Food Interlude: The First Harvest

Ok, "harvest" may be a rather grand way to describe it, but it is true that last night's dinner was built entirely around the very first garden produce that qualified as edible. 

Chives.

There they were, the lone greenery in the herb garden, surrounded by the skeletal remains of the rosemary and thyme that didn't make it through the harsh winter.  Chives are the early riser in the herb world -- staking their claim to a place of honor before the oregano and tarragon that also return without fail every year try to grab more real estate than they're entitled to.

I had noticed them on Saturday, when they were just about half an inch high.  As tempting as they were, it would have been a premature indulgence.  And then Sunday the temperature crept close to 60 and I swear if I had looked closely, I could have seen them growing.  By midday, they were just tall enough to nominate themselves onto the evening's menu. 

So I obliged, scalping one of the two clumps and gently washing microscopic leaf debris from each individual green shoot.  There they were, glistening and aromatic, virtually begging for a fresh canvas of mashed potatoes to be sprinkled upon. That plea certainly made sense to me, but what else to have them with?  What accompaniment would be worthy of the very first spring green?

Warning: vegetarians should not read any further!

In anticipation of this quandary, when we made our weekly Saturday visit to our local farmer's market, Mr. Mulch had spied the perfect  leg of locally grown lamb from our preferred organic vendor, Gaia's Breath Farm.  Yes, we still eat red meat -- with gusto, I might add.  But we do try to limit our decadence to humanely raised and dispatched critters.  And Gaia's Breath, as "265 acres of pure organic bliss situated between the Catskill and Adirondack mountain ranges" certainly qualifies.  And on Sunday, with fresh chives beckoning, a spring leg of lamb seemed to be the perfect accompaniment.  


In a fitting bookend, I used the last of the garlic we grew in 2010 to stud the leg and had enough left over to add to fresh rosemary and thyme (alas, not yet homegrown) plus some fresh grated lemon zest for a promising rub.  As a vegetable, we used some brussel sprouts, also from the market, but clearly last year's crop, prepared in the style of Lydia Bastianich -- deconstructed, "sweated" with garlic, and sauteed rather than served as hard little mini-cabbages.  Even folks who don't like brussel sprouts will eat these!

The lamb turned out superbly, if I do say so myself!  And the chives which started it all were just as wonderful on top of the mashed potatoes.  And happily, I had some left over to sprinkle on top of the next night's shad roe, which miraculously is still running.  

It will be quite a while til we can eat heartily from the garden, but we so enjoy this little preview of the bounty that is yet to come.  


Bon Appetit!