It has been quite the week over at FreshFarm Markets. Their Dupont Circle Farmers Market was named one of the best farmers markets for travelers by CNN (congratulations!!), highlighting a consumer’s ability to connect with the people who grow their food.  And on Thursday, one of their other standout markets, the FreshFarm Market by the White House, will host a stop on the Toyota Farm to Table Tour to kick off National Farmers Market Week (August 1 through August 7th).  The event will feature a line up of DC area chefs, displaying their skills at various demos throughout the market.  These demos will of course use the fresh produce, meats and dairy available at the market and will include free samples for market shoppers.  Even better, shoppers can get culinary inspiration for the many seasonal items the market has to offer.  Chefs will include David Varley of Bourbon Steak DC, Nora Pouilon of Restaurant Nora, Kyle Bailey of Birch and Barley and Ryan Wheeler of Restaurant Eve – just to name a few! 

And as if chef demos weren’t enough, Four Seasons Nursery will be giving away potted culinary herbs (for those who want to flex their green thumb) and there are chances to win prizes, including a culinary trip to Santa Barbara.  The fun starts at 3 pm on July 29th (that’s tomorrow) and lasts until 7 pm.  So take a work break or head over after work for a celebration of the vibrant farmers market community in DC!

The FreshFarm Market by the White House is located at 810 Vermont Avenue, NW.  For a map of the market location, click here.

I would like to take you readers on a trip back into Shaw Girl’s past, specifically to the year 1990.  I was a sophomore in high school, still rocking very high hair and questionable fashion choices.  I had a major crush on one Jason Perry, but my mother wouldn’t let me go out on a date with him (he drove a van and in her eyes that meant he had designs on deflowering her baby).  I hung out with a group of boys who fancied themselves a band, but they mostly just hung out in my best friend Daryl’s shed.  I was heavily into Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles books (remember children, vampires DON’T sparkle), which caused some of my teachers to worry I may be into the occult.  I wasn’t…I just imagined Lestat was a smokin’ hottie (NOT Tom Cruise).

Mostly, however, I immersed myself in music.  And by music, I mean the world of hair metal.  Oh yes my dear readers, I was a disciple of the school of hair bands. Motley Crue, Bang Tango, Scorpions, Ratt, Cinderella, Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns, Gene Loves Jezebel…all of their tapes (yes TAPES) had a place in my duffle bag of music. I stayed up late to watch Headbanger’s Ball on MTV so I could get a glimpse of my favorite bands. I poured over magazines like Circus, Metal Edge and Spin…mostly for items to add to my Guns n’ Roses scrapbook (yeah, you read that right…don’t judge me if I still have it).  And I one day dreamed that I too would take Tawny Kitaen’s place on a car hood in a music video.  I know that’s wrong, but at the time, I didn’t care.  Tawny was my hero…that is until I saw this video:

Yes, the song objectifies women and is brazenly sexual. Yes, Jani Lane (the lead singer of Warrant for the uninformed) is now a struggling alcoholic. And yes, I have no idea why American Gothic makes an “appearance” in this video. But back in 1990, none of that mattered. All I cared about was the catchy beat and the fact that the line, “So I mixed up the batter and she licked the beater” somehow seemed naughty. And back then, all I needed were dirty words and a scorching guitar riff to get me dancing.

All of this was going through my head as I was pitting cherries for a homemade cherry pie.  I’ve always wanted to make a cherry pie from scratch but never cottoned to the idea of pitting four cups of cherries.  I also didn’t like the idea of buying a cherry pitter, as it’s a unitasker.  But after reading all of the other ways to remove the pit from a cherry, I decided to borrow a pitter from Brian.  And man, am I in love!

The pitter shoots the pit right through the cherry with minimal damage to the cherry itself. Before I knew it, we had pitted all the cherries and I was ready to move on to making my pie. Which may or may not have included a few Cherry Pie dancing interludes.

Pea season is in full swing here in DC and I couldn’t be happier. Peas are one of my favorite vegetables and I practically OD on them when they are in season.  Last year, I froze a huge batch of fresh English peas which lasted me almost all Winter.  But nothing beats picking up a big container of fresh peas from the market on a Saturday morning.  Last Saturday, Garner’s Produce had English peas in the pod for the first time this season.  Although I like shelling peas, I was happy to pick up two boxes of shelled peas for a recipe I saw online during Snowpocalypse.  The recipe was from one of my favorite celebrity chefs, Mario Batali.

Mario’s recipes always highlight the flavors of his ingredients, letting the most mundane of them shine brightly.  I admit peas are not all that glamorous…they tend to get the short end of the stick really.  Whenever you see a child on television, gloomily sitting over his half eaten dinner, there’s a high chance peas are on his plate.  I personally blame that kid’s parents for this situation. Peas, when not properly cooked, can taste bland and downright mushy.  But when you do right by them, they will do right by you.  And this recipe truly knows how to seduce the lovely flavors from fresh peas.

I whipped this dish up for dinner tonight in less than 40 minutes…BUT I made my pappardelle from scratch. If you just use store bought pasta, this comes together in under 20 minutes.  If you don’t have access to fresh peas, frozen will do in a pinch. But for the love of God, stay away from those canned monstrosities in the “vegetable” aisle of the grocery store.  Trust me on that one…

On Sunday evening, at around 5:13 pm, I had a frosting related nervous breakdown.  This breakdown involved near tears, a wayward icing knife and a big ol’ mixing bowl of butter cream.  How did I come to such a lowly state? Let’s start from the beginning (times are an approximation…it was all a haze):

On May 13, 2010, as I was sitting at my desk at work, the idea of making a strawberry layer cake popped into my head.  Thinking I could use my favorite vanilla cake recipe, I decided to pick up some strawberries on Saturday at the 14th & U Farmers Market to turn said cake idea into a reality.

On May 15, 2010, I pick up some lovely strawberries from Garner’s Produce for said cake idea.  The rest of the day is spent enjoying the National Zoo, free wi-fi at Tonic (I’ve been told I get way too excited when I find a wi-fi hotspot…I don’t disagree with that assessment) and pointing out issues with the latest Dr. Who episode.

On May 16, 2010 (starting at 9:25 am), I spend the morning lazing about and thinking about my cake baking/decorating strategy.  I read over Joy’s post on frosting a cake, making sure to note all the tips she suggests for a painless, beautiful frosting experience.  On more than one occasion, the thought, “This won’t be hard” pops into my head.  I will live to regret that flippant attitude.

At 12:00 pm, I start chopping up strawberries while listening to Warner Herzog’s interesting spin on documentary narration.  I keep waiting for him to burst out into “This is Sprockets!”

At 12:13 pm, I make a strawberry filling using strawberries, water, sugar and corn starch.  When I think it’s thick enough, I take it off the heat and set it aside to cool.  This turns out to be a mistake.

At 12:35 pm, I painstakingly set up the mise en place for the cake ingredients.  Since I’m using my go-to cake recipe, whipping up the cake batter is relatively painless.  This lulls me into a false sense of security as I place the cakes (my dumb ass only used TWO cake pans, when I should have used three…I’m a moron) in the oven and sit down to pay full attention to Herr Herzog.

At 1:27 pm, I check on the cakes and am surprised to find they are still jiggly in the middle.  This raises the first red flag in my head, as it usually only takes 25 minutes to bake these cakes.  I reset the timer for five minutes and go back to the couch.

At 1:34 pm, I check again on the cakes…still jiggling like Pamela Anderson’s breasts.  Panic begins to creep up in the back of my neck.  I brush it aside, thinking, “Perhaps I should have poured some of the batter into a third pan.”  I reset the timer for another five minutes.

At 1:36 pm, I check on the strawberry filling…and discover it hasn’t thickened at all! What the hell?!?!? The panic pushes its way back up to my neck, almost laughing at me.  I’ll just add more cornstarch, I think.  I set the pot back on the stove, add another teaspoon of cornstarch and start whisking.

At 1:42 pm, the cakes are STILL jiggling in the center, the strawberry filling looks like red snot and I haven’t even started on the butter cream.  And where the hell is the pedestal to my cake stand??????

At 1:47 pm, the cake starts to firm up BUT it’s also starting to get a little bit more brown than I’d like.  Wait, is that side starting to burn a little??? AND WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THIS STRAWBERRY FILLING????

At 1:53 pm, the cakes are finally done (cake testers confirm this).  In desperation, I throw the strawberry filling into the refrigerator, hoping the cold will thicken it up a bit.

At 1:59 pm, I start on the butter cream, which is also a go-to recipe.  All is well as I’m whipping up the batch of frosting.  That is until I realize the resulting batch won’t be enough to frost the entire cake.  That damn panic’s now up to the nape of my neck, taunting me.  I scramble around to make another batch.  Then I’m struck with “inspiration” and decide to put some of the strawberry filling into the butter cream.  This will turn out to be another mistake.

At 2:13 pm, I sit down again and pray that the voices of panic will SHUT THE FUCK UP!

At 3:03 pm, I start making our lunch for the week: cream of asparagus soup with green garlic.  I am trying my hardest not to think about the cake or how the hell I plan to decorate it.  Especially when I discover I CAN’T FIND MY PASTRY BAGS!!!! AND WHERE THE HELL IS THE PEDESTAL TO MY CAKE STAND?????

At 4:35 pm, I decide to start frosting the cake.  At this very moment, I also can’t seem to find my flat icing knife and instead must use the bent one.  In my mad dash through our gadget drawer, I pitch the box grater out in hopes of finding my flat icing knife.  When I don’t find it, I leave a trail of gadgets on the counter as I walk away with the bowl of frosting.  The Boy is left to put the gadgets back into a semblance of order…he senses the coming storm and wisely decides to stay out of my way.

At 4:45 pm, I create a fortress of frosting on the top of the first cake layer to keep the filling from oozing out.  This will turn out to fail miserably.  I try to take a few pictures but am tired, have poor lighting at my dining room table and overall, just don’t give a shit anymore.

At 5:13 pm, I curse the day I ever thought this was a good idea.  Strawberry filling is oozing out like a festering wound.  The butter cream is separating because SOMEONE thought adding some filling to it would be a good idea.  The damn frosting won’t stay on the sides and The Boy is just looking on in horror.

At 5:27 pm, I realize I’ve lost the battle and just slather on the last of the frosting.  I get the cake to look as normal as possible, top it with strawberries and half heartedly attempt to take pictures of it.  The lighting sucks no matter where I put the damn cake and I just don’t care at this point.  I cut a slice off for The Boy to eat and walk away in a daze.

I faintly hear him say it tastes good, but I’m too far gone.  I’m in pastry shell shock and all I can do is stare at the wall and occasionally blink.  At some point I take a bite of the cake and I’m snatched out of my stupor.  It tastes incredible.  The frosting is delicious, even though it doesn’t stick to the sides all the time.  The filling is bursting with strawberry goodness and it (finally) thickened to the perfect consistency.  And the cake itself is moist and vanillalicious.  I just wish it didn’t look like a four year old’s craft project.

On Saturday morning, Brian, The Boy, Mazzie and I headed over to the 14th & U Farmers Market bright and early.  We got there a wee bit early and were dutifully waiting in line at Panorama when we almost witnessed two older gents get into fisticuffs over line jumping.  Luckily no one used one of Panorama’s baguettes as a sword and we were all able to get our loaves without further incident.  After securing our carbs, we walked around the rest of the market for inspiration.  The Boy had picked us up some wonderful strawberries from the Truck Patch, which Brian was going to use later for our libations.  I also got some goat cheese to go along with the Gryffon’s Aerie ground beef I bought on Thursday at the Market by the White House.  Asparagus, spinach, ricotta and green onions rounded out our farmers market haul for the week.

While discussing the recipe for the cocktail, Brian suggested using Meyer lemons in the lemonade for a twist.  Since we were only a Circulator ride away from Whole Foods, we decided to pick some up.  Before parting for the day (The Boy and I had tickets to see Iron Man 2…which I loved…because it had electric whips…and Scarlett Johansson in a cat suit), we agreed that Brian would come over for cocktail making, burgers and Dr. Who around 5 that night.

Later that same evening, Brian arrived with strawberries (he had also picked some up that morning at the market), the Meyer lemons and a neatly, handwritten recipe for the cocktail.  I dutifully cut up the strawberries for the drinks and he quickly got to work.  Strawberries were sugared and pureed; lemons were juiced and lemonade was made; straining occurred; a few artful shakes (I really wish I’d gotten video of Brian’s stellar cocktail shaking abilities) and BAM! We had cocktails!  And they were good…perhaps a little too good.  I may or may not have gotten a little tipsy…and a hammock was involved (don’t ask).

This is the perfect warm weather cocktail and can be served without the alcohol (that last part will confuse my Twitterati).

Recipe: Strawberry & Meyer Lemonade Cocktail

Ingredients

• Strawberry Puree:
• 1 cup hulled strawberries, chopped
• Sugar to taste
• Lemonade:
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp Meyer lemon juice (can use regular lemons – may require an adjustment of the sugar)
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 oz vodka

Instructions

1. Sprinkle some sugar over the chopped strawberries (the amount of sugar depends on how sweet the strawberries are by themselves) and allow to sit for 5 to 15 minutes.
2. Puree the chopped strawberries with an immersion blender until smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender or your own arm muscle.
3. In a separate container, combine the water, lemon juice and sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
4. Place a small strainer over the top of the container with the lemonade. Pour some of the strawberry puree into the container. Using a spoon, stir the puree around as it oozes through the strainer. This step helps to remove a majority of the strawberry seeds from the final drink.
5. Continue this process until all of the puree has been added to the lemonade.
6. Stir the puree to completely incorporate it into the lemonade. Add 1 part vodka to 3 parts strawberry lemonade (in this case, 2 ounces of vodka for 6 ounces of the lemonade).
7. Shake over ice and serve!

What better way to usher in the new season at the Market by the White House than with a HUGE batch of paella?  Famed chef Jose Andres was present at the opening day of the FreshFarm market in the shadow of the White House…along with a paella pan the size of a Buick.  The market, which opened in October last year, was a welcome sight on Vermont Avenue on such a lovely afternoon.  The market boasts new vendors this year, including my 14th & U favorite, Panorama Bakery, and Gryffon’s Aerie, purveyors of heritage breed, pasture based artisan meats. And it just so happens Gryffon’s Aerie supplies Bourbon Steak DC with their AMAZING steaks and ground beef (I’m a HUGE fan of Bourbon Steak…HUGE).

Rhubarb was front and center at Blueberry Hill, along with arugula flowers! I had never tried arugula flowers before, but gave them a little taste test and loved them! The lovely, peppery bite of arugula leaves are the first thing you taste when you pop the flowers into your mouth.  I had no idea what to do with the flowers, but I picked up a bag anyway.

Spring Valley had rows of luscious strawberries, which you could smell from a mile away! Dotted along the strawberries were asparagus, kale, spring onions and these lovely salad greens.

I was happy to see some other familiar vendors that were new to the market, including Dolcezza Gelato, Potomac Vegetable Farms and Buster’s Seafood!

I was particularly happy to see Keswick Creamery at the market, especially since they are no longer at 14th & U on Saturdays.  I’m not gonna lie…I was giddy to get my hands on a tub of their Quark cheese.

After I snapped up the Quark, I headed over to Gryffon’s Aerie to scope out the farm that raises my hands down favorite steaks in DC.  Although I was tempted to buy a few steaks for the weekend, I decided to start small and picked up a package of their ground beef.  Ann Yonkers, co-director of FreshFarm Markets, strongly suggested I use the ground beef for burgers and well, I’m easily swayed when it comes to beef.

In need of milk, I headed over to Clear Spring Creamery and tried some of their drinkable chocolate yogurt. A woman standing next to me was also giving the drinkable yogurt a taste test.  “This tastes just like liquid chocolate pudding!” she exclaimed as she licked the sides of the cup.  As I was deciding what to get, I noticed Clear Spring also sells eggs! This market really does have everything, I thought as I got a quart of milk.

There were carbs galore around the market: baguettes and loaves of sandwich bread at Panorama; French pastries and cookies from Praline (a new-to-me vendor); and mounds of artisan breads at Quail Creek Farm!

I ran into One Bite at a Time and her wonderful friend while staring at the paella. We all had a sample of the huge dish…a great primer for our upcoming workouts!

Before I bought more than my little arms could carry, I bid the Market by the White House good day, vowing to come back often.  The FreshFarm Market by the White House is open every Thursday from 3 to 7 pm until November 18!

Much to my sheer and utter excitement, the 14th & U Farmers Market opened for the season this past Saturday.  To say I’ve missed the familiar sights and sounds of this little market would be an understatement.  Some of my favorite Chesapeake foodshed farmers sell their amazing fruits, veggies, meats and cheeses at the corner of 14th & U.  And I’ve been dying for some of Panorama Bakery’s fresh, sliced multigrain deli bread all Winter long.  So on Saturday morning, I was more than eager to grab my shopping bags and head down 14th Street to mingle among my favorite vendors.

We got to the market a bit early because I was anxious to get my hands on the seasons first crop of strawberries from Garner’s Produce.  The brief spurt of Summer like weather in the beginning of Spring led to an earlier-than-usual bounty of my favorite berries.  As we walked up to Garner’s table, I could smell the fragrant aroma of the berries wafting towards me.  I wanted to dive right into the table of red jewels, but decided to show a bit of restraint.  Garner’s Produce also had some big, floral bouquets of spinach that instantly inspired an idea for a simple, cool spinach salad (more about that later).

I had resolved to pick up a bag of stinging nettles in an attempt to be more adventurous (yes, I consider trying new produce adventurous) and found some at Mountain View.  Rich in iron and calcium, stinging nettles have been touted as a wonder food, especially for women.  Unfortunately, the word “stinging” doesn’t really make people jump to cook with this plant.  When touched with bare hands, raw stinging nettles have tiny hairs (called trichomes) that turn into needles and can release several chemicals that result in a stinging sensation.  These stinging agents are neutralized once they are cooked, even for only a few minutes.  So it was with care that The Boy and I picked out two bags of them and placed them in our shopping totes.  While chatting with one of the Mountain View vendors, she suggested a recipe for French Nettle Soup.  I filed it away along with her recipe for a Nettle-Walnut Pesto Crostini.

Asparagus was at almost every vendor table, much to my delight, as were radishes:

And just when I thought I was going to faint from farmers market happiness, I stumbled upon sunchokes AND the season’s first rhubarb at Kuhn Orchards!

Kuhn also had fragrant and delicate lilac stems and my favorite pink lady apples.  I couldn’t resist the lilacs, especially after inhaling their hypnotic scent.

And speaking of plants, there were plenty of herb and vegetable plants for the urban gardener.  Still a little gun shy after last Spring’s failed windowsill herb garden, I opted to wait before buying any more plants.

We picked up some eggs from Pecan Meadows, who also had duck and goose eggs for sale.  Even though I was tempted by the duck eggs (lately they seem to be on every restaurant menu in DC), I knew I needed chicken eggs for some whole wheat pasta I planned to make.

After I picked up a fresh loaf of Panorama Bakery’s bread (and sniffed and squeezed it lovingly), I ran into Robin Shuster, the market manager.  That’s when I learned Keswick Creamery sadly had to bow out of all their Saturday farmers markets.  Robin assured me Keswick would be at the Bloomingdale Farmers Markets on Sunday and told me she was looking into finding another cheese vendor.  And just when I thought we were done, Robin insisted I pick up some pea shoots to try.  Since she’s never steered me wrong, I took her advice and bought a bag of them from Mountain View before heading home.  I decided to add the pea shoots to an asparagus and goat cheese pizza idea I had floating around in my head.

The Spring farmers markets are in full swing now!  When I hit up the Dupont Circle Farmers Market this past Sunday, asparagus was everywhere!  And that’s not an exaggeration…save for the dairy, meat and bread/baked goods vendors, asparagus was out on every vendor table.  And not just the lovely green asparagus either.  Spring Valley had asparagus the color of a deep lavendar dotted amongst the greenery.  Piles of the ‘gus jumped out from the tables, much to the delight of many market shoppers.  We picked up three bunches, one of which was the purple variety (how can I resist that color).

Ramps were also, well, rampant throughout the market.  Because of its limited growing season, ramps always get a huge push around this time.  Newspaper food sections, cooking/food magazines and the food media practically trip over themselves trying to give their readers ideas on how to use these lovely, pungent wild leeks.  As I was walking past Next Step Produce, I overheard a woman tell her friend to boil the ramps and use the resulting broth in a risotto.  While I must admit I was intrigued by the idea, the thought of boiling ramps seemed to be a waste of these gems.  I’ve made a sublime ramp risotto using homemade vegetable stock that threaded the rich flavor of the ramps throughout each rice grain.  No ramp “broth” needed.

Over at Sunnyside’s tables, I stumbled across a bunch of regular leeks and it struck me that I’ve never actually cooked with them before.  Sure I’ve done my fair share of wild leek cooking – from ramp biscuits to pan roasted ramps (shameless plug for this post).  But when it comes to the traditional leek, I’m still a virgin.  A vague recollection of a recipe for pizza using caramelized leeks urged me to pick up one of the bunches on the table.

Looking around for something to accompany the leeks, my eyes fell on the pearls of red cherry tomatoes on the other table.  Recalling the complex dance of sweetness and tartness from the roasted cherry tart (another shameless plug), it struck me how well they would pair with the leeks.  As I was carefully placing two boxes of the cherry tomatoes into a bag, my hand brushed against the green onions lying in close proximity.  And almost like a thunderbolt (okay, maybe not that cheesy), the idea for a Spring pad thai came into my head.

When I lived in Charlotte, I became really good friends with an older couple who shared my love of cooking.  Once a month, we would gather at their house, cook a meal from scratch and then spend hours talking over fresh brewed tea.  I learned a lot of different cooking techniques and the importance of quality ingredients from these get-togethers.  However, the most valuable lesson I learned was the art of a simple pad thai.  The husband was stationed in Thailand early in his Army career and the young couple embraced living in a foreign country.  They immersed themselves in Thailand’s culture and language and of course, its food.  One of the first dishes they mastered was pad thai, partly because of its ease and partly because it was so versatile.  They taught me how to make a chicken version of the traditional street food and encouraged me to play with the ingredients to come up with unique combinations.  With the asparagus and green onions in my bag, I knew I could turn out a Spring version of the dish.

Want other ideas for cooking market fresh asparagus? Try some of these recipes!

• Market Asparagus Salad with Bacon and Wild Mushrooms from Adventures of a Florida Girl in DC
• Savory Asparagus Bread Pudding from 101 Cookbooks
• Asparagus and Gruyere Tart from Closet Cooking
• Roasted Asparagus with Red Pepper Puree and Microgreens from the Garden Apartment
• Spring Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Linguine from Foodie Tots

I have but a few simple pleasures in my life: a perfect pitcher of sweet iced tea, the divine smell of baking bread dancing down my nostrils, laughing with my friends so hard I cry.  But one of the best things in life for me is the start of the Spring farmers market season.  Spring is the reawakening, the bright spot after months of potatoes, potatoes and more potatoes.  Fresh flowers and herbs pop out as the markets open for the first time this year.  And of course, there is the Holy trinity of Spring produce: morels, asparagus and ramps.  When these three start to show up on farmers market tables, you know its just the beginning of the best Mother Nature has to offer.

This past Thursday at Penn Quarter Farmers Market, asparagus made its debut for the season.  The fabulous woman behind One Bite at a Time and I have been quite excited about the appearance of the ‘gus (her lovely moniker, not mine), so we were both anxious to hit up PQ.  Sadly, I got there too late to snag one of the 40 bunches for sale at Sunnyside.  And by too late, I mean I got there an hour after the market opened.  I was told the line to get asparagus formed rather quickly and they sold out at an alarming rate.  And with only one vendor selling asparagus at Penn Quarter, my foodie hopes were crushed.  Not to be deterred, I vowed to get to Dupont Circle Farmers Market early on Sunday to claim my Springtime prize.

Even though we had a long weekend out in Leesburg (more about that to come), The Boy rallied and got up early with me to satisfy my ‘gus lust.  So there we were, at 8:52 am staring at the Spring Valley farm table loaded with salad greens, baby brussel sprouts, asparagus…and RAMPS.  We huddled together for our farmers market strategy and it was decided he would stay at Spring Valley to pick up the sprouts, the ‘gus and the ramps.  I would venture forth in search of broccoli rabe, salad from Next Step Produce and milk from Clear Springs Creamery.  Along the way I picked up some green garlic (for pesto of course), green onions and red pepper hummus from Sunnyside.  I contemplated grabbing a bunch of stinging nettles but demured when I realized I had no idea how to cook them (and the word “stinging” didn’t help its case).  But with ideas from Not Derby Pie and my Twitter pal Nikki_d, I think I may give them a shot next week.

Unloading all of the produce onto my kitchen counter, my heart did a tiny leap in my chest as I feasted my eyes upon all the lovely greenery.  This is what Spring is all about, I said to myself as I began gently washing the ramps for a simple dinner.  The pungent, heady aroma of ramps gives way to a gloriously mellow leek when the ramps are pan roasted with butter.  I learned the trick of pan roasting ramps from Tom Colicchio’s book, Think Like a Chef.  And to emphasize the stature of the ramps, I decided to serve them on a bed of…wait for it…homemade black pepper fettuccine!  Because I now have, thanks to my wonderful, lovely, awesome, kick ass friends Carlea and Geoff, a Kitchen Aid pasta roller and cutter attachment set.  I clearly have amazing friends…

 This past weekend in DC was a beauty and everyone seemed to be doing their best to take advantage of it.  I guess after the rather harsh Winter, DCites were more than happy to welcome Spring with open arms.  This was most evident at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market on Sunday.  During the Winter months, the market had its fair share of shoppers but it was never overly crowded.  Imagine my surprise to find pretty much all of DC packed into the small space that the market occupies along the Circle.  Lines wrapped around tables at the more popular vendors, while others meandered from stall to stall, anxiously looking for some signs of Spring produce.  And I was no different.  Although I had a list of specific ingredients, I was still keeping an eye out for anything that marked the change in seasons.  And that’s when I stumbled upon these beauties:

 I was looking around for salad when my eyes came across a small collection of grape tomatoes occupying a little space on a table.  I felt like I’d hit the jackpot! The tomatoes were a rich golden yellow, resembling little balls of sunshine packed into a container.  I stood there for a few minutes, trying to convince myself that I wasn’t imagining the tomatoes.  That’s also when I remembered a rustic, roasted cherry tomato tart recipe in the April issue of Food & Wine.  I snagged two pints of the tomatoes and got in line, looking around as if someone planned to steal them from me.  This is what happens when a locavore has been subsisting on tubers for months on end.

Once I got home, I looked over the recipe again and was a bit surprised at its simplicity.  The tart dough was easily assembled using my food processor and is hands down my new go-to tart dough.  The recipe didn’t call for any additional preparation of the cherry tomatoes besides washing them.  At first I thought about dressing up the tart with caramelized onions but decided against it.  I’m glad I showed restraint, because had I added the onions, they would have masked the loveliness of the tomatoes.  Roasting them brought out their sweetness while still maintaining a bit of their tart bite.  A few ribbons of basil, some salt, some pepper and a tablespoon of olive oil were all these tomatoes needed.  This was the introduction to Spring my taste buds needed.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Tart (adapted from Food and Wine – April 2010)

Ingredients

• 2 pints cherry (or grape) tomatoes, washed and drained
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 2 tbs basil, cut in strips
• For the dough:
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 7 tbs unsalted butter, cold and cut in cubes
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Place the butter cubes around the flour and pulse until a crumbly mixture is formed.
2. Slowly add the cream while still pulsing the flour mixture. Keep adding the cream until the dough comes together into a bit of a ball (you may have a little bit of cream still left over, which is fine).
3. Remove the dough from the food processor and move to a lightly floured surface. Gently knead the dough a few times until it is smooth.
4. Wrap up the dough and place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (can stay in the refrigerator overnight).
5. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9 inch tart pan (can be a round one or a rectangular one) with a removable bottom.
6. Once again on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 14 inches. Press the dough into the tart pan and trim off any excess dough.
7. Toss the tomatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper and pour them into the tart shell.
8. Bake for about an hour and 45 minutes or until the shell is evenly browned.
9. Take the basil leaves and roll them into a cylinder. Using a sharp knife, cut the basil into strips. When the tart is done, pull it out slightly from the oven and sprinkle the basil over the tomatoes.
10. Put the tart back in the oven, turn it off and let the tart sit for five more minutes. Then remove the tart and allow it to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. The tart can be served warm or cold!

Recipe: Roasted Tomato Tart