Welcome To My French Kitchen, June 2025

This is my new kitchen after a few tweaks. New dimmable lighting. Linen mood sconces. Overhead light moved above table. New tile backsplash. Additional electrical wall outlets. New sink and faucet. New shelf for additional storage. Added flea market treasures for warmth and ambience.

In My French Kitchen, March 2024

This was my French kitchen a year ago in March 2024. Still very nice and basic, but a bit cold and industrial, and possibly— patiently, waiting for a little tender care and charm.

Spring Asparagus At The Uzès Market

My cooking has also evolved as my kitchen has. I am now more comfortable with an induction cooktop, which is very common, popular, and energy efficient in France today. Armed with a new set of induction cookware, I love strolling through the farmers markets deciding what to cook based on what I see.

Cooking from the markets is simple and very rewarding. New ingredients to try and dishes to create add to my cooking pleasure. A simple herb garden off of my kitchen door further enhances my cooking.

Ripe Charentais Melon, Great For Breakfast, Appetizers, Or Anytime

Oddly enough, I a have a library of cookbooks at home in California, and just one or two in France. I prefer to cook in France by instinct and I suppose experience, off of the top of my head. As I mentioned in my last post, “delicious food is tightly woven into the French culture, each and every day. It is generally on the simple side, made with fresh ingredients at their peak, and beautifully presented like a gift.” I continuously strive for beautiful presentation, but I think you will agree, all the ingredients shine for themselves.

Sharing with you, a few dishes I have made from my recent visit, diving into my kitchen.

Steamed New Potatoes, Blanched Green Beans, Parsley, Red Lettuce Salad with a Sherry Vinaigrette

Sautéing Sea Bream Before Adding A Medley Of Sautéed Tomatoes, Olives and Capers

Roasted Organic Chicken Basted With Normandy Butter, Lemon, and Tarragon

Toulouse Pork Sausage Over Vinaigrette Salad with Auvergne Blue Cheese

Starting Pan Seared Salmon With Sautéed Spinach, Tomatoes, and Zucchini

Lunch From The Uzès Market Of Sliced Baguette, Tapenades, Tomatoes, Fresh Goat Cheese And Cherries

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

Melissa Clark’s Grilled Vegetables with Burrata Recipe

Are you “knee deep” in zucchini from your garden about now, and have exhausted your zucchini recipes? Melissa Clark’s Sweet and Spicy Grilled Vegetables with Burrata featured last May in The New York Times, might be a delicious solution. The beauty of this recipe is you can use just about any seasonal vegetable you like. Fresh green zucchini and yellow crookneck zucchini sliced diagonally is an excellent choice, as well as fresh asparagus, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and eggplant. Recipe Note: If using a dense vegetable such as carrots or corn, be prepared to grill them longer than your other softer vegetables. I chose to leave out the corn on the cob, mushrooms, and red peppers, and made my own medley of seasonal vegetables on hand.

What makes this recipe extra fabulous is not only all the lightly grilled fresh vegetables, but the “Sweet and Spicy Sauce.” Looking at the sauce ingredients you might think, wow, this is a potent sauce with chopped raisins, honey, apple cider, fish sauce, and red pepper flakes. The beauty of this sauce is that it really cuts the vegetables, and really adds a nice acidic accent and brightness to your vegetables. The complementary cheese on the side, also cuts the spicy sauce well. I have made this recipe using burrata and also mozzarella. Both worked equally well with the grilled vegetables. Enjoy!

Sweet and Spicy Grilled Vegetables with Burrata

Lovingly Adapted from Melissa Clark, The New York Times

Makes 6-8 Servings

Sauce Ingredients:

1/4 cup chopped raisins, preferably golden, or substitute dried apricots

2/3 cup white wine vinegar or cider vinegar (I prefer a combination of both)

2 tablespoons honey, plus more to taste

1 tablespoon fish sauce or colatura (optional)

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Pinch of fine sea salt

For The Vegetables (Use Any Or All):

Extra virgin olive oil

2 to 3 bell peppers, quartered, stems, and seeds removed

1 to 2 zucchini or crookneck yellow squash sliced diagonally 1/2-inch thick

1 small eggplant, sliced diagonally 1/2-inch thick

2 to 4 ears yellow corn, shucked

8 ounces mushrooms, washed, dried, trimmed and halved, or quartered.

1 bunch thick asparagus, ends snapped

8 ounces cherry tomatoes preferably still on the vine, ( I put the tomatoes on a wooden skewer).

For Serving:

2 small burrata or fresh mozzarella balls, or 2 cups fresh ricotta

Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Basil or mint leaves, for serving

Crusty bread slices

Directions:

1) Make the sauce: Put raisins or apricots in a small heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, honey, fish sauce or colatura (if using), red pepper flakes, and salt. Bring to a boil, then let simmer until the mixture reduces slightly, about 3 minutes. Immediately pour over the raisins and let cool. Taste and stir in a little more honey if the sauce is too harsh. (Sauce can be made up to 1 week ahead and stored in the refrigerator).

2) Prepare the vegetables. Lightly brush olive oil on boths sides of sliced and other vegetables. Have a serving platter ready.

3) Grill the vegetables directly on the grate of the grill, in batches if necessary, and turning them as needed. Move them around the grates so they cook evenly. Cook until lightly charred, watching them carefully, 5 to 12 minutes or more depending on what vegetables you use. If necessary, use a grilling basket for the asparagus and mushrooms. Cherry tomatoes grill 1 to 2 minutes, and will start to burst and char slightly. Transfer all the vegetables as they cook directly to the serving platter.

4) Add the the cheese to the platter next to the vegetables. Immediately drizzle everything with some of the sauce, stirring it up to get the raisins, and with olive oil. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, pepper, and scatter the herbs generously on top. Serve the extra sauce on the side, and the bread for making crostini with some of the vegetables.

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…..Bonnie