Asparagus, green garlic, lacinato kale, spinach, radishes and strawberries. Sounds like a great mystery basket or shopping list, and it could be both.
What it actually is, is a list of things found and purchased at the farmers markets these past few weeks. And as I said before, this is just the tip of a very big iceberg, one that ply’s these waters every spring in Kentucky. While we wait with impatience the coming of summer vegetables, spring slips by from 60 degree weather to 95 and humid.
The first few sprigs of asparagus are now three weeks in the market and within a few more weeks they’ll be gone until next April. Have you taken full advantage of this marvelous vegetable or do you remember the days of canned asparagus, or boiled spinach, and cringe whenever anyone mentions them?
Taken as separate items we will invariably choose our favorite spring vegetables and gorge on them. Asparagus fatigue may already be setting in with some people but the season is too short to allow any of it to slip through our fingers. Other items may last longer, the strawberries that are coming to market now are from the southern part of the state.
All things being perfect, we should see that roll into central Kentucky for at least a few more weeks. My dilemma as a chef is how to keep things fresh and new while taking advantage of the small window of really great product. I find one of the best ways is to find common themes among the produce and blend them together into a spring cuisine not totally dependent on one vegetable.
In the recent past, Sullivan University, and the restaurants in which I worked or owned would do demos at the farmers markets. The demos were designed around a market basket concept; almost all of the product was purchased at the market, forcing me and my cooks/ students to actually cook in season.
These events produced some of the most inspired food I’ve cooked because literally you followed the flavor, texture and color profiles of the market. Strawberry vinaigrette over roasted asparagus. Green garlic pesto with local sheep’s milk cheese spread on Sunrise Bakery sourdough. Wilted spinach salad with bacon, green onion and chili dressing, shaved radish and early snap peas.
It wasn’t necessarily a finished product, and in certain cases I expanded on the ideas once I got back to the restaurants. This type of cooking reveals the very best of a cook and the products they use. Ay no other time are you as sharp and focused, because in addition to the market basket concept, you also have a line of people at your table waiting to sample your creations.
Minus the audience appreciation, you can accomplish the same sort of experience by signing on for a CSA or simply spending some time at the local markets. Go with just a bag and nothing else. No agenda, no shopping list, no recipes. If you don’t know what something is, strike up a conversation.
Farmers and their wares are like grandparents and their grandbabies; always happy to show them off and talk about how precocious they are! Never had fresh goat cheese? Try a sample or by a little amount to ease you into it. Not sure you want to spend the money? Consider that the alternative is settling for the same old thing, found at the megastore with no real connection to you.
Above all, don’t be hard on yourself. Market cooking should be fun, and relaxing. The education you get, and the economic impact you make locally should remain in the hazy part of your Saturday morning brain, a warm and fuzzy feeling that brings you back to market, time and time again.
Quick strawberry vinaigrette
One of my favorites, this was born of the need to dress some wonderful local salad greens.
1 cup fresh berries, hulled and washed
1 green onion, white and green parts diced finely
1 cup vinegar (could be local apple cider or a nice balsamic from one of our specialty shops)
Honey if needed to sweeten
Salt and pepper.I macerate the berries in the honey, vinegar, salt and pepper until they start to break down. I add the green onion and then gradually whisk in some pure olive oil (extra virgin is too strong for this vinaigrette).
If you whisk, and not process in the robo coupe you should have a bright color and lots of strawberry flavor. I like to serve it over roasted asparagus.
Green garlic pesto
Several booths make this from their own green garlic or scapes so make sure you look for it. At market I would get some pesto, bacon and when available a little fresh tomato and make Paninis with Sunrise sourdough.
It also makes a great vinaigrette when you thin it with a bit of vinegar. Of course fresh pasta and the pesto is a quick and fun dinner and readily available at market. Also a torte or layered dish of tomato, wilted spinach, green garlic pesto dressed with a peppery balsamic is a stunning appetizer both visually and for flavor.
Anything asparagus this time of year has almost infinite possibilities. Grilled, roasted, sautéed, raw preparations all play into a versatile vegetable that can double as a pesto, a layer of a panini, with local shiitakes it can be roasted in olive oil and finished with white truffle oil and tossed with local potato gnocchi.
Grab some local cream and simmer the trimmed stems in the cream, strain and toss in the tender tips and you have a quick and easy cream of asparagus soup.
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.
