A Taste of Spring

A taste of spring: recipes to celebrate the season, is a wonderful little book for finding recipes that make the most of the seafood, vegetables, and fruits that are available in Spring. The first chapter offers recipes on seafood. Salmon is paired with asparagus, and soft-shell crabs with complementary herbs. Lamb is prepared with red wine, artichokes, and baby carrots. The vegetable chapter is arranged by vegetable, with a section on buying criteria as well as info on preparing the vegetable for cooking. Artichokes are used in various recipes with ingredients such as sausage and veal. There is, however, a salad option that uses a green sauce and goat cheese croutons. One of the asparagus recipes is a tart made with red onions. Fiddlehead ferns with mustard dressing are offered, and spring greens appear in a recipe for chicken soup with little dumplings. Wild mushrooms appear in a recipe including broiled polenta and leeks, while new potatoes are used in a potato salad as well as with dandelion greens. The fruit chapter includes apricots, sweet cherries, rhubarb, and cherries. There is an apricot tart and a recipe pairing them with amaretti. An old standby, cherry pie, appears with vanilla sauce. An upside down cake is made with rhubarb. The final recipe is “My kind of Strawberry Shortcake” with a biscuit shortcake and heavy cream. This book is a great way to celebrate Spring in your kitchen!

-- Mary Ellen, Main Library