Too much!

When you have a full house in the coop,

And you find a handful of these,

With these springing from the garden,

You should most definitely sauté them together in butter.

And fill an omelet with them. 

I'm wearing my birthday suit

Although she was a little slow this year, Mother Nature normally gives me tender green leaves for my birthday. 

This year the leaves are still embryonic, but they're visible. And so are these puppies:

A quick lunch break between job número uno (motherhood) and an exciting culinary consulting project: 

Shrimp buns at Tomokun- hit the spot!

indulgence

tunes: you do something to me

heard here by ella fitzgerald

but i've been playing it on my ukelele all night

check out these chords!

Dinner tonight was for adults only, in the twilight, on the porch, after little ones had bedded down. It was a labor of love (small, as it was).  And it was delightfully lovely.  I enjoyed it as much as my husband, who I had in mind during it's inception because he had been out of town for 5 days.

It's nothing uniquely creative, just well executed parts that made a fantastic whole.

Spring asparagus & soft scrambled eggs:

Beat 6 eggs with one teaspoon salt and freshly ground pepper. Add 1/4 cup sour cream. Mix until combined.  Set aside.
Sear lightly oiled and salted asparagus in a cast iron pan.  After 1-2 minutes (depending on the thickness of the spears) add 1/2 cup water to finish cooking the asparagus by steaming. Keep an eye on these; don't overcook.
In a second nonstick pan (my best birthday gift!) melt one tablespoon of butter.  Slowly scramble eggs over med-low heat.  This should take 4-5 minutes.  Your patience will be rewarded.  If you've done it right, they will be like savory egg pudding.

Assembling:
Plate asparagus. Top seared spears with one thick slice of your favorite triple cream cheese. I used Délice de Bourgogne.  If you can find it, great. If not substitute Brie or some lovely cheese that will melt into the asparagus.  Sprinkle cheese with chopped tarragon.  Top the bottom half of the cheese and asparagus with the soft scrambled eggs.  Season with freshly ground pepper if desired.
Serve with toast.

Yoplait goes greek!

Have you noticed at your friendly local supermarket that Yoplait now does a greek version of their fabulous yogurt? Yoplait, through a program called Blog Spark, provided me with a free sample of their new product (in addition to a lovely prize pack designed to "nourish my inner greek goddess").



Look at this gorgeous stuff. It's a very typical greek yogurt, smooth, creamy and tangy, but thick enough to hold it's texture on a spoon. I chose the plain version to test. Yoplait also makes strawberry, blueberry, and honey vanilla, all which would compliment the natural flavor of the yogurt wonderfully.



Around here we're sprouting asparagus everywhere, and I'm not sick of it yet. No sir, I am not. Check back in a few weeks. But I've been looking for ways to use the locally picked hand-snapped stuff from my garden and the farmer's market.

Here's one great example, an afternoon snack or pre-dinner nibbler. Steam one pound of them in one cup of salted water and juice from half of a lemon. After 2-3 minutes, drain and shock them in ice water. Dry well before serving along side curry dip.



Curry dip (or sandwich spread)

ingredients ::
one 6 oz container Yoplait greek yogurt
two teaspoons curry powder
one half teaspoon turmeric
one teaspoon fine sea salt
three or four drops hot sauce (or more to taste)

directions ::
Combine ingredients. Allow to sit in refrigerator for one hour before serving.

Dip steamed veggies or tandori beef kabob. For a different application, spread on sandwich of sliced roasted chicken breast, sliced mango and sprouts.

** Yoplait & BlogSpark would love one of you to try this yogurt too. If you are interested in the free trial, let me know in a comment below which flavor Yoplait greek yogurt you would most like to try.

Cornman Farms :: Yolks extraordinaire

A gift of Cornman farms eggs directed dinner this evening. Once I cracked the beauties I knew that they had to be the centerpiece of our meal. As often happens, a last minute throw together becomes a new favorite. The technique and flavor of this is similar to a carbonara dish, but without the guanciale or bacon. You could certainly add the pork, but in this case it might mask the delicacy of spring asparagus.

Ingredients:

• Six gorgeous eggs yolks. Saved the egg whites in a ball jar for another time.
  
• One pound pasta, boiled in salted water.
  
• Hand snapped fresh asparagus from Plum Market, blanched in the last two minutes of the boiling pasta.
• 2 cups of reserved pasta water
• One-two cups grated parmigiano reggiano. (start with one. add more to taste)
  
• Two tablespoons freshly cracked black pepper.
  

Assembly:

Place yolks in large serving bowl. Pour drained pasta and asparagus on top of the yolks. Immediately toss. Toss again. Keep tossing, so that the yolks slowly coat the pasta. As you're tossing, slowly add 1/2 cup hot pasta water, watching the yolks then become a creamy yellow sauce instead of scrambled egg yolks. I admit that the timing and touch of this is a little bit difficult. You might have to add another 1/2 cup or more, and you will certainly need to use some gourmet intuition. Just put on your chef hat. Once you've noticed a sauce-like texture, it's time to add the parmigiano and black pepper. And toss gently until combined.

a recipe for spring asparagus

I have always been a Jamie Oliver fan. Jamie's Food Revolution gig is only the most current step in the line. It's not a fair weather or trendy popularity thing for me. I loved him as the still-wet-behind-the-ears Naked Chef, and even more passionately when he made the Jamie at Home series. Still photos were edited in with video clips of the man in his garden, then retreating inside to cook the fresh produce.

Not only was the information in the Jamie at Home shows phenomenal, the production was so artistic; it was certainly an aspect that was not overlooked. And of course, a stunning cookbook followed. My dear sister waited in a long line at the Short Hills mall in NJ, just to get a "big love" signature from my favourite Brit.

The concept behind Jamie at Home what it's all about for me. So to have a public advocate, and a handsome British one at that, makes me pretty excited. The ability to grow food and then care about cooking it well, not to mention caring to teach others the importance of this kind of cooking is a very sexy combination to me.

One of the best recipes from this series and book is the crispy asparagus and potato tart. A must try for the seasonal eater. It combines the crunchy filo dough, creaminess of a cheesy mashed potato, topped with blanched asparagus. A fabulous spring dinner, perfect served with a lightly dressed salad.

For a laugh, check out this ad that Jamie made for the at-home show in 2007. I can't seem to get it to embed, so click this link to go to YouTube.

someone's waking up

rhubarb

asparagus