Spring ingredients

Anyone lucky enough to ever enter the inner sanctum of Captain Gourmet's secret headquarters usually has their eyes pop open at the number of gadgets our hero has amassed in his crusade to end food injustice in our world. We are talking about professional quality blenders that spin with enough speed to liquify almost anything and even bring those liquids to a scalding boil. We're talking about gadgets that'll slice, dice, julienne, shred, peel, grate, and mince any vegetable or meat matter out there . We're talking about tools that you require you to measure their potency in rads, btus, specific gravity, horsepower and other measurements that the normal everyday citizen wouldn't consider in a kitchen appliance. However, one of the most important of the Captain's gadgets often goes unnoticed. That gadget is his trusty calendar.

Oh, yes, true believer... That's right. The calendar is quite important in our adventurer's repetoire. Not only is it important for noting the dates that restaurants have grand openings and when interesting cooking classes happen around town... It's a device that lets our beloved Captain keep track of when seasonal ingredients become available and are at their best. Remember, a recipe is only as good as the ingredients in it. For your best results, always use what is fresh and available.

Our captain likes to make sure that he remembers when certain foods are handy. For instance, with spring winding down and summer upon us, our Captain feels a bit melancholy. The spring is the best and only time for getting some ingredients like Fiddlehead Ferns and Wild Ramps. Oh, sure. We live in a day and age where produce can be grown hydroponically or in greenhouses to provided availability year round, but just try to find them if you don't live close to where they grow. Oh, and if you can find them, try to get them cheap, my dear citizen.

The Captain does like to vary his recipe preparation year round, but there are just times that he can't resist falling into more traditional seasonal recipes because the ingredients are so good and fresh. Tomatoes in the summertime...squashes in the fall... They are great, but nothing quite tickles the Captain's palette like the spring emergence of Wild Ramps, Fiddlehead Ferns, and Morel mushrooms.

With the summer soltice upon us, and the last possible chance for Fiddleheads, we'll see our Captain full of mixed emotions enjoying his last chance of Fiddleheads for a while. Yes, a recipe of Pepper Encrusted Scallops atop a Crab and Fiddlehead Relish served with a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce will be completely enjoyed by our Captain tonight. Afterwards, there will be a short period of reflection before he returns to active duty fighting for culinary truth. He'll pull out his calendar and plan just when to best take advantage of the sweet, flavorful tomatoes of summer and when to follow that up with Hatch Chilis due out in August.

The Captain encourages you, Good Citizen, keep a calendar handy in your kitchen as well. It's a power weapon for food justice!