency of marzipan. You want to err on the side of too little water rather than too much. The paste should not look liquidy, and should be easily held and shaped when in your hand.

1 Fill a saucepan with enough water to cover pears, add ¾ cups sugar and some lemon juice to keep the pears from browning. Turn your stove to medium and as you allow the sugar to dissolve into the water, peel the pears.

2 When the water is simmering, gently place the pears in the water and allow them to simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until they are tender. (For the adults, you can always poach the pears in champagne or wine. Also, encourage your kids to get creative with spices here! Adding some whole cloves, a whole cinnamon stick, or a vanilla bean will add a kick to this deliciously soft desert.)

3 In your second sauce pan, bring the whipping cream, milk, and pistachio paste almost to a boil (we call this scalding).

4 In your bowl whisk together the egg yolks and sugar.

5 Once your milk mixture is scalded, add a little bit to the egg mixture and whisk to cool down the milk without cooking the eggs.

6 Slowly add the rest of the mixture to the eggs without making scrambled eggs!

7 Fill each ramekin with 1-1 ½ cm of the crème mixture trying to avoid creating air bubbles. (lightly tap the sides of the ramekins if bubble do appear) Place the ramekins in your deep baking sheet that has been filled with a little bit of water.

8 Carefully place the baking sheet into the oven at 100˚C (212˚F) for 1 hour.

9 Now you should check your pears and if they are tender take them out of the simmering water and cut them into fancy shapes.

10 After an hour, your crème should go from the oven to the fridge. When they have chilled, cover the crème with the unrefined cane sugar and torch it to make a crispy caramel layer.

Serve with slices of poached pear and chocolate sorbet!

Dinner

Brandade. (see e-mail)