This is about as springtime as it gets. Fresh garden peas, served with light-as-air gnocchi made with pea puree, tied together with a little butter and cheese. Just a lovely light supper.
The Garden
A Loss in Springtime
My cat has gone missing. We have not seen her in more than a week, and I feel dead inside because of it. I try to stay positive, or at least stoic, and busy myself with the green renewal that is my garden. My garden. Where my cat and I first met each other, years ago.
Arugula Pesto with Pasta
When life gives you arugula — a wild version grows like a weed in my yard — you make arugula pesto. A peppery, bracing pesto that matches really well with homemade pasta.
Fennel Sauerkraut
I grew an awful lot of fennel over the winter. So much that I needed to find a use for it. I found one. Fennel sauerkraut. It may be my new favorite kraut.
Pheasant Thighs with Garlic and Root Vegetables
Braised pheasant thighs with parsley roots. Parsley wha? Yep, there is a variety of parsley that grows fat, juicy roots. But parsnips or carrots would work just fine in this lovely, delicate, late-winter recipe.
Read More about Pheasant Thighs with Garlic and Root Vegetables
How to Preserve Peppers
This is how I preserve the season’s pepper harvest. I’ve done this with red bells, green bells, pimientos, piquillos, Hatch chiles, jalapenos, you name it. It’s a great way to have roasted peppers at your fingertips the whole year through.
Tabasco Style Fermented Hot Sauce
A few years ago I traveled to Louisiana and learned from the McIlhenny family themselves how to make Tabasco Sauce. Now, two years later, I can finally tell you how to make it. It’s easy, but like fine wine, it takes time.
Sorrel Sauce
Sorrel sauce. It’s so basic, yet so profoundly useful… and awesome. Sorrel tastes like lemonade in a leaf, and both wild and cultivated varieties grow like weeds in any garden. This rich, tart sauce is perfect with pasta, poached fish or poultry, or any other lightly cooked meat.