St. Germain Potage

Traditionally, St.Germain Potage is made with dried marrow fat peas. Marrow fat peas are green mature peas that have been allowed to dry out in the field, rather than be harvested right away. One of the classic French preparations is the combination of fresh peas, soft lettuce, and onions to make Potage St. Germain, named for a count in the court of Louis XV. Over the past few years potager gardens have become extremely popular in the garden design world.

The potager kitchen garden (pronounced poe-ta-zhay), initially developed by French monks, became popular in the 16th century in France. The potager was quite widespread, from large chateaus to the common farmyard. Strictly speaking, the potager is really just a garden, but it now often means a decorative vegetable garden. The traditional potager garden contains symmetrical, geometrical garden beds, with the vegetables planted in patterns or groups rather than in rows, often with herbs and fruit intermingled.

Here is the recipe for my soup.

1 1/2 pounds of fresh peas
1 leek sliced thin
1 head of butter lettuce, chopped
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
4 oz of potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
4 1/2 cups of homemade chicken stock
1/4 cup of heavy cream
4 small sprigs of fresh mint

Shell the peas and drop them into boiling water for a minute or two. Then drain them and set a few aside to add to the soup later. In a sauce pan add the butter and leeks. Saute until the leeks are clear. Now add the remaining peas. Then add the potatoes, lettuce and stock. Cook for about 15 minutes and then process for a minutes in a blender. Season the soup with salt, pepper and reserved peas. Stir in the cream and ladle into bowls. Garnish with fresh mint.

Blueberries with Oats and Ground Almond

The english love their puddings and I think this one is my favorite. It is a twick from Nigel Slater's book "Ripe". His recipe calls for fresh black currants. But blueberries are equally delicious.

 In the evenings, when you are tired and want to relax, I suggest reading his book. It center's around his garden and includes stories about damsen and his ducks.

 He has written for The Observer for years and has films adapted into BBC film.

1 pound of fresh blueberries
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 lemon zested
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice

Place the above ingredients in a large pie tin.

For the crumble

1 stick of butter finely diced
1 1/4 cups of flour
2/3 cup of finely ground almonds
1/4 cup of demerara sugar
3/4 cup of rolled oats

Mix the above ingredients and place on top of the fruit. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. The fruit should bubble through the crust.

Fried zucchini blossoms and elderflower jelly aside, this is a book about the virtues of cooking!

Tangerine Madeleines

10 tablespoons farmstead fresh butter, melted
1 cup cake flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated tangerine zest
1 teaspoon of orange flavored brandy
3 tablespoons of chopped roasted hazelnuts
3 tablespoons cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh tangerine juice

Whisk 1 cup flour and baking powder in bowl. Whisk eggs, sugar, brandy and tangerine zest in a bowl and add the cream. Mix the batter until smooth. Whisk in flour mixture to fully blend. Add the melted butter and whisk until the batter is thick and shiny. Cover and chill batter overnight.

Preheat oven to 450°. Spray Madeleine molds with non stick baking spray.  Add chopped roasted hazel nuts to batter. Divide batter among molds, filling each to the top. Bake until Madeleines rise and are a deep golden brown. This will be about eight minutes.

 Next whisk powdered sugar and
tangerine
 juice in a bowl.


Set a wire rack inside
 a rimmed baking sheet.

Unmold the Madeleines onto the rack. Let them cool and dip the tops of the Madeleines into the glaze. Let them sit at room temperature until glaze has set.

Fresh Asparagus Pesto

This recipe is a twinking of Fine Cooking Magazine's Pesto. I changed it up a bit. It is similar to Fava Bean Pesto and a great new idea for using fresh asparagus. The pesto keeps for one week and they suggest using it up by tossing it in hot pasta.

In a food processor place 1 large clove of garlic, 1/3 cup of toasted pine nuts, 1/2 cup of best quality Parmesan Reggiano, 4 sprigs of fresh chives, 12 ounces of chopped fresh asparagus, 1/3 cup of olive oil, zest of 1/2 a lemon, few drops of lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of Pimento De La Vera, kosher salt and pepper to taste. Puree until thick and the consistency of pesto.

I placed the fresh pesto on crostini, ham, tomatoes and hard goat cheese. Yum!

Pickled Fiddleheads

With luck, I was the last person to get the remaining fiddleheads from the Ballard Farmer's Market. Next week, the fresh morels should be in! Check out the fresh butter too! I am trying to get one of the dairies at the farmer's market to sell cultured butter. Maybe, if enough people ask for it it they will start making it.

1 lb fiddleheads, cleaned
½ a clove of garlic per jar
1 sprig of fresh dill per jar
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 pinch of red pepper in each jar
1 pinch of whole black pepper in each jar
1 pinch of pickling spice in each jar
1 pinch of whole allspice in each jar
1 small cube of fresh ginger
1/2 lb shallots, sliced 1/8 inch thick
4 pint jars with lids and screw caps, sterilized


Pack fiddleheads tightly into canning jars, layered with shallots, garlic, ginger and spices.
Bring to boil water, vinegar, sugar and salt.
Pour over fiddleheads so that liquid reaches to within a 1/4 inch of rim, then secure lids and process in hot water bath for 10 minutes.



You now must wait about 6 weeks for them to cure. I have had pickled Fiddleheads with Gravlax and creme fraiche and it is delicious. But, really any cured dish would be an excellent accompaniment to these pickles.

Chocolate Chip & Apricot Cookies

This is my very favorite chocolate chip recipe. It came from Rick Katz a pastry chef who lives in Boston. I guaranty they will only last five minutes. They are that good. I fiddled with the recipe a little bit. But really the recipe is Ricks. You got to try these babies!

2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of very finely ground espresso beans
12 ounce package of Ghiradelli Semi Sweet Chocolate chips
3/4 cup of dried apricots, you need to use the sulfured kind here
2 sticks of unsalted butter
3/4 cup of light brown sugar, it has to be light brown
3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together and then add the eggs one at a time. Add all the other ingredients until well incorporated. Bake for 15 minutes. Rotating the pan several times to get a even golden color.

Abraco's Black Sesame Pear Tea Cake

When I came upon this recipe my mind went to Bilbo Baggin's party for Thorin and his band of dwarfs. It is really tasty and quite wonderful for any band of dwarfs. You will need the freshes black sesame seeds for this recipe. Take a look at my previous post for a source.

1/2 cup of unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups plus two tablespoons of all purpose flour
1 cup of almond meal
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup of black sesame seeds
1 1/3 cups of sugar
2 tablespoons of coarse sanding sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup of buttermilk
1 pear cut into 1/4 inch pieces

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.

In a blender grind 1/2 cup of sesame seeds with the buttermilk. Set aside. Combine the butter and sugar in a mixer and cream. Now add all the ingredients except the pears and coarse sanding sugar. Hand fold in the pears. Place the batter in the loaf pan and dust with the sanding sugar.

Bake for one hour and forty minutes.

Watch to see it does not get to dark. You may want to cover loosely with foil to insure a light golden brown color.

This is Elizabeth Quijada's recipe at Abraco. I would love to sit down with her over a cup of cappuccino. This is one of the most original and creative recipes I have seen in a long time. It is really delicious a must try.