R
amps and fiddleheads and morels! Spring has sprung, and its warmer days and cooler nights mean that there’s a very small window of time for our local chefs to get their hands on some really unique produce. What are these elusive, delicious and — in the case of hand-foraged fungi — ridiculously expensive ingredients, and how do our local chefs like to prepare them? We recently checked in with a few to see what spring produce they’re most looking forward to and how they will be preparing it lucky diners.
Chef Renee Schuler of eat well celebrations and feasts
“There is so much amazing produce to look forward to in spring,” says chef Renee Schuler, “but I have to say my favorite day at the grocery store is when globe artichokes finally drop to less than $2 apiece.” That’s when Schuler fills her shopping cart. She trims the artichokes, halves them and boils them in well-salted water, covered, until just tender when pierced through the stem with a fork, about 30 to 40 minutes (depending on the size of your artichoke).
While they cook, Schuler puts together the following recipe for a quick, cold mustard sauce with whatever fresh herbs are in season. “It’s the taste of spring,” she says. “(Artichokes) are so beautiful and tasty. I make plenty because leftovers can be eaten in the future cold or sautéed in butter and added to pasta or on top of chicken or fish.”
Artichokes look intimidating, and the thought of dispatching them can be a bit unnerving, but it really isn’t. Easy tutorials are available online.
Chef Renee Schuler’s Cold Mustard Sauce
Ingredients: 1 tsp. whole-grain mustard1 tbsp. Dijon mustard Half a lemon, freshly squeezed
1⁄
3
cup mayonnaise or olive oilRoughly chopped fresh herbs — chives, tarragon, parsley, dill or chervilKosher salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste
Instructions: In a bowl or blender, mix the lemon juice and mustard. Gradually whisk in mayonnaise or olive oil. Add the herbs and adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for one week. eat well celebrations and feasts, 921 Monmouth St., Newport, Ky., 859-291-9355, eatwellonline.com.
Chef Todd Hudson of Wildflower Café
Chef Todd Hudson takes full advantage of the season’s bounty by incorporating lots of fresh local produce into his menu. He sources asparagus from Clarksville’s Branstrator Farm to add to a sandwich on Sixteen Bricks rye bread that is “to die for,” with goat cheese, pickled onion and béarnaise. Strawberries, also from Branstrator, are used to make strawberry cake, strawberry-mint sangria, lavender-strawberry lemonade and strawberry crème caramel. Ramps, a North American species of wild onion, from Clarksville’s Walnut Ridge Acres, are puréed into a pesto for zucchini pasta, as well as for a topping on poached egg and parmigiana. Greater Cincinnati’s Our Harvest Cooperative’s leafy greens go into salads, quick sautés, bean and green soups, creamed greens, pickled greens and Southern-style greens dishes. Wildflower also has its own greenhouse for growing herbs for pesto, chimichurri (a green sauce used for grilled meat, originally from Argentina), fried herbs and lemongrass fish. Wildflower Café, 207 E. Main St., Mason, 513-492-7514, wildflowergourmetcafe.com.
Chef Andrew Mersmann of Red Feather
The spring menu at Red Feather features fiddlehead ferns (curled-up fronds of young ferns), English peas, fava beans, green garlic, spring onions and stinging nettle, which is being incorporated into specials as a sautéed green. “(Ohio Valley Food Connection) brought us some to try, and it’s kind of sweet when it’s cooked,” says chef Andrew Mersmann of the nettle.
The fava beans are being incorporated into a filling for delicate agnolotti pasta topped with turmeric curry, which is then garnished with pea tendrils and freshly cracked pepper. The dish is served with glazed peas and carrots.
“I love peas and pea purée, but mostly peas,” says Mersmann. “I used to have to blanch off an extra (quart) of peas when I worked at (Jean-Robert’s) Table and set them out as a decoy for Chef. He would walk around and say, ‘What’s for dinner?!’ And then grab a handful of peas.”
Chef Mersmann’s recipe for fresh pea purée is perfect when mixed with a bit of reduced cream as a pasta sauce, spread on toasted baguette with fresh ricotta cheese and a little truffle oil for bruschetta, or as an accent to a dish of roasted chicken with roasted carrots, parsnips and mushrooms.
Chef Andrew Mersmann’s Pea Purée
Ingredients: 1 bag of frozen peas (you could use fresh peas, but it would be very sad to pick them only to put them in a blender)1 large pot of boiling water salted with ¼-cup salt1 bowl half-filled with ice water2 tsp. Kosher salt
Instructions: Gently pour the bag of peas into the boiling water and bring back to a boil. Boil the peas for about 45 seconds. Strain and put them into the ice bath for about a minute. The peas should be bright green. Remove the peas from the ice bath and put them in a blender with about 1 cup of the ice water and 2 teaspoons of salt. Blend until smooth. If needed, slowly add more ice water to achieve your desired consistency. The purée can be kept in the refrigerator for about a week, but it will lose its vibrant color after about five days. It also freezes well. Red Feather, 3200 Madison Road, Oakley, 513-407-3631, redfeatherkitchen.com. ©
This article appears in Apr 6-13, 2016.
