So, I posted a while back about how much I absolutely loathe frozen corn, and I mentioned how the incredibly wise Jacques Pépin believes that frozen (petite) peas are the only acceptable frozen vegetable to cook with and that Julia Child grudgingly agreed that frozen peas are OK to use if you absolutely must... On Saturday I found myself in one such situation for the first time in my life. Living in Santa Barbara, you get much longer growing seasons for most produce, so I was sort of trained to start craving fresh peas and fava beans as soon as I was feeling springtimey, even though they're both generally considered summer vegetables.
Thus it happened that I was having an intense fava bean craving on Saturday when I headed out to Russo's (aka The Greatest Produce Store in the Boston Suburbs). I got there and found that, not surprisingly, the favas were looking pretty lame. I'd been mulling over a recipe idea involving fresh peas, and the peas weren't as obviously un-good, so I went ahead and grabbed a few handfuls. I also picked up some spectacular Porcini Ravioli that a friend at work had recommended to me. Unlike some prepared foods that I occasionally rant about, these are hand-made on site. The dough is as nice as my own (which I've never found to be the case with store-bought pasta) and, given how expensive porcinis tend to be, they made a lot more sense than making my own. Not to turn this post into a full-on love letter to Russo's, but I also picked up some fantastic (and reasonably priced) Prosciutto de Parma to use as a component in my upcoming amazing dinner.
My thinking for dinner was this: Back in my days as an impoverished college student when I was feeling like eating something other than rice or Tuna Helper, I would sometimes make a pasta dish that copied something I had ordered at a local restaurant (which was much more affordable to make myself than to order). It was a pasta with prosciutto, peas, sautéed mushrooms, and a white wine cream sauce. I figured the Porcini Ravioli could act as the pasta and the mushrooms, while the prosciutto and fresh peas were much higher quality than the discount domestic prosciutto and frozen peas that I'd used in college. The cream sauce is much the same, except that I used whole milk instead of cream* so that I wouldn't feel too gluttonous about this dinner.
Anyway... The dish turned out absolutely spectacular and I was just thinking to myself "Wow. I am a culinary genius!" when I tried a bite with one of the larger peas in it and... not so genius. The peas were starchy and flavorless, nothing like the sweet and tender peas you can buy in season. When I re-made this dish on Sunday night I substituted frozen peas and it was a big improvement. The frozen peas weren't nearly as good as in-season fresh peas would have been, but they were much much MUCH better than the out-of-season "fresh" peas. Thus: the case for frozen peas. Julia and Jacques spent a lot of time living in New England and knew all too well the problems of out-of-season peas, while this was my first experience with such atrocities. The thing is, I knew they were out of season. I knew they wouldn't be good. But I bought them anyway. I blame the fava beans...
In other news, I made a big batch of Scorching Chile Chicken (above) on Sunday to take to work for lunches this week. This batch was so spicy that it almost made me cry when I first took a bite, but I'm sort of a fan of such things... Every day I spend out here on the east coast I start to love it a little more. We're having huge rainstorms these days, which sort of feels like being back home in Portland. I love how the rain makes everything feel so fresh and alive, and how good it feels to snuggle up under a cozy blanket with a good book on a rainy day. I'm looking forward to spring, but I'm not in a big hurry for the rain to leave just yet...
*For the White Wine "Cream" Sauce, I sauté ~3 small shallots (minced) and 2-3 cloves of garlic (minced) in about 1 - 2 tablespoons of butter until very soft and starting to color. I add about a cup of dry white wine and allow it to reduce until there is almost no liquid remaining. I sprinkle in about a teaspoon of flour and a pinch of sugar and stir to combine. Next I pour in milk (maybe a cup?) and a couple tablespoons of cream (optional) and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. After the mixture begins to thicken, I season to taste with salt and pepper, then strain it through a fine strainer which will take care of any clumps of flour while also pulling out the minced shallot and garlic. The result is a yummy, semi-healthy, white wine-infused "cream" sauce...
Thus it happened that I was having an intense fava bean craving on Saturday when I headed out to Russo's (aka The Greatest Produce Store in the Boston Suburbs). I got there and found that, not surprisingly, the favas were looking pretty lame. I'd been mulling over a recipe idea involving fresh peas, and the peas weren't as obviously un-good, so I went ahead and grabbed a few handfuls. I also picked up some spectacular Porcini Ravioli that a friend at work had recommended to me. Unlike some prepared foods that I occasionally rant about, these are hand-made on site. The dough is as nice as my own (which I've never found to be the case with store-bought pasta) and, given how expensive porcinis tend to be, they made a lot more sense than making my own. Not to turn this post into a full-on love letter to Russo's, but I also picked up some fantastic (and reasonably priced) Prosciutto de Parma to use as a component in my upcoming amazing dinner.
My thinking for dinner was this: Back in my days as an impoverished college student when I was feeling like eating something other than rice or Tuna Helper, I would sometimes make a pasta dish that copied something I had ordered at a local restaurant (which was much more affordable to make myself than to order). It was a pasta with prosciutto, peas, sautéed mushrooms, and a white wine cream sauce. I figured the Porcini Ravioli could act as the pasta and the mushrooms, while the prosciutto and fresh peas were much higher quality than the discount domestic prosciutto and frozen peas that I'd used in college. The cream sauce is much the same, except that I used whole milk instead of cream* so that I wouldn't feel too gluttonous about this dinner.
Anyway... The dish turned out absolutely spectacular and I was just thinking to myself "Wow. I am a culinary genius!" when I tried a bite with one of the larger peas in it and... not so genius. The peas were starchy and flavorless, nothing like the sweet and tender peas you can buy in season. When I re-made this dish on Sunday night I substituted frozen peas and it was a big improvement. The frozen peas weren't nearly as good as in-season fresh peas would have been, but they were much much MUCH better than the out-of-season "fresh" peas. Thus: the case for frozen peas. Julia and Jacques spent a lot of time living in New England and knew all too well the problems of out-of-season peas, while this was my first experience with such atrocities. The thing is, I knew they were out of season. I knew they wouldn't be good. But I bought them anyway. I blame the fava beans...
In other news, I made a big batch of Scorching Chile Chicken (above) on Sunday to take to work for lunches this week. This batch was so spicy that it almost made me cry when I first took a bite, but I'm sort of a fan of such things... Every day I spend out here on the east coast I start to love it a little more. We're having huge rainstorms these days, which sort of feels like being back home in Portland. I love how the rain makes everything feel so fresh and alive, and how good it feels to snuggle up under a cozy blanket with a good book on a rainy day. I'm looking forward to spring, but I'm not in a big hurry for the rain to leave just yet...*For the White Wine "Cream" Sauce, I sauté ~3 small shallots (minced) and 2-3 cloves of garlic (minced) in about 1 - 2 tablespoons of butter until very soft and starting to color. I add about a cup of dry white wine and allow it to reduce until there is almost no liquid remaining. I sprinkle in about a teaspoon of flour and a pinch of sugar and stir to combine. Next I pour in milk (maybe a cup?) and a couple tablespoons of cream (optional) and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. After the mixture begins to thicken, I season to taste with salt and pepper, then strain it through a fine strainer which will take care of any clumps of flour while also pulling out the minced shallot and garlic. The result is a yummy, semi-healthy, white wine-infused "cream" sauce...
No comments:
Post a Comment