Well after talking about spring, wishing for spring, feeling spring-like with the weather and then wishing for spring again, it is finally, officially spring, and it happened this week.
There is no turning back now, and even if we run into a Keeneland snowfall (which is traditional) we are out of the long haul of winter and into the small window of spring. What that means for us, the consumer and the farmers who grow locally, is the same: strike while the iron is hot.
Greens are already being harvested, spring onions are close to flowering, and the last of the root vegetables are coming out of storage. This is soup and pasta weather, the start of quick meals at the end of a long day outside. The warmer weather heralds the start of outdoor grilling and, yes, even eating outdoors before the bugs return and the temperatures climb into the high 80’s and beyond.
Fresh fettuccine with grilled spring onions, local shiitakes and spinach and lemon herb butter is a quick and easy dish that can be prepped in advance and prepared in a few minutes. Whether you buy a local fresh pasta or make it yourself, it holds well after cooking.
Then it’s simply a reheat and you’re eating in minutes.
While the crockpot may continue to sit on the counter for the next few weeks, look to the markets that will open soon, and welcome the start of the CSA’s that will bring greens, spring onions and early spring mushrooms. Not ready to go totally light and healthy? Sauté some mushrooms in clarified butter, deglaze the pan with marsala and add some heavy cream and you have The Sage Rabbit’s cream of mushroom soup.
The pace of your life will quicken, the lure of fast food will grow, but there are better ways.
Restock the pantry. I’ve written many columns on the benefits of a well-stocked pantry, but you need to be reminded that a spring summer pantry is different than the fall and winter one.
Lentils and legumes are replaced with basmati and jasmine rice, artichokes, olives and tinned tuna. Dried pasta is a constant, try adding on some rice noodles as well. You still need good canned tomatoes and some roasted peppers, beans take a back seat for now except for an occasional chili made with that crockpot that refuse to be shelved.
The fridge should be filled with fresh herbs, stock pulled from your freezer (should have plenty after all those roasted chickens you did this winter), multiple types of greens and several types of onion. Flavors should be fresh and to the minute, textures should have some bite and chew. The long, slow cooked stews and soups were great but we need to get that beach body back so cut the butter and start with the olive oil.
Seasonal cooking works like the gears of a clock. When the gears mesh correctly, time runs smoothly. Anytime you throw a wrench into the works it affects how much time you have and how it can be spent.
With the days growing longer and warmer and our bodies and souls responding to the changes it only seems natural that your cooking and the food you cook are in lockstep.
Working a full day, racing to various outdoor practices or games, working in the yard or just hanging out until dark, your dinner should be the last thing on your mind. Spring foods which take little time to cook and less time to eat without the full, albeit warming feel of a wintertime roast will give that time back to you to enjoy, with more to come later in the spring.
Lemon herb butter
1 lb. of whole butter softened at room temperature
1 shallot diced finely
1 Tbl. Each of chopped dill, parsley and tarragon
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt and white pepper to tastePlace the softened butter in a food processor and start to puree it. As it breaks down add in the shallot and the herbs until they are combined thoroughly. With the processor running slowly add the lemon juice until its combined into the butter mixture. Taste for seasoning and then remove the butter to a piece of parchment and lay it in a log form. Roll the parchment around the butter and refrigerate until it is totally firm. Slice to order and finish the sauce or pasta with the butter. This can be frozen or refrigerated for several weeks.
Grilled green onions
These can be done loosely on the grill or bunched up after grilled and allowed to steam in a towel. Either way it is advisable to wash them, dress them lightly with oil, and then season them while grilling. Grilled onions, grilled leaks, grilled green garlic can all be treated in this manner. They can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week.
Fresh pasta;
2 ¼ cups of flour
Up to 3 eggs
1 Tbl. Cream
1 Tbl. Olive oilCombine the flour with the eggs, cream and olive oil in a large bowl and mix just until it holds together. Allow to rest for several minutes and then if you’re using a machine form the dough into 4 small balls and gradually work the dough through the rollers going from the widest setting to the desired setting for your pasta sheets. It will be crumbly at first but after a few rolls and folds it should come together.
If the dough is wet avoid flouring it and flour your hands lightly instead. Let the finished sheets dry a bit before cutting them as they will cut and cook more uniformly.
Sauté some sliced shiitakes in clarified butter and add some vegetable stock. Add in the fresh pasta to reheat, (this will help to thicken some as well), the chopped grilled green onions, and finally add a slice of the butter. Cook until the broth coats the pasta and garnishes and then check the seasoning. Top with goat cheese, asiago or Romano cheese
John Foster is an executive chef who heads the culinary program at Sullivan University’s Lexington campus. A New York native, Foster has been active in the Lexington culinary scene and a promoter of local and seasonal foods for more than 20 years. The French Culinary Institute-trained chef has been the executive chef of his former restaurant, Harvest, and now his Chevy Chase eatery, The Sage Rabbit, in Lexington.
