Summer is fast approaching and more and more fruits and vegetables are coming in season. One of my favorite spring/summer crossover vegetables is rhubarb. I love it's tart flavor and bright pink color. It complements a variety of sweet and savory dishes. But it's most commonly known as pie fruit and is more often paired with strawberries than with any other fruit or vegetable. But I like it when it plays the leading role in a dish and not the supporting one.
In the summer on those especially hot days all I crave are cooling desserts that can be simply made ahead of time and chilled. One of my favorite chilled desserts is the Italian panna cotta, which is basically jellied cream. In this dessert the panna cotta serves as a perfect base for rhubarb, prepared in two different ways. One batch is roasted with sugar and then infused with cinnamon and sparkling wine. Another batch is pickled in a honey-sweet brine with a bit of grenadine for color and star anise for a touch of spice. The sweet, tart, savory, and crisp intermingle as the two rhubarbs meet on the plate.
Spring
Spring
Spring Salad with Asparagus and Snow Peas
With each and every passing day we're just a little bit closer to spring. I know I can't wait to find delicate green vegetables at the market any time now. I just came back from a trip to San Francisco and as always, whenever I visit a city, I make sure to stop by the local farmers' market. I was so impressed to see that on the West coast they already have bright green asparagus, among many other spring vegetables. Asparagus is really the harbinger of spring. Just like those early crocuses, asparagus bursts out of the ground with an eagerness to embrace spring.
Here on the east coast, our spring vegetables haven't yet sprung, but we do have asparagus from California. I couldn't help myself when I found a bunch of beautiful pencil-thin asparagus at the supermarket just the other day. I was inspired by the many wonderful salads I had on my trip to create a recipe of my own that encapsulates the season of renewal.
Start the recipe by blanching the asparagus and snow peas. This step brings out their brighter green color and makes them more tender. I like to chop half the asparagus and slice half the snow peas for the salad. The remaining whole stalks and pea pods are perfect for garnishing. The lemon vinaigrette adds a sharp wintry note and features minced shallot, which has been mellowed from a soak in vinegar. This salad would make a great appetizer before a spring-themed dinner party.
Mache is the New Romaine
Have you seen that commercial that uses the Hall and Oats song “Baby Come Back”? The mop has been replaced by the sexy and efficient Swiffer and it’s kinda stalking its erstwhile owner? I think Romaine is going to be doing the same thing. I’ve noticed that Mache started out as a green you could only find at the farmer’s market; Kenter Canyon and the like. But now, I’ve seen it at Trader Joe’s, Gelson’s and of course, Whole Foods. The label says ‘enjoy the nutty flavor’. Lettuce? Nutty? Right on!
I looked it up and saw that it’s a powerhouse of nutrition and it’s other and more commonly used name is ‘lamb’s tongue’ because its shape resembles it. Isn’t that adorable?
Now, lets get to the reason I’m pissing on your leg about this. My 17-year old likes it! Now I have to say, there was a very important lubricant that ushered Lena over to the land of green: Joan’s on 3rd’s Vinaigrette.
Fresh Herb Potato Salad
What do Jerusalem artichokes, horseradish and dandelion greens have in common? You'll never guess. Each has a name that is an English version of a foreign name. The Jerusalem artichoke is a variety of sunflower, and the name is derived from "girasole" which means sunflower in Italian. Horseradish is "meerrettich" in German and because "meer" sounds like "mare" the English called it horseradish. Dandelion comes from the French "dent de lion" or lion's tooth, in reference to the jagged leaves of this bitter yet tasty weed.
Like horseradish, dandelion has quite a bite to it. It can be eaten raw or cooked and like other leafy greens, it is a good source of vitamin A, calcium and iron. But frankly, I'd never cooked with it until this weekend. I found a Jamie Oliver recipe for a potato salad using chopped dandelion greens and I also heard raves about a potato salad with chopped fresh mint, so I decided to combine the two.
A Perfect Early Spring Day in Belgrade Maine
As the sun rises over the chain of glacier-formed lakes, I revel in the beauty outside my window and the smells and sounds outside my door. It is so beautiful I want to take this moment to tell you about it. The beavers swim by half an hour before sunrise on their way to work and this doesn’t include freeway commuting, just a gentle swim to their hut nearly a quarter mile away. Then all the birds start their morning songs, the Osprey flies by casting a coppery shadow across my ceiling as the sun starts to rise. The loons are soulfully singing in the near distance and a single loon fishes diligently in the cove. It promises to be an even more beautiful day than yesterday. Spring is springing in all its glory!I ready my kayak and head out onto the glistening water just as the sun peaks over the trees on the opposite shore. A gentle clinging fog hovers just on the water’s surface. I paddle toward the Osprey nest at the mouth of the wetland where wood ducks, frogs and budding water plants congregate. I check the Osprey nest to make sure the baby bird is doing well as both parents fly overhead, yelping a couple of hundred feet above. Paddling along the shore, I am always amazed at how Mother Nature is the greatest landscaper. The rocks and boulders are arranged with care and thought. The water is a deep intense blue, the fog is lifting, the sun is getting warm on my face and the quiet sounds of early morning with no one else around are what endears me to this place in Maine.
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