The Purloined Recipe

(recipe from the book Local Flavors used with permission of the author, Deborah Madison)

Serves 4 as a main dish.

It’s pre-tomato season in June, but the first green beans, tender little carrots, and French Breakfast radishes fit quite nicely with a few handfuls of lettuce, herbs, and fleshy purslane leaves. Tuna packed in oil or smoked fish-salmon, tuna, albacore, which can often be found at farmers’ markets—makes the salad into a meal.

1 sweet onion, thinly sliced into rounds
1/4 cup aged red wine vinegar
1 pound small potatoes, any waxy fleshed variety
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 ½ pounds green beans, one variety or several
1 bunch little carrots
several handfuls salad greens or small head lettuces
a handful purslane sprigs or big sunflower sprouts
several herb sprigs, such as chervil, marjoram, lovage, chives
2 garlic cloves
1 can anchovies, packed in olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, drained, or an 8-ounce chunk smoked albacore,
thinly sliced
3 tablespoons smallest capers, rinsed
1 bunch radishes

1. Heat a large pot of water for the vegetables. Toss the onion with 2 tablespoons of the vinegar and set in the refrigerator.
2. Wash the potatoes, then put them in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, add 1 teaspoon salt, and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender when pierced with a knife, about 25 minutes, then drain. Cut the stem ends off the beans, along with the tails if they’re tough. If the carrots are small and tender, you don’t need to
   peel them. Leave them whole or halve lengthwise with about an inch of the stems. Wash and dry the lettuces and herbs.
3. Mash the garlic with ½ teaspoon salt and 2 anchovies in a mortar. Whisk in the mustard, the remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar, and the oil, making a thick,
   emulsified dressing.
4. When the water boils, season well with salt, then add the beans and cook until tender but still a little firm, 4 to 8 minutes, depending on the varieties. Scoop
   them out and put them on a towel to dry briefly, then toss them, while still hot,
   with half of the dressing. Season with salt and pepper and heap them in the
   center of the platter. Boil the carrots until tender-firm, 4 to 6 minutes or so, then
   drain and dress lightly.
5. Arrange the lettuces on the platter. Place the tuna at either end, breaking it up slightly. Halve the potatoes and arrange them on the platter. Spoon the
   remaining dressing over the lettuces and potatoes and scatter capers over all,
   along with the onions, drained of their vinegar. Lay the remaining anchovies over
   the potatoes. Tuck in the radishes and carrots; add the purslane and herb sprigs.
   Season everything with pepper. Present the salad arranged. Toss it before serving.

beans, carrots, entrees, garlic, lettuce, lovage, onions, potatoes, radishes, salads

(recipe from the book Local Flavors used with permission of the author, Deborah Madison)

Serves 2 - 4.

Sorrel fares miserably when packaged in plastic clamshells—it just falls apart.

Plus sorrel is something you want to use by the bunch, not just by the leaf, and
the farmers’ market is one place you can often find this tart, lemony herb in
abundance.

Lovage is harder to find, even at the farmers’ market, but ask an herb seller if she has some or would consider growing it. It’s an easy herb to grow, and its bracing, dynamic flavor adds a tot of personality to all kinds of dishes. Together these herbs give this soup a mysterious flavor that’s a little hard to place but definitely exciting. (A small bunch of cilantro would do the same thing, lacking the other herbs.) Made with the lesser amount of liquid, the soup is thick and hearty. Using the full amount makes a more refined soup.

Serve with small croutons crisped in olive oil or with a few tablespoons of cooked rice in each bowl.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 small potatoes, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
3 to 4 cups (6 to 8 ounces) sorrel, stems removed
4 cups chard leaves
1 cup lovage or cilantro leaves, finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 to 6 cups vegetable stock, chicken stock, or water
lemon juice or white wine vinegar
1/3 cup crème fraîche

1. Warm the butter and oil in a soup pot. Add the onion, potatoes, carrot. sorrel, and chard, along with the water clinging to its leaves. Add two thirds of the
   lovage and sprinkle 1½ teaspoons salt over all. Cover and cook over low heat
   until the greens have collapsed and the potatoes are partially cooked, about 15
   minutes. If the pan seems too dry at any point, add water in small increments so
   that nothing burns.
2. Add the stock or water, bring to a boil, and simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes. Puree or leave the soup with some texture. Stir in the remaining lovage. Taste for salt and season with pepper and lemon juice or vinegar to taste to bring out the flavors. Sometimes several adjustments are necessary to get it right. Stir in the crème fraîche and serve.

carrots, cilantro, lovage, onions, potatoes, sorrel, soups, swiss chard

(recipe from the book Local Flavors used with permission of the author, Deborah Madison)

Serves 4-6

Although this salad can be made at the last minute, it doesn’t suffer from being
dressed hours earlier, which makes it a good picnic salad. Add the peanuts just
before serving so they’ll be nice and crunchy.

THE SALAD
½ cup skinned raw peanuts
1 teaspoon peanut oil
1 large carrot
4 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage
2 cups slivered lettuce leaves
3 thin scallions, including some of the greens, finely sliced diagonally
¼ cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped mint leaves
2 tablespoons torn basil leaves,
Preferably Thai basil

THE DRESSING
½ jalapeno chile, finely diced
¼ cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup roasted peanut oil

1. Heat the peanuts in the oil over medium-low heat, shaking the pa occasionally, until lightly browned after a few minutes. Blot with paper towels and set aside.
2. Peel the carrot with a vegetable peeler and discard the skins. Then, with the vegetable peeler, continue removing long strips of the carrot until you’ve
   reached the core.
3. Combine the cabbage, lettuce, and carrot with everything except the nuts.
   Whisk the dressing ingredients together and toss with the greens. Add the
   peanuts just before serving.

The Recipes, basil, cabbage, carrots, cilantro, lettuce, lovage, onions, salad dressings, salads