Recipe

After a damp spring day spent visiting the organic vegetable gardens on the UCSC campus in Santa Cruz, a town that is unusually committed to using its local produce, it was time for dinner. There is always a moment during asparagus season when you want something hearty, and this was the day. Fortunately, the chef had the dish for it -- a golden bread pudding studded with asparagus.

I like to simmer the milk with green garlic (immature garlic whose leaves are still green) for flavor. If you live where fresh chanterelles or morels are in season as well as asparagus, here's a good opportunity to use them. But dried chanterelles or morels from the previous year are delicious, too.

1 head green garlic
3 cups milk
a 1-pound loaf good firm white bread, cut into thick slices
1 to 2 pounds asparagus, preferably fat ones
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large shallot, finely diced
1/2 to 1 pound chanterelles or morels, cleaned, and coarsely chopped
4 large market eggs
1/2 cup chopped parsley
3 tablespoons chopped tarragon or marjoram
2 cups grated Fontina or Gruyère cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly butter or oil an 8- x 12-inch gratin dish. Coarsely chop the garlic, add it to the milk, and bring to a boil. Turn it off and set it aside to steep.
2. If the bread isn't stale, lay it on a sheet pan and bake until golden and crisp (but not hard); otherwise your pudding will be mushy. Break it into chunks, put it in a large dish, and strain the milk over it. Let it sit while you prepare the vegetables. Occasionally turn the bread so that it soaks up as much of the milk as possible.
3. Peel thick asparagus up to where the tips begin. Slice it on the diagonal, about 1/3 inch thick, then soak in cold water for a few minutes. (It's not necessary to peel thin ones.) Fill a skillet with water and when it boils, add salt to taste and the asparagus. Simmer until bright green and partially tender, about 3 minutes. Drain, then rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
4. Melt half the butter in a medium nonstick skillet. Add the shallot, cook for 1 minute, then add the mushrooms. Cook over high heat until they brown in places, exude their liquid, and are tender, after several minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
5. Break the eggs into a large bowl and beat them until smooth. Add the herbs, 1 teaspoon salt, and plenty of pepper. By now the bread should have soaked up most of the milk. Add the bread and any milk that is left to the bowl, along with the asparagus and mushrooms plus any juices, and two thirds of the cheese. Toss well. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish, even it out some, and dot with the remaining butter. Scatter the remaining cheese over the top and bake until puffy and golden, about 45 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then serve.

Few recipes are as simple as this one, but if Harriet Bell hadn't told me about it, I might never have known what a great little dish this is. If you should be fortunate to find some undersized cauliflower at your farmers' market, bake them whole and serve one per person.

1 larger or 4 small cauliflowers, about 1 pound
olive oil
sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Leave small cauliflowers whole, but slice a larger vegetable into wedges about 1-1/2 inches wide at the widest point. Brush with olive oil, season with salt, and place in a baking dish in a single layer. Bake until browned on top, about 25 minutes, then turn to brown the second side (if cut into wedges).

APRICOT-LAVENDER REFRIGERATOR JAM
Makes about 1-1/2 pints

Because this isn't nearly as sweet as commercial jams, the flavor of apricots is rich and full. This is a simple little preserve to make in small quantities, not an all-day project. The lavender makes a fine match with apricots -- just make sure that you use the sweet fragrant kind, not the variety that smells of camphor.

If you leave this a little on the thin side, you'll have a sauce to spoon over warm biscuits, to flavor a semifreddo, or to drizzle over almond ice cream and top with toasted almonds. It also makes a shiny orange pool for panna cotta [see recipe in book].

7 cups ripe apricots
12 apricot pits, cracked, the kernels removed
1 cup sugar
7 lavender blossom sprigs
juice of 1/2 lemon, optional

1. Halve the apricots or quarter them if very large. Large pieces will give your jam a little texture. Place the apricots in a heavy pan with the kernels, sugar, and lavender. Cook over high heat, watching closely and stirring at first until the juices are released and sugar is dissolved. Then reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the fruit is thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Taste and, if you wish, add lemon juice if it needs sharpening. With so little sugar, the natural tartness of the fruit may be sufficient. Pour into sterilized containers, cap tightly, and store in the refrigerator.

Copyright © 2002 by Deborah Madison.