Spring Eating...on Ice

Newsletter Vol. 5 Issue 5

An early morning ricotta-making field trip.

I’ve just returned from vacation in Sicily and was inspired by their simple and seasonal cooking methods. This post is not about that. True, I will don my new hat this Saturday and stroll the farmers’ market to look for spring produce. Later that day I’ll let my youngest sit on my lap and “drive” the back country roads to get our annual garden plants. I am not averse to taking in the food season…I just need to work through a bit more of my freezer items. Allow me to show you how my vacation will inspire the remains of my freezer.

Before I left home. I froze some beautiful chevre logs and some scallops. Both were intended to be part of my birthday party dinner but apparently I had more than I needed with this platter of beef carpaccio and some meaningful sides:

Beef Carpaccio with fried caper vinaigrette and baby arugula.

Separately, these two ingredients (chevre and scallops) will make a spring appearance based on my tasting travels. Up first, is the chevre drizzled with fresh honey and a sprinkle of pistachios. Brought by the Arabs in the 9th century, pistachios are a staple in Sicily and are used in everything from pasta sauces to dressings to garnishes. There is no recipe for this dish, just find a nice platter and center your log and add honey and chopped pistachios. I serve mine with Nut Thins but you can use any crackers or bread you like.

Now for the scallops. I had a delightful dish in London Monday night atop The Hoxton at the Llama Inn. In one bite I knew I would recreate it when I got home. It has a leche de tigre sauce that draws out the natural sweetness of the scallops and some oils and crunchy fish skin. I really appreciated the barely-cooked-but-still-grilled preparation of the scallops and I’ll do mine with a herb oil, grapefruit segments, and crispy shallot——all of which I happen to have on hand. At one Sicilian cooking location, we received herb bouquets as parting gifts and, well, mine is already simmering in oil.

So as you can see, I am not arbitrarily digging into the deep freeze to conjure up something heavy and out of season, I’m simply using what I have on hand and combining it with what I’ve recently tasted to make the most of the moment. And there’s nothing more inspired than this. Happy spring eating.

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What I’ve been up to:

Reading: Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson; Zero Gravity by Woody Allen; Genesis by Henry Kissinger

Listening to: Being Well Podcast; Sicilian Summer Playlist

Eating: see above; crappy airport lounge salads; Trader Joes pineapple

Watching: All Creatures Great and Small

Traveling to: Sicily, Tulum, NYC