It’s time for the (slightly belated) final post for fava bean week. It’s another recipe inspired by Italy – homemade ravioli filled with a fava bean, mascarpone, and ricotta mixture and served in a two-ingredient truffle butter sauce. Because it turns out that when one of your ingredients is truffle butter, you don’t need much else.

While fava beans are abundant in Italy and Portugal, they aren’t particularly common in the US, even at the height of their season. They occasionally make an appearance at Wholefoods, and some people have found them frozen at Trader Joe’s, but I couldn’t find any near me. We are growing a long row of them, but they won’t be ready until late June, about the same time that Bostonians will be able to find them at local farmer’s markets.

So what’s a fava bean lover to do? I’ve basically been rabid for them in anticipation of the series, knowing it would be difficult to get my hands on enough for several recipes. I’ve started harassing the staff at Wholefoods, begging for them to go back into the stock room and bring me a few pounds. I made my friend Veronika walk through all of the Wholefoods in Cambridge with me – surprisingly, the little Wholefoods had some and the big one didn’t. It doesn’t help that you need about 1 pound of pods for every cup of beans, so what may look like a lot of beans disappears surprisingly quickly.

And then, unexpectedly, I found fava bean nirvana – Eataly. While out shopping for  wedding shoes with my mom, we stopped in at the new Eataly in Boston. I needed truffle butter for this recipe, and figured it made more sense to pay a little more at a store that I knew would carry it than to schlep all over looking for it. If you’ve never been, Eataly is like the Ikea of Italian food, except everything is expensive. You have to wind your way through the massive store in a certain order.  You’ll pass the gelato and pastry counters, a case full of beautiful seafood, a deli counter with dozens of prosciuttos, and rows of dry and canned goods. After weaving my way through the tempting rows filled with jars of fancy tomatoes and olive oils and capers,I found the produce section. There, next to a beautiful basket of morel mushrooms, were all the fava beans I could want. So now I know. And if you’re in Boston, New York, or Chicago, you know too.

Back to the ravioli. Every once in a while Trevor and I break out the pasta machine and make a batch of homemade pasta. I find it quite therapeutic to make, although our pasta is never quite as tender as I want. It’s fun to customize, though, and this filling is really lovely. The sweet mascarpone and ricotta really mellow out the fava flavor. We tossed the ravioli with a quick burro fuso – truffle butter melted and whisked with a bit of warm water. Simple, elegant, and springlike, a homemade pasta worth the effort.

More Fava Bean Recipes…

Spanish Fava Bean Salad with Tomatoes and Prosciutto

Avocado Toast with Fava Beans and Pecorino

Fava Bean Soup with Mascarpone, Mint, and Pancetta

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Fava Bean and Mascarpone Ravioli with Truffle Butter Sauce

Homemade Ravioli with a Fava Bean, Mascarpone and Ricotta Filling. Served in a simple Truffle Butter burro fuso sauce.

Adapted from SPQR. 

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup blanched, peeled fava beans (from 1 pound of fresh beans)
• 1 TBS chopped fresh mint (from 10–12 leaves)
• 1/4 cup mascarpone
• 1/2 cup ricotta
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 recipe homemade pasta dough
• 2 oz. truffle butter
• 3 TBS warm water (preferably the pasta cooking water).
• grated pecorino cheese, for serving

Instructions

1. Add the fava beans, mint, mascarpone, and ricotta to a food processor. Process until smooth and fluffy. Season to taste with sea salt. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
2. Use a pasta machine to roll out the pasta dough in thin sheets. Target the third or fourth thinnest setting as your ultimate thickness of the pasta.
3. Lay the pasta sheets flat on a lightly floured surface, covering the sheets you aren’t using with a piece of plastic wrap. Use a knife to score the pasta sheets into 2 inch squares. Place 2 teaspoons of the chilled filling in the center of half the squares. Wet your finger with water and run it along the edge of each square, then cover the squares with filling with another sheet of the pasta. Press the sheets firmly together around the edges of each filled square, forming ravioli. Use a ravioli cutter or knife to cut the ravioli apart, then firmly press the edges together again to ensure there are no air bubbles. Repeat until you have used all of the pasta dough, re-rolling any dough scraps as needed.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil. Gently place the ravioli in the boiling water and cook just until al dente, about 2-3 minutes. They should be floating at the surface of the water when they are ready. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and place them on a large plate. Drizzle the ravioli with just a little olive oil to keep them from sticking.
5. Add the 3 TBS of the pasta cooking water to a small frying pan, and bring to a simmer over low heat. Whisk in the truffle butter one piece at a time, allowing the butter to melt between additions. When you have incorporated all of the truffle butter, add the cooked ravioli to the frying pan and toss gently to coat with the butter sauce. Divide between plates, sprinkle with the grated pecorino, and serve immediately.

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During the time I spent in Lisbon over the past year, there was a noted dearth of fresh vegetables in my diet. The food in Lisbon is wonderful, but it’s not particularly fresh. One night I stumbled upon a tapas restaurant that served a fava bean salad and it quickly became my go-to vegetable dish when I was craving something light. It was a cold, simple salad of favas, tomatoes, olive oil and herbs. I couldn’t tell you exactly what was in it, but it hit the spot.

I tried to recreate this salad for this week… and totally missed the mark. But, what I did make turned out wonderful. Nothing like that particular tapas dish, but delicious nonetheless. It has a lot of Spanish flavors – smoked paprika, jamón, tomatoes – that all meld together in a warm, homey dish. It ended up being my favorite of all the fava dishes I’ve made for this week, a total surprise hit. Try it with a few slices of crusty bread or a bowl of pasta for a comforting spring dinner.

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More Fava Bean Recipes…

Avocado Toast with Fava Beans and Pecorino

Fava Bean Soup with Mascarpone, Mint, and Pancetta

Fava Bean and Mascarpone Ravioli with Truffle Butter Sauce

Spanish Fava Bean Salad with Tomatoes and Jamón

A warm tapas dish of sauteed fava beans, fresh tomatoes, and jamón. 

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 4
• Cuisine: Spanish

Ingredients

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 small red onion, peeled and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 cups of shucked and peeled fresh fava beans
• 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 1 medium heirloom tomato, roughly chopped
• 1/2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
• 2 thin pieces of jamón serrano or prosciutto, torn into bite size pieces

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes more, stirring frequently. Add the peeled fava beans, lemon juice, tomato, and smoked paprika. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down and the fava beans are tender.
2. Push the beans to one side of the pan to expose the bottom of the pan. Add the pieces of jamón to the bottom of the pan and fry for 1 minute, just to crisp up. Mix the jamón into the beans and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm with crusty bread or warm pasta.

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Four years ago, we spent two weeks in Italy in the beginning of May. It was our first “adult” vacation, and we ate and drank our way through Rome, Florence, and the Maremma. Rome is a city that is easy to fall in love with, especially in May. Jasmine tumbles over seemingly every stone wall, its fragrance completely filling the city. The weather is sunny and dry but not too hot, perfect for sundresses and gelato and walking along the river. Nights are cool and you can eat al fresco, sipping on chilled Pinot Grigio and tucking into plates of cacio e pepe. While parts of Rome are perpetually jammed with tourists, if you move just a little outside the tourist track you’ll begin to feel the heartbeat of a thriving, modern city.

While we were there, we visited a farmer’s market and loaded up on pecorino cheese, the first tiny strawberries of the season, truffled sausage, and fava beans. We brought our bounty to the Pincio gardens, where we picnicked amid throngs of people watching the sunset over the Piazza del Popolo. The simplicity and freshness and ambiance of that meal has stuck with me more than any almost any other meal in Italy.

Eating fresh fava beans with chunks of pecorino cheese is a Roman tradition with a long history. In Rome, the custom is to eat them just as we did – a freshly shucked bean, a slice of pecorino, and perhaps a chunk of crusty bread. It’s a nearly perfect pairing, perhaps improved only by a glass of stony Italian white wine.

Recipe #2 in fava bean week takes it’s inspiration from that pairing. It’s a simple variation on everyone’s favorite breakfast – avocado toast. I’ve heard some report that this trend is on its way out, but I refuse to believe this. It’s the perfect breakfast, how could it be a fad? Maybe that’s just my millennial showing. I do have a pair of salmon (ahem, millennial) pink pants, after all. The addition of fava beans and pecorino to avocado toast is not a gratuitous change. The creamy and subtle sweetness of the avocado mellows the sharpness of the fava beans and the cheese, while the slight crunch of the beans adds some texture to your toast. I mash the fava beans with a hint of meyer lemon zest and a little olive oil, pressing them just enough so that they won’t fall off the bread.

More Fava Bean Recipes…

Fava Bean Soup with Mascarpone, Mint, and Pancetta

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Avocado Toast with Fava Beans and Pecorino

Serves 1.

• 1 slice of Italian or French bread, toasted
• 1/2 ripe avocado
• 1/3 cup of fresh fava beans, shucked and peeled
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 TBS of pecorino cheese shavings
• zest of 1/2 a  small Meyer lemon
• sea salt and black pepper to taste

1. Slice or slightly mash the avocado and spread on top of the toasted bread. In a small bowl, mix together the fava beans, olive oil, pecorino cheese and Meyer lemon zest. Gently smash the fava beans with the back of a fork, just enough to break up the beans. Spread the fava beans on top of the avocado toast, pressing gently to keep the beans from falling off the toast. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and eat!

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It’s very clear to me what I should be eating and drinking in May. Perhaps more clear than any other month of the year. May is for fava beans, as many as I can get my hands on. It’s for ramps, garlicky and pungent, worth the splurge. It’s for chilled glasses of rosé, on both warm days and cold days. And finally, at the very end of the month, it’s for the first strawberries, tiny and bright red.

This year, on May 2nd, I found myself standing over a pile of fava beans, happily shucking the beans from their fuzzy-pods. (This is only a happy activity the first time. After that it’s a chore and a half but still worth it.) I had just opened the first bottle of rosé, a lovely Chilean blend. And then, I realized that I had lived this exact moment the previous year – the first fava beans, the first rosé, the apple blossoms just reaching their peak outside the window. What a beautiful moment! The world is better for its patterns.

In celebration of this particular moment in the year, I’m bringing back a series that’s been quiet for years: ingredient of the week. It’s been 3 years since I last did one, but it’s always at the back of my mind. What’s in season now that I can only get my hands on for a week or two? How can I make the most of it’s brief appearance before it’s gone for another year? After my Sunday Dinner series, it’s the series that best reflects why I write this blog – finding interesting recipes to celebrate seasonal ingredients. Of course, given my current blogging pace of 4 posts a month, putting together 5 posts in a week seems a bit Herculean. So much cooking and writing and photo editing, not to mention the fava bean shucking! But I’ve planned ahead, and I think we’ve got this.

Fava beans have a very distinct flavor, grassy and slightly bitter. This soup is the essence of that flavor, undistilled, unsweetened. It’s a good recipe to kick off this week, a pure celebration of spring flavors. It’s all about the toppings – don’t skip them. The soup needs the saltiness of the pancetta and the crunch of the croutons and the subtle sweetness of the mascarpone. It even needs the mint, that little bit of herbality humming in the background. Without all of those flavors to highlight and offset the grassy fava beans, the soup is a bit one dimensional and overwhelmingly green tasting. But all together, it’s the very essence of spring.

More Fava Bean Recipes…

Spanish Fava Bean Salad with Tomatoes and Prosciutto

Fava Bean and Mascarpone Ravioli with Truffle Butter Sauce

Avocado Toast with Fava Beans and Pecorino

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Facing this dilemna last week, asleep on my feet after a long day and without much of a plan, I chopped up the remaining 2 cups of strawberries and threw them in a bowl. I was planning on dousing them with sugar and using them in my yogurt for the next few days, but decided to look up how you make fruit shrubs before doing so. I had been explaining the concept of a shrub, a fruit and vinegar syrup often used to flavor cocktails, but sometimes drunk on it’s own, to Trevor a few days earlier, but had never actually tasted one.

Turns out, the first step to making a shrub is to douse your fruit in sugar and let it sit around in the fridge for a few more days, so I proceeded with my original plan, adding a handful of lemon peels that Trevor had conveniently prepared for cocktails and left in the fridge. After a day or two of maceration, the juices get mixed with an approximately equal amount of cider vinegar, and popped back in the fridge. Now, 10 days later, I have a jar of intensely sweet-and-sour pink juice that can be added to anything that needs a flavor boost. I actually really like it on its own, although only in small doses, but since today is the first day of my Maine vacation (!), I decided to make a celebratory champagne cocktail with it. A little of the shrub, a dash of bitters, top the glass of with champagne, and you have a sophisticated and not-too-sweet twist on champagne and strawberries.

This recipe is not precise in any sense of the word, so don’t feel constrained by it. Mix up the fruit, mix up the type of vinegar, let sit in the fridge for longer, mix it with something other than champagne… experiment and see what works for you.

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Strawberry-Lemon Shrub

Based on the instructions on Serious Eats. Makes about 2 cups.

• 2 c. hulled and quartered fresh strawberries
• 1 c. sugar
• peel from 2 lemons, white pith completely removed
• 1 c. apple cider vinegar

1. Stir together the chopped strawberries, sugar, and lemon peel in a large bowl. Cover tightly and let sit in the fridge for 2-3 days, stirring briefly every 24 hours.
2. Strain the juice from the fruit mixture. Stir the juice together with the apple cider vinegar. Place the juice-vinegar mixture in the fridge in a covered jar. Let sit in the fridge for at least 4 days before tasting – the flavors will mellow with time. Will keep in the fridge for several weeks.

Strawberry Champagne Shrub

Serves 1.

• 3 TBS strawberry-lemon shrub, recipe above
• 2 dashes cranberry bitters
• 3/4 c. chilled champagne or prosecco
• 1 small strawberry, for garnish.

1. Add the shrub and bitters to a tall glass. Top off with prosecco, drop a strawberry in, and serve immediately.

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I’m taking a quick break from new strawberry recipes tonight to dig up some strawberry-themed posts from the archives. It’s been a long week, and I’m feeling a little short on words, so I’m going to let the pictures do most of the talking here. Hopefully if you picked a few pounds more berries than you know what to do with, this will provide some inspiration!

Drinks

Strawberry-Lime Agua Fresca

An incredibly refreshing drink for a hot summer day, it’s also a little bit gorgeous.

Strawberry and Rosewater Lassis

Strawberries, buttermilk, cardamom, and rosewater come together for a Middle-Eastern take on a milkshake. Not too sweet, but still feels like dessert.

Savory Strawberries

Strawberry Balsamic Salad with Candied Pecans and Goat Cheese

This salad is almost like dessert, it’s so sweet and delicious. For times that you need to trick yourself into consuming raw spinach.

Fried Halloumi with Spring Veggies and Strawberry-Balsamic Gastrique

An unusual appetizer that packs a lot of flavor into a little bite. Perfect for that moment in March when you get prematurely excited about spring produce, but are still craving foods like fried cheese.

Breakfast and Baking

Waffles with Strawberry Sauce

The only acceptable breakfast on my birthday…

Strawberry-Sage Muffins

My favorite basic muffin recipe, with the unusual (but delicious) pairing of sweet juicy berries and fresh sage leaves.

Strawberry Cornmeal Breakfast Cake

A quick one bowl cornmeal cake, perfect for snacking on or for serving mid-morning with a steaming cup of tea.

Strawberry Bourbon Bread Pudding with White Chocolate Sauce

Ridiculously rich and addictive dessert. Carb-y and boozy, it’s terrible for you but oh so satisfying.

Other Sweets

Strawberry-Rhubarb Meringue Pots

A quick and simple spring dessert, lighter than a pie and without the hassle of making crust.

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

Still the best ice cream I’ve ever made, and maybe the best I’ve ever eaten. Incredibly rich, but worth every calorie.

Strawberry, Chocolate, and Whipped Mascarpone Parfaits

Layers of creamy sweetness, fresh sweetness, and crunchy chocolate sweetness. Pretty and elegant.

Strawberry Almond Cream Tart

A classic, and deservedly so. All your friends will ooh and ahh when they see it, as an added bonus.

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I first had un fraisier 5 years ago, in Paris.  Trevor and I spent a week there in May, at a time when we had just barely realized that this might be more than just flirtation and sneaky late night makeout sessions.  I still can’t believe that I actually took that trip – me, who needs months to plan a weekend getaway, won’t pay a dollar more than I have to for anything, and approaches almost everything with caution.  As a sophomore in college, I probably spent a third of my life’s savings on that trip, going with someone I’d only officially been with for less than a year, although I’d known him for much longer.  And it was very worth it.

We didn’t have a huge budget for eating out, so we did a lot of picnicking and bakery-visiting.  Which, in a way, is a perfect way to experience Paris.  We got to practice our french in the boulangeries and fromageries, sit in the beautiful parks and watch Les Parisiens go about their lives, and enjoy french food at it’s most elemental.  We stayed in an apartment along Rue Montorgueil, one of the premier food-shopping streets in the city, so it was quite easy to eat this way, and to eat well.  One afternoon we splurged after seeing a gorgeous display in a little patisserie on our way back to our apartment, and picked up a few treats.  One of them, was a slice of fraisier, a delicate strawberry, pastry cream, and marzipan cake.  Although I don’t remember exactly, we most likely ate it with a glass of kir royal, because that’s pretty much all we drank that week, after discovering the syrupy goodness of 4€ creme-de-cassis.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget that slice of cake.  Or associate it with anything other than springtime, happiness, and love. I’ve been meaning to make it every spring sense, but every time I look at the recipe for a traditional version, I get scared off by how much work it takes. This year, though, I finally did it, and now that I’ve done it the proper way I can start coming up with ways to make it easier.

This is not an everyday cake. Not only does it require multiple components – a sponge cake, a pastry cream which is then turned into a mousseline, fresh strawberries and marzipan – and careful assembly, but making the sponge cake itself is a workout. If you make a proper sponge cake, you have to spend a full 20 minutes vigorously whisking your eggs and sugar to make a sort of zabaglione that is the base of the batter.  That said, with a little planning it’s totally doable, and so gorgeous for a special occasion. And, if you like to bake, it’s extremely rewarding to pull this cake off – I swelled up with pride when I pulled a gorgeously light and golden sheet of sponge from the oven. I am a little disappointed with the slight messiness of the final product (but maybe just because Trevor was making fun of it – feel free to yell at him for me), but I was not at all disappointed with the taste. Although The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts cautioned that if I put my marzipan-coated cake in the fridge with the marzipan, it would be “rendered unusable,” I did it anyway and it’s much prettier and easier to slice after a few hours in the fridge. I almost re-shot these pictures, but then I just ate the cake instead.

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Classic Fraisier

Recipe adapted slightly from The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts. Makes one 8-inch cake.

For the cake:

• 110g cake flour (3/4 c. + 1 TBS)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 oz. whole milk (1/4 c.)
• 1 oz. unsalted butter, at room temperature (2 TBS)
• 3 large whole eggs, at room temperature
• 3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 175g sugar (3/4 c. + 1 TBS)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 17 x 11 inch baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl so that they are evenly combined. Add the milk and the butter to a small saucepan, and heat over low heat just until the butter is melted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Set up a double boiler – fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil, then immediately turn off the heat. In a heatproof bowl that fits snugly into the saucepan without touching the hot water, briefly whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar. Place the mixture over the hot water, being sure it is not touching the water. Whisk the eggs and sugar vigorously for 10 minutes, or until the mixture reads 110°F on an instant thermometer and has become pale yellow.
4. Remove the bowl from the hot water, and continue whisking vigorously or another 10 minutes, until the mixture has tripled in volume and forms a ribbon when lifted from the bowl.
5. Use a rubber spatula to fold the flour mixture into the whipped egg mixture in three additions, making sure that the dry ingredients do not clump. Fold each addition in while the batter is still slightly streaky from the previous addition. Do not overfold or you will deflate the batter.
6. Once the flour mixture is incorporated, fold 3/4 c. of the batter into the warm milk mixture so that the milk mixture has a similar consistency to the batter, than fold the milk mixture back into the batter, until juts combined. Pour the batter into the prepared sheet pan, smoothing gently with the spatula. Immediately place in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes, until surface of cake springs back when touched and the top is golden brown. Remove cake from oven, let cool on a cooling rack, then invert the pan and carefully peel off the parchment paper. Set cake aside, wrapping tightly and refrigerating if you will not be using it immediately.

For the mousseline:

• 2 large egg yolks, at room
• 1 large whole egg
• 3 TBS cornstarch
• 1/2 c. + 2 TBS sugar
• 2 c. whole milk
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 7 oz. unsalted butter, at room temperature (14 TBS / 1 3/4 sticks)

1. Whisk together the egg yolks, egg, cornstarch, and sugar in a medium bowl, whisking until well blended.
2. Place the milk in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk, and add the vanilla pod to the pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then remove from the heat. Temper the eggs – while whisking the eggs vigorously, slowly drizzle 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the eggs, then, now whisking the milk, pour the tempered egg mixture back into the hot milk. Continue whisking vigorously as you return the pan to medium heat. Cook until the mixture thickens, about 3-5 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom as you cook. Once thickened, remove from heat and let cool so that it is just above room temperature. Remove the vanilla bean.
3. Add the slightly warm pastry cream to a mixer, and begin beating on low. Add the room temperature butter 1 TBS at a time, beating as you go, until the mixture is very light and fluffy, like a buttercream. If the butter melts immediately upon contact with the pastry cream, let the pastry cream cool further before continuing. You want the butter to get whipped slightly as it is incorporated into the pastry cream. If mixing by hand, beating a few TBS of butter until fluffy and then incorporating the pastry cream a little bit at a time is helpful. Repeat until all the butter and pastry cream is used up. Use the buttercream as soon as possible after it’s prepared.

To assemble:

• 1 recipe sponge cake (above)
• 1/4 c. simple syrup (prepared from 1/4 c. water + 1/4 c. sugar, simmered just until sugar dissolves)
• 1 recipe mousseline (above)
• 20-30 fresh strawberries of a similar size, hulled
• 2 oz. pale green Marzipan

1. Using a 6-inch cake ring or springform pan as a guide, cut two circles out of the sponge cake. Store the rest of the cake in the fridge or freezer for another use.
2. Place one of the cake circles inside your cake ring of springform pan, and brush the top generously with simple syrup.
3. Place half of the mousseline in a piping bag, and pipe a thin line around the edge of the cake. Cut the strawberries in half lengthwise, and place them cut side out in a circle around the edge of the cake. Try to use strawberries of a similar size. Pipe mousseline in the middle of the cake such that it comes halfway up the inside of the strawberries. Top this layer of mousseline with more cut strawberries, this time placed cut side down, so that you have a layer of mousseline and strawberries that is an even height.
4. Use a spatula to spread more mousseline on top of the strawberry layer so that it is covered by about 1/2 an inch, smoothing the top out with the spatula. Place your second cake circle on top of this mousseline layer, and brush with simple syrup. Top with a thin layer of mousseline.
5. Refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours. When ready to serve, roll your marzipan out into a thin sheet. Carefully remove your cake ring or springform pan from the cake. Use this as a guide to cut a circle out of the marzipan. Place the marzipan circle on top of the cake, top with a few whole strawberries, and serve.

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The first thing I did with our strawberries was make jam. I know that for many people, jam is sort of a last resort thing, something they turn to when they’ve run out of ideas and their fruit is on its last legs. But I’ve been dreaming about filling my pantry with jars of strawberry jam, made from our very own strawberries, since the middle of winter, so for me getting a batch of jam on the shelves was my first priority. Canning still makes me a little nervous, but with every batch of preserving I get a bit more confident. This time around, I veered ever so slightly from the recipe I was using (Paul Virant’s Strawberry Pinot Noir Jam recipe from The Preservation Kitchen), adding a little bit more sugar (which, from what I understand, is basically always safe to do), and a whole vanilla bean. The resulting jam is sweet but not saccharine, loose but not runny, and very elegant. I only wish 2 pounds of strawberries made more than 3 little pint jars! It’s going to be torture to wait until fall to open the others, even though I know I’ll appreciate them much more when the prospect of meals based mainly on kale and sweet potatoes starts looming.

Of course, as delicious as jam is out of the jar, it’s still a condiment, and you typically need to serve it on something. As I waited for my canning jars to seal, my mind wandered off somewhere along the lines of “If you give a moose a muffin…” until it settled on black pepper buttermilk biscuits as the most appropriate companion for my strawberry pinot jam. Upon comparing a number of different biscuit recipes, I determined that the basic, accepted buttermilk biscuit recipe uses approximately the following ratio: 2 cups flour + 2 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp baking soda + 1 stick butter + 1 c. buttermilk, with a bit of variation from author to author. I followed this general guideline, used the frozen grated butter trick and added a few hefty teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper, and the resulting biscuits nearly stole the show from my poor jam. But really, they’re best together – cold and sweet strawberry jam filling in the nooks and crannies of hot and flaky buttery biscuits. And if for some strange reason you get tired of that combo, my next recommendation is to use these biscuits as a vehicle for bacon-egg-avocado sandwiches, with vanilla ice cream and strawberry jam for dessert, of course. Really, you can’t go wrong.

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Strawberry, Pinot Noir, and Vanilla Jam

Adapted from The Preservation Kitchen. Makes 3 half-pint jars.

• 2 lbs fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 1 1/4 c. plus 2 TBS sugar
• 1/2 (750ml) bottle of Pinot Noir
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 vanilla bean

1. In a wide, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the strawberries, sugar, wine and lemon juice. Split the vanilla bean down the middle, scraping the seeds into the berry mixture, then adding the bean pod. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and the strawberries have released some of their juices. Cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate overnight or for up to 3 days to allow the berries to continue macerating.
2. On the day you will can the jam, fill a large pot or canner with water and bring to a simmer. Scald 4 half-pint jars in the hot water to sterilize, leaving them there and a gentle simmer until you are ready to can. Soak your lids and rings in hot water to soften the seals, and sterilize your other equipment.
3. Strain the juices from the berries into a large pot, reserving the fruit on the side. Place the juices over medium high heat and cook until they have reduced by half and have reached a temperature of 215°F, about 25 minutes. Add the fruit back to the juices and continue to cook, skimming any foam off the surface with a ladle, until the mixture has reached 212°F, another 15-20 minutes. If you don’t have a thermometer, test the consistency of a jam by dropping a few drops of liquid on a frozen plate – if the chilled liquid gels, then your jam is ready.
4. Drain the hot water from your jars, and place the hot jars on the counter. Use a funnel to fill the hot jars with the hot jam, leaving a 1/2 inch space between the top of the jam and the rim of the jar. Wipe the rim with a clean paper towel, then place the lids on the jars, and screw the rings on until snug but not tight. Use canning tongs to transfer the jars back into the simmering water, increase the heat to a boil, then boil the jars for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the jars in the water for a few minutes, then remove the jars from the water and let cool completely. Listen for a pop as you remove the jars from the water – that indicates a seal has properly been formed. Note: Do not process any jars that are only partially full – it is only safe to process full jars. Any partially full jars should be stored in the fridge and eaten within a few weeks.

Black Pepper Buttermilk Biscuits

Makes 12-15 biscuits.

• 2 c. AP flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 stick salted butter, frozen
• 1 c. cold buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Grate frozen butter over the coarse holes of a box grater, then add the grated butter to the flour mixture. Use your fingers to gently toss the grated butter with the flour, fully coating the butter.
2. Pour the buttermilk into the flour mixture, and use a fork to gently mix them together, just until the dough is moistened. Don’t overmix. Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Knead the dough 2-3 times, just until it comes together, then flatten into a disk that is 1/2 an inch thick. Use a round cookie cutter (about 2-inches in diameter) to cut out biscuits, pressing the scraps together when you’ve run out of room to create a smaller disk. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Chill the biscuits in the fridge for 20 minutes, then transfer to the preheated oven. Bake until puffed and golden brown on the top and sides, about 15-18 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

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It’s been ages since I’ve done an Ingredient of the Week series, mostly because it’s been ages since we’ve had any hint of life in our garden. But even though the garden is several weeks behind where it was last year, thanks to the weirdly cold spring we had, it’s finally starting to move out of that frustrating stage where everything’s tiny and you use all your time weeding and waiting, into that lush, productive stage I dream about during the depths of winter.

The first crop to really come into its own this year was the strawberries. We planted 75 little plants last spring, and although it was torture to pick off the blossoms last summer, allowing the plants to establish themselves but forgoing the chance of fruit, we’ve been rewarded several times over for our patience, with pounds of fruit ripening on an almost daily basis this summer. In just a little over a week we’ve already picked over 8 pounds of gorgeous berries, which is a lot for just two people. I’ve done a little canning, a little baking, and a little drink-making, but we still have a lot of berries to work through, so we’re going to do strawberry week – i.e. I’ll be posting new strawberry recipes here every day this week, until you all are completely sick of hearing about them.

Although strawberries are usually recognized for their sweetness, we’re kicking things off with a savory recipe. Strawberry gazpacho is not a new idea, but it is certainly a good one, as the balance of acid and sweetness in fresh strawberries  is actually pretty similar to the balance in a very ripe tomato. I did a little research on strawberry gazpacho recipes, but ultimately decided that none of the recipes out there had quite the mix of flavors I was looking for, so I came up with my own. Fortunately, I was really pleased with how well it turned out. It has a little bit of everything red in it – strawberries, tomatoes, red pepper, red onion and red chilies, plus a bit of cucumber, garlic, and basil (not red, but very necessary). Marinated in olive oil and champagne vinegar, then pureed into a smooth and frothy soup, it’s well-balanced and refreshing.  I topped it with red grapes, for sweetness, a goat cheese cream, for richness, and a handful of toasted pine nuts. I liked it so much I had some for breakfast yesterday – it definitely meets my serving of fresh fruit or veggies at every meal requirement, so that’s an added bonus. It’s also super easy, so I imagine we’ll be blending up several more batches of this before the summer is over.

Past Ingredients of the Week

Rhubarb: Rhubarb-Prosecco Spritzer; Rhubarb Custard Fool; Rhubarb Recipe Round-Up; Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice; Rhubarb-Ginger Bars

English Peas: Smashed Pea, Dill, and Feta Crostini; Green Pea Fritters with Herbed Creme Fraiche; English Pea Recipe Round-Up; Green Pea Rum Cooler; A Salad of Bacon, Peas, and Fennel

Carrots: Savory Carrot, Feta, and Almond Baklava; Carrot Cake Crepe Cake; Carrot, Grapefruit, and Mango Smoothie; Moroccan Carrot Panini with Olive Tapenade

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Strawberry Gazpacho with Grapes and Goat Cheese

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe. Serves 4-6.

• 3/4 lb. fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 2 1/2 c. sliced)
• 1/2 medium red onion, chopped (about 3/4 c. chopped)
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (about 2 c. chopped)
• 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 large heirloom tomato, cored and roughly chopped (about 3/4 lb.)
• 2 medium cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1-3 tsp red fresno chili, seeded and finely chopped (taste for heat and adjust amount accordingly)
• 1/2 c. packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• 1/4 c. champagne vinegar
• 1 TBS sea salt
• 2 oz. goat cheese
• 1/4 c. heavy cream
• 1 small bunch grapes
• 2 TBS pine nuts, lightly toasted in a dry skillet

1. Combine first 11 ingredients (strawberries through salt) in a large bowl and stir to coat all ingredients with the oil and vinegar. Cover and let marinate at room temperature for three hours. Transfer to a blender and blend on high until smooth and frothy. Serve at room temperature or chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Just before serving, whisk together the goat cheese and heavy cream until smooth. Pour the gazpacho into bowls and top each with a swirl of the goat cheese cream, a handful of grapes, and a few toasted pine nuts. Serve with crusty bread.

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I’ve recently had a change of heart about sandwiches. See, I used to firmly believe that there was no way a vegan sandwich could ever taste good. Sandwiches are for cheese, and deli meat, and mayo, and bacon. Not for vegan things. Then I tried a bite of Trevor’s “Vegan Pressed” sandwich from our local bakery, The Biscuit, and now I’m obsessed. It’s got roasted sweet potatoes, portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, and some kind of amazing tahini spread, that almost tastes better than cheese when it’s all warmed up, if you can believe that. It may even have topped Finale’s California Turkey (bacon, turkey, avocado, chipotle mayo), and Diesel’s Pilgrim (thick slices of turkey, hot stuffing, cranberry sauce, and cream cheese) on my list of all-time favorite sandwiches. OK, not the Pilgrim. But still! It’s really good.

All of this is just to prime you for the fact that I’m sharing a non-traditional sandwich here, and I want you to keep an open mind about it. Ever since I saw this on Ranjani’s blog, over a year ago, I’ve been intrigued. No, I probably wouldn’t order the “carrot panini” at a deli either, but hear me out. The carrots are thinly sliced, then marinated in a sweet, Moroccan-spiced dressing. You quickly blend up a fresh olive tapenade, layer it on bread with a few thin slices of feta cheese, stuff the middle with the carrot strips, and pan-grill it until it’s hot and melty. It’s a satisfying mix of sweet, salty, and carby, like any good sandwich, but with no bacon in sight. Take a chance on it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Moroccan Carrot Panini with Olive Tapenade

Adapted from Gourmet via 4 Seasons of Food. Serves 4.

• 6 medium carrots
• 2 TBS sugar
• 2 TBS lemon juice, divided
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp chile powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 c. + 2 TBS olive oil, divided, plus more for the pan
• 3/4 c. pitted kalamata olives
• 2 TBS capers, drained
• 1 anchovy fillet
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 8 slices bread
• 4 oz. of feta cheese, thinly sliced

1. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Peel the carrots and discard the peel. Use the peeler to create thin, wide slices of the carrots. Drop the carrot slices in the boiling water and blanch for one minute – they should be crisp-tender. Drain immediately.
2. Whisk together the sugar, 1 TBS of the lemon juice, the paprika, cumin, cinnamon, chile powder, and sea salt in a medium bowl. Add 1/4 c. of the olive oil and whisk until smooth. Add the blanched carrots and toss to coat in the dressing. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to 2 days.
3. To make the tapenade, add the olives, capers, and anchovy to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the remaining 2 TBS of olive oil and pulse a few more times.
4. Assemble the sandwiches: Place 1 oz. of feta cheese on each of four slices of bread. Spread a tablespoon of the tapenade on the remaining 4 slices of bread. Divide the carrots in to four portions and layer on top of the cheese. Top with the tapenade-covered bread. Heat a thin layer of olive oil on a griddle or in a frying pan. Place the sandwiches in the pan, and cook until golden brown on each side and cheese is melty, flipping after about 3-4 minutes. Serve immediately.

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I was planning to post this last night, but for some reason when I got home from my run in the 35° weather, I just didn’t feel like a cold veggie smoothie. I felt a lot more like this pumpkin, black bean, and chorizo soup (delicious, we added half a jar of tomato jam for sweetness and it was perfect). But this morning when I woke up, carrot-grapefruit-mango smoothies were the first order of business.

Some of you who follow me on twitter or instagram may have heard that I recently became the owner of a Vitamix. And a pretty fancy one at that. It was a bonus of sorts from my real job (I love the thing, but I can’t ever see paying $600 for a blender), and perhaps it’s just because it’s new, but I’ve been blending up a storm. Green smoothies (or orange ones as it may be), have become a daily treat, and I love starting my day with them – they’re so immediately energizing, I feel like I should make a video game powering-up noise when I drink them. I know a lot of people who think drinking green smoothies is a completely frou-frou thing to do, but I’ve been trying to convert them one sip at a time. Seriously, green smoothies taste like mangoes or bananas or apples, not spinach. The spinach is just a bonus.

Since I made drinks for both rhubarb week and pea week, I figured it was only logical to whip up a carrot based drink as well. Carrot juice and booze did not strike me as a stellar combination (although I think this could change my mind), so I decided to go the healthy route and turn my stubby little garden carrots into a frothy smoothie. The trick to making a smooth drink from whole, raw carrots is to peel and grate them first – a little time consuming, but worth it for the creamy texture you’ll get (and much cheaper than buying carrot juice!). The Vitamix could probably handle them just cut up into chunks, but I’m still getting the hang of the correct ratios for using it, so I grated them this time around as well. The result was a thick, vibrant, tangy breakfast full of beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber. Drink your vegetables!

Carrot-Grapefruit-Mango Smoothie

Serves 1. Inspired in part by this and the Carrot-Grapefruit Juice in Vegetarian Everyday.

Note: This can be made in any blender, but if you’re using a weaker one, you’ll want to chop up your grapefruit and blend on high. If you’re using a Vitamix, you could probably get away with not grating the carrots, but I like the extra smooth texture that grating them gives.

• 1 c. water
• 2 small carrots, peeled and finely grated
• 1 ruby red grapefruit, peeled and cut into quarters
• 1 c. frozen mango
• 2-3 ice cubes (only if using Vitamix)
• maple syrup or agave to taste (optional)

1. Place ingredients in blender in order listed. Blend on high until thick and smooth. Serve immediately.

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This is how I thought I should start this blog post: “To kick off carrot week, we took a typically sweet dessert, baklava, added carrots, feta cheese, and caramelized onions, and made it savory. Today, we’re taking the opposite approach and reinterpreting a classic carrot-based dessert: carrot cake.”

Trevor read this, gave me his best “could-you-be-any-duller” grimace and began dictating: “My boyfriend is allergic to carrots. I’m making these recipes this week in an attempt to kill him. Living with him these past few months has been unbearable, so unbearable that I’ve been forced to stay out late drinking too much on Monday nights with my friends, which in turn leads to me being behind in my blogging schedule forcing me (and him) to make carrot crepes way past my bedtime. If the act of making these not-very-well-recipe-tested crepes doesn’t get him, hopefully eating them well.”

I think I might just stop trying.

Anyway, we made carrot cake crepes, and assembled them into a huge cake with layers of whipped cream cheese frosting. It’s a good concept, although to be fair, it’s not really my concept – I was going to make Deb’s carrot cake pancakes, until I saw one of her readers comment about making a crepe cake version, and I wanted to try. I googled “carrot crepes” a lot of times, but I couldn’t find a recipe that incorporated raw carrots. In hindsight, there might have been a reason for that. The first few attempts to cook these came out kind of raw and mushy, but with a bit of tinkering, we got these to work out nicely. If you have your own adjustments, please, share – they definitely aren’t perfect yet. The frosting, on the other hand, is amazing – you could always just make that and eat it off a spoon.

I will do my best to begin writing before 9PM tomorrow, for all our sakes.

Carrot Cake Crepe Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Inspired by Lili’s comment on Smitten Kitchen. Makes 1 cake.

• 1 c. whole milk
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1/2 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced into 1-inch chunks
• 3 eggs
• 1 c. flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 TBS brown sugar
• 1 TBS canola oil
• 1 (8-oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
•  1 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1 lb. powdered sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• butter, for greasing the pan

1. Add the whole milk and the buttermilk to a blender. Add 1/2 of the sliced carrots, and pulse the blender a few times to break them into chunks. Once they are broken up, slowly increase pulsing speed until the mixture is smooth. Add the remaining carrots and repeat to make a thick, smooth mixture. Add the eggs and pulse the blender a few times to combine, then pour the batter into a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined. Whisk in the brown sugar. Add the flour mixture to the liquid in batches, stirring to combine between additions. Stir in the canola oil until fully combined. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes.
3. While the batter is resting, make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is smooth and easy to stir. Add the heavy cream 1/2 cup at a time, beating thoroughly between additions to lighten the cream cheese. At the last addition of heavy cream, use a whisk to thoroughly beat and aerate the frosting. Whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth and lump free, then whisk in the lemon juice and vanilla. Taste and add more sugar or lemon if desired. Set aside.
4. Heat a small pat of butter over medium-low heat in a medium frying pan. Add about 1/4 of the crepe batter in the center of the pan, and swirl to make a large, thin circle. Cook the crepe until golden brown on each side, about 3-4 minutes per side (this is much longer than your average crepe recipe, but don’t be tempted to flip them too early or they’ll tear). Once fully cooked, remove and let cool fully on a cookie rack before transferring to a plate.
5. To assemble the crepe cake, place one crepe on a cake stand or plate, and place a small dollop of frosting in the center of the crepe. Use a spatula to gently spread the frosting out in a circle to make a thin layer covering the entire crepe, up to about 1/4 inch from the edge. Place a second crepe on top. Repeat until you have used all the crepes and frosting. Top with a final dollop of frosting, and garnish with grated carrot and crumbled walnuts if desired.

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I started an “Ingredient of the Week” feature earlier this year, challenging myself to make the most of a particular in-season ingredient by posting a creative recipe starring that ingredient for 5 days in a row. I managed to feature rhubarb and green peas, and had grand plans for doing blackberries and peaches and zucchini and tomatoes by the end of the summer, but the summer sort of got away from me. Still, just because home grown produce isn’t as bountiful now as it was in August doesn’t mean that there aren’t seasonal ingredients worth celebrating. This week, I’m celebrating one of the last vegetables we were able to harvest from our garden – the carrot.

While not as popular as another sweet, orange fall vegetable (although I do feel like the pumpkin mayhem is a little more under control this year), the carrot is a humble, under-utilized little root. Usually, when I think of carrots I think of them as part and parcel with onions and celery for starting out a soup, or as stubby little dippers for hummus. But they’re so much more versatile than that! Cakes, sauces, juices, roasts – if you take a minute to think about it, you’ll realize that carrots add sweetness and depth to many different meals.

Whenever I kick off an ingredient of the week feature, I first spend an evening sitting on the floor, surrounded by piles of cookbooks, searching for the most interesting recipes I can find. Once I have a big list compiled, I choose the four or five recipes that I think are the most unique and delicious-sounding. The most interesting recipe from this weekend’s cookbook research comes from a new member of my collection, Maria Elia’s Full of Flavor. In her “roots” chapter, amidst more typical presentations like carrot and herb salad and spiced carrot puree, I found this recipe for a savory carrot, feta, and almond baklava. I’d never had a savory baklava before, and loved the idea. The carrots are thinly sliced and stewed with cinnamon, lemon, caramelized onions, and dill, before a portion of them are pureed. Layered with feta and crushed almonds between butter-soaked sheets of filo dough, they are then baked to crusty perfection and drizzled with honey. I loved the sweet and salty play of the honey and feta cheese, and think these would be a great (if a little messy) vegetarian party appetizer at any time of the year. A good start to carrot week, if you ask me.

Carrot, Almond, and Feta Baklava

Recipe adapted slightly from Full of Flavor. Serves 8-10.

• 3 TBS olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
• 2 lb carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 small bunch fresh dill, including roots, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 c. chopped dill)
• 1 TBS ground cinnamon
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• sea salt
• 9 sheets filo pastry (about 3/4 of a package)
• 6 TBS butter, melted
• 2/3 c. whole almonds
• 1 2/3 c. crumbled feta cheese
• 4 TBS honey

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then add the sliced onions. Caramelize the onions over medium heat until dark and sticky, stirring frequently to prevent burning. This should take 15-20 minutes.
2. Stir in the garlic, carrots, dill, cinnamon, lemon zest, and lemon juice, and season with sea salt. Cook for another 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 3 cups of water, and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook over medium heat until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the carrots are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Process the almonds in a food processor until they are the consistency of a coarse breadcrumb, then set aside in a bowl. Mix the feta cheese with the ground almonds. Add 1/3 of the carrot mixture to the food processor and process until smooth, then stir back into the whole carrots.
4. Unfold the filo dough, and cut to the size of the baking sheet you will be using (ideally around 9×13. Save the extra dough. Cover the sheets you will be using with a damp paper towel to keep them from drying out as you work.
5. Brush the baking sheet lightly with melted butter, then lay one sheet of filo dough on it. Brush the filo with melted butter, and top with another sheet of filo. Repeat to have three sheets of filo in the first layer. Spread half the carrot mixture gently on top of the filo, pushing it out to the corners. Sprinkle half the feta-almond mixture on top of this, pressing down lightly to smooth. Repeat the filo-butter process with three sheets of filo, then spread the remaining carrot and feta mixture on top. Finish the baklava with another three sheets of butter-brushed filo. Before brushing the top sheet, score gently with a sharp knife to cut the pastry into diamonds. Then brush with the remaining butter and sprinkle with cold water. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature before drizzling with the honey.

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I have one last pea recipe before I move on to other, less green things. A pea salad is perhaps not the most exciting recipe in the world, but it made an easy and satisfying dinner last night – and it helped me clean out the fridge before leaving for vacation. The basic blueprint for this recipe comes from Nigel Slater’s Tender. It’s a simple dish, as many of his are, made from hot crisped bacon, sliced fennel, peas, fried eggs, and the tenderest lettuce you can find (so far, lettuce is the crop we’ve harvested the most of). The original recipe also called for homemade croutons toasted in the bacon grease, but all my bread had gone moldy… so I skipped that.

I loved the combination of peas and fennel in this. Tarragon, anise, fennel… they all have that sweetish herbal quality that enhances the pure sweetness of the peas even more. I know I may sound like a bit of a broken record, given that 3 out of 4 recipes I posted this week had either tarragon or fennel in them, but it just works. Small, tender fennel bulbs are just hitting the farmer’s markets in Boston as the peas make their exit, so the timing is perfect, too.

And that’s all for peas. We don’t have a ton left in the garden, and it’s getting a little hot for them to keep flowering. Plus, I’m really tired of shelling them – I spent a good 45 minutes of my life this week shelling peas (and maybe drinking wine while doing it). Lessons learned from this edition of ingredient of the week? Peas taste great with fennel and tarragon, peas from the garden are a revelation, and for your own sake, find a friend to coerce into shelling them with you.

A Salad of Bacon, Peas, and Fennel

Adapted from Tender. Serves 2.

• 4 slices bacon
• 1 1/2 c. shelled English peas, from about 1 1/2 lb. pea pods
• 1 medium bulb of fennel, fronds trimmed
• several large handfuls of tender lettuce, such as butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp mustard
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 2 TBS olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Fry the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove from pan, and let drain briefly on a paper-towel-lined plate before chopping into rough chunks.
2. Turn the heat under the pan with the bacon grease to low. Wait a minute or two, then add the shelled peas. Cook until bright green, about 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in a bowl.
3. Crack two eggs into the pan with the remaining bacon grease and fry sunny-side up.
4. Tear the lettuce into bite sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Thinly slice the fennel and add to the lettuce. Add the cooked peas and the chopped bacon.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, and olive oil until cohesive. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then dress the salad with it.
6. Split the salad between two plates, topping each with one of the fried eggs. Serve immediately.

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It’s finally Friday! Does anyone else need a drink? I needed a drink. It was a long week, guys. Really long. But now it’s over – and I’m on vacation! For ten whole days! I’m headed up to Maine with Trevor and my family tomorrow morning, and I’ll be relaxing, eating well, and spending time outside, rain or shine (it’s looking like rain, unfortunately).

When I saw the recipe for “The Sweet Pea” cocktail in the April issue of Bon Appetit, I got really excited. English peas? In a cocktail? I’m in! Plus that drink is such a gorgeous pale green color I’m not sure how I was supposed to resist riffing on it. I wanted to be a little bit more adventurous with the flavor profile of this drink, and since I’ve been reading green pea recipes all week, I’ve got all kinds of ingredients that pair well with peas on my mind. After mulling it over for the past few days, I decided on the following combo: fresh green peas, cucumber, tarragon, lemon, and elderflower rum. And yes, this is what I saved my super-sweet-from-our-garden peas for.

The resulting drink was lovely. It had a wonderful herbalness from the tarragon, natural sweetness from the peas, a refreshing hint of cucumber, and the acidity of the lemon tied the other flavors together – definitely a departure from my usual super-sweet, super-fruity cocktails of choice. The elderflower rum is a little sweet on its own, and is definitely a nice addition, but if you can’t find it using regular rum is fine. Personally, I don’t like gin, but I imagine that it would work well here if you’re a fan of it.

So cheers! Here’s to a lovely weekend!

Green Pea Rum Cooler

Inspired by Bon Appetit. Serves 1.

• 3 TBS fresh green peas, shelled
• 3 slices of cucumber, about 1/2-inch thick each
• 1/2 TBS roughly chopped tarragon leaves
• 1 slice lemon
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1-1/2 oz. elderflower rum, or other white rum
• ice

1. Muddle the peas, cucumber, tarragon, lemon, and sugar in a cocktail shaker until peas and cucumber are completely mashed. Add rum and ice to shaker and shake for 30 seconds, then strain into a glass. Serve cold, garnished with additional lemon or cucumber slices and a few whole fresh peas.

The post Ingredient of the Week: English Peas // Green Pea Rum Cooler appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.