May 2016 – In My Kitchen

In my kitchen this month I have peas, snow peas that is.

The plants were incorrectly labeled snap peas in the garden store, they are really flat oriental pea pods. Either way they are delicious simply stir fried with a bit of sesame oil at the end. I’ve had a bumper crop this year.

In my kitchen I have a new tool. Bon Apetit recently had an article about tools which are essential to chefs. This was one I had never seen before, it is an extremely clever idea.

It’s made by Kuhn and is called a heart shaped spring whisk. See how the whisk part flips from one side to the other? It’s for reaching into the corners of a pot when whisking on top of the stove. You can find it on Amazon and also here.

In my kitchen I have lemons and lots of new spring herbs. Perfect for a simple baked chicken.

In my kitchen I have Meyer lemons. Over the last few weeks I have made Meyer lemon marmalade, quick Meyer lemon pickle, spicy fermented Meyer lemon pickle, preserved Meyer lemons, and Meyer lemon aigre-doux. The fermented pickle will be finished early next week. I don’t have much experience with fermenting, but a lot of curiosity. It’s an area I would like to explore. There is a building body of scientific evidence that fermented foods are very beneficial to our health.

All of the recipes above required you cut off the end of the lemons. I hated throwing all those tasty Meyer rinds in the compost heap. Knowing how delicious they are roasted, I baked them at 425 until brown and crisp. They added a tart yet sweet note to a spring salad.

In my kitchen I have the first of what will be multiple batches of strawberry preserves before the season is over.

We used our last jar from last year only a week ago. It was wonderful to see and purchase a flat of fresh strawberries at the farmer’s market. It is officially spring. These preserves contain only three ingredients…strawberries, organic sugar, and a touch of lemon juice.

Lastly, in my Fort Bragg kitchen I have dust. Lots of dust. The remodel is going well and we hope to be mostly finished (why is it that the last 5% takes so long?!) by the end of this month. Stay tuned as we will be up this weekend and I will post an update. The floors should be finished and appliances installed.

This post is part of a monthly gathering of foodies and gardeners from around the world who give an accounting of what is happening in their kitchen each month. It’s hosted by Maureen of the Orgasmic Chef. Please come join us, click on the links on the right side of her blog to read posts from other bloggers. They come from the west coast of the US to Australia and New Zealand and beyond.