Put a spring in your step with fresh herbs
It’s time to wake up your palate with first-of-the-season flavours. Even if the chilly mornings might suggest soups, stews or long-braised dishes, you can give them all a spark with a showering of fresh herbs at the last minute. Chives, tarragon, thyme and oregano – all survivors in my garden – are being put to good use to add bright flavourful nuance to my cooking. Chives in an omelette, tarragon in a vinaigrette, oregano over roasted potatoes – you get the picture. It’s just enough of a game changer to herald things to come in the marketplace. For example, asparagus, another harbinger of spring, is starting to pop up in our farmers’ markets. It’s so different than the imported bunches readily available. The local fresh spears, wonderfully irregular in lengths and widths, have a bright, grassy green flavour that the imports lack. I blanch local spears to an al dente state – you don’t want soggy asparagus, but some crunch. I drizzle them with some fruity olive oil and sea salt flakes, and serve warm or at room temperature as an appetizer.
Recently, chef Patrick Gayler of The Restaurant at Mission Hill brought spring to life in a dish of asparagus that really inspired me. Served al dente with a tarragon vinaigrette, it was strewn with pops of fresh tarragon leaves and tiny first-of-theseason leaves of fragrant anise hyssop. It was a standout served with a lovely croquette of leeks for texture and crunch, and a saffron crème fraiche for colour and richness. It’s on their spring menu at the restaurant and should be enjoyed while the season unfolds.
At home, I’m also using my herbs in the cheese course after my neighbour served an incredibly delicious handmade raviolo – a large size ravioli – stuffed with whipped ricotta and spiked with fresh thyme. (Fact: ricotta, from the Italian, recooked, is made from the leftover whey from cheese making. When the low-fat, protein-rich liquid is subjected to heat, the casein particles fuse together and create a new curd that, when drained, becomes snowy-white ricotta.)
While fairly bland on its own, ricotta’s blank slate comes to life with herbs. Further inspired, I tried my hand at whipping some, first draining it for about 20 minutes, to rid it of excess liquid. I whipped up the ricotta with some salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil and added some fresh basil at the end. Looking in the fridge, I found some preserved lemon and added that to the mix. It turns out whipped ricotta is a spreadable flavour machine. It was fantastic as a dip with roasted cauliflower – and asparagus – and great spread on slices of good bread from Grist Microbaker’s Dana Ewert. It’s my new go-to appetizer. And I envision a future salad of summer tomatoes dressed up with this treatment. You could add all kinds of herbs to the mix – experiment.
The other whipped cheese I’ve been playing around with is feta. The best feta to use is Macedonian, a cow’s milk feta that’s creamier than most other feta in the marketplace. Whipped up with thyme, some chives, a hit of lemon juice and olive oil – watch out. Just like its ricotta counterpart, it’s great as a dip or a spread, and can be played around with, depending on what you have on hand.
Chef Mark Ashton serves up a Mediterranean version of whipped feta at The Patio Restaurant at Lake Breeze Winery. Whipped Macedonian feta – he likes to add some double cream to the mix, as any chef would – is served on his new spring menu with roasted red peppers, Farmstead-grown basil, Kalamata olives, toasted pine nuts and grilled pita. (I’ll be stealing that idea!)
Fresh Sheet
I’d like you to get whipped up by a cheese from Portugal. Sao Jorge is produced on the island of the same name located in the Azores Archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s an unpasteurized cow’s milk cheese with aged cheddar characteristics – sharp, nutty and spicy flavours – and a crumbly consistency. The wheels of cheese are aged seven months and made according to DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) standards, meaning milk production and cheesemaking procedures are vigorously checked and monitored. Wheels aged a year or more have a complex mineral and vegetal taste that really bursts on the palate. La Cucina in Penticton carries both the DOP aged and a younger milder, creamier version, aged three months, known as Topo. I urge you to try one or both next time you’re crafting up a cheese and charcuterie board. Pair with sherry or port along with some quince marmalade – also available at the deli – a selection of salty cured meats and a crusty baguette from the newly-opened Petrasek Bakery.
With fork and pen in hand, and a passion for culinary adventure, Shelora Sheldan, writer, cook and curious traveller, goes in search of the delectable.