ASPARAGUS + DUCK EGG FRITTATA

Happy Sunday everyone! If a springy brunch or simple leisurely weekend supper is calling your name, this recipe may be just what you need.

I'm in love with my new butcher shop - they handle animal products with all the TLC it deserves.  "All of the meat... comes from animals who have been 100% pasture raised, no antibiotics, no hormones, just pure, clean, true meat." Plus, everything is sourced from thoughtful farms within 150 miles.

Each time I walk in, there is so much deliciousness to tempt me: quail, house smoked bacon, goat chops, and the eggs... always the eggs. Once you switch to real farm eggs, it is nearly impossible to go back to the bland, mass-produced industrial kind. Farm eggs have so much more flavor, not to mention the health benefits!

Recently I went to the butcher and they were out of chicken eggs, but they had duck. I'd eaten duck eggs before, but had never cooked with them myself, so I asked Monica if they needed any special treatment. She encouraged me to experiment with them in both savory and sweet dishes. We had so much fun making a duck egg scramble for friends. I cooked up some pancakes, and of course this duck egg frittata. The duck eggs didn't disappoint - they were rich, with big fat yokes. I'm going back for more!

 INGREDIENTS
(printable recipe)

• 1/2 cup asparagus, sliced and steamed
• 1 tablespoon (+ 1 teaspoon) olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot, or spring onion
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced leeks
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 2 duck eggs or 4 chicken eggs
• 2 tablespoons salty feta
• 4 teaspoons chopped mixed fresh herbs: tarragon, parsley, and chervil are nice

Slice and steam asparagus. Set aside.

In a small saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Saute shallot and leeks for 3-5 minutes, but do not brown. Add steamed asparagus to the bubbling mixture. Saute veggies for another minute. Remove from heat, salt generously to taste, and let cool.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk eggs with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pinch of freshly ground pepper. When veggies have cooled, add them to the eggs and give the whole thing a good stir.

Crumble 2 tablespoons of feta into a little prep bowl and set it near the stove.

Turn on your broiler.

Place a small well-seasoned cast iron, or non-stick frying pan, on the stove top over medium/high heat. (I used a 6 1/2 inch fry pan for cooking - a perfect size for a two person lunch. But you can easily increase the size of the recipe to make a larger frittata.) Add 1 teaspoons of olive oil to the pan. Swirl the hot oil around to thoroughly coat edges of the pan and prevent sticking. Pour out the excess oil. Put oiled pan back on stove for 30 seconds over medium high to make sure it's nice and hot. Then pour egg mixture into the hot pan and turn the heat down to medium/low. Sprinkle feta over the top of the eggs.

Let the frittata cook on the stove top until you see that all of the edges have cooked, and are starting separate from the sides of the pan. Stick the pan under the broiler to finish cooking the top of the frittata. Keep an eye on it  - you want the eggs to be just cooked, but not well done. A nice moist frittata is what you are looking for.

Let the frittata cool to room temp. Sprinkle with herbs and serve with a simple green salad.

For more eggiliciousness, go here...

Serves 2

KINFOLK BRUNCH SF

For those of you who aren't familiar with Kinfolk - it's a brilliant, beautifully serene magazine  dedicated to celebrating the joy of "small gatherings." The mag is packed with stunning photos and earnest prose (and there's not a distracting ad in sight). When I first stumbled upon Kinfolk a few months back, I was stunned by the beauty and calm of each issue and I knew I wanted to get involved. Go get a copy of their latest edition, you won't be disappointed. (You can find a list of their stockist here.)

Kinfolk hosts one meal each month in a different city around the US. Yesterday, the Kinfolk gang came to SF...

Matt from Heirloom Cafe cooked a springy family-style meal for us all as we sat, chatted, and met new people. I thought I would share some links with you today that are inspired by the talented people I had a chance to connect with at brunch. Check out their work - I think you'll enjoy...

• Laura, a sweet photographer whose gorgeous images are often found in Kinfolk
• Kasey, a new friend of mine whose writing on food and music is fresh and always delicious
• Jill, who does sumptuous natural work with flowers
• Heidi, who is as kind and charming in person as she is on her blog and books
• June, a master jam-maker and teacher from Berkeley
• Samin, a fellow Berkeley dweller, talented chef, and my table mate
• Rachel and her lifestyle blog, packed with design goodies

And of course, thank you Nathan and Julie at Kinfolk!

I promise that a recipe is coming your way next post - I have a duck egg frittata just waiting for you!

SPRING PEA SOUP

Yes, spring is my favorite season. How can I resist? Every living thing seems to be bursting with energy: our garden is explosively green; newborn finches are chirping outside of my studio window; friends are calling for last minute barbecue invitations. Hibernation is over, and I am loving it. 

Spring produce is in full effect at the market, and peas are happening. This soup is simple, flavorful, and honestly highlights the deliciousness of ingredient. I was amazed that the cooked peas stayed so green, even when I continued to enjoy the leftovers throughout the week. Feel free to serve the soup warm or cold - either way, it's damned good!

INGREDIENTS - adapted from Darina Allen's inspiring book Forgotten Skills of Cooking
(printable recipe)

• 2 strips of bacon, chopped
• 1 spring onions, or 2 scallions, sliced thin
• 4 cups shelled peas (about 3.5 pounds of peas still in their pods)
• sprig of mint (plus extra mint leaves for garnish)
• 5 cups good quality chicken or veggie stock
• plenty of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• 2 tablespoon heavy cream

In a large soup pot or dutch oven, cook your bacon with the lid on for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add spring onions and cook another 2 minutes so that the bacon and onion flavors mingle nicely. Add the peas, mint, and stock. Toss in a few generous pinches of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour in a splash of agave. Bring everything to a simmer and cook for about 7-8 minutes until peas are just tender. Taste for seasoning - I found myself needing quite a bit more salt. And depending on the natural sugar content of the peas you use, you may want a little more agave if you are yearning for a little hint of sweetness.

Add cream, and puree soup. Serve with a few mint leaves for garnish.

Enjoy!

Serves 6

AMAZING MINT CHIP ICE CREAM

Don't we all dream of lounging around in our pjs eating ice cream on a weekday? Well, my boy Otis had Spring Break last week, and that is just what he did.

Otis can groove with some serious savory cooking and he is a master when it comes to chopping veg, but he also swoons for making sweets. Fresh Mint Chip Ice Cream seemed like a good way for us to celebrate the Easter Break, the green explosion of spring, and our bountiful backyard mint patch.

Otis says this is the best ice cream he has ever tasted (and we all know that 11-year-olds are ice cream experts!)  I personally think the whole recipe is quite dangerous. I found myself wanting to slurp the minty custard before I even froze the stuff - need I say more?

INGREDIENTS thanks to David Lebovitz

(printable recipe)

• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 packed cups fresh mint leaves
• 5 egg yokes
• 5 ounces dark chocolate, chopped and melted

Warm milk, 1 cup of cream, sugar, and salt in a medium sauce pan, over medium heat. Stir to melt sugar. When sugar has dissolved, add mint leaves to the pan. When everything is hot and steamy, remove the pan from the heat. Cover, and let the mint leaves steep in the warm milk for an hour.

After an hour of steeping, pour the minty milk mixture through a strainer into a medium mixing bowl. Using the back of a wooden spoon, press down on the mint in the strainer to release as much flavor as you can, then toss out the mint leaves and wash your strainer. Return infused milk to the medium sauce pan and rewarm over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

(Pour the remaining cup of cream into a large mixing bowl. Place strainer over the top of the bowl, and set aside.)

Whisk egg yokes in a separate, smallish bowl. Pour a ladle or two of the warm infused milk into the yokes and whisk to integrate. Then pour all of the yokes into the sauce pan with the warmed minty milk. Stir continuously with a spatula and cook custard, over medium heat, until it begins to thicken. (Lebovitz says the mixture is done when it reaches 170 degrees, or is thick enough to coat the spatula.)

Pour custard through the strainer into the large mixing bowl holding the cream. Stir. Place mixing bowl over an ice bath and continue stirring until the custard has cooled. Transfer to a covered container. Refrigerate for two hours, or even overnight, then freeze in your ice cream maker, following the manufacturers instructions.

While your ice cream maker is working its magic, put a storage container into the freezer to chill.

When your ice cream machine is done, pull the chilled storage container from the freezer and drizzle some melted chocolate across the bottom. Then add some ice cream to the container. Then drizzle more chocolate over the ice cream. Use a spoon to break up the mixture and you will have nice broken streaks of chocolate (homemade chocolate chips!) running throughout the ice cream. Continue adding layers of ice cream and drizzled chocolate. Place your now marbleized ice cream into the freezer to firm up again before serving.

Enjoy!

My talented friend and fellow blogger, Phyllis Grant of Dash and Bella, recently posted a recipe for Mint Stracciatella Ice Cream. If you don't already follow her blog already, you should - everything she does is delish and I imagine her ice cream is no exception!