Chez-Inspiration - Tartine aux Herbes

After visiting Cambria, on the central coast of California, I headed homeward to LA. On my first full day back in the city we went to the Hollywood farmer's market for a little sensory overload. We perused the beautiful summer produce, dodged the meandering shoppers and sought moments of respite in the shade (usually near a picturesque trash can).

Jumping out of vacation and back to Bay Area life for a moment, I had the pleasure of getting a glimpse at the Chez Panisse 40th Anniversary celebration this past weekend at the Berkeley Art Museum. In honor of Alice Waters and her Chez-vision I whipped up my version of one of the dishes at the celebration - a tartine with herbed ricotta and radishes.

To make: I went out to our little renegade herb garden that we have on the fire escape (this is San Francisco and thus, that constitutes a garden) and picked away. I came inside with chives, oregano and thyme. I chopped the herbs and threw them in with about 1 cup of ricotta cheese. I added in a little bit of lemon zest and a sprinkling of sea salt. Once everything was nicely combined I made some toast, shmeared on my ricotta mixture and finished it off with some thinly sliced radishes.

Hollywood Farmer's Market