Farmers Market Strawberries

I could smell the strawberries as I headed towards the 97th Street Farmers Market. The next few weeks should bring us plenty of fresh strawberries. I also stumbled upon some rhubarb, which should create a perfect pairing for the strawberry rhubarb shortcake we'll be featuring on tonight's menu. Herbs, salad greens, lots of scallions, onions - all looking great and everyone seemed excited to be out and about finally shopping for great fresh ingredients.

Asparagus is still plentiful and it is wonderful to be able to get it right from our own backyard. At Bradley Farms' stand I was able to pick from a great selection of asparagus and eggs, and then picked up some smoked pecorino at Valley Shepherd Cremery and a loaf of sourdough at Baker's Bounty. All are perfect ingredients to pair with the country ham I buy from a great farmer in Western Kentucky every month. Try out the recipe below – it's a great, simple salad, which is easy to do at home. Enjoy!

Asparagus Salad with Country Ham
Serves 4

Poached Egg
4 eggs
1/2 cup white vinegar
8 cups water

Asparagus Salad
16 stalks asparagus
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp shallot
2 oz country ham (proscuitto or serrano will also be great), thinly sliced
2 slices of sour dough bread
1/2 cup shaved pecorino (parmesan, aged gouda and other harder cheeses are also great)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbl aged balsamic
Salt & pepper, as needed

Directions:

1. To poach the eggs, heat the water with the vinegar in a small sauce pot, once the water boils, turn down the heat so the water is just short of reaching a boil. Add the eggs and poached until the white of the eggs coagulate. Cool in an ice bath to stop the cooking, remove and reserve.

2. Trim the ends of the asparagus. With a peeler, strip some of the fiberous peel from the stalks.

3. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees

4. Drizzle the asparagus with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and mix well with garlic and shallot.

5. Roast in the oven for about 8 minutes or until tender. Set aside and cool.

6. Cut the sourdough into cubes. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Roast in the oven for 3 minutes until the croutons are crisp on the outside but still soft in the middle.

7. Loosely arrange 2-3 slices of ham on each plate. Place the 4 asparagus over the ham, the poached egg on top of the asparagus. Drizzle with olive oil and aged balsamic, scatter the croutons around and finish with shaved cheese on top.

Serve at room temperature.