Fresh Food Frenzy Spring 2017 Recipes

The spring weather has brought back our favourite market (the outdoor farmers market!) and with it one of our favourite food education projects...Fresh Food Frenzy! Students have the opportunity to interact with local farmers, bakers, chefs, and shop owners as they gather ingredients for our lunch. The menu is created with local and in season produce in mind, and is prepared by the students in the Covent Garden Market Kitchen. Below you can find the menu and recipes from this seasons Fresh Food Frenzy:

Garlic Scape Vichysoisse

Ingredients

3 onions, chopped (substitute ramps if possible, about three small bunches)

4 tbsp butter

12 cups vegetable stock

3 lb potatoes, peeled and quartered (that will be 10-12 potatoes)

1 lb by weight garlic scapes, cut into pieces about 1inch long

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp salt

1 ½ cups heavy cream

Directions

In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter and sweat the onion until its transparent.  Add the chicken broth and salt, and bring to a boil.  Add the potatoes and scapes; when the water starts boiling again, reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about an hour, until the potatoes are cooked and the scapes are tender.  Add nutmeg and pepper and remove from heat.  After it has cooled a little, blend with an immersion blender, or put it in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.  Add whipping cream and stir well to incorporate, then chill for a few hours before serving if desired.  If the soup thickens too much when it is cold, add some milk to thin it to a nice cream soup consistency. Check the seasoning, and adjust to taste.

Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients

8 large garlic scapes with the bulb removed, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup (lightly packed) clean and dry basil leaves

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup of grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions

Add garlic scapes, basil and salt to the large bowl of a food processor. Start processing, adding oil slowly. Stop processing and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Once a smooth paste has been achieved, add parmesan and process until completely mixed in.

Stop processing and all of the sunflower seeds. Pulse processor until seeds are roughly chopped and fully mixed in. This gives the pesto a great texture.

White bean hummus (1x recipe)

INGREDIENTS

1 can (15 ounces) white beans, such as cannellini, drained, 2 tablespoons liquid reserved

1/4 cup tahini (can be omitted)

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small garlic clove

Coarse salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Puree beans, tahini, lemon juice, oil, and garlic in a food processor until smooth, adding reserved bean liquid as needed to thin hummus to attain desired consistency. Season generously with salt.

Asparagus and parmesan frittata (1x recipe per group)

Ingredients

Extra-virgin olive oil as needed

Salt

1 pound thin asparagus spears, ends removed and cut into 1 ½-inch pieces

8 eggs

¼ cup whole milk

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (optional)

6 to 8 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

2 teaspoons salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup chopped green onions

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Using about 1 tablespoon olive oil, liberally oil a ceramic pie plate.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the asparagus pieces, and cook until tender-crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain well, refresh in cold water, and drain.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, green onions, milk, flour (if using; it gives the frittata greater stability), cheese, nutmeg, 2 teaspoons salt, and several grinds of pepper.

Bake the frittata until the top is set and lightly colored, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool for at least 8 to 10 minutes, and cut into wedges. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Lemon vinaigrette

Ingredients

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon honey

Kosher salt and freshly ground black peppper

Directions

Put oil, lemon juice, mustard, and honey in a mason jar and shake until smooth; season with salt and a generous amount of pepper.

Sourcream rhubarb cupcakes (makes about 30 cupcakes)

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup softened butter

4 medium eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

half pound of rhubarb, finely chopped (about 2 cup)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a baking pan for normal size cupcakes with 12 cupcake liners, or a mini cupcake pan with 24 liners.

2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

3. Add butter, eggs, sour cream and vanilla and beat until smooth. Stir in chopped rhubarb.

4. Divide batter amongst the cupcake liners and bake for 20-23 minutes for normal size cupcake, 18 minutes for medium and 15 minutes for mini. Check doneness with a toothpick before removing from the oven. Let cool.