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Springtime Mushrooms
One of the rights of spring for chefs is the seasons start of porcini and morel mushrooms, unfortunately, it doesn’t look like a good year for morels. According to the fine folks at Far West Fungi, the dry winter didn’t produce enough rain for the morels to flourish. But the good news is… it should be a great year for porcini. The season is just beginning now and the prices should start coming down soon.
I splurged and bought a few morels to make one of my favorite springtime dishes; Halibut with Fava Beans, Morel Mushrooms, and Tarragon Aioli.
With the shortage of morels this season, it’s time to start thinking about porcini. Porcini is a very hardy mushroom and holds up well to many cooking methods. They can be sautéed or grilled or roasted in the oven to bring out their earthy, meaty flavor. One of the best ways to cook a porcini is in the pizza oven if you have access to one.
They are best cooked whole or cut in half depending on there size. Serve them on top of a risotto or steak, or in a pasta, or just on the plate with a fork and knife sprinkled with a little fleur de sel.
Fresh Garbanzo Beans
If you’ve been reading my blog you know how much I love the versatility of fresh garbanzo beans. You can use them as you would a dry garbanzo bean in dishes like hummus or as a spread for a crostini that will add more of a fresh and vegetal flavor to your dish. You can also use them as a fresh bean in a ragout for a fish dish or you can add them to a spring salad for a fresh new dimension.
Tonight I created a dish that has been in my head for a while: Pan Fried Coconut Prawns with Fresh Garbanzo Beans in a Coconut- Curry Sauce. Delicious!
Another great use for this seasonal vegetable.
Boot and Shoe Service
This is my second visit to Boot and Shoe Service in Oakland and with both trips I was rewarded with great meals. On my latest visit I had:
Fried Georgia white shrimp with pickled beets, Calabrian peppers and aioli
Gemelli pasta with duck ragu
Margherita di bufala pizza
The food, service and atmosphere were all great and my only complaint was with the pizza that was a little soggy on top and a little too charred on the bottom. The restaurant was buzzing with people on a Tuesday night and the bar that is hidden in the rear, new since I last visited, was packed with people.
Celebrating Spring
I always get excited when the spring ingredients start sprouting up. As we leave the long winter, we start seeing the most exciting ingredients (at least for me) of the year.
This dish is composed of: baked halibut with spring onions, spring garlic, fava beans, fiddlehead ferns, ramps, meyer lemon- tarragon aioli, and a bulls blood salad.
Not bad for a Monday night dinner.
Spring Salad
More fun with fresh garbanzo beans. Here’s a great salad that represents the start of spring: Fresh Garbanzo Beans, Fava Beans, English Peas, Spring Onions, and Green Garlic tossed with a little Meyer lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt.
