Late May NH Strawberries!

NOTHING beats fresh, sweet local strawberries.  The sugar content in these babies almost matches that of candy!  Thank you, Barker's Farm, for growing these delicious little morsels....

Fiddleheads!

Friends and fiddleheads, local asparagus and lotsa laughs, peas and the perfect pizza - that's what I call a great thing to blog about!  A spring green special fit for a queen!  Okay, enough with the wordplay.  (Ever tried haiku?  None of this was, but I'm about to explore it as a form of meditative writing.)

First things first: grill your asparagus (toss the spears in olive oil, s&p, and cook carefully--maintain crunch), sauté your fiddleheads (olive oil over a hot pan with a hint of butter and fresh minced garlic--again, maintain crunch), and blanch your peas if  using fresh (I only had frozen on hand, and simply let them thaw at room temp).  Season each veggie independently with kosher salt and ground pepper.

BTW, if you've never had fresh cut asparagus, you must seek some out. Fresh cut asparagus has an entirely different flavor than that rubbery monocrop-style stuff from Peru or California. It's more intense in its compounds (and yes, in your pee!)--earthy, buttery and meaty, rich in numerous vitamins, and really snappy at the base of the stalk.

Grate your cheeses.  I used O.V.'s mozzarella, some freshly rasped parmesan, and a bit of locally produced cheddar.  Next,

Potato Frittata and Birch Syrup

A visit to the Newmarket farmers' market yesterday brought all kinds of new surprises: impeccably fresh, early-April lettuces from Bee Thankful Farm (complete with plump aphids hiding in their creases--a good sign that pesticides are not used, and nothing a salad spinner can't handle!); bundles of garlic greens from Wild Miller Gardens (think giant blades of grass, but garlicky); baskets of fresh shiitake and oyster mushrooms and pots of baby herbs (parsley, dill, sage and others) from Healthy Home Harvest; wine jams (yum!) from Laurel Hill Jams & Jellies; and, last but not least, BIRCH syrup from David Moore and The Crooked Chimney!

Birch syrup made from the sap of Paper, Yellow and Sweet birches.  High in vitamin C, potassium, manganese and calcium, birch syrup is more complex in flavor than maple syrup and not as sweet.  I was told some people have made beer with it!  I made salad dressing.  Recipe can be found at end of post.

This syrup is awesome stuff.  It looks and pours just like blackstrap molasses, even tastes a bit like it, too, but also has a hint of aged balsamic vinegar hiding in its notes.  At $20 for an 8-ounce bottle (well worth it when you know how much more sap is needed for producing it!), it's sure to be used like a fine, aged balsamic vinegar, too.  So how did I experiment?  As an accent flavor to a Spanish frittata made with yesterday's shroomz and garlic greens, and a few other locally grown garden gems, and in a vinaigrette!

To make the frittata, have the following ready:

Fresh Pressed Apple Juice!

The weekend before last I picked up two 1/2-pecks from Hackleboro Orchard while they were attending the Winter Farmers' Market (hosted by the one and only  Seacoast Eat Local, of course!) in Rollinsford, NH.  They have been storing the last of their fall crop in cold storage (32 degrees with a fine mist spray to keep them just from freezing).  I grabbed Cortlands and Northern Spy.  The Northern Spy has the most milk-white center, and is super sweet.  It's the variety I used for pressing my juice.  Yum!

So you see, look in the right places and you can find some of the most treasured foods at this time of year!  Fresh, local apple juice in April!  :~)

Littlenecks and Shrimp with Pasta

Came across some gorgeous local littlenecks this afternoon... just couldn't resist! (Nor could I resist a slab of triple cream brie, but that's another weakness I'll get into some other time.) The last of the Maine shrimp are still in local fish delis, so I grabbed a pound of those, too.  What to make?  Well, I intended on sauteeing them in wine and garlic and serving them with some crusty bread (a super fast and easy meal), but the bag of whole wheat pasta I spotted in my pantry sort of called out to me, so into pasta they went.  I wish I had used conventional linguini; I hate that damn healthy stuff.  But in the end, it was a tasty dish!

Scrub your clams well (I used 2lbs for this recipe), and I highly suggest you allow for some soaking/purging time in case they're sandy.  Unwind with a cold beer while you're waiting, or prep your aromatics (leeks, garlic, parsley...).  Either way, you'll not want to risk mouthfuls of sand and grit in a dish like this, so do the following: