Spring: a subtle season

Fava beans, morel mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, baby greens, spring peas, ramps, asparagus, spring onions, green garlic, artichokes and of course one of the truly seasonal delicacies of these United States: soft-shell crab. Spring is a magical time of the year for cooks. Winter is the season of hearty braised dishes and root vegetables: deep, complex flavors that stick to your bones. The first asparagus spears that shoot from the soil mid-April mark a shift from slow-cooked and muted dishes to a blast of intense freshness and vitality in kitchens across the Triangle.
I once heard Mario Batali give an interview where he described the Italian word scorpacciata: "a full on attack of eating a particular ingredient in copious amounts and very often in its evanescent period of local perfection." While I was working in NYC, I saw nearly every set on the menu change to some combination of the 10 items at the top of this article. They were prepared with minimal fuss: generally simply blanched till cooked through, shocked then reheated at service in buerre fondue, morel consomme or the sauce for the dish it was accompanying. All the items work beautifully as purees which provide textural variety.
Not to go off on a rant here, but this is one of the major problems for the dining scene within the Triangle: especially Chapel Hill. General customers do not appreciate the pleasure of incredibly fresh blanched fava beans, butter poached morel mushroom and grilled ramps served with just about any protein you could possibly imagine. We should be reveling in the ease withwhich such a great variety of produce seamlessly meld with limitless possibility. And please, for the love of god, eat seasonally. Forget about strawberries for the 10 months of the year they are not in season because they won't be memorable anyway. Celebrate what is available at the peak or freshness and eat as much as possible: you won't get another chance for a whole year. Follow this simple rule: if it grows together, it goes together. Basically, if they are in season at the same time of the year their is a great chance they will taste great together.
In all honesty, spring makes being a cook extremely easy. Buy locally, preferably at your local farmer's market, pick the best produce you find, any combination will do, and prepare it as simply as possible. For green veggies, blanch, in salted water, until tender with slight resistance (a correctly blanched vegetable will have much more flavor than an undercooked one), shock in ice water then saute in oil, thyme and butter: serve with any grilled meat or fish; fold into a risotto; or toss with home-made pasta. Artichokes are a bit different and I will have a separate article on them soon.
In my opinion morel mushrooms are at their best butter-poached. Porcini mushrooms are best pan roasted and finished with garlic, parsley, butter and the best extra-virgin olive oil you can find: I like Spanish olive oils over Italian.
Get out there; buy the best produce available; call some friends over; cook and eat.

Amuse Bouche

First post. There is a world you never see. There are hints of it's existence. The cacophony of a kitchen mid-way through it's second rush of the evening percolating to the surface from behind the kitchen door across the dining room floor: the expediter ripping tickets, calling orders out and echos come shouted back from various stations around the kitchen. The kitchen is a sea of nearly perfectly white chef coats swaying back and forth nearly falling over the edge of controlled chaos into anarchy. This is a world few ever get to see and even fewer understand. I am going to fix this.

On my days off from the restaurant, I'll prep for and work along side the chefs of the Triangles best restaurants in their own environment: Magnolia Grill, Nana's, 4 square, Lantern, 2nd Empire and Bonne Soiree will be the first few. Afterward, all the video will be compiled and will provide a fantastic insight into a neglected world. Check back soon.