by Eric

Fresh Peas

…and other fresh things

It was time to cook the English Peas I got at the Iacopi Farm stand at Saturday’s market the second week of their young season. As I shelled them I couldn’t help but notice how crisp and fresh they were and was thinking about a good, simple, pure thing to do with them so that their flavor would sing. I had about a cup-and-a-half of peas.

Consulting my recipe files, I came across this (Eric is number one son):

Fresh Pea Soup
Here’s what we’ve been serving on our table recently. Recipes from Eric & Alison’s Tilth Table, November 1998 (From the River Cafe Cook Book)

2 tablespoons butter plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, and 1 clove crushed garlic
1 bunch mint
2 1/2 pounds peas, shelled
2 cups chicken stock
grated Parmesean cheese

Saute onion and garlic in oil and butter until brown add peas, most of mint, and stock, cook until peas are just tender remove half of the peas to a food processor and pulverize them. Add them back to the rest of the peas serve in bowls topped with cheese.

Carol brought home a bunch of mint that grows wild in her school’s yard at SF State, roots and all, so I was all set there.

I realized at the last minute that the recipe calls for a sweet onion. I had only yellow and red onions so I took a walk to Real Food, a couple blocks away. When I asked the produce guy, he said he had no sweet onions, but pointed out young red spring onions. If they taste as good as they look, they’ll be a delight. Three of those, chopped made a scant cup.

I thawed some of my homemade chicken stock made with pasture raised chicken – including the feet and head – making a rich gelatinous stock.

I’ve had this recipe for 12 years… why did I wait so long? The soup was garnished with creme fraiche and mint leaves.This was really good. I loved biting into the fresh whole peas in the soup for a burst of flavor. EZ too, making two “side dish” servings plus one serving left over.

w_pea_soup_ham

I wanted something equally simple, clean and spring-like to go with the pea soup as a main course. I cubed part of a thick slice of ham from Marin Sun Farms, par-boiled and cubed an equal amount of potatoes. I fried those kind of crispy in a hot cast iron skillet with butter and olive oil. I deglazed the pan with red wine, a little broth, another pat of butter, a dollup of cream, and reduced that for a sauce. That, my friends, is good eats.

04.06.10

by Eric

A Fine Pork Chop

…revisited for lunch

The Globe Restaurant on Pacific at Battery is open late, frequented by off-duty cooks, so they say, and folks like us, hungry after a movie at the Embarcadero.

Globe

The room is a nice size with high ceilings; entry and bar at one end, partially open kitchen at the other. Feels good to be in this place bustling with diners. It was quite noisy until the group of nine near us were fed, happy and gone. It was quite dark, as well, so my pictures are pretty grainy – I won’t use a flash in such a place.

Globe_lil_gem

We started, sharing a lil gem salad from Mariquita Farm. Just right.

Globe_pork_chop

My pork chop with cabbage and potatoes was so good and I was so hungry, that I forgot to take its picture – even though artfully presented. Well, you’ll have to imagine what’s in my tummy. But this is about that pork chop revisited. No way I could eat all of it, so I took most of that part at the top – including the bone – home.

Next day at lunch I decided to recreate that dinner as best I could. I peeled and cut up a red potato – this variety happens to have red flesh, as well, a colorful paring with the cabbage – and set it to cooking slowly in duck fat. Duck fat and cabbage are long time lovers… I trust the potato can love a little, as well.

gr_potato_cabbage

I chopped half of a small Savoy cabbage to add to the skillet at just the right time.

gr_saute

Remains of the Globe pork chop, were diced and added to the skillet, along with a bit of white wine, salt, pepper and tarragon. After thoroughly warming and bubbling for a few minutes, lunch slid nicely onto my dish.

gr_served

Not exactly the atmosphere of the Globe, but the flavors and textures are there for a fine treat. Yum.

04.06.10

by Eric

Saturday Morning Frittata

Why Do I Make Breakfast Difficult?

My Saturday mornings have a routine… Go to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market at eight o’clock, come home and prep the vegetables for storage – top and wash the carrots and radishes, trim the leeks, whatever else depending on the season and bounty – put everything away and make notes of what we have to eat for the week. Then, it’s time for breakfast – by that time one might call it brunch although I cook and eat alone and brunch implies a sharing, less informal thing – Carol has long since had her breakfast.

Since childhood, I’ve never been a cereal or oatmeal – or even a smoked salmon and cream cheese – kind of guy. I need to invent something. “Why do I have to make it difficult?” I say to myself… and then I go ahead with a preparation of more than a few steps. This morning, I had leftover corned beef, I fried that, just enough to get it warm – that’s a good start – but I had no other leftovers. So I sliced and fried a potato, broke two eggs and beat them up with a bit of crème fraiche (tip: zap your crème fraiche in the microwave for seven seconds before adding eggs), topped that with some fresh cheese curd from the market and made a two-egg frittata. Oh, I threw in some celery, for crunch.