Watching the dreary urban winter landscape transform into something fresh, green and colourful is truly miraculous. With yesterday’s spring equinox, we’re still a ways off from first-of-the-season vegetables, and it’s hard to be patient waiting for this spring miracle to unfold. For cooking inspiration, I’ve been consulting every seasonally-focused cookbook in my library for spring recipes. They’ve turned up naught, waxing poetic about fresh leeks and ramps, artichokes, green garlic and stinging nettles.
So I turned to one of my favorite local chefs – and one who returns my calls – Jeff Van Geest of Miradoro Restaurant at Tinhorn Creek Vineyards. (Miradoro is gearing up to celebrate its 15th anniversary this year.) I was curious as to what the kitchen was using to celebrate the first stages of spring. Van Geest’s culinary repertoire relies heavily on local and seasonal ingredients and is connected to every farmer, forager and maker in the Okanagan. This is the real deal – not just a PR spin. First off, the kitchen never allows anything to go to waste, something we can all learn from. Ingredients – whether an overabundance or something that can’t be used up in time – can become preserved, pickled or fermented. Others become dehydrated or dried and powdered for a concentration of flavour, or made into stocks or syrups. You want and need these types of flavour boosters in your arsenal, especially in a restaurant kitchen.
Since Miradoro’s March 1st reopening, Van Geest is relying on root vegetables that have wintered over in our region: sunchokes, celeriac, carrots, parsnips and beets – a fab five of delicious versatility. We both appreciate celeriac, aka celery root’s versatility. “It’s great for soups, purees, salads, slaws, slow-roasted whole, peeled and sliced,” says Van Geest. “And the peels are great roasted as part of a dark veg stock/demi.” (I must try this).
I asked him how he incorporates spring into the menu. “I’m getting some overwintered arugula and mizuna this week,” he says, due to our “weirdly-warm winter”.
He can also source mint and chives – poking up in the restaurant’s garden – and some overwintered thyme and sage. “It’s a struggle because people want spring things,” he notes. “But we are still a ways off.” The only frozen vegetables he ever uses are peas, and I heartily endorse this.
In my household, frozen peas are always on hand. If you don’t know this, frozen peas are superior to fresh as they are picked at the height of ripeness and flash frozen, locking in maximum sweetness, colour and nutrients. “I will use them to add a bit of spring sweetness,” explains Van Geest. “I mostly use the peas in pasta with fresh mint, maybe some pancetta and cream.”
All of a sudden I heard a celestial chorus of trumpets sounding. I pressed for more details. “I would sauté shallots, deglaze with white wine, add cream, reduce, add cooked pasta and some sort of green puree (peas and mint for example),” he says. “Add parm, fresh herb, lemon zest and plate.”
For garnish, he suggests crispy pancetta, freshly grated parm, and maybe pea shoots or appropriate fresh herb.
With hunger pangs and newfound inspiration, I took these instructions and made them my own – with no offense to chef Van Geest’s culinary talents – with what I had on hand and with time being of the essence.
I gathered a few handfuls of fresh mint from my garden, rounded up whatever I had in the fridge and went to work.
While the pasta was cooking, I sauteed a chopped shallot, deglazed with white wine and added about ¾ cup of cream.
Once reduced, I added in frozen peas – right from the packet – chopped mint and tossed together, salting to taste. I added the cooked pasta and tossed some more. I squeezed a bit of fresh lemon juice over the top and tossed, plated the dish and added some crisp bacon (subbing in for the pancetta).
If cooking without a scored recipe doesn’t frighten you, create this zesty, celebratory spring dish. Otherwise, book a table at Miradoro, miradoro.ca
Follow Shelora on instagram
@sheloradigsin
