If you live in the South, you are probably a lot like me whereas “Spring has Sprung” is always met with mixed emotions. Emotions of both anticipation and dread, but also emotions of joy and longing. Anticipation of warmer weather… clear blue skies, a Sunday drive with the top off the Jeep, anticipation of the growing season for local farmers, beautiful blue crab molting giving us those beautiful soft-shell crabs, Gulf Trigger fish running, fresh crawfish starting to make their presence known, and red snapper season just around the corner. The thought of a long hot summer as dreadful as that may be, never outweighs the excitement I have for spring and all that it has to offer. These fun recipes are perfect for spring with such fresh ingredients and variety. So, enjoy these recipes and know that summer and all its bounty is just around the corner.
Eat well, Live well.
Hoisin Marinated Veal Chop with grilled bok choy
INGREDIENTS:
4 ea. 14 oz. bone in veal chops (can substitute bone in pork chop if Veal is not available)
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce
3 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
4 Tbs. Tamari, gluten free soy sauce
2 ea. Thump fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 ea. shallot, minced
2 ea. garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs. Sambal Oleck
2 Tbs. honey, try to only use local honey
2 Tsp. Sesame oil
1/2 cup water
4 ea. Bok choy, cut in half lengthwise and blanched
1 1/2 tsp. Togarashi seasoning
DIRECTIONS:
Mix hoisin, vinegar, 3 Tbs. tamari, ginger, shallot, garlic, sambal, honey and sesame oil together in a mixing bowl. In 2 large freezer Ziplock bags, split marinade in two. Add 2 veal chops to each bag and marinate for 1-2 hours. Preheat grill. Remove veal from bags and empty leftover marinade into a sauce pot and add water. Heat sauce to a boil and reduce by half, then strain through a fine mesh strainer. Grill Veal chops on preheated grill about 4 minutes on each side for medium rare. Lay bok choy on a platter and drizzle remaining tamari over bok choy. Season with Togarashi and grill blanched and seasoned bok choy for about 45 seconds on each side or until it has a nice char on both sides and hot all the way through. Lay 2 pieces of bok choy on plate top with Veal and drizzle with sauce.
INGREDIENTS:
Sushi rice stuffed Soft shell crab with Togarashi sauce
2 ea. Soft shell crab, cleaned and cut in half
4 Tbsp. Sushi rice, cooked (this can be eliminated if you want)
4 ea. 1/2-inch-wide nori strips
1 cup Tempura batter,
follow directions on box
DIRECTIONS:
Prepare each crab by gently pulling up the gill flap and stuffing 1 Tbsp. of rice under each of the four half pieces of crab. Fold down gill flap and wrap nori paper around, acting as a barrier to keep rice intake. Dip crab gently into tempura batter and fry at 350 degrees for 4-6 minutes and until crab is floating. Serve with Togarashi sauce and garnish with a couple of tempura fried green beans or bell peppers. Makes 4 orders.
Togarashi sauce
INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup mayo
3 tsp. Sriracha
2 tsp. Togarashi seasoning
(can find it at your local
Asian market)
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
1 tsp. lime juice
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients together well.
Ginger Poached Pears
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups simple syrup (2 cups water mixed with 2 cups sugar. Heat until sugar melts.)
1 bottle Moscato or another sweet white wine
1 ea. cinnamon stick
1 ea. thumb ginger
1 ea. Vanilla bean, split and scraped
4 ea. pears, peeled
DIRECTIONS:
Add all ingredients except pears to a sauce pot large enough to hold pears. Bring to a boil, add pears and reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove pears and allow to cool. While pears are cooling, reduce liquid until it becomes the consistency of syrup. Cut pears in half and remove core. Place reduced sauce on plate, add pears, and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
