Archive for April, 2009
Between the Rain Drops
Ah, the sound of shoes squishing through soggy spring soil….
Well, the rainy days continue here just when the blooms of the magnolias, flowering quince, cherries, forsythia, tulips and anemones are at their peak. In between showers, I slipped on my slicker and goulashes and went to take a few photos before all the beauty got washed away. Spring is such a lovely season, but its flowers are awfully fleeting, which no doubt makes them all the sweeter.
What’s your favorite spring flower? I think I’m rather partial to magnolias as a whole and to this specific apricot shade of the flowering quince. But really, when you get down to it, they are all shockingly beautiful in their own unique ways.
Enjoy!
Chocolate Silk Pie
I don’t know about where you are, but it’s proving to be an exceptionally rainy April around here. Now, I do love the rain and we certainly need it here in the flush of spring. But as a gardener trying to get a lot done in my vegetable and herb plots, I need the sunny warm days just as much. Unfortunately, I also need the sunshine to do my work as a food photographer for this blog as my photos rely on cheerful natural light streaming through my kitchen windows. As you might be starting to realize, I’ve been running just a tad ragged trying to balance both my loves: food and gardening. No, no, don’t feel sorry for me. It’s you who have been suffering for lack of a good post.
I made this Chocolate Silk Pie a week or two ago when I had that dozen eggs from my friend’s winter CSA share. I hesitated to share it with you though, not because it wasn’t delicious – indeed it was delectably smooth and chocolaty – but because I made a rather large blunder when preparing the recipe. Yes, I goofed in the kitchen. I’m usually rather meticulous about re-reading new recipes a few times to ensure I got everything in there.
However, this time I was in a hurry to capture the precious light of the late afternoon for the photos. I thought the recipe said one and a half teaspoons of cornstarch when it really called for tablespoons. Well, for those of you who know what cornstarch does in a custard-based pie – namely thickening it – you can guess the outcome. This little pie of mine, with its nutty buttery pecan shortbread crust, was not setting up, no matter how long it sat in the fridge.
Scrambled Pasta & Spring Greens
Finally! The first edible greens of spring have arrived. My withering culinary palette couldn’t be happier. Outside my kitchen door on the deck that will be jammed full of containerized vegetables this summer, a lone container is holding down the fort here in springtime. It’s the container I had a yellow pear tomato, swiss chard and sorrel in last summer. After cleaning up the containers last fall, including pulling out the tomato from this one, I kept it for the swiss chard, figuring there was a chance I could keep it going a little longer into the winter with the container sheltered up against the south side of the house. Wouldn’t you know it; the swiss chard petered out rather quickly but the container stayed put nonetheless since I had no interest in going outside in January.
Over the past three weeks, I’ve watched in delight as the sorrel, awesome zesty green that it is, began poking up green shoots between last year’s dead “stumps”. I could barely restrain myself from snipping them off and munching them right away, but I knew the plants needed to get a little growth on those baby leaves so they could capture the sun’s energy and fuel their resurrection. Good things come to those that wait.
And indeed my patience was rewarded more than I thought. While I waited for the sorrel, a dear friend gifted me with a big bag of mache, or lamb’s lettuce, that she received through her fabulous winter CSA via Jack’s Farm in Pottstown, PA. Mache is still rather uncommon in the States, but it’s a favorite in France due to its nutty flavor and more robust texture than traditional lettuce. It’s tender enough for fresh salad, but it also withstands light cooking, much like arugala. I’ve become such a fan, I plan on growing it in my garden this summer.
So now I had two wonderful spring greens on hand as well as some garlic and a dozen beautiful brown eggs that were also part of my friend’s CSA box from Jack’s (see why she’s the best friend ever?). I remembered seeing an episode on the Food Network some time ago where Giada (I think) made a pasta and egg dish that looked so rustically old-world, it stuck in my head over the years. Looking at all the fresh local goodies on my counter, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to give such a dish a try.
Hearty and filling, Scrambled Pasta & Spring Greens is all that I hoped it would be. The mache really handled the cooking process well and the flavors were incredibly fresh thanks to the sorrel and basil. If you are worried about the cholesteral of the eggs, I’m sure using just the whites would work too. And if you don’t have these exact local greens on hand, try experimenting with others that are available in your area. I’m sure when asparagus season begins, this dish will make its rounds again in my kitchen.
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