Nooooo!!!

My favorite bookstore is closing... my heart is breaking.

The Cook's Library on 3rd street... I love that store... I made a point of paying more (full price as listed on the book jacket) because of the service I would get.

Sure, I could get some books cheaper on Amazon, and I did at times... but only if it was a considerable difference... (40% or more - and some books are super expensive).

However when it comes to cookbooks - you really need to see the book. flip through the pages. see if the recipes inspire you. does it have any pictures? does it need pictures?

And because the Cook's Library specialized in Cook Books they were staffed by a crew of people who have a passion for food - and are familiar with the authors... or have had feedback from other customers as to the merits or flaws of certain books or authors.

I'd go there and ask for a book that had mostly seasonal recipes - mostly vegetables, but not vegetarian, not too complicated... and Alan (one of my favorite employees there) took me to a special section, pulled out a couple of selections - and highlighted one in particular... I ended up buying that one, and came back for another copy to give as a gift a week later.

It's a bookstore by foodies, for foodies... We have til April 30th... I will be visiting them... and then mourning their disappearance.

sigh.

Citrus

As promised a while back - I was going to share some pix and comments on everything citrus...

I've tried a lot. I'm still buying some - what's still around, at least...

Newest discovery: Bergamot Oranges... that flavoring behind earl gray tea comes from the zest of the Bergamot Orange... It's a bitter fruit... mostly grown in the mediterranean - especially in Italy.

But i found this one vendor at the Hollywood farmer's market who had a few yellow lemony looking fruits in a basket simply labled "Bergamot $1". Being the inquisitive shopper that I am - I started asking all about them - and bought one. There's a picture of it above - I used my microplaner to zest it - and add it to my hot water... I drank some fragrant earl gray - infused water without the caffeine (or the resulting teeth stains).

Curious thing I discovered about a difference between lemons and limes... I started slicing them up and adding them to a pitcher of water that I would take to my room to remind me to drink more water...

... Lemon wedges/slices float - whereas the lime wedges/slices sink to the bottom. I noticed that a few times.

Also, during this celebration of citrus - I've been collecting the peels to candy them - an old middle eastern recipe for making preserves/confections... I remember my Nonna making them. The recipe i have (from Claudia Roden's book of middle eastern cooking) calls for the peels of bitter orange... I'm not sure what those are - or where to get them... but i did the recipe using Pommelos, Tangelos, Cara Cara Oranges (pink navel orange), Marsh grapefruit, Cocktail Grapefruit, Tangerines, Blood Oranges - and even Bergamot oranges... since you need to zest the fruit first before cooking them, i was able to collect the zest of all the bergamots and infuse some sugar with it. It's nice to add it to tea.

Pictured above is a small jar of the candied peels. Talk about labor intensive! there are so many steps and so much handling of the peels... takes forever... no wonder no one in my family does this recipe any more... it's from a time when there was no tv, no computers, no texting, no distractions... a time when people would gather around the table and work on creating these little tasty jewels. I'm sure mine aren't anywhere as good as my nonna's - i don't ever seem to have the patience... besides - other than working off a recipe that isn't too detailed, I don't have any real model to follow... so i'm not sure if i'm doing it right.

I sliced some up and sugared them so that i have little pinwheels of candied citrus - perhaps to top cupcakes or some other dessert.

For something a little more simple - I made a great dessert using a variety of fruits... For this, a sharp knife makes life so much easier - you have to supreme the citrus - that is cut the sections out of the membrane... once you get the hang of it, it's simple (as long as you have a good knife).

Citrus Medley with Rose water

• use a variety of citrus fruits - grapefruits (pink/yellow/white), oranges, blood oranges, tangerines...
• supreme them into a bowl - get a nice color combo going...
  
• add 2 Tbsp of honey
• add 1 tsp. Rose blossom water
• add some chopped pistacios if desired.

The combination of the rose blossom water with the citrus & pistacio & honey is so delicious! it's simple - easy - light... you can adjust the amounts to taste... I used a really good bottle of rose blossom water where a little goes a long way... and I tried another bottle that i found a whole foods - weak and insipid... so make the adjustments to what works for you. Personally, I don't eat pistacios (they don't agree with me though i love the taste) so i omitted them from my prep... but i can see how the distinct flavor from that nut would enhance the citrus & rose - such a typical Middle Eastern flavor combo.

I'm pretty much done with citrus and I'm thrilled that Strawberries are back in season! Harry's Berries had some Gaviotas last week which i couldn't resist though they were more than 2x more than the Albions being sold all around at the market... So I paid more for Strawberries - I cut back on other things... bought chicken instead of fish.