Hibernation: Take Two

Are you getting sick of me whining and moaning and pouting about the weather? First, it was the delay of spring. Well, now it’s the retreat of spring. Actually, more like the re-emergence of winter. Seriously, snow flakes were spotted on Monday. And the two days that preceded Monday? The ones when the weather really matters because you wait all week for them? Yes, Saturday and Sunday? Well they were no good. Rain, wind, a chill and nary a sunbeam to be found.

So, we tried to make the best of it. We watched an alarming number of episodes of HBO’s John Adams mini-series. We napped. We even made a fire, for crying out loud. May I remind you that just days ago we were sipping margaritas on our deck? And shortly after that, we were cooling off with refreshing bowls of frozen yogurt. Now we had reverted to a brand of hunkering down not seen since the dog days of January.

(Click “more” for the rest of the story, more photos & the recipe.)

Ramps!!

Clearly, I’m atoning for Saturday’s seasonally-disfunctional post (stuffed bell peppers, in April!). Between yesterday’s favas beans, asparagus and peas and today’s ramps (RAMPS!!!), I’d like to think my errant eating has been absolved. So, about these ramps: I was beyond excited to find them at the market. They were tucked haphazardly among the chiles, unmarked (probably the only reason I was able to score some) and unpriced (ominous, for sure). I gathered up a bunch and sort of lost myself for a second, marveling at how simultaneously humble and stunning they looked. I spotted a nearby employee and asked him, wide-eyed and awestruck, “Are these ramps?” He smiled knowingly at me and assured me that they were indeed. Clearly, he understood. As I returned to my handful of the beauties, he mentioned: “$11.99 a pound, by the way.” I snapped out of my reverie, promptly returned half-a-handful of the ramps and began scheming about how I’d put the remaining ones to use.

Well, let me just tell you that the Internets were surprisingly unhelpful. There were not a ton of ramp recipes out there. As I was just about to abandon recipes altogether and go freestyle (probably a little reckless, seeing as though I’d never actually tasted ramps before), I found a recipe at Food & Wine’s site for a white cheese pizza with ramps.

(Click “more” for the rest of the story, more photos & the recipe.)

Spring Farro Risotto

Last weekend, Kevin—bless his heart—agreed to do the grocery shopping. We had a really busy weekend, so I jumped at the offer. I also made a ridiculously detailed grocery list. I knew I had a couple things on the list that might be difficult to find, so I included some locational information. But, for some reason, I failed to do so when I listed “fava beans”—treating them more like plain old (easy-to-find) eggs or milk, rather than the spring delicacy that they are. He had no idea whether they were fresh, canned or frozen. No idea what they looked like. No idea that he might have to fight off other foodies at the store who’d also been waiting patiently for favas to make their brief spring appearance.

To Kevin’s immense credit, he found the favas. And he scooped up a big handful and proudly presented them to me when I got home. My heart swelled with pride. And, man, was I excited to finally try out this new-to-me ingredient. Well, um, what I didn’t realize is that an entire pound of fava pods yields a mere cup of beans. So the handful (five, maybe six pods) Kevin had previously proudly brandished resulted in a scant tablespoon or two of pods. And that was after the double-shucking (first, split open the pods and extract the beans; second, plunge the beans briefly into boiling water, drain and rub off the outer skins—see the top two rows of photos, above) that they require. Apparently, favas not only like to play hard-to-get, but they’re high maintenance too. Quite the divas.

(Click “more” for the rest of the story, more photos & the recipe.)

Impatience Pays

Patience has never been my strong suit. I hear it’s a virtue. Maybe so. But it certainly isn’t one of my virtues. Take these peppers, for instance. I know full well that they’d be best in the dead of summer, when peppers are available in abundance at the farmers markets and at their tastiest. But I’ve also been tinkering around with this filling for awhile and I just couldn’t wait any longer to give it a go and bring it to the blog.

These peppers are stuffed with a mixture made of grains and sauteed vegetables and beans. I’ve tried a number of variations and I think this one is a winner. I chose quinoa for the grain; yellow squash, onions and asparagus for the sauteed vegetables; and chickpeas for the bean. The options, though, are endless: couscous, orzo, farro, brown rice; any vegetable under the sun; cannellini beans, kidney beans or baby limas.

(Click “more” for the rest of the story, more photos & the recipe.)

A Multi-Religious/Computer/Award Post

You might be asking yourself, what kind of girl posts a 100% leavened baked good recipe (Lemon-Strawberry Muffins) the day after bringing you a perfect-for-Passover macaroon recipe? Well, I’m here to tell you: a girl who lives in a multi-religious household, that’s who! And, I must admit, it’s a status I quite enjoy. I say: why bake only Christmas cookies, when you can bake rugelach too? Why stop at my family’s traditional Christmas Swedish Meatballs when latkes could be mine as well?

In addition to living in a multi-religious household, we’re living in a multi-computer household at the moment too. My poor laptop—the one that’s seen me through countless law school classes—is on its very last leg. Kevin’s laptop is shutting down too, so we added a new computer to the family last week (Kevin’s birthday!). Which is great and all, but I’m a creature of habit and the transition to newer-and-better has not been without its hiccups. Yesterday’s post, for instance, barely got up without tears (Kevin, please don’t disclose just how close we were to said tears). Upgrade, Shmupgrade.

(Click “more” for the rest of the story, more photos & the recipe.)