Spring into good eating!

Spring arrived this weekend while we were at the Highland County Maple Festival. It actually showed up precisely at 7:04am (EST) on Saturday, the 20th of March. Along with it came a few lambs, some daffodils and rain. Any other time I would lament having this much rain, but I do not begrudge the spring showers the important job they must do – and that is make my food grow!

I am fond of all the seasons and don’t really have a favorite weather-wise, but I absolutely LOVE spring for all the good eats that pop up from the rich, dark earth. After a winter of starchy root vegetables, I love a big plate of Spring Eats. I am a fan of fresh, local foods – especially produce – and eagerly await the last week of April/first week of May to make my first of many, many weekly trips to the local farms. During the spring and summer and even fall months, my dinner table is almost always topped with the bountiful harvest courtesy of area produce stands.

First up are spinach and spring onions which lend themselves nicely to several of my favorite Japanese dishes (Horenso no Goma-ae, for example). Next come the strawberries and peas. Yum! The strawberries rarely make it into any type of dish and are usually consumed immediately upon picking – a few right there in the field – although I did make a Really Good Strawberry Sorbet with a some last summer.

I also pick pounds and pounds of May peas as well as a bunch of crispy sugar snaps. Once home I like to lightly steam the sugar snaps and toss them with a little butter for dinner. Then I shell the May peas for blanching and freezing, once again finding myself nibbling on the little green sweeties.

Soon, the Hampton Roads chapter of Buy Fresh Buy Local buylocalhamptonroads.org/ will begin to distribute their Spring Food Guide!  I can barely wait to see what other Spring Eats this area has to offer.  Find a chapter of Buy Fresh Buy Local near you - buylocalpa.org/

And, be sure and try these delicious recipes:  

Horenso no Goma-ae

• 1lb. fresh spinach, rinsed well
• 4T toasted sesame seeds
• 1T sugar
• 1.5T soy sauce
• 3T dashi

-Parboil spinach in ample, lightly salted water until just tender. Immediately rinse in cold water and let soak for ten minutes.

-Grind sesame seeds in mortar and pestle until half ground. Mix with dressing ingredients.

-Drain spinach and squeeze out excess water. Cut into 1” lengths, mix with dressing and enjoy!

A Good Cooker’s Really Good Strawberry Sorbet

• 1.5lbs strawberries washed, dried, topped and quartered
• 8 oz (by weight) honey
• 1 cup moscato wine

• 3/4 cup water

-Mix honey and wine and pour over strawberries in large jar or other airtight container ensuring berries are submerged.

-Stand at room temperature 6 hours.

-Pour into flat-bottomed 2qt dish and freeze until solid.

-Chop into chunks and puree in food processor. Slowly add 3/4 cup water until mixture is smooth and frothy.

-Return to dish and store in freezer 1-2 hours or freeze in ice cream maker.

Leftovers again?

I had company this weekend which prompted me to "show off" my cooking a little.  Now, I don't mean show off like "nah nanny boo boo, see what I can do" but more like inspired to go the extra mile to make the food a little more special, a little richer, a little more...well, everything.  This resulted in making a little more than we needed which means we have a little more than a few leftovers. And, if I do say so myself, they are GREAT leftovers. 

Friday night we had Cook's Illustrated spinach lasagna that called for layers of a spinach and Béchamel sauce mixture, lasagna noodles, and three kinds of cheese: whole milk cottage cheese and freshly grated Fontina and Parmesan cheeses (My Microplane® grater made quick work of the Parmesan.  How did I ever get by without it?).  When I went to the store looking for Fontina cheese, I could only find Fontinella.  I was perplexed.  It seems to look and smell (yes, I sniff cheese) similar to Fontia, so I bought it hoping it would do.  When I got home and did a little research, I discovered it seems to be an acceptable if not entirely accurate substitute for the Alpine region specialty cheese.  Regardless, it melted well and gave the dish a wonderful texture and rich flavor. 

I also used the Barilla no-boil noodles.  I got hooked on these a few lasagnas ago.  My Cooks Illustrated recipe lists these as a favorite but recommends they be soaked in hot water for five minutes to reduce cooking time.  It did.  Amazingly, my lasagna was done in 40 minutes as opposed to the 2-3 hours it normally takes.

Saturday I made Alton Brown's Coq A Vin (the two bottles of wine dish sans pearl onions).  It was a very time consuming recipe to make but the results were way worth the trouble.  I got a little panicked about halfway though cooking when I noticed the wine had turned the chicken a delightful shade of purple and the onions edges and garlic an ink blue.  However, my worries were in vain.  By the time it finished cooking, the color had mellowed to a rich burgundy.  Served over egg noodles and paired with green peas in a cream sauce - it was a fabulous dish to behold (and eat). 

(I am no wine connoisseur - not by any means - but think the Beringer Founders Estate 2007 Pinot Noir I bought to be quite tasty.  What?  You think I would serve something without first sampling a wee bit?) 

We finished Saturday's meal with cherries jubilee.  I'd never made this simple combination of dark cherries, lemon rind and juice, sugar and rum cooked into a sauce and served hot over vanilla ice cream but found it to be the perfect finish to our Valentine's Day meal.  (PS - I didn't torch my eyebrows when I flambéd the rum - unlike the cognac and cream sauce episode.) 

While there is plenty of lasagna and Coq A Vin, there are no leftover cherries.  So, aside from any additional dessert, I don't have to cook the rest of the weekend.  My only problem is deciding which leftover to serve for dinner today.  Somehow I don't think there will be any complaints with either choice.