SAUCE MAGAZINE
Posted On: 05/01/2009
For dedicated shoppers of local farmers’ markets, May brings a rush of green and a taste of picked-this-day goodness. First greens – the delicate spring mixes, baby spinach, the herbs in tiny pots and the lithe scallions. Next, the thin spears of asparagus, chard and the baby beets. The last two or three weeks, if the weather stays cool, brings the spring peas, bright green, crisp, tender, sweet.
When you spot peas at the market, don’t dither. Pony up and buy. “Last year I had sugar snap peas for only two markets,” said farmer Tim Hess of Silent Oaks Farm near Mount Vernon, Ill. Sugars in peas deteriorate rapidly to starch, so for optimal taste, plan peas for a grand lunch or dinner the same day you buy. You’ll need to choose: shelled English peas or sugar snaps in an edible pod.
Farmer Bryan Truemper of Farrar Out Farms in Frohna, Mo., favors English peas. “The edible pods taste green and a little grassy to me,” he said. He planted them directly in the field in warm mid-March. It’s a gamble. Too cold and wet, and the peas will rot in the field. Too hot and dry, and the peas will be inedible. Growing peas is not for wimps. Peas aren’t reliable in our climate, and it’s hard work planting, trellising, weeding and picking. Three of the last five years, Truemper lost his pea crop. Truemper and Hess persist because they love to sell – and eat – peas.
A pound of unshelled English peas yields about one cup shelled peas. Look for full pods, true green, with smooth skin. Avoid leathery looking or discolored pods. “Open a pod at market and try them,” said Truemper. Snap off the stem end and pull down on the inside curve to remove the string. Open the pod with a slight pressure of your thumb and forefinger, top and bottom. Run your thumb inside to dislodge the peas. “If they taste sweet and good, buy them,” said Truemper.
Hess prefers the sugar snaps, where nothing is wasted as both pod and pea are edible. “The pods shouldn’t be flat, but you don’t want them hard and full either,” he said. “The color should be deep, bright and green – not whitish at all.” The pod should give a crisp snap, not just bend, to signal freshness.
You don’t shell sugar snaps, but you do string them. Snap just the bottom tip, grab the string and pull towards the stem end. Break off the stem end and continue pulling. Some cultivars have strings on both sides.
Truemper likes to eat peas lightly steamed with salt and butter. Leftovers – if there are any – get puréed and cooked with chicken broth, cream and butter for a tasty soup. He’ll use them in pastas and salads, but he favors the simpler preparations. Steamed peas rule at Silent Oaks as well. Hess admitted to being more farmer than cook, but he likes to combine sugar snaps with new potatoes.
Peas can be eaten raw in salads, but blanch them and their color pops gorgeous. Salads are perfect for pea shoots, too – another way to enjoy great pea taste. Microgreens are available year-round, but paired with spring pea tendrils they’re foodie nirvana.
You’ll find pea shoots at Claverach Farm’s stand, where the microgreen sales have doubled since last spring. “It’s something unique, and so flavorful,” said farmer Joanna Duley. Try using peas and pea shoots in the same dish for a double blast of goodness.
Peas and morels, peas and mild early asparagus, with mint – Duley had some great pairings for cooking spring peas. Don’t forget the classics, too, like the French pea soup with cream and wilted lettuce, peas sparked with a bit of red pepper and toasted walnuts in a cream and butter sauce, or creamed chicken with peas in pastry shells.
However you cook them, don’t miss the season. Plan, shop, cook. Revel in the flavor of just-picked peas.
INGREDIENTS
1½ pounds center-cut salmon in one piece, skin on
Coarsely ground kosher or sea salt
2 slices thick-cut bacon
3 banana shallots, peeled and minced
4 sprigs fresh thyme*
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
½ cup dry white wine
2 to 3 Tbsp. good quality olive oil
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cups shelled English peas**
2 cups pea shoots, divided
2 large lemons, quartered
PREPARATION
• Place the salmon skin side up on a glass or plastic cutting board. Run the back of a chef’s knife firmly over the skin; moisture will bead up as you do this. Wipe the knife with a paper towel and repeat until the skin no longer releases moisture.
• Pat the skin dry with a paper towel. Turn the salmon over, checking above and below the midline for pin bones. Remove any bones with kitchen tweezers.
• Cut the fillet in half down the midline, then cut each half in two equal pieces to make four fillets. Season the flesh with salt.
• Cut the bacon crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook until crisp. Drain the bacon on a paper towel; leave the fat in the skillet.
• Reduce the heat to medium, add the minced shallots and cook 2 to 3 minutes until just softened, then add the sprigs of thyme and the toasted walnuts and stir. Add the white wine gradually. Cook down to a thin glaze, about 5 to 8 minutes, then add the cooked bacon.
• Meanwhile, heat a second large skillet, add the olive oil until it sizzles.
• Stir the cream and butter into the wine mixture, then add 2 cups peas and cook just until the peas begin to soften. This could take from 3 to 8 minutes, depending on the starchiness of the peas. Remove from heat when the peas are just cooked. Do not cover.
• Add the salmon fillets to the second skillet, skin side down, while the peas are cooking. Cook uncovered until the flesh turns color about halfway up the side of the fillets.
• Remove from the heat, then turn the fillets flesh side down and allow to finish cooking off the heat, uncovered.
• Turn the heat to medium under the peas, then add 1½ cups of the pea shoots. Don’t stir them in. Cook until they just wilt.
• Carefully remove 1/4 of the pea mix with a spatula to each of four warmed plates, keeping the sprouts on top. Add the salmon fillet, skin side down. Garnish with the reserved uncooked pea shoots and the lemon wedges.
*Italian parsley may be substituted for thyme.
**If fresh peas are unavailable, use a good quality frozen pea. Baby peas are usually sweetest in the frozen department.
