in the kichen x fraises de bois

Strawberries rarely make it on the menu for long. Some days heaps of beautiful strawberries can be found at the market, and other days, nary a decent strawberry to be found. With an abundance of strawberries for once, I played around with some leftover mise en place at my disposal. These fraises de bois (wild strawberries) are tiny, the size of raspberries! They are tangy, with a sweet refreshing finish. Lightyears away from the supermarket variety packaged in plastic and refridgerated. It's paired with a lemon ricotta cheesecake, strawberry reduction, pea flowers, caramelized hazelnuts and sweet cream ice cream. Super simple. Simplicity reigns when you get fresh market goods, good ricotta, and local milk and cream. Bonus question: Can you spot the mini pea sprouting from a flower?

in the kitchen x chocolate, lavender, and cherry blossoms

I know, I'm obsessed with Spring. After such a cold winter, it's been such a relief to feel the warm weather upon us and see the small changes in the array of ingredients at the farmers market. To lighten up the chocolate dessert on the menu, I thought, flowers. I wanted to bring floral notes to the dessert, one that would enhance all the different notes of dark Valrhona chocolate that I tend to use. Lavender brings a nice bright floral element to the dark chocolate and hazelnut flavors. The addition of cherry blossoms is unusual, since they are pickled in salt and vinegar. A balance of sweet, sour, salty, and sweet. All in one dish.