May 2023 Challenge: SPRING

Spring...
Back in Northern Europe.
First time to sit outside with a cold beer.
I'm re-creating it here



This is a home brewed one, kegged this month, so it almost counts

So
Spring time equates germination of different seeds. In this case mung beans


That jar contained just 30 gr of beans and took about 3 days.
So we got germination. Now what?
Well, what can be more spring than spring rolls?
Just a little problem. No wrappers.
After a bit of googling a found a recipe and I definitely am not a wrapper makier prodigy!
This is what I ended up with


And you know what?
They are so thin they are difficult to fry!

One was a bit thick and was my test case


The thin sheet one collapsed

So next one: I used 2 wrappers


Filling was bean sprouts and bacon. I dipped the rolls in left over (boiled) Fillipino adobe chicken marinade.
The left over adobe chicken was supposed to be an ingredient but I guzzled it before it had a chance!

I keep trying this month for the good-looking spring roll.
And I posted already, so everyone can see that entries for this challenge don't need to be perfect.

Frankly, I've been thinking of making spring rolls for a while, and this challenge put me over the edge
Thanks @chrislehrer

I used up the last sheets today

Some funny creatures evolved


Plus 2 I am actually happy with

Here in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Spring arrived just a couple weeks ago. Week and a half ago there were still snow mounds.
Spring here is great for foraging.
Ramps (wild leeks) Chanterelles, Fiddleheads all flourish under the warm Spring weather.
So here are the players:









Salisbury steak with caramelized onion and forest goodies sauteed with some fresh corn.

Torta de chard con queso
Chard and cheese sandwich

Swiss chard is one of the gifts from our Spring garden.


Together with a Spring cleaning of the refrigerator and a bit of hunger, there seemed sufficient ingredients for some tacos made with chard, leftover fresh cheese, and leftover corn tortillas. But the tortillas were moldy... so next best seemed to be a torta with leftover hamburger rolls. Why not?

The Swiss chard was sauteed in olive oil with onion and garlic, and seasoned with Chimayo chile pepper, cumin, and salt. Then assembled on a toasted roll with queso fresco, guacamole, and Mexicana salsa roja.


Very yummy, and quite possible nutritious too!

Nothing screams spring (literally) as Pasta Primavera. This dish was loosely based on multiple Pasta Primavera recipes.

The vegetables for this dish
for two included:
1/2 red onion (sliced)
1/3 cup of peas
1/2 cup snap peas (julienned)
1 small yellow zucchini (diced)
1/2 red pepper (julienned)
12 cup of mushrooms
topped by diced tomatoes
The sauce was 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream with some pasta water

The snap peas and red peppers were parboiled for about 4 minutes. Then all vegetables were seasoned and then sautéed for about 5 minutes. The cooked pasta was stirred in. The butter and cream were then added with a little pasta water. Then add some diced tomatoes and grated reggiano cheese.

For me, spring is a great time, with great ingredients coming into play. Spring onions, leeks, asparagus from the garden, lamb from the pasture. So I decided to make a fairly simple dish, rack of lamb with leeks gratin.

The Players



Trouble in leek land. These are the best looking leeks I could find at the two stores I checked, and they are not that great. Look a little old and dry, not much white part. But it is what I have.



And a rack of lamb from Winco. New Zealand product, this one weighed 1.00 pounds. It was one of two in the package. I thought about tying the two racks together to make a crown roast, but didn't feel that energetic. Maybe for Christmas dinner or something, but not for a weekday meal.

The Process


First off, a rub for the lamb.

cess



Some garlic getting smushed with some coarse kosher salt. I added some black pepper, fresh tarragon from the garden, olive oil. Rubbed it on the lamb.



Let that site while I went to work on the leeks. Cut them to fit the little dish. Halved each leek lengthwise. Rinsed and washed them until they looked clean to me. Wrapped the halves with pancetta, put them in the baking dish.



Added some chicken stock and a healthy splash of white wine. Covered with foil and baked for about 45 minutes. Pulled them out of the oven, let them rest, while I roasted the rack of lamb. Took out the lamb, let it rest. Poured some cream on the leeks, and a heaping pile of freshly grated parmesan reg.





The Product



It was good. Not great. First comment is I should learn to use some photo app to get rid of the holes from the temp probe. Second comment is the leeks were not that great, I should have tried to find some nice ones with much longer white parts.

But overall it was a nice Spring like dinner, loved the lamb and the leeks were not that bad, I just know they could have been better. Maybe I should have gone with some of Edna Lewis' skillet scallions instead.

I should do at least one more dish before the end of the month, possibly two. We shall see.

mjb.

Spring time means fresh produce
This was breakfast (not too much cooking required )

Spring is coming very late here (in France) where it still feels a little wintery... so I go for a salad, but it's a cooked, warm end-of-winter salad.

Charred eggplants with pecans, cilantro and mint, fried shallots & lime coconut milk sauce: