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If spring has sprung for you anything like it has in San Francisco, I would recommend calling up your friends and having an impromptu dinner party tonight! And maybe have platters around for lettuce wraps.
This version is a simple adaptation of an old Gourmet recipe, Cellophane-Noodle Salad with Roast Pork. I first made it a few years ago, and when ripe mangos popped up in the market here, I knew it needed to be on the menu again soon.
This time, I used brown rice noodles instead of the cellophane (or mung bean) and loved the change. A mandoline makes quick work of all the chopping, but I have done it by hand as well, and it’s really not too bad. Also, to fit the warm weather, I grilled the pork this time — and didn’t miss turning on the oven.
The sweet, spicy, crunchy and cool combo is just perfect – and the hands on makes for a fun presentation. It also goes particualrly well with a few cold beers!
Hope you have a great weekend and there is some sunshine your way!
Spring in New York is full of all kinds of goodies that I couldn’t have dreamed of in Los Angeles – things like tulips in every street-side planter box.
But what I have really been loving are the Eastern Spring specialties like ramps and fiddlehead ferns. I have made ramp pizza and ramp pasta with varying degrees of success, and think pickled ramps are up next. They were the hit of my most recent pot of pickles at The Spotted Pig.
As for fiddlehead ferns, I have had them in restaurants, but had never made them myself. So when I saw them at the market recently, I couldn’t help but grab a handful or two.
Problem was, I didn’t know quite what to do with them. I did a few searches online, and nothing seemed to really excite me. And then things came up and the fun little fiddleheads languished in crisper.
Thankfully before I completely abandoned the little buggers, I had read that they should be cooked within a few days, and so I knew I needed to figure something out – they couldn’t be left for days (weeks?) like carrots and the other things in the back of the drawers.
Fiddleheads taste a bit like a cross between asparagus and green beans, so I decided that a simple preparation would be best, but something with enough umph to be a meal – not just a side.
I cooked them simply – blanched first and then sautéed with garlic in the rendered fat of pancetta (a little pork goes a long way) and finished simply with lemon, spaghetti and parmesan.
Some of the great vegetables that pop up in spring are a bit like the season itself – bright and colorful (a nod to the sunshine that is beginning) but still require a bit of time to prepare or at least prep (like the slow dishes of winter).
Take fava beans – they need to be shelled twice. Once to remove the outer pod, and then once to removed the casing? membrane? little fitted jacket? And they are totally worth the effort, especially when mixed with some mint and maybe onion or fennel for a salad that tastes like the best part of a new season. Or pureed and served on toast – coming together for a perfect creamy/crunchy bite.
But sometimes you don’t want that much work, but you still want the flavors of the new gems popping up at the market. That is where these charred favas are perfect!
Think of them as a love child between edamame and blistered shishito peppers, in other words…Heaven!
I first read about these on 101 Cookbooks and thought that I had to give them a try. A quick google search found this method mentioned lots of places – NY Times Food Section, Food and Wine Magazine, Saveur, etc. – but they all had one thing in common. Grill the pods.
Which sounds perfect, but I don’t have a grill. Or even a grill pan (here anyway).
And so decided to would try in on my trusty frying pan – figuring it could get hot enough to char the outsides and steam the insides. But just in case it didn’t work (and the air pockets on the grill/grill pan were really necessary), I only did a few this way – making the rest of the bunch in the more traditional method.
Big mistake!!
They char up just fine on a regular old pan, so there is no excuse not to make these as soon as you see the fresh favas in the market.
I only seasoned them with salt, but next time I will definitely add some chili flakes and maybe lemon juice. The options are endless … assuming you can wait long enough to season them before you tear them apart.
Did I mention that they are like a cross between edamame and blistered shishito peppers? Otherwise known as the perfect snack! (Uh-oh popcorn…you may be safe for the season).
Recipe…
I hope you don’t mind, but I am in a bit of a tea frenzy. With Alice and Wonderland opening this week, helping my mom and aunt with an afternoon tea for my grandmother’s birthday, and dreams of spring garden parties, well, let’s just say it’s tea time around here. And so while I am tweaking recipes for some updated tea sandwiches in with the old favorites, and mastering a mean linzer cookie, I figured I better get all the accessories together that we will need.
We need lots of plates for the crustless nibbles and scones – I like to mix and match … grandma’s china with some flea market finds is the way to go here, plus a bit of my own china too. For a spring tea, breakout the florals and butterflies if you have it. We also need plenty of tea cups, for the tea itself and they also work as great vessels for small floral arrangements throughout the party.
Same goes for tea pots – the more the merrier! It’s not a tea party without several varieties to choose from – for daily cups my favorite is green tea kombucha, but for tea parties, pots of your favorite loose-leaf is the way to go. In addition to china and porcelain tea pots, this is the perfect time to bring out my grandmother’s vintage tea service. Extra teapots can also be used to hold larger floral arrangements.
But since we cannot subsist on tea and sandwiches alone, we better add in some cake plates and tiered servers – we need to showcase the macaroons, petit fours, and other confections we whip up. And we need make sure we have plenty of condiment dishes for jam, clotted cream and all the traditional accompaniments.
And because it is a party, we may need a few other beverages on hand. I am thinking a raspberry lemonade in glass dispenser, and a silver jigger to spice up the spiking!
If your cabinets or grandmother’s pantry isn’t quite as ready for a tea party, flea markets or your local thrift stores are an excellence place to find these items on the cheap.
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