Monday Night Dinner

Dear Editors of food magazines:

Please stop taunting me with your Spring ingredients and Spring menus.  I know that America is a large country and that it’s probably Spring somewhere – California perhaps?  But for those of us who are laboring in the frozen North, for whom the crocuses have only just this past weekend bloomed, Spring is still a long way away.

The vernal equinox may have been this past weekend, but I’m still 4-6 weeks from local asparagus, pea shoots won’t show up until June, local rhubarb is also a solid month away.  Really good strawberries won’t make an appearance until end of June/early July.  My farmers market doesn’t even open until Memorial Day – although granted that’s not necessarily because there’s nothing on offer, and more because the weather isn’t really reliable enough to have a farmer’s market before then.  Mind you, the fact that the weather doesn’t get reliable until late May, should tell you something about Spring in the Northeast.

On the other hand, while I do feel callously taunted by the recipes for strawberry-rhubarb fools, and stir-fries with fresh peas, and delicate sautéed pea tendrils, I do appreciate that your actual “Spring Comfort Foods” and “Hearty Spring Dishes” almost all feature warming, substantial dishes that one would want to eat after wandering in from the rain and chill.  The Chicken in Riesling (basically coq au vin, but with white wine) sounds particularly appealing and I plan to make it in the near future.  Possibly also a brisket, because I’ve never made one and I’m easily seduced by all the Passover recipes I keep seeing (although not as much by the matzoh baklava or the matzoh lasagna).

In the meantime I shall try not to lose the latest “Spring” issue of your magazine in the 6-8 weeks it will take for the Spring ingredients to be locally available here.

Much love,

Still Chilly in Boston

Roasted Chicken
Twice Baked Potatoes
Apple Sauce
Green Beans
Salad

Roasted Chicken
Not enough leftover to make chicken pot pies, but on the other hand I do have two leftover unstuffed baked potatoes, so I see baked potato soup in my future (with crispy bacon and sharp cheddar cheese to garnish).

Recipe previously given:  Macaroni & Cheese

Twice Baked Potatoes
I made half with cheese, and half with Indian spices.

Cheesy Twice Baked Potates
Recipe previously given:  Curried Fruit & the Internet

Indian Twice Baked Potatoes
Recipe previously given: The Naming of Cats is a Difficult Matter

Apple Sauce

Recipe previously given:  Bangers & Mash