Spring time pea soup - chilled

Updated, Below.

As with many new recipes, I start with posts from Serious Eats and work onward from there. This soup was a hit at a party. I tweaked it a bit from the original recipe. I used 1/2 stock and 1/2 water because I feared that the home made chicken stock would be overpowering. Also, since we were serving it chilled, I brightened it up with a little sherry vinegar, and added a touch of finishing olive oil.
I had never seen the technique of simmering the lemon peel in water a couple of times to remove some bitterness.
The soup itself was silky smooth and delicious. Yes it did get the "We can serve this to people" accolade. Just as well because we did!

Ingredients

Rind of 1 small lemon, with all the pith removed

1 T butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 shallot, minced

Kosher salt - to taste Added at various stages

14 oz frrozen small peas

1 cup chicken stock + 1 cup water

A bunch of mint, chopped

3 oz Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, finely grated

Pepper - to taste

Coarse sea salt

A couple of T high quality extra virgin olive oil (a finishing oil, not an everyday cooking variety)

A couple of T sherry vinegar 

Method

In a small pan, cover the lemon rind with water, bring to the boil, pour off the water and repeat. Chop the rinds thinly and reserve for later use.

Melt the butter in a large pan/saucier and add the onions and shallots. Add a good pinch of salt and cook slowly until translucent. 5+ minutes.

Add the peas to the pan (If frozen, no need to thaw). Stir for a minute or so to cook them slightly. Add the lemon rinds and stock. Bring to a boil, and immediately remove from the heat. Add the mint.

Add the mixture to your blender. Blend until silky smooth. Add the grated cheese, and blend again, making sure that the cheese is completely incorporated.

Season to taste with kosher salt/pepper. Remember that sea salt will be added at the end, so you may want it slightly under salted.

Chill overnight.

Serving

Ladle the soup into chilled bowls. Add some coarse sea salt crystals, and drizzle with the olive oil/vinegar. Crusty bread and a little butter helped it along.We served it with a Condrieu.

Update April 8, 2023

We made this again, for a dinner party. This time we omitted the Parmegiano Reggiano, used olive oil instead of butter, and used more mint. Also we scaled it up to 2x this recipe. It was intended to serve 10 people. 

It was passed through a fine meshed strainer before being served with croutons, garnished with a mint sprig and a dehydrated lemon slice. The usual coarse salt and sherry vinegar were in evidence too.

Israeli CousCous Salad

This dish is adapted from something we saw on America's test kitchen. We tried it with the usual tweak here and there. Took it to a party and it was pronounced very good. For a change, the ingredients are measured by volume.
The recipe is a bit fiddly with lots of steps, but well worth it.

Ingredients

3T olive oil

2 Cups Israeli Couscous

2 1/2 cups water

2 Shallots sliced finely

1/3 Cup red wine vinegar

1/3 Cup granulated sugar

1 t Dijon mustard

Juice of 2 Meyer lemons

4T Extra Virgin Olive oil

2 bunches of aarugula (rocket). Not terribly precise I am sorry to say

1 bunch fresh mint

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

5 oz crumbled Feta

1 pomegranate - arils only

6 oz chopped, toasted pistachios

Coarse sea salt to taste

Method

Place the 3T olive oil and the couscous into a cold pan. Heat on medium until the coucous is lightly toasted.  Immediately add the water, stir and put the lid on. Leave to simmer for 10 minutes (could be a minute or 2 more or less) until the water has dissolved. Turn the heat off and leave covered for a few minutes

Combine the vinegar, sugar and shallots in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover and leave until cool

Meanwhile make a dressing by combining the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and mustard in a large bowl.

When the couscous is cooked, lay out in a single layer on a sheet pan until completely cooled.

Wash the arugula and mint, remove the arugula stems. Place the couscous into the bowl with the dressing. Add the strained, pickled shallot. Toss quickly. Add the arugula and mint, toss again. Add the peas and pomegranate and toss again. Finally add the feta cheese and pistachios. Toss one final time. Shake some coarse sea salt over the salad and combine.

Serve after resting for a few mintes.

Grilled Romaine and peapod salad

The back story. We have decided to grow peas this year. And much to our surprise, they have started producing. Not a lot yet, but the young, tender freshly picked peas were just demanding to be eaten. So, what to do? Peas and mint are classic. Radishes provide a spicy bite, red peppers some extra sweetness, Romaine as a base and avocado/steamed eggs for richness. It all came together remarkably easily. Grilling the romaine really helped. Technically it wasn't grilled, but griddled on the ridged side of the cast iron griddle.

Ingredients

1 Dozen whole young pea pods (if fresh, then no need to blanch, but blanch in hot salty water for 15 seconds if store bought)

1/3 Shallot minced very finely (yes it really is that little)

6 Radishes sliced thinly. 

A bunch of mint (probably around 20 leaves) chopped small.

1 Diced red pepper (1/4 " dice)

1 t white sugar

4 T cider vinegar

1/2 t habanero vodka (or any other hot sauce to taste)

10 T neutral oil

2 T Finishing oil (I used a high quality extra virgin olive oil

1 Avocado cut into 1/2"  pieces

1 Romaine lettuce heart split in 2 pieces lengthwise and lightly oiled and seasoned with salt/pepper on the cut side.

2 eggs steamed like this (for 6:45 instead of 6:30 to get the yolks a little firmer) and peeled like this

Pepper to taste

Coarse sea salt to finish and provide crunch

Method

Make a vinaigrette combining the mint leaves, vinegar, sugar, both oils, hot sauce, and shallot. Leave to steep for a few minutes while you prepare the rest of the vegetation.

Add the red pepper, radishes and pea podsto the vinaigrette and mix thoroughly.

Cook and cool the eggs.

Heat the griddle until it is "rocking hot". A drop of water on it will sizzle like fury. Place the romaine cut side down on the griddle surface and cook for a couple of minutes. You want a nice char on the cut surface. It will hiss and steam a bit. Turning on the vent hood would have been a great idea if I had thought of it soon enough.

Peel and dice the avocados. Slice the eggs in half.

Assemble the salad, pouring the veg laced vinaigrette onto the hot romaine hearts. Add the avocado and egg halves. A couple of grinds of pepper and a few coarse salt crystals finished it off.

Serve with a crisp, cold white wine. We served a Spier 2014 Sauvignon Blanc.