Fresh peas! Found these at Whole Foods (though I am sure you can get them a ton of places, seeing as I think in some parts of the country it might be spring??)
I love shelling the peas- it is so satisfying to see all of those little peas all lined up! Big ones, little ones, fat ones I snacked on a few, too (!). All you have to do is pinch the pod a little bit and it opens right up.
Just like they are on TV! in Cartoons! In picture books!
In no time you will have a large bowl of pods for your compost and a healthy amount of peas to use as you please! We used ours in a farro risotto (coming tomorrow) that we topped with spring mushrooms and duck confit that we made in the slow cooker.Such a happy bowl of green gems!
Also sighted: RHUBARB! I bought a few stems, and I am planning a marriage with cherries, perhaps in grunt form.
From wisegeek.com :
“A grunt is a traditional fruit dessert from the East Coast of the United States. It is made by stewing fresh fruit or berries and then dropping large dollops of biscuit dough on top. The dough is steam cooked through the escaping steam from the fruit, and it may be finished in the oven very briefly so that it has a crisp, brown top. Making a grunt is very easy, and the dessert is especially popular in the summer, along with similar desserts like cobblers and crisps. For people who have a lot of fruit but no energy to make a pie, a grunt is an excellent alternative.
It is said that the East Coast dessert is called a grunt because of the noises the fruit makes while it is cooked. An alternate name for the dessert is “slump,” a reference to the way the biscuit dough slumps into the berries as it cooks. Whatever it’s called, a grunt can be served hot or cold, with accompaniments like whipped cream or ice cream, and the recipe can be endlessly adjusted to suit different tastes and seasonally available to fruit.”
I have never made a grunt. It sounds so similar to a cobbler, except the dough goes on after the fruit is cooked. How different is the flavor from a cobbler? Just wondering if it’s worth the extra step.
I haven’t made one yet, either! I’ll let you know. I was intrigued by the idea of cooking it first (especially with the rhubarb) so that I could make sure the flavors of the filling were perfect before biscuits are applied!
Okay – I will wait for you to try it first! :o)
Fiddleheads are one of my favorite spring veggies.
I haven’t seen those yet- but SOON!
I’m just eager for summer and all the avocados and berries! I’m not a rhubarb fan at all unfortunately. I need to make a Whole Foods run soon though and check out the new produce!
In season berries rock. I love going raspberry/blackberry picking! I always end up with a tummy ache from overdoing it in the field :/