Market Report: 24 bucks worth of Spring
You’re looking at 24 bucks worth of organic, local, spring produce purchased at our local farmer’s market. And here’s what we’re doing with it. For the most part it’s the usual harried parent’s favorite formula: slice, season, sear, and serve. That is, if you can’t get away with serving it raw.
Leeks: slicing thin and sauteeing in olive oil to go on the weekly pizza
Celery Root: roasting it at 425 and serving as a starchy side to some pork or beef or lamb. Probably grilled.
Strawberries: Snacking. The sugar’s far from peaking yet, but way better and sweeter than the March strawberries I grew up with.
Asparagus: Grilling, with olive oil salt and pepper. Good side to the frozen wild Alaskan salmon we’ve been eating recently.
Carrots: Snacking. These things are crazy sweet.
Fennel: Slicing on the Benriner and adding to salads
Broccoli: chopping and sauteeing in too much olive oil over too high heat with too much salt. The best.
Artichokes: We’re doing these old school style: steaming and serving with drawn (antiquated term for “clarified”) butter, for dipping. This will be a first for the kids, and I’ve got a feeling they’ll like all the pomp and circumstance of it.
—Hugh
Any chance of you expounding on “chopping and sauteeing in too much olive oil over too high heat with too much salt.” It sounds scrumptious, but I don’t like my veg cooked to wet grass consistency and I am sure I would flub it up. Do you just do it high heat for a short period of time?
I am looking for something new – getting tired of raw or lightly steamed.
I’m trying hard not to be envious of your farmer’s market bounty. It’ll be months before I can get my hands on fresh, locally grown anything. And forget about artichokes.
Enjoy it!
Here’s how I do it:
peel and chop the broccoli stem into 1/4 inch medallions
break the rest into 1 inch florets
put enough oil into a large sautee pan to cover the bottom and come up the sides a little less than 1/8th of an inch
heat over high heat until oil shimmers
add a couple of cloves crushed garlic (and a tiny pinch red pepper flakes if your kids can stand heat)
add the broccoli, salt it, and let fry in place for 5 minutes or so before stirring
continue stirring now and again until the broccoli is tender. I like it it to break down a bit more than usual and achieve a sort of unctuous, confit-ed, sauciness
you can serve as a side or sauce pasta with it. orrechietti would be nice
Thanks Hugh! That sounds awesome. It is going on the menu for next week.