Locally Grown

Peas pass the Fava! 

The first day of spring was March 20 and spring makes me think of all things fresh and green. Fittingly, two fresh and green veggies that are in season this time of year happen to be some favorites: garden peas and fava beans. The versatile little legumes are packed full of possibilities. The earlier, smaller peas or fava will yield a more tender, sweeter flesh. The French slightly obsess about their early spring peas or petit pois. Toss them in pastas and soups for a quick splash of green. Or make this quick puree that is divine on crostini or generously mounded beneath some roasted fish.   

Pea or Fava Bean Puree /serves 4-6 as an appetizer; 4 as a side dish 
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed) peas or fava beans (fresh fava need to be blanched and peeled prior to use)
2 shallots, chopped
1 cup whole milk ricotta – preferably fresh
1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
Zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons mint, chopped
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 
Thinly sliced bread, toasted – day-old bread is perfect for this.  

Preparation:
Sauté shallots in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until soft and translucent; season lightly with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool a little.  

In the bowl of a food processor, add peas/fava, shallots, ricotta, parmigiano reggiano, lemon zest and mint. Pulse until a course puree is made; with the machine running, slowly stream in remaining olive oil. Puree should be smooth, but still have some texture.  

Slather generously on toasts or  pair with a piece of roasted fish and enjoy!  

Bon Appetit!

Still hungry? Check out my current blog on dining at the bar in Madison Restaurant Reviews.

Goat Cheese
Chevre, that fresh, creamy, piquant, almost-painfully-white goat cheese, doesn’t need a lot of fuss to be enjoyed - pair it with a little honey and arugula on a piece of whole grain toast for a simple and satisfying lunch. Lucky for us, fresh, locally produced and organic goat cheeses are readily available in the Madison area — two of my favorite are Fantôme Farms of Ridgeway, and Dreamfarm of Cross Plains. Check out the Dane County Winter Farmers Market and Fromagination, the new cheesemonger on the Square, for their selections of locally produced chevres and aged goat cheeses. For something a little more special to do with your chevre, check out my recipe for my warm goat cheese salad with microgreens and blood oranges.

Microgreens and Blood Orange Salad with Warm Goat Cheese /serves 2

Ingredients:

• 4-6 ounces microgreens or baby mixed greens, washed and dried
• 1 blood orange
• ¼ cup, plus two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil – use the good stuff
• 4 ounces chevre, sliced into 4 rounds – keep chilled
• 1 organic egg – Yuppie Hill Farms eggs are the best with their marigold-yellow yolks! (Willy Street Co-op carries them)
• ½ cup fresh bread crumbs or panko bread crumbs
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation:
In a small, shallow bowl whisk egg with a generous pinch of kosher salt and a few grinds of fresh black pepper. On a small plate, measure your breadcrumbs. Dip each chevre round in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs, making sure they are evenly and fully coated. Repeat with remaining rounds and place in refrigerator while you prep everything else.

Remove peel and white pith from blood orange. Working over large bowl to catch the juices, use a small, sharp knife to cut the orange between membranes to release segments into bowl. Once all the segments are removed, squeeze the orange to release all of the remaining juice. Add another generous pinch of salt and pepper to juice and whisk to combine; add ¼ of olive oil and whisk gently. Note: this is not a fully emulsified vinaigrette. Add microgreens to bowl, but wait until just before serving to toss to coat.

Heat a small sauté pan over medium heat; add remaining two tablespoons of olive oil. When oil is hot, place the chevre rounds in the pan. Cook for about two minutes on each side, until golden brown and crisp. Remove carefully from pan to some paper towels to drain and firm up slightly.

Toss to coat greens with vinaigrette; divide between two plates. Top with chevre rounds and serve immediately.

Bon Appetit!

Still hungry? Check out my current blog on dining at the bar in Madison Restaurant Reviews.

My husband and I really enjoy eating at the bar of our favorite restaurants. There are many reasons: no reservations needed; it’s more casual and laid-back; there is a convivial feeling when sitting at the bar; and most importantly you avoid the No. 1 pitfall of dining: the bad server who either interrupts the meal too often with “how is everything tasting?” — grammatically incorrect and annoying, especially when you’ve just taken a big bite of your dinner; or the opposite — a waiter who takes your order and you never see until the bill arrives. There really is nothing like a truly professional server to make the meal just right (a topic for another blog?), but too often that isn’t the case, hence eating at the bar. The bartender is there to pour you a drink right away and the formalities of the server/diner relationship are missing. Sounds like a perfect combination to me.

Over the next few weeks, I will be bellying up to the bar (literally, as I am 8 weeks shy of giving birth) to hit some of the area’s restaurants that allow dining at their bar. Here are my criteria:

1. Must be locally owned — sorry, no chains.
2. The full menu must be available at the bar — abbreviated bar menus don’t count.
3. It must be a restaurant that has a bar at which food is served and not a bar that happens to serve food.

What’s in season: Kale
Dark, leafy and oh-so-good for you! With so many varieties at the local market, it’s time to dig in. Roughly chopped and sautéed in olive oil with a little red onion, red chile flakes, and some balsamic vinegar, it’s the perfect side dish with any protein; or swap the vinegar for soy sauce and eat with brown rice for a perfect vegetarian dinner. Yum.