Some Spring cooking here from Susan Gish who is missing going to the market….
Here are some Asparagus Tips: Floss Daily! Be Awesome!
I bought 10 asparagus at the store but when I got home I realized I had 11: It was just a spare, I guess.
What do you call strawberries playing the guitar? A jam session
What is a scarecrow’s favourite fruit? Straw-berries
Yay! It’s spring! Asparagus and strawberry season – soon to be fresh peas, wahoo!
We haven’t gone out shopping in weeks, and although I’d fully prepared in advance we were missing seasonal spring veggies and fruit.
I still want to support the local farmers especially since the markets are closed in Aix. There are a few that are delivering, so we ordered from a bio (organic) farm in Eguilles*.
It was expensive, but as we’re not spending money on coffees out or glasses of rosé or lunches or ice cream, it was worth it…(speaking of which, when will we be able to go out again for ice cream or rosé or coffee or rosé – did I say rosé?)
Look at what we got!
A few ideas off of the top of my head for the asparagus:
-soup or gazpacho
-tart, pizza, feuilletée, quiche
-butter, vinaigrette, hollandaise
-roasted or steamed with morels or with wild leeks or garlic
-wrap ham around it for an appetizer
Ideas for strawberries:
– topping for your muesli with yoghurt or milk for breakfast
-crushed to make a quick jam to top toast
-coulis for under lemon tart or slices on top of it
-marinated in a little Grand Marnier or brandy and a little sugar for dessert or as a tart
-ice cream
Ideas for aubergine/eggplant:
-baba ghanoush
-grilled with herbes de Provence and olive oil
-slices in a vegetarian lasagne
-stuffed with ground lamb, pine nuts, and mint
Here is Sam’s Super Simple recipe for an Asparagus, Tomato and Mozzarella Feuilleté
Tart. (You can add chorizo slices or not for a vegetarian option).
Tart. (You can add chorizo slices or not for a vegetarian option).Sam makes his own pizza dough, but he won’t make puff pastry so we bought pure butter feuilletée from the supermarket.
Pre heat the oven to 200ºC. Cook the asparagus until it’s not quite done. Drain. Unroll the feuilletée leaving it on the parchment paper. Place the pastry on the paper in a tarte pan or quiche pan. Gently press it into the sides of the pan. Poke holes in the pastry using a fork. Put the slices of chorizo on the pastry, then thin slices of tomato, followed by the lightly cooked asparagus. Cover generously with grated mozzarella or Emmental. Lower the oven temp to 175ºC. Cook according to the instructions on the package or until the cheese is brown on top. If you want a crisper bottom crust, cook the unfilled feuilletée for 10 or 15 minutes. Then fill it and bake until done. If you’re not using chorizo, before you add the tomatoes brush the pastry with Dijon mustard.
Chef Sam and Susan
* Susan’s produce box came from Le Jardin de Manon at Eguilles. In normal times they are at the market in Aix’s Place des Precheurs, but can be found at present on Friday mornings at the market at Puyricard which has authority from the prefect to remain open.
aixcentric 
Leave a Reply