There are several firsts that we look forward to during the cooking year.  The first “real” arugula in the spring.  The first grilled New York Strip of the season.  And, without a doubt, the first BLT made with home grown tomatoes.

Nothing touches home grown tomatoes.  Even farmers’ market tomatoes just aren’t the same.  Pulling a plump, juicy tomato from the vine, feeling the heat of the flesh from the sun, cutting into the tomato and getting that smell of ripe summer… it just does not get better than that.  Especially when it is the very first tomato of the season.

We reserve the first tomato of the season for our BLT ritual – served al fresco, with wine, for lunch. Our goal, which we hit almost every year, is that this tomato is ripened by the first weekend of July.   But the details of the BLT tend to vary from year to year, depending on what is on hand and at its freshest.  This year our BLT contained Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon, arugula, Butler Farms Fresh Brebis Cheese with Garlic and Herbs, and farm fresh sweet onion.

And yes, it was as good as it looked.

Spring brings asparagus season, and asparagus just screams for two of my favorite ways to prepare food… grilled, and with an egg on top.  Recently, Bon Appetit called “anything with an egg on it” one of the hottest trends.  Trendy or not, we’ve been putting egg on “stuff” for a while, and we love it. 

Grilled Asparagus Milanese is simple to prepare, and an oddly rustic yet elegant addition to your spring meal.

Ingredients:

1 bunch asparagus
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Balsamic Vinegar to taste
2 eggs

Grated Parmesan cheese

Snap the tough ends off of each asparagus stalk.  Lay on a single layer on a plate and coat with olive oil.  Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Grill on direct heat until slightly charred, about 10 minutes.  Remove from grill and divide onto two plates.

Fry eggs in light coating of olive oil, sunny side up.  Sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper.  Place one egg atop each pile of asparagus.  If desired, spray lightly with balsamic vinegar.  Grate parmesan cheeses on top of egg yolk before serving.

Adding an egg on top of produce does not always seem to be an intuitive thing to do. But the egg yolk oozes onto the asparagus like a rich dressing, adding a complexity to the flavor that is hard to beat. Served with a perfectly grilled tenderloin aside a salad of arugula, tomato and cucumber, this meal serves as a early, healthy introduction into the grilling season.

Ramps were one of the finds that made our first CSA Produce season worthwhile. I had never heard of a ramp before I first started getting our produce box from Harmony Valley Farm. Now they have become a passion. They came in the very first box, and I looked at them with intrigue.

On the surface, they looked like a scallion, but the aroma was so much more intense. We chopped them up and sauteed them and were surprised to find that the aroma sharpened with cooking. Research later showed that ramps have a very big reputation for “stinking”!

Some might think that is a bad thing. I do not. Ramps may not necessarily be for the faint of heart, but if you love garlic and onion, you can not go wrong with ramps.

The flavor is sharp, and seems to be a cross between onion and garlic. I was an instant fan. My only disappointment was in discovering how short the ramp season is.

Ramps (Allium tricoccum), also known as wild leeks, were native to North America. White bulbs are topped by green leaves. The stems leading up to the leaves are burgandy in color. Native Americans held ramps in high esteem for medicinal purposes, and it turns out that they were right on target. Ramps are high in Vitamins A and C, and they fight high cholesteral just like their cousin, the garlic.

Ramps are simple to use, and add flavor to almost any dish. Simply sautee them as you would onion or garlic, tear the greens up and add them to salad, or even sautee the greens as well. In addition, here are some recipes that feature ramps:

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Ramps and Scallions in Mustard Sauce

Ramp, Scallion and Green Garlic Pesto

Carbonara with Pancetta, Peas, and Ramps

 The first CSA produce box of the season has arrived!  As with previous years, our membership is with Harmony Valley Farm.  We’ve been memberof this farm’s community supported agriculture for a number of years, and we can’t imagine a better program to join.

As in past years, I am going to kick this season off with a vow to use everything that we get in the produce box.  It can be a challenge at times.  I mean… burdock.  What do you do with burdock?  I haven’t gone out of my way in past years to find out, but this year I am going to!

And so, without further ado, here’s the produce that I got from the CSA on week one.

• Overwintered Parsnips
• Asparagus
• Sunchokes, aka Jerusalem Artichokes
• Ramps
• Sorrel
• Overwintered Spinach
• Rhubarb
• Burdock
• Chives
• Black Radishes

But, of course, I didn’t stop there.  I also had to hit the Westside Farmers’ Market and pick up more.  And do I also need to use this:

• Mixed Spring Greens
• Scallions
• Radishes

Wish me luck!

It’s that time of year again! The Farmers’ Market season kicks off in high gear in the upcoming weeks. Madison, WI and Dane County provide an amazing array of Farmers’ Markets around the area, giving locals the opportunity to buy fresh, buy local, and to meet their food suppliers in person!

Between Farmers’ Markets and CSA programs, many people abandon their mass grocery stores at this time of year and turn to the plethora of local food producers who deliver high quality, seasonal food. To make it easy, we’ve complied a list of local Farmers’ Markets. With a markets available almost every day of the week, there’s no excuse to not support your local farmer!

Madison-based Markets

• Dane County Farmers’ Market: Saturday, 6 AM to 2 PM, April 19th to November 1st, Madison Capital Square
• Eastside Farmers’ Market: Tuesdays, 4 PM to 7 PM, May 13th through October 14th, 201 S. Ingersol St.
• Fitchburg Farmers’ Market: Thursday, 3 PM to 6 PM, May through October, Agora Pavilion on E. Cheryl Parkway
• Hilldale Farmers’ Market: Wednesday & Saturday, April 26th through November 1st, Hilldale Shopping Center
• Northside Farmers’ Market: Sunday, 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM, May through October, Pierce’s Northside Market parking lot
• South Madison Farmers’ Market: Tuesday, 2 PM to 6 PM, April 26th through October, Labor Temple and Thursdays, 2 PM to 6 PM, Park St. at Villager Mall
• Westside Community Market: Saturday, 7 AM to 1 PM, April 19th through November 8th, Hill Farms Department of Trans. parking lot
• McFarland Farmers’ Market: Thursday, 2 PM to 6 PM, May – October, 5100 Farwell St
• Middleton Farmers’ Market: Thursday, 7:30 AM to 1:30 PM, May – October, Greenway Station
• Monona Farmers’ Market: Sunday, 9 AM to 1 PM, May – October, Ahuska Park, E. Broadway

Area Markets 

• Belleville Farmers’ Market: Saturday, 8 AM to 12 PM, May – November, Library Park
  Brooklyn Farmers’ Market: Wednesday, 3 PM to 7 PM, May – October, Douglas Drive and Rutland Avenue
• Columbus Farmers’ Market: Sunday, 9AM to 1 PM, May – October, Julie’s Java
  Darlington Farmers’ Market: Saturday, 8 AM to 12 PM, May – October, Darlington Festival Park, Main St.
• Janesville Farmers’ Market: Saturdays, 8 AM to 1 PM, May 10th – October 25th, 100 block of Main St.
• Lake Mills Farmers’ Market: Wednesday, 4 PM to 8 PM, May through October, Commons Park
• Mt. Horeb Farmers’ Market: Thursday, 3 PM to 6:30 PM, May – September, Heritage Park
  Paoli Farmers’ Market: Saturday, 8 AM to 12 PM, May – October, Paoli Park
• Stoughton Farmers’ Market: Fridays, 7 AM to 1 PM, May – October, Stoughton Plaza Shopping Center
• Sun Prairie Farmers’ Market: Fridays, 7 AM to 1 PM, May – October, 300 E. Main
• Waunakee Farmers’ Market: Wednesday, 3 PM to 6 PM, May – October, Waun-A-Bowl parking lot

If we’ve missed one, let us know by leaving a comment!

It is nearing that time of year – the time when the CSA box begins to deliver produce that can be creatively put to use for an entire meal. Tonight’s dinner was based nearly entirely on the CSA box, which we get from our terrific farm, Harmony Valley Farm.  The Grilled Caesar Salad with Steak and Blue Cheese was filling, flavorful, and healthy!

As I unpacked my CSA produce box this week, I realized I had the making for this immediately on hand.  The large, leafy green head of Romaine lettuce and the purple scallions were exactly what was needed for this dish.

First, the greens were grilled over our charcoal grill.  Not for long, mind you, because you don’t want the greens to wilt away to nothing.  You merely want to toss them in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and pop them on the grill for about 2 minutes – long enough to get nice, smokey char lines, while still maintaining most of the crispness.

Once pulled off the grill, a toss with your favorite caesar dressing, some croutions and chopped scallions makes it nearly perfect.  However, to make the dish completely perfect, we topped it off with sliced top sirloin steak, grilled to medium rare, and then we added something that sent it over the top – an Artisan Blue Cheese from Castle Rock.  Rich, creamy and pungent, this cheese also came from our CSA program, as a part of the cheese shares that we opted into this year.

And, of course, our Shiba Inu Jimbo, convinced that he was on the verge of starvation, cared only about the grilled sirloin!  (Though he thought the Blue Cheese was pretty worthy as well).

This summer, Saturdays have turned in to a leisurely meal outside on the deck, enjoying the shade of the 250 year old oak tree, the gentle breeze, and the mild early summer temperatures. And in such a relaxing, civilized setting, not just any lunch will do.

A recent Saturday morning found me watching FoodNetwork TV as I got ready to run my routine errands (like picking up the CSA produce box that we get weekly).  Tyler Florence’s show “Tyler’s Ultimate” was on, and while he tends to do food we like, I wasn’t paying extraordinary attention… until he began to discuss a dish called Gallina De Madre, or Mother Hen Toast.  I was immediately intrigued.

This dish consisted of a crusty, toasted slab of rustic bread, topped with serrano ham and an egg, then baked.  I knew that the chances of finding serrano ham were slim, but I also know that other high quality ham would work for this dish.

Gallina De Madre was offered up as a tapas, or even a nice breakfast.  It looked to me like the perfect lunch for that very day, and so I made sure that my errands for the day including picking up anything we might need.  As is usual, I modified the recipe that he presented to suit our tastes.

Recipe serves 2:

2 thick-cut slices rustic bread
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 
4 slices shaved serrano ham (We used Boar’s Head Black Forest Ham)
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lay bread out on a sheet tray and drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toast lightly in oven. Arrange 2 slices of ham on each slice of toast and nestle it into a nest shape so the egg will rest in the center. Crack egg and drop into nest on each toast. Bake in oven until eggs are just cooked but the yolk is still slightly runny, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Served along side a bed of greens simply dressed with salt, pepper, olive oil and red wine vinegar, it was exactly what we were looking for that day.

Nothing screams Spring like asparagus.  By mid-spring it becomes the fresh go-to vegetable unlike any other.  Sure, by early summer you are so tired of asparagus that you are ready to scream, but that’s ok, because that is just the time that the season is ending for the year.With the prevelance of aspargus in early spring comes the necessity at creativity.  Steamed asparagus over, and over, and over just doesn’t cut it.  The Asparagus Spring Salad is just the answer.

Simple to make, it doesn’t even warrant a formal recipe.  Simply add your favorite freshly available produce to the crisply steamed asparagus and toss it with salt, pepper, olive oil and just the lightest touch of balsamic vinegar.  In the picture included here, I’ve added fresh radishes, scallions and tomatoes to the mix.

How many of you grew up absolutely hating brussel sprouts?  I know I did.  I’ll preface this post by saying that I hope my mother isn’t reading this blog as of late, and Mom, if you are, please stop reading now.  Thanks.

Now I’ll continue on…

Brussel sprouts for dinner were one of those traumatic events of my childhood.  It ranked right up there with beets, which I wrote about quite some time ago in this entry.   I vowed never to eat another brussel sprout after I was old enough to make such a proclamation without getting severely chastised.  Then I figured out that the brussel sprouts weren’t the problem, it was the preparation of the brussel sprouts which caused the aversion.

(Mom, you aren’t reading this right?  Don’t continue on if you are!)

When I was growing up, brussel sprouts came frozen in boxes.  Then you boiled them.  Then you served them.  Slimy.  Yes, slimy.  Beyond rutabaga (that’s yet another entry for a different time), brussel sprouts caused the children in our family nightmares.

But guess what?  Fresh, properly prepared brussel sprouts ARE NOT SLIMY.  It’s true.  They are solid, and crisp, and taste great!

Have you ever seen a brussel sprout in the wild?  Go ahead.  Click on the picture to the left.  Most people have no idea what these little orbs of veggies look like in their natural state.  Yes, they look like they grow on mutant dwarf palm trees.  Does it scare you?  It may not, but it sure scared the heck out of Jimbo, my Shiba Inu, who was certain the house was being invaded by alien tropical trees. 

Sure, he looks regal in the picture on the right, but when confronted by wild brussel sprouts, he’s reduced to a whimpering wuss. 

But back to brussel sprout preparation.  First, cut them off the sprout.  Next, soak them in salted water to get any insects out of the leaves that may have called your stalk of sprouts home.  Then slice them in half, toss them with diced onions, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast at 425 for 30 – 45 minutes.

(You read this, didn’t you Mom?)

The First BLT of the Season

Served with a bottle of wine and a bit of jazz while sitting on the back deck and enjoying the summer, it is something that we look forward to all year long.