SNAP peas

Ok, another blog today because I'm not keeping up with my promise to blog ya once a day. My bad. I've been having trouble sleeping again, and haven't been doing my homeworks, and just been behind, badly.

Snap peas or, more correctly "sugar snap peas" are one of the first of the spring veggies, alongside of asparagus. They appear before the English peas do.

This is a vegetable we didn't have when I was a kid, because they didn't exist. I am told that they resulted from a cross between English peas, and the Asian snow peas. That sounds right, because they have an edible pod, and a softer quality than do English peas, which they resemble somewhat.

If you buy them from your farmer's market, you will probably have to prep them by pulling the string that runs along their horizontal line. If some of them split when you do that, that's fine. The strings really are nasty. Lately, I've been buying California snap peas, and it seems that it's been done already. My local farmer's markets won't be doing it.

In reviewing recipes for cooking these guys, I have determined that just about every written source does not do them justice. I have seen cooking times ranging from 12 minutes down to five minutes. Five minutes will overcook the peas and you will lose their delicate delightful flavor and wonder what the fuss is about. Here's how I cook mine. I get a big pot of water ready with some salt, and just before the thing comes to a boil, I toss in the peas. I count to forty five (don't ask), and dump them out. DONE. These are a vegetable that SHOULD taste "GREEEEEEEEN" and they do when you do them this way.

I really enjoy these guys just plain boiled like that, but a nice pat of butter has never done anything wrong to peas. Olive oil is okay too, but on its own, I find that it overwhelms their flavor.

Now, I've given you the simple version. But here's something more involved and interesting. It's based on a salad I had at Union Square Cafe a year ago. They then published the recipe, and I modified it, for reasons that will be clear.

After you have cooked the snap peas the way I described, run them under cold water and dry them really well. In the Union Square Cafe recipe, you now julienne slice them.

Union Square has lots of kitchen help. I have me. There will be no julienning of snap peas in my house. I cut them on the bias into thirds. Put them aside, while you make a dressing. That should be SHERRY vinegar (and no other), in a 1:3 ratio with olive oil, or, if you happen to have it, walnut oil which would be better. Of course, put some salt in this. Whisk it up and add a teaspoon of honey mustard. You'll have to decide how much dressing, but you don't want too much. You don't want your peas sopping in the stuff.

You can just dress the peas with this, but want to go TRULY over the top the way they did at Union Square Cafe? Now crumble some blue cheese over the peas and add a handful of toasted walnuts (how do you toast them? Glad you asked. Spread them on a baking sheet, put that in a 350 oven, and bake for 8 minutes. Take em out and cool.

So, go simple, or go complex. Look at what else you're serving. For example, if you were making a simple roast chicken, I'd go with the more complex one. Last night, we were having macaroni and cheese, which is rich and sticky and filling, so we went with the simple version.

Play with these recipes. Make your changes. And tell me what you do. I can always use a good recipe.