Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Ramping Up

Normally people are eager for spring to finally arrive so that it can get warmer and they can enjoy the nice weather. Tonight I am eager for spring to arrive so that it will cool down and I can enjoy the weather. As Jen zips across the lousy, crane-ridden lovely, scenic coast of Connecticut on a train, I am here at home, making dinner and watching another night of fantastic playoff hockey, trying to use as little heat as possible to keep the apartment livable.

While our farm share doesn't start back up for another month or so I have been fortunate enough to find a large supply of fantastic local, seasonal produce lately. Our regular farm is in upstate New York but much of the produce I've accumulated for my days off comes from New Jersey farms.



I began my evening with some leftover matzoh crackers and port salut cheese. I decided that I would dress the crackers up much the way you would see in a "serving suggestion" on the side of the box. I didn't really feel like I needed the tomato and green onion but I thought it might kinda be neat to be the first person who ever took their suggestion. End result: not bad.



It's been 90 degrees for the past few days so I figured a light white wine would be nice. I went with Bohemian Highway mainly because of its light crisp taste and it's acidic citrus overtones.

And the $7.99 price tag.



I caramelized some shallots in a pan then added in some delicious air chilled chicken breast which I pan roasted. Right at the very end I tossed in the local New Jersey ramps with a tiny pat of butter and let them wilt for about 45 seconds before turning the pan off.

It's a shame that ramps are only in season for like five days out of the year because they're delicious. You really don't need anything to make them delicious other than a pinch of salt and a little heat. On the downside a pound of ramps cooks down to about one tablespoon so there really isn't a lot of eating on a ramp.

Hopefully Jen is not reading this on the train so she can be surprised with delicious ramps for dinner. However, if she does read it on the train she'll probably be even more excited to come home and have dinner.

But tonight was just the tip of the iceberg! Just wait to see what tomorrow will bring with the local lineup. ** SPOILER ALERT ** It involves a vegetable that you hardly ever see fresh! It's gonna be awesome!

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