Yesterday, after buying some extraordinary figs from my local Trader Joe’s, I decided to prep the Fig-Cornmeal Tart in Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course so that I could assemble it today. It’s composed of a cornmeal crust flavored with vanilla and orange zest that’s filled with a jam made of simmered green figs, armagnac, OJ, orange zest, nutmeg, vanilla, sugar, and butter. Quartered figs are laid on top, and she suggests serving it with whipped creme fraiche and drizzled honey.

It was good that I made the jam last night — the flavors needed time to meld together for an almost floral/vanilla essence imbued into the fig flavor — whereas last night, each flavor could be tasted separately.

And rolling out the dough gave me the chance to try one of my newest culinary toys — a silicone rolling pin.

Since the silicone pin doesn’t require flour to work, you have to use a silicone surface (like a silpat), too, or else the purpose is half-defeated. I was surprised by how well it worked. As long as the dough is just a bit chilled, it won’t stick to the pin. And it’s so clean. For someone who’s spent half of the last nine months dealing with messy floured tables, it was like… magic. And since no extra flour is added, there’s less chance that the dough will turn out tough or starch-y. You usually have to pick up the dough to make sure that it’s not sticking to the surface on the bottom as you’re rolling it out, but you don’t have to do that either. You can just turn about the silpat itself to make sure that you’re rolling it evenly. You can just peel to release it, though chilling it for a little while helps a bit to make removal more foolproof. And clean up means just a quick rinse.

So, I baked off some tart shells, filled them with jam when cool, and set about arranging figs on them. I knew it would be a challenge because I noticed that the picture in the book is shot so that the jam can’t be seen under the figs or behind the crust, which must have been on purpose, because green fig jam looks gelatinously unappetizing. But the tart in the photo also has an unreasonable number of sliced figs on top to cover the jam — who could eat so many pieces of figs on top of a jam-filled tart? And I didn’t want to add whipped cream just yet. So, I started experimenting…
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My plan for E. Dehillerin was to get little tart tins and such, knowing that I wouldn’t want to lug around heavy or huge kitchen supplies for the rest of my trip. I thought that my biggest concession would be the rolling pin, because of its size, but I bought it because I’ll use it the most and so will think about the trip France often.

This kitchen supply store has been open since 1820, and I generally liked how it hasn’t done much since to change the way that it’s run. The aisles are narrow and high, the shelves are overflowing with enticing cooking implements, purchasing things involves having them tallied up by a salesperson who gives the order sheet to the cashier (who does use a computer to print out a thorough receipt… allow a lot of time for this whole process), and your things are wrapped up tightly in newspaper and tape.

Oh, and the prices are listed in a catalogue organized by a code number system at the front of store, not on the things themselves. Otherwise, the labels on the products are very thorough about what they are made of and their size, and I didn’t feel too stupid only getting about 4 of everything because I knew I could see if I liked/used them, and then could track down more if desired.

By the way, aren’t these mini-loaf tins nice?

Like, really nice?

That’s good. Because I happened to get eight of them, and so paid $70. A salesperson had warned me early on that those mini cookie cutters were expensive — and at $7 each, they were — so I only got two of them. On a whim, since they looked nice and since I’d put back some bigger items, I threw a few more mini-loaf tins onto my pile, for a total of 4 each. It wasn’t until I got the receipt that I saw how much they were… And how cheap the little tart tins were — less than $2 each — and thought about how I make tarts way more than quickbreads, but… that. is. okay.

The one on the left is tin-plated and the one on the right is blue steel. They seem like terrific quality, and I’m sure that I’ll one day find excellent and amazing uses for them. I know I will because every single time I make something at home now, I ask myself, “How would it look as a mini-loaf?”

I’ve been in El Segundo a lot over the past couple years. If people think of El Segundo at all, it’s usually as that area of LA just south of the airport. That’s good because it keeps the area crowd-free, but that’s bad because it’s one of the most comfortable neighborhoods in LA. It’s a beach town with a wide, clean beach and plenty of BBQ pits, but the town is mostly oriented inland. Unlike Manhattan Beach and Venice, El Segundo’s Main Street is completely apart from the beach.  It’s lined with cute, non-chain boutiques, service shops, coffee shops, and little restaurants. The rest of El Segundo is mostly residential, with a lot of families who actually spend time outside in their yards and walking around. Apparently, at about 5pm on weekdays, the sidewalks of Main St are packed with locals walking about, and its streets are relatively empty of cars… which is almost unheard of in LA. All the same, there’s plenty of free parking if you do need it.

El Segundo makes me feel like I’m in a home town (and not only because its stately high school is frequently used in films set in cute home towns). Only the big Chevron plant on the water tarnishes the small town charm, but even that lends a Simpsons-esque air. So, it’s not a place that you would necessarily make plans to visit, but if you know locals who want to hang out locally, be prepared for a good time.

Its restaurants and bakeries don’t have much of a presence in the LA food scene, but for the most part, they have a great value and …um, how do I say this?…. are full of real people (no bling, no attitude). The street behind Main Street — Richmond Street — is a smaller, funkier version of it that probably has the highest concentration of interesting places to go in LA in a two block area. It has the Old Town Music Hall, a reliable and healthy CA-style cafe called Good Stuff, the timeless Richmond Bar & Grill, an slightly upscale Second City Bistro, a surf shop, and a fun tiki bar called The Purple Orchid that’s one of my favorite bars in LA, which I’ll talk about more later.

One of the more interesting recent additions to Main Street has been Farm Stand, which stands out as rather chic against the backdrop of traditional sushi bars and casual eateries in the area. It calls itself an urban country restaurant.  Chad and I checked it out a few weeks ago. I think it’s still finding its footing, but it seems to be going for American-Middle Eastern-Italian cuisine. Not fusion, just dishes that represent. But not necessarily by name. Both dishes that we ordered were given descriptive names that skirted their culinary origins. That’s probably a good idea, because it probably makes the dishes more accessible for people unfamiliar — and uneasy — with mysterious dishes. After reading her new cookbook this weekend, Cindy Pawlcyn sometimes has the same strategy.

We’ll definitely go back, and I’m interested to see how it develops, especially as it adjusts to demand and its own style.  I really liked being there — its open design makes it very welcoming, and an open kitchen is always a treat.  The service was maybe a little too eager and friendly, but it’s hard to complain about that.

Mama’s Herbed Ground Beef — Our Signature Family Dish — with a Rice Pilaf of Lentils, Dates, Raisins, & Roasted Vegetables. I believe that this could be called kofta… A perfect kofta amid a playground of fascinating things to eat. That roasted tomato was so soft and deep with flavor, while the dried ground everything in sweetness and chewiness, the pico de gallo (or so it looked) mixed things up again with crisp onions and garlic amid the perky herb tomatoes that contrasted so nicely with the roasted tomato. It’s a fun dish to eat, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

While Chad explored this playground, I played tag… With this…

And this…

Walnut and Pomegranate Stew: Baked Chicken with Walnut & Pomegranate Puree with Basmati Saffron Rice. I would have called it fesenjan, and I’m always thrilled when I find it. But I think it’s like meatloaf — everyone does it a slightly different way; and my friend’s mother makes what I consider to be the seminal version for me. This version was heavy on the pomegranate molasses, so it was rather sour and yet syrupy sweet, and the saffron basmati rice did little to adjust the flavor or texture. I prefer the sauce to be heavier on the walnut so that it’s a bit lighter and creamier. It was okay (and actually, the chicken itself was juicy and tasty), but in comparison to the ground beef dish, it got a bit boring. Perhaps not as many things could be added to it as easily as to ground beef dish, but it needed something more to maintain attention to it.

We ordered the After School Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies with Milk for dessert. I think that the way they did it was to partially bake the cookies, and either keep them warm or heat them more to order. Chad liked them well enough, but they had unappealing oily spots in the center and the chocolate chips had that scorched flavor that pops up when they’re fresh from the oven. Oddly enough, I was smitten by the milk — when was the last time I had a glass of whole milk? Of course, it was like cream to me now, but hey, I like cream… so this was more like lowfat cream than high fat milk.

I also wanted to mention The Purple Orchid, which is a fantastic tiki bar in El Segundo. The drinks are consistently great (which is so rare at any bar), and unlike the occasional drama at Tiki-Ti in Silverlake (which is, also, very good nonetheless), it’s very laidback, full of locals who happen to like hanging out in a Hawaiian bar.

The Volcano Bowl is fun for a group.  We got it with their retro Mai Tai, and I think they usually light the middle part.  Other stand out drinks include the Rum Swizzle, which balances its sourness with spicy cinnamon, and the Purple Orchid Martini, with vodka,  honey, lime, and raspberry.  And of course, anything that comes in a glass like this is bound to be good…

And if you’re in the mood for something different, I recommend going there on St. Patrick’s Day…

We stopped at Cafu du Marche by happenstance on a rainy afternoon , and in quintessential rainy-day-in-Paris fashion, I had the best duck confit of my life. Cafe du Marche is known for good food at reasonable prices, and for only about 9Euro, this was the juiciest, most flavorful, just sweet enough, just-caramelized-enough-on-the-outside duck confit ever. The crispy/soft/garlic potato rounds cooked in duck fat were the natural and perfect accompaniment. Even though the lettuce would appear to only get in the way, it was good for an occasional palate cleansing.

The Lamb Tagine with Curry was good enough, with tender lamb, but the curry flavor in the sauce was a little funky to me.

On a Thursday morning in Paris, we walked a couple blocks from our apartment to this wonderful market to get breakfast and sample some farm fresh fruit.

I wish that all strawberries could be like these — their seeds embedded into the skin rather than sharply protruding, red all the way through, and bursting with pure, sweet strawberry flavor.

This is an example of a 2-inch deep quiche that I’d read about in Thomas Keller’s Bouchon cookbook and once made for class. It was good, but a quiche is tricky to get just right. This custard was just a touch too firm and the vegetables slightly undercooked (which made for an overall slightly rubbery, bumpy texture), and unfortunately, a quiche I had at Bouchon last week must have been overcooked because it tasted of bad scrambled eggs… which means that the silky quiche that I made for class is still my reigning idea of quiche perfection.

This vegetable pizza was very good, even cold.

These Herb Potatoes were so amazing, and I regret that my hands were  too full at the market to take a picture of the huge outdoor pan that these were cooked in. I liked how parts of them were caramelized on the edges.

This fig was a bit firm and the size of a child’s fist, but it was surprisingly soft and sweet inside.