English Peas, Spring Onions and Roasted Almonds

Just cooked English peas, sautéd spring onions and roasted, salted almonds are a delicious combination of tender sweet, sweet pungent, and crunchy just salty. You can set this side dish next to grilled fish or chicken or mashed potatoes and a roast. It's...

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English Peas, Spring Onions and Roasted Almonds

English peas and spring onions are easy picking in spring. You'll find them plentiful at the farm market if you don't have them in your own garden. Both are sweetest and most tender early in the season.

English peas are the best eating when the pods turn bright green and just begin to bulge. To harvest the pes just split the pod open with your thumb and roll the peas out. Spring onions have just formed small bulbs. They're sweeter than mature onion but more pungent than a green onion. Spring onions don't require much cooking to be ready for the plate.

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English Peas: Harvest and Cooking

How do you cook peas? Peas are cooked in the least possible amount of water and in just the time for them to become just tender. The French cook peas in the water it takes to moisten lettuce leaves. Line a saucepan with damp greens and a few pea pods, pour in the shelled peas and cover them with moist lettuce. Steam the peas over a high heat for about 3 minutes or until they are al denté, just tender.

Be careful not to overcook peas. Boiling or long steaming will increase water absorption and cause the peas to become soggy and mushy. Both flavor and nutrients are sacrificed when peas are overcooked.

When the peas are ready, the simplest way to enjoy them is with butter, salt, and pepper.

Pea, garden pea, English pea are all the same. The pea is traditionally the first kitchen garden crop planted each year. It goes in the ground as soon as the soil can be worked. So—depending upon where you live—you are either sowing peas now or harvesting them.

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Baby Beets and Sugar Snap Peas with Orange Butter

Sweet and smooth baby beets—red, yellow, and orange—added to sugary sugar snap peas tossed with a tangy orange zest dressing and you have a seasonal salad that says Spring! You’ll have to search to find someone who doesn’t like this salad.

Baby beets and sugar snap peas are just hitting their peak in the garden. If you don’t grow these, head to the farmers’ market where they will be easy pickin’ this time of year.

We had our first supper club meeting of the season this past Saturday evening, so Becky was at the Ferry Building farmers’ market about mid-morning to pick up the beets and sugar snaps. These were fresh picked the day before.

Baby beets—about the size of a walnut—are tender, sweet, and juicy--better tasting than large ones. Choose a bunch—6 or 8 will do--all about the same size for even cooking. For this salad, the beets were individually wrapped in foil and roasted in the oven at 400ºF for about 45 minutes and then cooled in advance.

Sugar snap peas—you eat the entire pod, no shelling required—are perfect when the pods have just plumped. You’ll want to serve these within a day of harvest to enjoy the pods’ natural sweetness. About a half-pound or two cups of sugar peas will do.

Our friends Lonnie and Bruce supplied a navel orange from their backyard tree for our orange zesty dressing. You’ll only need a few slivers of zest and a tablespoon of juice, so the sections are sweet snacking while preparing the salad.

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Steamed Brussels Sprouts

You don’t have to get fancy to enjoy Brussels sprouts. Simply steam or sauté the sprouts and serve them with butter or lemon or sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, like you see here.

To steam Brussels sprouts, arrange the sprouts or pieces on a steamer rack. Bring 1 to 2 inches of water to a rapid boil. Place the rack in the pot and then turn the heat down to medium. Place the lid on tightly and steam until tender when pierced (5 minutes or more until tender crisp).

To butter sauté sprouts, cut the sprouts in half lengthwise. Pan fry using 2 tablespoons butter or margarine. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Add 3 to 5 tablespoons liquid; cover and cook until stem end is tender when pierced.

Steamed or butter sautéed, you can add the Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste and serve hot, or set aside in the refrigerator to reheat and serve later.

There are many ways to enjoy fresh spring Brussels sprouts:

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Yellow Potato Side Dish and Soup

Yellow potatoes like ‘Yukon Gold’ and ‘Yellow Finn’ are ideal for boiling and using in salads and gratins or adding raw to stews. They are moist with a dense flesh and low in starch which means they will hold their shape cooked.

You can boil yellow potatoes whole and unpeeled or cut and unpeeled or peeled and cut. Place them in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Add a pinch or two of salt and bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes until tender. Drain boiled potatoes as soon as they are cooked just tender so they don’t become soggy and unappetizing.

Here’s an easy and tasty Boiled Yellow Potato Side Dish with blue cheese and fresh parsley (or you can substitute fresh chopped chives): Boil the potatoes until they are just tender, drain and cool or refrigerate. When ready to serve, cut the potatoes into halves or quarters and mix with mayonnaise, adding fresh crumbled blue cheese and fresh chopped parsley or chives to taste and salt and pepper to taste.

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Artichokes: Steamed and Stuffed

Artichokes are always eaten cooked. Once cooked, they can be served hot, warm or cold. Pull off each leaf; dunk it in the sauce; put it in your mouth and pull, scraping the tender flesh through your teeth. Cut the tender nut-flavored bottom into bite-sized pieces, dunk in sauce and eat. Serve with béchamel, butter, or hollandaise sauce.

Whole cleaned baby artichokes can be deep-fried to a golden brown.

Steaming is perhaps the best way to cook an artichoke. The flavor and nutrients will be retained.

Steaming an artichoke. Stand the artichoke in a stainless steel pot or steamer basket with 2 to 3 inches (5-7.5 cm) of salted water so that it does not completely water cook. Cover. Steam the choke until the stem end is tender--about 20 to 40 minutes. Remove the thistle-like choke and the small purple leaves. Tug on one of the leaves; if it comes off easily the artichoke is finished cooking. Stuffed artichokes are a favorite in Arabic cuisine. Stuff steamed artichokes with rice, ground meat, sausage, chicken, vegetables, cheese or combinations and bake until bubbling.

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Asparagus Raw or Steamed

Fresh and quick, serve raw or cooked asparagus in salads or as a side dish during spring.

Cut fresh raw asparagus into one-inch lengths with the kitchen scissors. Then add them to the greens salad to add a bit of substance. Choose firm, plump, straight, round asparagus spears with tips that are tight and compact. Give the asparagus bunch a squeeze; if it squeaks, it’s fresh.

Steam asparagus for a side dish. Place the asparagus in a vegetable steamer over simmering water and steam, covered, until crunchy tender, about 5 minutes. Remove the asparagus and run under cold water to stop further cooking. Place on a kitchen towel to drain.

Here is a recipe for Provençal mayonnaise to serve with the steamed asparagus. Prepare the mayonnaise in advance.

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Black Bean Soup

The black bean--the black turtle bean--may be small but it is meaty and flavorful and can be nearly turned into a meal on its own. It is the same frijol negro of the popular Mexican-American black bean burrito. The black bean is a staple in Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian, Cuban, and Caribbean cookery as well.

The black bean--Phaseolus vulgaris--is kidney shaped and just short of blocky looking with a cream-colored flesh, and, of course, a matt to shiny black skin.

Why is the black bean found in so many cuisines? Two reasons: it holds its shape when cooked, and its floury texture absorbs the flavors of other foods making it an easy match and complement to so many other dishes: vegetables, beef, pork, chicken, and fish.

The flavor of the black bean has been described as both sweet and earthy, like a mushroom; you decide. The turtle bean's distinctive color definitely adds drama to soups, salads, and casseroles.

Besides black bean and turtle bean, you may find this bean called Mexican black bean, Spanish black bean, and turtle soup bean.

You will never be at a loss for a black bean soup recipe. There are many, and they are all variations on a theme. Some recipes include fresh tomatoes or celery: ideal for summer when those add-in vegetables are in season. In the winter, substitute a root vegetable.

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Red Cabbage and Apples

Red cabbage is particularly well matched to apples, red wine, and vinegar. The red cabbage leaf lacks the delicate flavor of the savoy cabbage. Rather it has a hearty, full flavor that stands up well to equally full-flavored foods.

The red cabbage is ready for harvest when its head is firm and unyielding. It is equally ready for harvest at grapefruit size as at full size.

If you are not going to use the cabbage right away, wrap the head in plastic and put it in the refrigerator. It will keep for 2 to 3 weeks if need be. When you are ready to serve, wash and trim away the tough outer leaves and trim the stem even with the bottom of the head. Cut the head in half or quarters, lay the flat section down on a cutting board, and slice into quarter-inch thin strips.

A medium head of cabbage will give you 7 or 8 cups of shredded cabbage.

Now, try this savory-sweet red cabbage and apple side dish.

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Oatmeal Date Squares

Hot oatmeal date squares! Yummy!

This recipe will make 25 squares. Each square will be topped with sticky chewy dates and bottomed with flaky warm oatmeal.

Ingredients
1cup chopped dates
½ cup water
½ cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup oatmeal
½ cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 egg whites
1 cup brown sugar

Directions
1 Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2 Butter a square 8-inch baking pan. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with oatmeal.
3 In a saucepan, boil dates with water and ½ cup brown sugar until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cool.
4 In a bowl, combine butter, sugar, and egg yolks. Add vanilla extract, then flour and baking powder.
5 Pour batter into pan and top with dates.
6 In a separate bowl, beat egg whites into stiff peaks, add brown sugar and stir.
7 Pour egg whites over dates and bake 45 minutes. Cut into squares.

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