Thoughts and recipe

I've been busy worrying about deadlines and money.

Thankfully, that's all I have to concern myself with. I have food fresh from the farm every week and I have a house to live in.

Aren't we lucky, living here in California? Today, I shelled fava beans and prepared them for a dinner with pasta and green garlic. I had a wonderful salad of mixed lettuces with farm fresh eggs for lunch. I look forward to a dinner tomorrow of onion tart and Bloomsdale spinach salad. No complaints on that front.

I imagine farmers are always worrying about money and, well, not deadlines exactly, but the calendar. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to have everything riding on the success of seeds.

I went to the school garden yesterday where I volunteer and all the pea plants were falling over with the weight of peas. The kids quickly harvested them all. A farm would be infinitely more complex.

Karin Robert sent me this message last week:

Here is a recipe out of the Saveur May 2008 issue on Cyprus:

I have adapted this recipe by adding shrimp, adding green garlic instead of green onions and garlic, omitting the parsley, omitting the lemon and adding freshly grated parmesan reggianno cheese at the end.

Horta me Avga (Sauteed Eggs and Greens with Lemon)

This simple dish, a favorite of home cooks across Cyprus, makes a light repast that's ideally suited to the country's hot climate. Trim a few inches off the top of 6 green onions (or green garlic); each onion should measure about 6" long. Halve green onions (green garlic) lengthwise; cut each half crosswise into 1/8"-thick strips. Set aside. Crack 5 eggs into a bowl. Heat 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil in a 12" nonstick skillet over high heat. Add onions (green garlic) and 3 bruised cloves garlic (omit if using green garlic); cook, stirring frequently with a spatula, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add 9 cups loosely packed arugula and 1 tsp. kosher salt; stir, until greens are wilted, about 1 minute. Quickly add eggs and 3 tbsp. roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley; stir vigouously to break up yolks and whites. Let cook, undisturbed, for 30 seconds. Break eggs up a bit with a spatula. Let cook until set, about 30 seconds more. Tansfer to a bowl, squeeze juice of 1/2 lemon over top, and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper (and parmesan reggianno cheese). Serves 4-6.

I usually add the shrimp towards the end so it doesn't get overcooked. It is a fun recipe to play around with and add or omit what you like.