A Carbonara

Wow—what a night out. It's all balmy with barn swallows darting around for some swallowy unknown purpose. Anyway, what I mean to talk about is how I will never allow an old Italian person tell me how to make a carbonara. But you certainly can if you'd like.

—Started with local bacon, ramps from the woods out yonder, new growth thyme, and dried hot chilies to render and get lovely with a splash of wine (more on that in the payoff)

—In went turnip greens and Spring growth kale and brussels sprout leaves

—Boiled fusilli in salted water

—Mixed beautiful local Jersey cream—getting yellower by the week by the way—a pastured egg yolk, and parm-reg in a separate bowl

—Mixed it all together off the heat and finished with parsley and green ramp bits

—Ate on the porch

Drank a bottle of 2009 Mosse Chenin from Anjou. It's consistently one of my favorite bottles—all apples and pears (it is Anjou), but a bit of Christmas spice—which is to say there's a richness there with a hint of time-gone-by. So it's really the best sort of wine.

Newest Beach House on the radio.

Leg of Lamb, Turnips, & Asparagus

I love roasting a large joint of meat. It's a novelty and a luxury. 

—Last Fall's pasture raised bone-in leg of lamb from friends of ours, rubbed with a paste of garlic, thyme, rosemary, anchovies, parsley, and olive oil—roasted in a very slow oven for hours until uniformly medium rare.

—Sweet local Spring veg, glazed in reduced lamb jus (from our resting roast) and a spot of homemade butter.

Had with a bottle of Cotes Du Rhone—2009 Le P'tit Martin by Domaine de l’Oratoire St-Martin. It's a pretty wine with lots of young fruit, but good minerality.

Chicken Salad & Ramps

When life gives you leftover chicken, make chicken salad. Do not add bells and whistles because it doesn't need them.

—Homemade bread and here's the secret: total neglect. We mix up local flour with our starter, throw it in the fridge for a day, get it out the morning we want to bake it and let it at room temperature until after work, form it and pop it into the oven. I'm not kidding. Check out Tartine Bread.

—Made a mayo with pastured eggs, dijon mustard, half grapeseed oil/olive oil, lemon, and ramp bits. Added salted capers, dried currants, celery, parsley, and leftover roasted chicken breast from the previous post.

—Finished with some slices of local cheddar and survivor speckled romaine. How it managed the winter is anybody's guess.

And nothing like a great Loire Valley Chenin to pair with it. We got into a 2009 Savenniéres from Domaine du Closel. It's yeasty and round with perfect mouthfeel, but plenty of acidity. Went well with the chicken salad as you may well imagine.

Bowerbirds on the radio.

Roast Chicken & Season's 1st Asparagus

It's the simple things in life. I know it's cliché, but prove me wrong.

—Ladrach's asparagus steamed and dressed with garlic oil and lemon
—A heritage bird we raised, dry-rubbed with Spanish pimenton, cumin, thyme, garlic powder, and sumac a la Moro East. We roast our birds hot to render the fat and because they can take it.

Since this went somewhat Spanish we polished off a bottle of D Ventura, Vina do Burato 2009. 100% Mencia (like I know what that means). It was slightly jammy and rich, but not overly tannic and with brightness. Did I get a hint of pimenton or was that my greasy chicken fingers on the glass? Whatever, it was all kinds of goodness.

Andrew Bird on the radio.

Chicken Tacos, Ramps

So it's chicken tacos on the windiest Monday in Ohio's history. You know, with this protracted Spring, it's certainly a good time for Mexican food and a cold beer. Who's with me?

—Gently simmered the legs, wings, and back from one of our chickens in water with onions

—Shredded the cooled chicken and tossed with a paste made of pounded, toasted coriander and cumin seeds along with Mexican oregano, ramp bulbs and reddish stem*, lime juice, salt, and grapeseed oil

—Made a sauce out of pureed roasted purple tomatillos and chilies we'd frozen whole from the garden (that works great btw), and some of last summer's garlic that has made the long voyage with us through winter.
—Quick pickled some carrots and more ramp bulbs
—Griddled up some tortillas from masa
—Finished with crumbled Cotija, sweet local Jersey cream, a spritz of lime, cilantro, and ramp greens

Tossed back a cold Burning River IPA from Great Lakes Brewing Company.

*I found a whole field of ramps — blue skies, smiling at me

Chicken & Morels

There are some extraordinarily small morels peaking up in nearby woods. We thought this would be a good way to stretch the few we found:

—Slowly reduced thick local jersey cream with the morels, thyme, and garlic
—Reduced chicken stock and a rusty white port from Quinta do Infantado to approximate the classic Vin Jaune, which we didn't have in the cellar.
—Gently pan roasted the breasts of one of our chickens in homemade butter and threw it into a low oven to finish
—Combined the stock / wine mixture and the reduced cream and balanced with a spritz of lemon
—Served on garlicky green beans from the garden

Lotus Plaza on the radio.

Lamb & Puff Pastry

There's still time for savory meat pies—perhaps a last gasp for winter. Anyway, it's been a cold week and there was puff pastry from December kicking around the freezer.

—Made a quick stew out of local carrots, onions, our preserved tomatoes and kale, and ground lamb raised by friends
—Also added some dried porcinis and generous sloshings of red wine because we don't half-ass meat pie in this house
—Capped it with homemade puff pastry from local butter and flours, including a fair amount of rye and whole wheat pastry flour

Popped a somewhat coarse and jammy Grenache/Syrah blend from Luberon in the Southeastern Rhone that had potential—like a sensitive jock at a liberal arts college.

Tanlines on the radio. Hey—I'm not judging you.

Rhubarb, Pork, Noodles

Credit here goes to Jamie Oliver's ghostwriters for this great idea. We make it once a year at about this time. Here's the gist:

—Whizzed up Spring rhubarb with ginger, garlic, chili, palm sugar, soy sauce, and fish sauce in the food pro.

—Cooked cubes of pasture raised pork shoulder in the marinade at a very low temperature for hours until pulling apart

—Steamed local Spring broccoli

—Boiled some ramenesque noodles

—Fried the chunks of pork in their own fat until crispy and covered it all with rhubarb marinade

Served with a 2007 Sonoma Coast pinot from Arista that was all class up front, but perhaps a little shallow in the payoff. Kind of like most people really.

Poliça on the radio.

Pad Thai

We took this Amish Thai food seriously.

—Soaked rice noodles in tepid water for 30 minutes
—Sauteed beautiful ILBS gulf shrimp (they smell like saffron—incredible)
—Fried the soaked noodles in peanut oil and added local baby Asian brassicas
—Added a mixture of strained tamarind pulp and water, palm sugar, fish sauce, and a little soy
—Finished with toasted peanuts and cilantro

Washed down with a bright, citrusy, 2010 CAI Kabinett by Immich-Batterberg. It's also all apples and petrol, but the brightness (almost sourness) is what's really incredible about the bottle. I will be ordering more.

Hamburger

You can be a purist if you want; I'm adding toppings.

—Grass fed/finished beef formed and cooked to medium in clarified homemade butter in cast iron with a few sprigs of rosemary. 

—Caramelized onion. I added a touch of palm sugar because I had it around—ditto for thyme.
—Homemade lacto-fermented pickles, local goat cheese (not chalky—more like cheddar), and mayonnaise
—Organic asparagus from the new world somewhere. Ours are still just peaking above the soil. (Feel free to judge but only if you have an asparagus patch.)

Had with a few gin and tonics and a crazy good bottle of Loire Valley Bourgueil Cab Franc. I mean, it's pretty (still drinking it btw)—not all bell-peppery and vegetal and liquor-store tasting. It's floral, wet-dog-earthy, light, with integrated tannins. Catherine and Pierre Breton.

Sole, Smoked & Pickled Hock, Puy Lentils

This might seem like an odd mash-up, but it's got roots. The inspiration is my favorite dish in a meal at Mugaritz in San Sebastian Spain. It was served in a mortal and pestle with whole toasted seasame seeds and pepper that we ground at the table. A rich fish stock was then poured over the top and everything I ever felt about the beach and the ocean happened all at once.

The meal, like every other meal we had in Spain, had a lot of pork.

—Smoked hock slow-cooked in water all day
—Subsequent broth used to cook the lentils with mirepoix
—Made a pickle with toasted ground sesame seeds and peppercorns, a touch of garlic, and sherry vinegar into which went the shredded pork hock and some local Spring radishes
—Quickly pan fried some ILBS sole fillets in olive oil with some rosemary sprigs
—Tossed young brassicas in the lentils at the last minute

Served with the rest of that bottle from Angiolino Maule.

Pizza, Lion's Manes

It's my pizza and I'll do what I want with it. Brooklyn can have its 100% white flour pizza, leavened with commercial yeast, flash-baked for 45 seconds and brought to the table with a soggy middle, a few squished San Marzano tomatoes, and a sprig of basil.

Since I only have 550º and a thick seasoned black steel baking sheet, this is the local pie:

—Naturally leavened dough from our starter, local whole wheat, rye, and bread flour
—Sauce made with anchovies, our canned heirloom tomatoes and tomato paste, thyme, and olive oil
—Local lion's mane mushrooms and onions

Served with a crazy (and really awesome) accidental red sparkler from Angiolino Maule