Market Report

Chef Jean Francois Meteigner is opening La Cachette Bistro at 1712 Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica across the street from Le Merigot Hotel. It opens on August 10. He's featuring all kinds of handmade sausages including salmon sausage and smoked fish sausage. He also makes a sauerkraut with equal parts finely chopped fennel, cabbage and onion. The chopped vegetables are marinated with vinegar and white wine overnight.

Fennel Sauerkraut for Lightly Smoked Salmon Dish

Serves 6 people

Sauerkraut:

1 Savoy Cabbage

2 Fennels

2 Onions

Slice all vegetables very thin and add:

1/4 cup of white vinegar

1/4 cup of white wine

1 bay leaf

Thyme

10 Juniper berries

Salt

Mix everything together and place in refrigerator over night. The next day, sauté very slowly with ¼ cup of olive oil without wine and vinegar After 20 minutes, add wine and vinegar Cook 45 minutes on top of the stove, then 2 hours in the oven at 325°, covered. Check every 30 minutes, you may have to add little vegetable stock to the sauerkraut.

Salmon

6 pieces of Salmon, 7-8 oz each

1-gallon water

3/4 cup Kosher salt

Mix water with salt and add salmon to it, soak for 45 minutes. Rinse, then dry fish and put aside.

Horseradish Cream

1-cup sour cream

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 Tbsp horseradish

Farmer Ed Munak comes down from Paso Robles with a number of varieties of fragrant, ripe melons and tomatoes. You'll only find Cal Trans, Wild Zebra and Caro Rich varieties at Ed's stand. This is the height of the season for tomatoes.