As I mentioned, I had never cooked with ramps before and, in fact, I can’t recall ever eating them before either (turns out they are sort of a leek/green onion/garlic hybrid and are quite good when they are cooked long enough to mellow the garlicky flavor). The first challenge was finding ramps, as they have a very short season and were not readily available the last week in April. The Wedge had some that were shipped in from the West, but I was hoping to find some local offerings. After several calls to almost every co-op in town, Mississippi Market on Selby came through and I headed over to pick up a couple bunches. (As a note, local ramps are now more readily available in all the co-ops if you’re looking for them – but act quick because they will be gone soon!).

The first recipe I made was the Ramp and Sausage Risotto. In my attempt to cram as many recipes into the last two days of cooking, I actually served this for breakfast, which was really tasty. The recipe was good – a pretty standard risotto recipe – so I have no complaints about it, but I will make sure to get a spicier, less sweet sausage next time as it unfortunately dominated the flavor of the dish. But it was very good and I would make it again.

The leftover risotto was put to use in another breakfast, mixed with a little egg and cooked into a patty topped with a poached egg (surprise surprise!) – I actually thought the egg balanced out the sweetness of the sausage, so I liked the leftover version better.

Next up was the Seared Salmon with Linguine and Ramp Pesto (pictured above). I served this for a dinner that I had invited some friends over to share. I highly recommend making the pesto the night before, as it gives it time to blend the flavors and mellow. I tasted the pesto upon first making it and found it extremely spicy (from the garlicky ramps) so I was a little hesitant about whether my guests would like it. After a night in the fridge it did mellow, but I served it on the side of the salmon (grilled instead of seared) just in case. I also made the linguine with parmesan cream sauce (without the vegetables) again to serve alongside the linguine with pesto. Fortunately, however, I was wrong and everyone loved the pesto and overall both dishes.

Before dinner I made the Classic Gougeres recipe, a heavenly addition to the magazine from Molly Wizenberg, writer of the spectacular blog Orangette. They whipped up quickly and were in the oven in no time – puffing up to the expected “lighter-than-air” texture with the heavenly taste of Gruyere cheese throughout. The recipe made two dozen and I think the four of us ate eighteen or so – if these are on your party menu…be sure to make a huge batch! I can’t wait to make these again!

The next day (April 30th) was a big one – four recipes to be made before the challenge was over. For breakfast we had the Ramp and Buttermilk Biscuits with Cracked Coriander and the Scrambled Eggs with Ramps, Morels, and Asparagus. Although I rolled the biscuits too thin, they were still really good – buttery and crisp with the perfectly matched combination of ramps and coriander. If you make this recipe – do not forget the coriander…it definitely makes the recipe perfect!

The eggs were good, but nothing really to write home about. I thought it was a bit strange that there was no addition of milk or cream to the eggs and I think that is why they turned out one dimensional (I love fluffy eggs in my scrambles). Also, instead of morels (which are insanely expensive and not to be found in April in MN) I used skitakes – but that couldn’t be helped. I love to make egg scrambles, so I’ll probably just stick to my own concoctions that I make with leftover ingredients from now on.

For lunch I made the Tuna, Asparagus and New Potato Salad with Chive Vinaigrette and Fried Capers. I don’t like canned tuna, so it spoiled it a bit for me and I really don’t get why the capers need to be fried (skip the mess and just toss them on the salad raw, in my opinion). Otherwise the chive vinaigrette was really good and the combination of the potatoes, egg, asparagus and capers was really tasty. I’ll probably make this again but add grilled chicken or flaked salmon in place of the tuna.

The last and final recipe of the day and the month was the Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Baby Carrots. This was extremely tasty – spicy, tender and sweet at the same time – and I will most certainly make this again. The minor adjustments I’ll probably make to the actual recipe are as follows: roast the carrots in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper in a glass baking dish for 15 minutes, then drizzle the carrot marinade over them and toss just before putting the seared pork on top. Finish it all as directed (about 18 minutes) until pork is done. I found that the carrots got too done when they roasted for almost 50 minutes total and the marinade burned onto the pan after that amount of time in the oven.

And that, my friends, is the end of the April 2009 Bon Appetit challenge. I found some recipes that I really love and will definitely make again (like the tarts, gougeres, chicken, biscuits, coffee cake, halibut, scallops, lamb, pork, another chicken, pizzas and sandwiches) and I reconfirmed my aversion to tuna in a can. I also declared a new kitchen rule: No using sharp knives before the first cup of coffee in the morning (that was a close call!).

And now on to Mexi Month…Oh, did I forget to mention that May is Mexi Month? More about that soon…

This post covers five recipes – well, technically one was a suggestion from Bon Appetit on how to use leftovers but they listed it in their recipe index (did we really need a suggestion from them to throw leftover rice, snow peas and chicken in a bowl and microwave?). But given that the cod dumplings actually had two parts to it (dumplings and cabbage) but was listed as one recipe – I think it all evens out.

Let’s start with the Spring Vegetable and Mini Matzo Ball Chicken Soup. The matzo balls were a nice balance between light and dense – very tasty. The actual soup, however, tasted really chicken-brothy. Perhaps that sounds silly since it was made with chicken broth as the base, but I just felt that it needed some other seasonings to balance it out. In particular, it calls for low-salt chicken broth (which I used), but the result was very bland. I did add some kosher salt to it at the end which helped, but it would have been better to add it earlier in the recipe for it all to blend together.

The next recipe is for Cod Dumplings with Savoy Cabbage Saute. Talk about a recipe that just did not appeal to me. The caption in the magazine says that it is their “modern take on gefilte fish.” I had no idea what that was, but it didn’t sound good. A quick google and I found out that it’s just a poached fish patty – could be worse, I guess. Anyway, I was making a few recipes at the same time so I actually forgot to add the egg and matzo meal…pretty important pieces to keeping the dumplings together. But I didn’t realize this until they had been poaching in the simmering water for several minutes already. I went with it – and amazingly, they did not fall apart! The result was a really light, poached cod dumpling. The dill, lemon peel and horseradish added a great flavor to the dumplings and paired with the cabbage (I just used regular cabbage), they were really good. Who would have guessed?

Also up this week were the Pan-Seared Steak Pizzaiola and Five Spice Roast Chicken with Ginger-Scented Rice and Snow Peas with Toasted Almonds. We’ll start with the steak. It was just too nice outside to sear the steaks indoors, so we grilled them instead. Overall the recipe was good, including spicy tomato sauce, but I just didn’t need the sauce on my steak. I love steak and am not opposed to sauces on steak, but this was just a bit much I thought. I will, however, use this tomato sauce in the future – it’s quick, spicy and ultra-rich.

The Five Spice Roast Chicken was fantastic! In fact, Kyle said that with the exception of some amazing jerk chicken we ate years ago from a street stand in Jamaica, this is the best chicken he’d ever eaten! I wholeheartedly agree, which surprised me. I just don’t get very excited to cook chicken anymore, but this was really good. The five spice, made of fennel seeds, Szechuan peppercorns, cinnamon, star anise and cloves, is really mellow and sweet. I had never cooked with it before, but I will in the future. Instead of buying a more expensive whole chicken, I just bought two cheaper packages of chicken quarters (leg and thigh). The dark meat held up beautifully for roasting and its savory flavor combined nicely with the sweet five spice powder.

But back to the food – we made Mini Crab Cakes, Salt-Roasted Shrimp with Scampi Dip and Seared Sea Scallops on Sauteed Spinach with Hoisin Butter Sauce. And let me tell you – all three recipes were very, very good.

Although my crab cakes got a little too browned, these were light and had a really nice texture, which sometimes can be an issue with crab cakes. I did stray from the recipe with one thing – the crab meat. It called for lump crab meat, which was double the price of claw crab meat. Instead of going elsewhere (I really wanted to get everything at Coastal), I decided to just change it up. I thought it was still really good – and for half the price!

The next recipe was for shrimp. I don’t know much about salt-roasting so I’m not quite sure what that did for the flavor (if anything), but they tasted good. We did have some issues peeling the shrimp after, but that probably had nothing to do with the recipe. The scampi sauce was A-MAZ-ING. Of course – it is mainly butter, so that probably doesn’t come as a surprise. This will definitely be made again and I’m also thinking of playing with the recipe a bit…maybe grill the shrimp and baste with the sauce and perhaps even make it with tequila (instead of wine) and cilantro (instead of parsley)…mmmm….

The last recipe, which was an Asian scallops dish was also absolutely delicious. So much so, in fact, that I made it again last night. I know – I have all these recipes to finish and I actually made a recipe again before the month is over…am I crazy? The answer, as you are probably aware, is yes. But, the scallops are just so tender and the sauce and spinach are so flavorful – ginger, garlic, serrano chile…so good! The second version was even better, as they caramelized better (I used only olive oil instead of the olive oil/butter mix the recipe called for).

All in all, our seafood fest was a success. These recipes will definitely make it into my rotation again soon.

Roasted-Tomato Sauce, Sausage, Kalamata Olives and Mozzarella: The tomato sauce recipe was just ‘ok’. There is a quicker and much tastier recipe for tomato sauce in the magazine for the Steak Pizzaola. Next time – I’ll use that one. Otherwise, this was a really great combo – yum!

Arugula-Pistachio Pesto, Grilled Asparagus and Mozzarella: Although the pesto recipe is really good – you got to love tangy arugula! – you could just as easily use the ramp or citrus pesto recipes that are also in the magazine (this would be an easy way to use up leftovers from previous recipes). We grilled the asparagus for just a minute or two with a brush of olive oil and then piled it on the pizza.

Caramelized-Onion, Rosemary, and Pine Nut Topping with Blue Cheese: This was my favorite pizza. Of course, with caramelized onions and blue cheese, how could you go wrong? The onions were sweet and the blue cheese was salty – perfect combination!

So this will be a quick update on five recipes I’ve tried over the past week. Overall this group did not have many favorites – each was just okay, nothing special.

Green Chile Pork Posole:

Green Pea Soup with Tarragon and Pea Sprouts:

Tagliatelle with Baby Vegetables and Lemon-Parmesan Sauce:

Grilled Chicken Salad with Radishes, Cucumbers and Tarragon Pesto:

Dijon-Cilantro Tuna Salad on Whole Grain Bread:

So I know I sound like a total Debbie Downer, but I promise great recipes are coming up next! There was a pizza party night and a seafood fest that I really enjoyed.

All recipes can be found on Epicurious.com.

As a quick update, however, I thought I would share some photos and ideas for using the leftovers that I had from the prior couple weeks of cooking.

Clockwise starting from the top left and with the recipes that the ingredients were leftovers from in parenthesis.

Egg Scramble with Asparagus, Shitakes and Creme Fraiche: I love egg scrambles so I was excited to use leftovers for this one last Sunday morning. A quick sautee of the shitakes (matzo stuffing) and asparagus (tarts) and then added eggs with half and half whisked in and a dollop of creme fraiche (tarts) on top – yum! The potato (flank steak) was sliced and sauteed in olive oil with salt, pepper and fresh thyme (tarts).
Lamb Pitas with Olive Tapenade: This was a quick lunch that I threw together with cut up pieces of lamb (lamb), olive tapenade (proscuitto sandwiches), spinach (just had on-hand), and a sauce made from plain yogurt, creme fraiche (tarts), olive oil and garlic.
Chocolate Caramel Crackers: As soon as I saw these crackers on Smitten Kitchen, I knew I had to make them. A layer of matzo (matzo stuffing) topped with homemade caramel, chocolate, nuts and coarse salt. They are absolutely addicting and, quite possibly, the quickest, easiest recipe! I just bought more butter and brown sugar to make another batch. These will definitely become a staple in my household.
Proscuitto Sandwiches and Pesto Pasta Salad: This was another quick lunch of leftover sandwiches and the pea and asparagus pasta with a tablespoon of the walnut pesto mixed in, as I mentioned in that post. I really thought these two recipes went well together and can envision a picnic with these on the menu in the future.

Okay, enough typing…back to cooking.

We started our dinner on Saturday night with the recipe for Asparagus and Mushroom Tarts. These were so simple and yet so amazingly good! Just thaw a sheet of puff pastry, cut it into squares…a quick sautee of shitake mushrooms and add in asparagus, gruyere, creme fraiche, thyme and lemon zest. Pop them in the oven and serve. I can still taste the bright thyme and lemon paired with the sharp gruyere…definitely a great recipe!

After the tarts we moved on to dinner, which was Roast Leg of Lamb with Tarragon-Mint Butter, Garland of Spring Vegetables, and Saffron-Scented Couscous with Pine Nuts. After a minor blip with the lamb (therefore turning me into a major kitchen b*tch for a couple minutes), I got things under control and it turned out moist and tender. The red wine-orange gravy was the icing on the delicious herb butter-rubbed lamb. The same herb butter is used in the vegetables, which tied everything together nicely. And, although the couscous didn’t stand out as a star, it rounded out the meal perfectly. Overall, I really enjoyed this menu and will definitely use the lamb as a go-to recipe.

The next night I prepared the Roast Chicken with Matzo Stuffing and Cauliflower-Spinach Puree. The recipe for the chicken itself, stuffed with lemon, thyme, rosemary and shallots, was very good. The meat turned out moist and the skin was crispy with a nice coating of herbs on top. The one change I made was to put the chicken directly into the roasting pan (I don’t have a roasting rack) and added water to the bottom of the pan throughout the cooking to keep it moist. I also basted the chicken 2-3 times with the pan juices while it cooked. The cauliflower-spinach puree and the matzo stuffing were nothing special. The puree did have a nice lemony zing to it but the matzo stuffing turned out mushy and just made me long for my mom’s light and fluffy sage dressing.

Let’s start with the sandwiches – these were fantastic! Grilled bread layered with citrusy kalamata olive tapenade with salty anchovies, then buffalo mozzarella and thinly sliced proscuitto, and finally a walnut pesto. I found that balsamic vinegar was a good, but not necessary addition – I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy a nice balsamic vinegar for these if you don’t have it on hand. These sandwiches have been eaten several times now in my house already (I love leftovers!) and they will continue to be a staple for me.

The pasta was good – not great…just good. Overall, I really liked all the elements and loved the freshness of the peas. When I speared the perfect bite – pasta shell, pea, proscuitto, lettuce and asparagus – it did come together for me but overall, I just felt like it was lacking something that blended the flavors. With the leftovers, I added a tablespoon or so of the walnut pesto from the sandwiches (above)…the missing link!

The halibut was another delicious recipe. Yes, the fava beans were a pain to de-pod, boil, shell and then sautee, but they were amazingly tender and flavorful. Definitely worth the effort! And blended with the subtle mint and pepper…so tasty! The fish was crispy on the outside and moist and tender inside. Next time I make this (and there will be a next time), I’ll serve it with a simple twirl of angle hair tossed in good olive oil a little parsley and red pepper flakes. Yum!

As always – the recipes for this challenge can be found on Epicurious.com.

The Pecan-Streusel Coffee Cake was fantastic! It was sweet and dense – a perfect complement to the salty egg and brisket dishes we served. This recipe will definitely be made again! The Matzo Brei was….interesting. This dish is sort of like the migas or chilaquiles recipes that I’m familiar with in Mexican/Spanish cooking. The basic structure is scrambled eggs with matzo crackers mixed in, but this recipe puts a Latin spin on things with a poblano pepper salsa and tomatoes. The eggs and matzo were good – not my favorite – but good. The salsa was really tasty, but in my mind it was more of a pesto than a salsa. With the lime and cilantro, I think it would have been tastier on a flaky piece of white fish. Overall, I wouldn’t make the matzo brei again, but I have a feeling I’ll whip up some of the “salsa” in the future.

And I can’t leave out comments on the brisket and egg strata. Both recipes were from Relish Magazine – Herbed Spinach and Goat Cheese Strata and Max’s Traditional Brisket. Hands down both these recipes WILL be made my me again. I loved loved loved the strata – of course…it does have goat cheese in it, so I would like it. The brisket was tender and tasty – unfortunately I didn’t have much to do with making it, but it sure was good!

As a quick refresher, I challenged myself to cook all the recipes in the April issue of Bon Appetit during the month of April (17 main entree recipes plus appetizers, etc. and I’ll be out of town for 10 days in the month of April…yikes!). I just loved all the Spring-y veggies that were featured in the salads and pastas in this issue. Good-bye wintery root vegetables…hello Spring greens!

So back to the challenge…I’ve actually made several recipes thus far, but for this post, I’ll just talk about three: Moroccan-Style Vegetable Stew with Harissa Yogurt Sauce, Flank Steak with Artichoke-Potato Hash and Aleppo-Pepper Aioli, and Sauteed Chicken Cutlets with Asparagus, Spring Onions and Parsley-Tarragon Gremolata.

Moroccan-Style Vegetable Stew with Harissa Yogurt Sauce

Overall I liked, not loved, this recipe but it was mainly because I think Bon Appetit short-changed the cooking process. A stew like this works best when the flavors have time to blend together. The mint stood out nice and bright, but none of the other spices (cumin, paprika, coriander) came through – perhaps it needed more? They suggest blanching the vegetables first to shorten the overall cooking time but I found that blanching did next to nothing. I ended up cooking the stew for over an hour versus the fifteen minutes that they tout (after blanching the veggies). But even an hour didn’t do the ingredients justice. I would suggest skipping the blanching and simmering the stew for an hour and a half. Better yet, make it the day before and let the flavors blend together in the refrigerator. Rewarm on the stove and you’ll be ready to go!

The saving grace of the stew, however, was the harissa yogurt – Greek yogurt mixed with minced garlic, harissa and olive oil…so good! I’m thinking this would be a great sauce to use on pita sandwiches or just to dip some grilled naan in. Yum!

Flank Steak with Artichoke-Potato Hash and Aleppo-Pepper Aioli

The aoili was really good which I was happy about since I went to three places looking for Aleppo pepper. I finally found it at Penzey’s Spices on Hennepin (thanks to The Wedge for helping me!). I followed the aoili recipe but didn’t think it brought enough heat, so I doubled the amount of pepper. It was barely there, but it brought a nice, subtle heat on the finish, unlike some pepper that is hot just for the sake of being hot. I’m looking forward to experimenting with other recipes using this pepper (once I’m done with this challenge, of course).

Sauteed Chicken Cutlets with Asparagus, Spring Onions and Parsley-Tarragon Gremolata

I loved this dish! It was bright, light and very Spring-y (finally!). While it does make for a light dinner, it would also be perfect for a lunch get together. Next time I make it, I’ll deglaze the pan with white wine before adding the broth to give it a kick and I’ll serve it with couscous and garnish with orange slices. Also, the Parsley-Tarragon Gremolata would be great on grilled fish. Just thinking about it makes me hungry!

Note: All recipes can be found on Epicurious.com. The links to recipes there always break, so I’m just linking to their homepage.
Post Note: The Epicurious link is just not working – the website is www.Epicurious.com.