STRAWBERRIES STRAWBERRIES STRAWBERRIES!!!!

 “I may never be happy, but tonight I am content. Nothing more than an empty house, the warm hazy weariness from a day spent setting strawberry runners in the sun, a glass of cool sweet milk, and a shallow dish of blueberries bathed in cream. When one is so tired at the end of a day one must sleep, and at the next dawn there are more strawberry runners to set, and so one goes on living, near the earth. At times like this I'd call myself a fool to ask for more...”

-Sylvia Plath

Strawberry season is here. Being surrounded by seasonal gifts of sweetness and beauty from May-November holds many pleasant surprises and “favorite parts”, but I can remember most vividly my first strawberry of the season each year. Once the blossoms are open, I’m down in the patch almost every day checking on their progress, waiting for the perfect one to turn ruby red and call out to me. It’s always the most sensationally delicious moment I can remember (Winter is rough.) The first fruit of the summer! They’re so beautiful, fragrant, and sweet, I don’t know many who don’t love a good strawberry.

 While devouring them on the back of the planter with my mom, I told her I had to think of the best recipe for by blog to start off the season. She laughed at me like I was crazy and said, “slice them up! That’s it.” Then we decided, don’t even slice them. Strawberries and cream. Nothing else like it. So here’s my first recipe for strawberries:

INGREDIENTS:

• Quart size mason jar with lid (spoon-optional)
• ½ pint of Ronnybrook heavy cream
• Quart of strawberries

DIRECTIONS:

• Pour cream into jar, screw on lid and SHAKE IT as hard as you can for about 3 minutes. (Yes. You could just use a hand mixer, but this is more fun).

• Fold back strawberry leaves

• Dunk into whipped cream
• Dunk into mouth.

IM ALSO very into pre-making dressings and syrups this year so they’re in the fridge ready to go on a salad or in a drink when I’m too tired after work to get creative. 

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB SYRUP (Add to prosecco, lemonade, or fold into ice cream)

·         1 cup water

·         1 cup sugar

·         1 ¼ cup finely chopped rhubarb

·         1 cup sliced strawberries

Combine all ingredients in medium pot and bring to a boil then let simmer for about 4 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve into a jar. Let cool and use immediately or store in fridge

HONEY LAVENDER SYRUP (Add to iced tea, lemonade, yogurt, or strawberry shortcake)

·         1/2 cup local honey

·         ¼ cup dried lavender

·         ¼ cup granulated sugar

·         ½ cup water

Combine all ingredients in a medium pot and bring to a boil then let simmer for about 4-5 minutes. Strain into a small jar and let cool before using or storing in fridge.

NETTLE QUINOA CAKES WITH ASPARAGUS, CRISPY HAM, POACHED EGG, AND FENNEL MINT AIOLI

SPRING TIME= BUSY TIME. Up and out at 7 am, work all day, then try to grasp at my remaining social life. I miss a lot of people and want so badly to spend more time with them, but things are GROWING so fast and we just have to keep up. I handed in my last papers Thursday morning and couldn’t wait to get out of the city. Heat + humidity + “humans”= hell. Once Upstate, I had about two hours before it was time to plant. I made honey lavender syrup (recipe to come) and honey sage iced green tea before putting on crappy clothes and jumping on the back of the transplanter with my family to put tomato and cucumber plants in the ground. THIS IS MY FAVORITE THING TO DO! Family, DOG, (usually) bikini, mason jar of cider, or if Adam’s in charge Miller High Life, and PLANTING all the vegetables and fruits that we get to devour and share in just a few weeks! Of course the weather wasn’t cooperating, so we reluctantly called it quits. 

 I whipped up this dinner (I’ll admit it was a lot of work) in an hour and we sat down on the porch to eat, muddy knees and all. I ran out to the chicken coop to get eggs for the recipe and on the way out, slipped and fell down the metal ramp leaving me with a big ol’ bruise and skinned elbows. The kitchen was a MESS after this, but I was happy to have cooked with nettles for the first time and feed the family. I’m pretty confident that if you really laid out all your ingredients (minced, chopped, squeezed, and all) before hand, it wouldn’t be as difficult. (Next time..?)

Ok enough rambling…Here’s the recipe:

QUINOA CAKES:

1 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups water

1 bunch nettles (steamed, squeezed dry in tea towel, and minced)

1/3 cup green olives, chopped

1/2 medium shallot, minced

1/2 cup bread crumbs

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1 Tbsp honey

2 eggs

FENNEL MINT AIOLI

2 Tbsp finely fennel fronds or lovage

1Tbsp finely minced mint

1 egg yolk

1 large clove garlic minced into a paste with a good pinch of salt

juice of half a lemon (or more to taste)

1/4 cup good olive oil

ACCESSORIES

1 lb. bunch thick asparagus

4 slices country ham (fried crispy on a skillet

Spicy baby greens (like arugula)

4 eggs, poached

1-2 Tbsp distilled white vinegar for poaching

DIRECTIONS

1) Make quinoa cakes:

Bring quinoa and water to a boil with a tsp of salt, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for about 20 minutes then cool to room temp. 

Meanwhile steam the nettles until thoroughly wilted. Chop fine & squeeze dry with a tea towel. 

In a medium bowl mix the nettles and quinoa thoroughly. Add the olives, shallot, bread crumbs, lemon juice & zest, salt, pepper, and honey. Add the two eggs. Mixture should hold together in about 6 patties (1/3 cup mixture 1” thick each) on a wax paper lined baking sheet

Refrigerate covered for about 30 minutes to allow them to firm up.

While they're firming prepare the asparagus, ham, and aioli.

2) Make fennel mint aioli:

Whisk yolk with the garlic and salt paste in a medium bowl until pale. Slowly, drop by drop begin to whisk in the oil. When a stable emulsion forms, you can add the oil in a thin stream while whisking constantly. About halfway through adding the oil or if it gets too thick add the lemon juice. Continue adding oil, adjusting the consistency as you go with a little bit of water to prevent it from getting too thick.

When done, stir in the herbs and adjust the seasoning with salt and lemon juice.

3) Steam asparagus:

Steam until just tender and sprinkle a little salt

4) Cook quinoa cakes:

Heat canola oil of medium high heat in a large frying pan. When hot add the cakes without crowding. Fry in batches if needed. Cook about 5-6 minutes per side on medium to medium low depending on your stove until they are cooked through and crispy brown on the outside. While they're frying, poach your eggs.

5) Poach eggs & fry ham:

Bring a medium pot of water to a simmer. Add 1 tsp of vinegar if your eggs aren't insanely fresh. Break your eggs into individual small dishes.

Create a whirl pool in the center of the simmering pot of water by stirring and tip an egg into it. Poach for 3 minutes, until white is set but yolk is still runny. Repeat with remaining eggs. 

Meanwhile fry ham crispy. 

6) Assemble: 

 

Place warm quinoa cake on a bed of greens, top with ham, asparagus, egg, and a generous dollop of aioli. Serve warm. 

Me as a youngin' . Not much has changed, huh?

Sweat, Soil, and Sunscreen

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”- Margaret Atwood

To me spring smells like sweat, soil, and sunscreen. If I’m lucky, some lingering hints of mint from when I passed out from exhaustion under a tree, or even better, the smell of sweet-tart scented apple blossoms stuck in my hair.

Each season has it's routine; the fact that the specifics of each routine is so fleeting, is one of the bagillion reasons I love farming. Asparagus season is only about 4-5 weeks, which is just enough time to make every dish you can think of before BOOM! It's on to the next crop. With a big mug of coffee, and bed-head thrown up in a bandana, I hop on the four-wheeler at 7am, eyes still half shut and vroom down to the asparagus patch to pick (the fastest growing and fastest selling) spring vegetable everyone loves.  The rest of the day is spent doing miscellaneous field work with the family, our eyes constantly scanning the flowering field, screaming our excitement to each other. “Do you see this!? Yes Dad! I’m standing right next to you!” My Mom tells me sitting under a black twig tree in full bloom, “this is what my heaven will smell like.”

I always forget how busy spring is! I want to be cooking, but I don’t want to be in the kitchen. I don’t want to be “IN” anywhere. I want to be OUT all the time.  Do I have to go to sleep? I'm surprised when I hear myself say "Ugh. I don't feel like cooking again". I'm so tired, I just want to be taken care of. Is that horrible?

Anyway, because and ONLY BECAUSE I harvested a TON of ramps last week in that magical forest I told you about where ramps were almost as abundant as the soil under my feet, I dug some bulbs. I made pickled ramps using THIS RECIPE from Saveur so I could savor (ha) them once the season has come and gone.

I sautéed the green part of the ramps with asparagus, in truffle oil, with shaved pecorino cheese and truffle salt.  (Inspired by a dish at Elephant in Kingston) and had it with venison shot by Adam. YUM.

My brother and I also went to ramp fest in Hudson Saturday which was AHHHHH!!! Amazing.

I hate to chose favorites, but I gotta say, Speedy Romeo’s house made mozzarella with charred sourdough, preserved lemon, olive oil, and ramp salsa verde was absolutely incredible.

Also, Blueberry Hill Market Café’s blueberry flap jack sandwich with ramp sausage and maple syrup

Bonfiglio and Bread made the most RAMP-ified dish that I can’t remember all the details for but it was basically ramp bagel, ramp cream cheese, ramp cured gravlox, and capers. THAT WAS SO GOOD.