Spring is here!  We got our first outdoor flowers of the season this week from our friends at Blue Heron Farms.  In honor of the upcoming St. Patrick’s Holiday, we made corned beef this week and got some Irish cheese from the Cheese Shop.

To reheat the corned beef, you can either heat it in a pan with some of the broth, covered at low heat until it’s hot. Or you could slice the cabbage and place the corned beef on top in a baking dish, pour in the liquid, cover it and bake at 350 for an hour.

If you don’t make the cabbage with the corned beef, you can sweat an onion in a pot and add the cabbage, some stock or the corned beef broth and cook it with some butter until soft.

To make smashed potatoes, take the cooked potatoes and press lightly on them with the palm of your hand until they just flatten.  They should split open a little.  Then just cook them on high in a pan with some oil or the duck fat until crispy.

Broccoli Rabe is a flowering green that’s actually not related to broccoli at all…however, it is delicious.  You can blanch it in hot water and then sautee it, but I like to start it in a pan with a tiny splash of water for it to steam, once the water evaporates, I add a little olive oil, garlic, and red chili flakes (just a few).  Once it’s tender (2 minutes) I serve it with a squeeze of lemon juice salt and pepper.

Salanova lettuce is a really tender and tasty lettuce but it does need to be washed well so be warned!

The leeks from Blue Heron looked so good we couldn’t pass them up.  They would work well with the smashed potatoes.  I usually cut the leeks into rings, wash them really well in water, strain, and then cook them in a pot with a tiny bit of water, salt, pepper, and add a splash of cream at the end.

We made something a little different this week.  Blood orange margarita mix!  Just add tequila, vodka, or mezcal..or just add some sparkling water and make a nice refresher.

Green Goddess Dressing is making a comeback!  This one is made with spinach and herbs and capers.  Will be great as a dip for vegetables or on a spinach salad

Seckle pears are a great pear for cooking.  I like to poach them in red wine.  Put the pears in a stock pot standing up and cover with red wine.  Add some sugar, clove, cinnamon stick and let it simmer slowly uncovered until the wine reduces to a thick syrup.  Then pull them out, cool them, and serve drizzled with the syrup and some whipped cream.

Garlic chives start popping up this time of year.  I love to chop them up finely and mix them with room temperature butter to make a garlic butter.  Then you can refrigerate it and it will keep for several weeks.

Rockfish is our most abundant local fish and I love the meaty texture.  It holds up well in tacos and ceviche, or just sauteed in a pan with butter and some capers and lemon.  You can also pan fry it by dipping it in egg and then flour or bread crumbs.

As always, reach out for more suggestions or any more tips.

Gabe and Brandon