A three-course seasonal menu perfect for your next dinner party
David Tanis shows off the best produce of the season: asparagus, green garlic and rhubarb
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My recent trip to the farmers’ market confirmed my suspicions: spring has well and truly arrived, at least in my neck of the woods. With pleasure, I spied a collection of seasonal harbingers: asparagus! Green garlic! Rhubarb! It didn’t take me long to envision a menu that would show them off.
Asparagus, for me, is always a thrill. The sight of the first few bunches brings a broad smile. Those early spears are sweet enough to eat raw, so that is exactly how I chose to prepare them. A shaved asparagus salad was in order.
I sliced the spears lengthwise into thin ribbons, something, I recently discovered, that is quite easy to do with a long, sharp knife. (Formerly, I always used a mandoline, which makes nice ribbons but also courts danger. A knife is safer.)
The simplest version of this salad requires only extra-virgin olive oil and salt, with perhaps a squeeze of lemon. However, I decided to build a proper lemony vinaigrette with a few chopped anchovy fillets. Omit the anchovy in the dressing, if you wish, but it’s there to bolster flavour – not to taste fishy.
For colour and texture, as well as a bit of sharpness, I added thinly sliced radishes. Any type of radish will work but, for a really vibrant salad, look for the many brilliant varieties of daikon radish available at many farmers’ markets now. These beauties come in a range of colorus – crimson, scarlet, purple, even bright green. Or look for “watermelon” radishes, round and the size of golf balls. When sliced, these radishes reveal a multicoloured cross-section. An easy salad to put together, this is a festive dish. You could even finish it with shavings of parmesan or ricotta salata.
Green garlic is another cause for celebration, with its distinct, fresh character that’s pungent but not overpowering. When it first comes to market, its stalks may resemble slim green onions. Some specimens will have already formed the beginnings of a bulb at the root end. But, once the outer layer is peeled, both green and white parts of the stalk can be used, either chopped or pounded in a mortar (if you cannot find green garlic, a combination of spring onions and garlic chives makes a reasonable substitute).
To give the green garlic a space to shine, I picked up a few kilograms of yellow-fleshed Yukon Gold spuds from my favorite potato vendor (that stand has the colourful radishes, too). Then, I bought a free-range chicken and hatched a plan. I stuffed the bird with a generous amount of green garlic and a large handful of rosemary, sage and thyme sprigs. I roasted the chicken over wedges of potato so that all the fragrant garlicky chicken drippings infused the potatoes with incredible flavour. Crisp and golden, they rival the best rotisserie-style potatoes, those glistening ones that sit beneath spit-roasted chickens at some butcher shops. The chicken, of course, ends up nicely perfumed, too (as a bonus, the carcass can be tossed into a saucepan, covered with water and simmered to make a small amount of garlicky broth for future use).
As for the ruby red rhubarb that pops up this time of year, I knew at once that it would that it would become a glorious fruit crumble – a relative of other homey desserts like crisps and buckles. Chopped into cubes and tossed with sugar and a bit of flour to help thicken the bright juices, the rhubarb gets a nubbly topping made from brown sugar, flour and butter, enhanced with a handful of optional chopped pistachio.
Baked until bubbly and browned, this irresistible dessert can be served with cold heavy cream, whipped cream or ice cream. I always hope for leftovers to enjoy for breakfast with a blob of yoghurt. That way, I can continue the spring celebration well beyond a single meal.
Shaved asparagus and radish salad
Total time: 15 minutes
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
3 tbsp fruity, flavourful extra-virgin olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 anchovy fillets, rinsed, blotted and roughly chopped
Salt and pepper
450g asparagus, medium-thick spears if possible
115g thinly sliced daikon radish or other radish, preferably a mixture of colours (or more to taste)
Method:
1. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and anchovy. Season the dressing with salt and pepper.
2. Snap off and discard the tough end of each asparagus spear. Using a sharp knife, slice asparagus lengthwise into ribbons. For skinny asparagus, just halve lengthwise.
3. Place sliced asparagus in a large salad bowl. Toss with salt and pepper, then add the dressing and toss to coat.
4. For each serving, place a handful of dressed asparagus on a plate. Surround with slices of colourful radish, and tuck a few more slices among the asparagus ribbons. Sprinkle radishes lightly with salt.
Roast chicken with green garlic, herbs and potatoes
Total time: About 3 hours
Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients:
1 (1.4-1.8kg) roasting chicken
Salt and pepper
1.4kg medium yellow-fleshed potatoes, such as Yukon Gold (about 8 potatoes)
4 to 6 green garlic stalks, or use a combination of spring onions and garlic chives
60ml extra-virgin olive oil
Handful of thyme, rosemary and sage sprigs
Handful roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
Method:
1. Season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper.
2. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Peel the potatoes, cut them in half, then cut halves into 2 or 3 thick wedges. Boil potatoes for about 5 minutes, until barely done, then drain and cool.
3. As potatoes cool, peel outer layer of garlic stalks and cut off roots. Slice both tender white and green parts crosswise into thin rings, then sprinkle with salt and roughly chop to resemble “minced” (you should have about 1 cup of chopped alliums, whether you use green garlic, or a combination of scallions and chives). Transfer chopped garlic to a dish and cover with olive oil.
4. Heat oven to 190C. Arrange potatoes on the bottom of a 22-by-33cm baking dish. Set the seasoned chicken on top of the potatoes. Tip the chicken up and transfer the garlic-oil mixture into the bird’s cavity, then place breast side down, with potatoes surrounding.
5. Take a generous handful of herb sprigs (stem-on) and stuff into the cavity.
6. Roast, uncovered, for about 1 hour until chicken is nicely browned and thigh juices run clear when probed with a paring knife. Remove chicken, tipping the inside juices onto the potatoes, and keep warm on a plate.
7. Raise oven temperature to 220C. Using a spatula, move the potatoes around the roasting pan, allowing juices to coat potatoes well. Return to oven to brown potatoes. Baste potatoes every 5 minutes for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are golden. Sprinkle with parsley. Carve bird and serve.
Tip: After carving, the carcass can be tossed into a saucepan, covered with water and simmered to make a small amount of garlicky broth for future use.
Rhubarb crumble
Total time: 1½ hours
Serves: 6 to 8
Ingredients:
For the filling:
About 900g rhubarb stalks, peeled and cut into 2.5cm cubes
250g granulated sugar
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
For the topping:
130g all-purpose flour
50g granulated or brown sugar
¼ tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Pinch of ground ginger
Pinch of cinnamon
115g cold unsalted butter, cut into very small pieces or grated on the big holes of a box grater
Handful finely chopped or ground pistachios (optional)
Method:
1. Prepare the filling: toss the rhubarb cubes with sugar and flour. Set aside and let macerate while you make the topping, about 20 minutes.
2. Make the topping: put flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, ginger and cinnamon in a bowl, and stir together. Add butter and work into flour with fingers or a fork, as if making pie dough. The mixture will be loose and crumbly. Stir in the pistachios, if using.
3. Heat oven to 190C. Transfer sugared rhubarb to a 22cm baking dish, about 7½cm deep. Sprinkle topping loosely over fruit to a depth of about 2½cm.
4. Place dish on a baking tray and bake for about 1 hour, until topping is golden and filling is visibly bubbling at the edges. Cool slightly before serving.
© The New York Times
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