Spring cleaning

FOOD & DRINK > FEATURES

It’s time to kick winter outta here. With sunnier days ahead, clean out the pantry and make room for fresh ingredients coming into season.

By Phyllis Stein-Novack

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Mar. 18, 2010

Spring arrives Saturday, but for me the season of rebirth does not officially take place until my beautiful slender dogwood begins to bud and tiny green leaves appear.

Spring is the season for lamb, peas and asparagus, even though we can delight in these ingredients year-round. We also can find baby artichokes, fava beans, new potatoes, ramps, which are wild leeks, and Florida strawberries. The cold weather in the Sunshine State wrecked havoc on this year’s crop. CNN recently reported Florida strawberries cost $6 a pint. I’m not a fan of California berries because, more often than not, they are tasteless.

Florida grows juicy oranges and grapefruits, but farmers have not figured out how to grow a red ripe tomato. Grape tomatoes are sweet and can be tossed into a salad or sautéed as a side dish.

For the past few years, I have supported local farmers. It feels good to buy apples and potatoes grown in Pennsylvania. My bread comes from Philadelphia bakeries, such as Metropolitan and Le Bus. My poultry comes from Godshall’s in the Reading Terminal Market. Capons and turkeys are raised on Farmer Bolton’s Bucks County farm. I hope you will buy ingredients for your table from people and not giant corporations. Most of you probably would select fresh organic poultry rather than tasteless birds raised in horrendous conditions then wrapped in plastic.

As we look forward to the new season, we use up the winter larder. By the time my dogwood is in pink-and-white bloom, local spring ingredients will be in markets.

Endive, Radicchio and Grape Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

2 endive, sliced
1 small head of radicchio, shredded
1 pint of grape tomatoes
2 Persian or Israeli cucumbers, peeled and diced
Crumbled cheese of your choice, such as feta, Roquefort or chevre
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup of olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon

Directions:

Place the endive, radicchio, tomatoes and cucumbers in a salad bowl. Crumble the cheese on top. Season with the salt and pepper.

Whisk together the oil and lemon juice. Pour over the salad. Toss well.

Serves four.

Cornish Game Hens

Ingredients:

4 Cornish game hens, each weighing about 3/4 of a pound, wiped dry with paper towels
1 head of garlic, cut into 4 pieces
1 lemon, quartered
Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and imported sweet Hungarian paprika, to taste

Directions:

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