Recipe Index

spring garden hodgepodge of radishes, leeks and peas depending…

by Deborah Madison

serves 2

ingredients:

· handful of radish thinnings, plus their greens · 3 thin leeks, white parts plus a little of the pale green, sliced (about 1/2 cup) · 10 ounces pod peas, shucked (about 3/4 cup) · 3 thick asparagus spears, tough ends trimmed, peeled, and sliced on the diagonal · Spring butter, made from the milk of grass-fed cows, or your favorite · 1/2 to 1 cup water or chicken stock · sea salt · about 1 teaspoon finely chopped tarragon · 1 teaspoon lemon juice Depending is the operative word when there is a garden or good farmers’ market. Leeks? Yes, but it could also be ramps or walking onions green garlic, or green onions. (Even the humble onion will do.) Radishes for me are likely to be the long Cinncinati Market variety and a round variety, the roots small and the leaves lush and tender. Peas? A half cup of shucked shelling peas or slivered snow peas or early sugar snaps. Any and all of these vegetables would be good. Groping around your garden, you’re going to find some treasures that will become the stars of this little ragout, which cooks in just about 10 minutes.

Here’s an example of what vegetables I used and in what amounts, reflecting what I came across one late Spring day. A few days later and it would have been a different mix. When I’m a better gardener, the combination will change yet again— hopefully to include more than three asparagus spears!

Prepare and wash all your vegetables. Trim the radishes and slice lengthwise, making all the pieces more or less the same. Also wash and dry the greens, ready the leeks, peas, and asparagus. (If you wish, you can make a stock to use in this dish with the leek trimmings, pea pods, asparagus peels, some tarragon, and salt. You’ll only need 1 cup or so.)

When you are about ready to eat, melt a few teaspoons butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks and 1/2 cup of the water and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with a few pinches of salt, add the radishes and asparagus, and simmer for 3 minutes. Next, add the peas and radish greens, making sure there is liquid in the pan as you go and adding more if needed. Continue cooking until the peas are bright green and the leaves are tender, about 2 minutes longer. The radish leaves will wilt and look a little funky, but they will taste mild and slightly nutty.

When the vegetables are done, remove from heat, add a heaping spoonful of butter, season with salt, and stir in the tarragon and lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasonings, then serve and enjoy your garden in a bowl.

spinach crowns with sesame-miso sauce

by Deborah Madison

Serves 2-3

ingredients:

· 16 spinach crowns · 1 tablespoon white miso · 1 tablespoon tahini · 1 tablespoon soy sauce · white or black sesame seeds, toasted in a dry skillet until golden One bunch of spinach will yield eight or nine spinach crowns (the pink roots, plus about two inches of the stems and the small leaves), enough for two or three people to enjoy as a nibble before dinner. I toss them with the same kind of sauce tht is often used for spinach in Japan, one based on sesame paste, white miso, a little soy, and water to thin. It seems that there’s nothing this sauce isn’t good with.

Rinse the crowns thoroughly. Trim them, removing a bit of the root and any bedraggled leaves, then soak them in a bowl of cold water, swishing them about to loosen any grit or sand. If a lot of sand comes out, empty the bowl, refill it, and wash again.

To make the sauce, stir together the miso, tahini, soy, and 1 tablespoon water in a bowl large enough to hold the spinach crowns.

Steam the spinach crowns over simmering water, covered, until they have wilted a bit but are still bright green, after a few minutes. Remove them, rinse under cold water, dry well, then toss with the sauce. Pile them onto a serving dish or individual dishes, scattering sesame seeds over all, and serve.

rhubarb potstickers

by Sara Moulton

Serves 4

ingredients:

· 1 cup sliced rhubarb · 3 tablespoons sugar · 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange rind · 12 wonton wrappers (3 ½ by 3-inches) · 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil · 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter · sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (optional) Toss the rhubarb with the sugar and the orange rind in a medium bowl and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain and save the liquid separately from the rhubarb.

Spread out the wonton wrappers on a work surface. Place a small mound of the rhubarb in the center of each wrapper. Brush the edges of each wrapper with water; lift two opposite corners of each wrapper and press together above the center of the mound of rhubarb; bring the other two opposite sides up and press them together. You should have shaped the wonton into a little pyramid with the mound of rhubarb inside. Pinch the wrappers together very tightly at the seams to make sure they are well sealed.

Heat the oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until bubbly, then arrange the pot stickers, seam sides up, in the skillet. Cook them 2 to 3 minutes or until the bottoms are pale golden. Add 1/3 cup water, reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet with a lid, and cook 5 to 6 minutes, adding more water if necessary to cook the wonton wrappers through.

Remove the lid and continue to cook until the bottoms of the pot stickers are crisp and golden. Gently loosen the pot stickers, and lift them out onto a serving plate. Stir 1/4 cup water into the reserved juice. Add the mixture to the skillet, bring it to a boil scraping up the brown bits at the bottom of the pan, and drizzle the liquid over the pot stickers. Serve hot with a spoonful of sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.

orange jellies

by Sara Moulton

serves 6

ingredients:

· 3 navel oranges · 2 juice oranges · 1 envelope unflavored gelatin · 1 ½ ounces vodka (optional) Cut the oranges in half crosswise and squeeze out the juice. Strain and measure. You should have about 1 ¾ cups juice. Add more juice if you have less than this amount and remove juice if you have more. Carefully scrap out and discard the pulp from the navel oranges to form six half shells.

In a small saucepan combine 1/4 cup of the juice with the gelatin and set it aside for 5 minutes to dissolve the gelatin. Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the gelatin is dissolved and the mixture is clear, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in the remaining juice and the vodka, if using. Transfer the liquid to a measuring cup or small pitcher so it is easy to pour.

Arrange the orange shells, cut side up, in muffin tins or ramekins and pour the mixture half way up the side of each shell. Put the muffin tin holding the shells in the fridge and finish filling them, carefully pouring the remaining orange mixture all the way up to the top of each shell. (Note: depending on how large the navel oranges were, you will be able to fill 5 or 6 shells.) Cover the filled shells with plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight. Cut each half in 3 wedges before serving.

ingredients for my favorite pâte à choux:

· Whole Milk | 125 grams | ½ cup · Water | 125 grams | ½ cup · Butter | 110 grams | ¼ cup – 1 stick · Sugar | 5 grams | 1 ½ teaspoons · Sea Salt | 5 grams | 1 ½ teaspoons · AP Flour | 140 grams | ½ cup + 1/3 cup (5/6 cup) · Eggs (room temperature) | 197 grams | 3 eggs + 1 egg yolk

pâte à choux

directions for my favorite pâte à choux:

In a saucepan, boil milk, water, butter, sugar and sea salt together. Add the flour and cook until dry.

Transfer the cooked mixture to a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment and add the eggs in stages since you may not need them all. Adjust the mixture with warm milk or eggs to ribbon consistency, if necessary. The dough will slowly fall when you stop the mixer.

Pipe the choux paste into golf ball-sized balls. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18-20 minutes.

*For Gougères, omit the sugar, add 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, and 1 cup (120 grams) Gruyère cheese. Right before piping the choux paste, fold in the cheese and pepper.

profiteroles with malika’s sticky fudge sauce

by Malika Ameen

To make profiteroles, slice the pâte à choux in half horizontally and fill them with your favorite ice cream or gelato, and top with Malika’s warm fudge sauce. Glossy, sticky, chocolaty and delicious!

ingredients for malika’s sticky fudge sauce:

· Unsweetened Chocolate | 57 grams | 1/3 cup · Unsalted Butter | 17 grams | 2 Tablespoons · Agave Syrup | 35 grams | 2 Tablespoons · Heavy Cream | 190 grams | ¾ cup · Sugar | 212 grams | 1 cup · Malted Milk Powder | 11 grams | 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon · Instant Espresso Powder | 3 grams | 1 Tablespoon · Kosher Salt | 1 gram | ½ teaspoon

makes 2 cups

directions for malika’s sticky fudge sauce:

In a small heavy bottomed saucepan melt chocolate, butter and agave syrup on low heat. Whisk until smooth. Slowly add cream, sugar, malt powder and espresso powder and stir until dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 3-4 minutes. Constantly stir to avoid burning. Remove from heat and whisk in salt.

chocolate caramel eclairs

by CeCe Campise

To make eclairs, pipe the pâte à choux into thin strips (as opposed to round balls), then fill with CeCe’s chocolate cremeux filling and top with CeCe’s caramel glaze.

ingredients for cece’s chocolate cremeux:

· Half and Half | 350 grams | 1 1/4 cup + 1/3 cup · Heavy Cream | 350 grams | 1 1/4 cup + 1/3 cup · Egg Yolks | 140 grams | 7 yolks · Sugar | 80 grams | 1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon · Vanilla Bean Paste | 5 grams | 1/2 teaspoon · Salt | 2 grams | 1/2 teaspoon · Bittersweet Chocolate* | 385 grams

directions for cece’s chocolate cremeux:

*I prefer Valrhona Guanaja 70% chocolate melted over a double boiler

Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla bean paste and salt together. In the meantime, scald the liquids. Slowly whisk the hot liquid into the egg yolks.

Pour the whole thing back into the pot and cook over low heat stirring slowly, nonstop with a spatula, making sure to scrape the bottom.

Once it is nape (when you run your finger along the spatula and the custard holds a line) pour it over a fine strainer into the melted chocolate, whisking until uniform. For an extra smooth chocolate filling use an immersion blender to really combine all ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap touching the top to prevent a skin from forming, until cold and ready to pipe.

ingredients for cece’s caramel glaze:

· Sugar | 100 grams | 1/3 cup + 2 Tablespoons · Heavy Cream Warm | 100 grams | 1/3 cup + 2 Tablespoons · Premium Butter | 25 grams | 1 ½ Tablespoons · Salt | 4 grams | 1 teaspoon · Vanilla Bean Paste | 4 grams | ½ teaspoon · Bittersweet Chocolate* | 385 grams

directions for cece’s caramel glaze:

Combine sugar and a tiny bit of water (so it looks like wet sand) in a heavy pot.

Cook on high until the sugar turns a dark caramel. Carefully and slowly add the warm cream, whisking constantly, but be careful to avoid steam burns. When the cream is whisked in, add the butter and vanilla and whisk until combined. Let cool.

*An easy alternative to this glaze is to combine 10 ounces of chewy Werther’s caramels, melted in the microwave, with 2 ounces of hot cream.

green hornet

by Tona Palomino of Trenchermen, Chicago

serves 1

ingredients:

· 1 1/2 ounces gin · 1 1/2 ounces fresh celery juice · 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice · 3/4 ounce simple syrup · A few dashes of Bitter Truth celery bitters · Fever Tree tonic · ice In a shaker, combine everything except the tonic. Shake vigorously and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with tonic and serve.

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