last week it ramps, a cartoon, and a flatbread recipe... and now asparagus gets a go. a couple days ago i wrote about how we're using asparagus at the restaurant, and how eager i am for it to start showing up at the farmers' markets here in chicago. and of course, my friend loc gave us another great drawing to go with our halibut and asparagus dish—and the cartoon still begs the question, if a halibut eats asparagus and pees in the ocean, does the entire ocean smell like pee? well, today it's recipe time. this is a pretty easy one to do at home, and will make a kick ass snack or side dish to put out for dinner at home or even a party during the bulls game. enjoy!

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when spring comes around it is time for one of my favorite vegetables, asparagus. hard to describe the flavor of asparagus... just makes me think of green. and grass. and the outdoors coming back to life after a long winter.

we are anxiously awaiting local asparagus to pop up, which should be in the next week or two if the weather cooperates. until then we have some coming in from california to satisfy my craving. the most fun use of asparagus on the menu right now is pan roasted halibut with grilled asparagus, creamy brandade, shaved raw asparagus in lemon vinaigrette and blackberry gastrique. i love asparagus on the grill...

(illustration by loc hong)

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the other day i posted our first cartoon drawn up by my friend loc hong, inspired by the ramps that we're cooking with now and preserving to use into the summer. well, here's the recipe to the flatbread i told you we'd be making, with a ramp pesto on it too, piece by piece...

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the caption: the goat claims to have sleepwalked into the ramp field and dreams of wild leeks dancing in his head... the girl's not buying it. "baaaaaaad goat."

ramp season is here which means spring in chicago will be here soon! we hope. not sure how the ramps manage to break through the last bit of snow so early each spring but i am glad they do. wild leeks are only available for about six weeks each season so we like to get them on the menu while we can—but also pickle and freeze them for use all summer long.
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hard for me to write just how excited i was when i got the call from dana cowin a month or so ago, telling me i had been chosen as one of this year’s best new chefs. the week before i had been visited by kate krader, who i assumed was in town for more than just a visit with friends. she and i hung out the night after she dined at the goat, and although she had nice things to say about her experience, she made my chances seem quite grim for becoming part of the f&w chef family. this put me into a state of crazy the next day... went in to the goat upset as can be and told my staff i was either going to a movie or hopping on a plane to the keys. either way i wanted to get my mind off things for the day. i wound up on the couch eating takeout from chen's... not quite as fun as a trip to sunny florida but it was a good mental vacation day. it's crazy how crazy i get when a goal i have set for myself, no matter how lofty, seems unattainable. but i knew i had to just get back to work, and push myself harder so that i knew i was doing my best, which is all you can ever do.
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