Bucatini With Ramps And Asparagus

Ramps, or wild leeks, are available for a very short time in early spring, so when I saw them at the farmer's market this weekend I had to pick some up. They have an earthy taste not unlike green onions, and are perfect when paired with other fresh spring flavours like lemon and asparagus.

But because they're not around for very long, or maybe because they're not commonly used, finding recipes that employ them is a bit tricky. I think the last time I cooked with them, I chopped them up and tossed them in with some scrambled eggs. Easy, but very fresh-tasting and delicious.

I think that's the key with ramps -- don't pile too many flavours on top. If you do, you miss the point. Keep it simple, and let them shine through in the finished product.

Rhubarb Brown Sugar Crumble

I will always have a sweet tooth. Yet I'm finding the desserts I gravitate toward have changed over the years -- where I used to always go for the sweetest of the sweet (chocolate cheesecake, pecan pie, etc.) I now find my cravings leaning toward the tart and refreshing. Anything with citrus (particularly lemon), sour cherries, and rhubarb.

That's not to say this Rhubarb Brown Sugar Crumble isn't sweet -- it has two cups of sugar between the streusel topping and the fruit filling -- but it also has a nice tang and tartness. I also tend to cut back on the amount of sugar in recipes nowadays -- and I did the same thing here. I've reprinted the recipe straight as it is from Fine Cooking magazine, but I reduced the amount of sugar by a quarter-cup in both the filling and the streusel. If you're not a fan of tart/sour, keep the amounts as-is.

I've written about fruit crisps and crumbles before -- likely because they're one of the desserts I make most. You've got that great combination of tender cooked fruit, crispy, buttery oatmeal topping, and likely some ice cream or whipped cream served alongside. So much easier than a pie, and I think more interesting, texturally.

Moving On...

Two weeks from today, I move to midtown.

At the end of January I bought my first place -- a condo in the lovely Yonge and Davisville area. At the time, Moving Day seemed ages away but here we are, mid-April, and by the end of the month I'll be there.

I've lived in the historic St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood of downtown Toronto for the past six years or so (in two different apartments), and I love it so much I had my real estate agent show me just about every building in the area before expanding my search northward. The reason being, as an avid cook and baker, having the Market at my doorstep was just too perfect. There was no ingredient I couldn't find there -- from pomegranate molasses, to black truffle salt, to tamarind paste. In fact I'd sometimes look for recipes that had offbeat ingredients just to see if I could find them at SLM -- invariably, I could.

Soba Noodle Salad with Salmon and Asparagus

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Springtime at the farmers' markets, where stalls are overflowing with asparagus, ramps and rhubarb, and there's that sense of anticipation of what's to come -- strawberries, wild blueberries, zucchini, tomatoes, peaches and plums, all the best our local growers have to offer.

Recently my friend Bonita treated me to a fantastic meal that was the very essence of spring -- herb-crusted lamb, roasted asparagus, and rhubarb custard tart. It totally inspired me to pull out my cookbooks and spring issues of Bon Appetit and Fine Cooking and look for some new recipes to try.

And so, this Soba Noodle Salad with Salmon and Asparagus from the April 2011 Bon Appetit. Tons of fresh flavours here, from the grated ginger in the vinaigrette, to the tender green asparagus, to the chunks of avocado piled on top of the finished dish.

Baking for Toronto Bakes For Japan

This past weekend Toronto was host to one heck of a bake sale. Toronto Bakes For Japan brought together amateur and professional bakers selling their sweet and tasty wares across the city with proceeds going to Japan relief efforts.

I happily volunteered to bake for the event, and after flipping through my cookbooks I decided on two recipes from my favourite baking resource of late, Alice Medrich's Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy: Toffee Bars and Cinnamon-Dusted Blondies.

I started with the Toffee Bars, which were definitely the more time-consuming of the two but completely worth it. You start by pressing a shortbread base into a 13x9-inch pan and sprinkling it with pecans. That gets baked for about 20 minutes, while at the same time you prepare the toffee topping. Once the base comes out, you spread the hot toffee over the pecans, put the pan back in to the oven for another 12 minutes or so until the toffee bubbles and darkens.