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Archive for 'spring'

LINGUINE WITH NEW ZEALAND COCKLES

The little bivalve mollusks called cockles are found in sheltered estuaries and tidal flats throughout much of the world, and a flourishing cockle bed may be packed with more than a million of them to the acre. Most of those we see at American seafood markets are New Zealand cockles (Austrovenus stuchburyi; known to the […]

WATERCRESS FOR SPRING

Every April, my mother and I would spend hours in the woods, wading in bone-chilling mountain streams to pick watercress before it flowered and disappeared until the following spring. Somewhere, my mother had picked up the knowledge that the plant had been used as both food and medicine in ancient times, and each year, I’d […]

FARRO PILAF FOR SUPPER: A MARKET STORY

April mornings at the Union Square Greenmarket haven’t been quite as warm as the weather reports would have you believe. A light breeze still has the chill of winter behind it, and everyone hugs the sunny side of the street. Tempting pots of jonquils aside, my weekly expeditions remain more about foraging for the least-gnarly […]

THE FIRST FAVA BEANS

The closest Manhattan comes to a village green is the farmers market at Union Square, and the chance to catch up with friends is part of the pleasure of shopping there. One of the Saturday morning regulars is Roy Finamore, a longtime cookbook editor, author, food stylist, and all-around good egg. This week, he delivered his […]

SPRING’S GARLIC, ONIONS, & SHALLOTS

Every season has its stars. This time of year, people queue at farmers markets for ramps, one of the most pungent members of the vast Allium genus. I’m far more interested, however, in the heaps of fresh garlic, onions, and shallots I see, and on my last few visits to the Greenmarket, I slope off […]

QUICK-BRAISED PEAS AND LETTUCE

Something about garden peas makes me nostalgic for … I don’t know what. At their best, picked when small and young in the pod, they are what spring has always tasted like. I see gardeners, kneeling in the earth, working hard, being patient. Waiting for the world to wake up. That’s why, last month, I […]

SCRATCH SUPPER: WILTED DANDELION SALAD WITH PINE NUTS AND PARM

Young, tender dandelions are as green as spring itself. And their flavor, clean and sharp like the air at dawn, is what I crave now. Although the greens are found around the world today, their use in the kitchen developed a very long time ago in the Mediterranean. You can trace the name “dandelion,” in […]

DEVILED HAM—THE ULTIMATE PIGGYBACK SNACK

Deviled chicken, deviled eggs, and now … deviled ham. This is not a rut. It’s a trilogy, and my inspiration this week is the Easter ham still commanding pride of place in the refrigerator. From Lobel’s butcher shop (since 1840), it’s a stellar example of a city-cured*, or baked, ham. There is enough tender, juicy, rosy-pink […]

RICK ELLIS’S STUFFED EGGS FOR EASTER

I wrote about deviled chicken just a couple of weeks ago, but never mind: There is no better hors d’oeuvre for Easter or other springtime celebration than deviled, or stuffed, eggs. I am exceedingly fond of them, especially those made by our good friend Rick Ellis. A food stylist and culinary historian who crafted the […]

TURNIPS IN VERY EARLY SPRING: A MARKET STORY

It took me a long time to come around to the idea of turnips. Although the root vegetable has always been part of the southern culinary repertoire, I’ve often found it tough and woody, preferring instead its spicy greens, added to whatever other pot greens I had on hand. Eventually, I acquired a taste for […]