Welcome to the launch of 101-Mile Kitchen. Just as this Modern Pasta Primavera recipe represents springtime renewal, 101-Mile Kitchen is a new beginning for me. I formerly blogged as Sticks Forks Fingers beginning in 2009. Sticks Forks Fingers journaled my early experiences as a country dweller, my love for great food and great wine, my love of Oregon and its thriving food culture, and stories of falling in love with the man who became my husband.

101-Mile Kitchen will follow that thread, including recipes developed to encourage readers to cultivate their cooking intuition and confidence. The recipes you see here are developed to give you confidence to play, learn, and grow.

On these pages you will also meet some of my heroes-- the growers and makers who keep our community fed and happy. I hope this will encourage you to seek out the special people who dedicate their lives to growing and making food, wine, beer, and the like in your area, no matter where you live.

And, of course, you'll read stories about being in love, which come to learn is a whole different thing than falling in love. Cooking and loving, to me, are completely intertwined and provide magical opportunities to reflect on one another.

What is so Modern About this Pasta Primavera Recipe?

The premiere recipe for 101-Mile Kitchen is a Modern Pasta Primavera. Primavera, the Italian word for springtime, signals the new beginning cycle of growth we can count on year after year, no matter what else is going on in the world. The daffodils poke up their perky heads no matter what. If that isn't hopeful, I don't know what is.

Tender pasta squares make a bed for the sprightly vegetables. A sauce of pancetta, butter, white wine, and bright green herbs bath the the dish. (Be sure to check the recipe card for gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian options.) Softly boiled "jammy" eggs contribute to the sauce giving it even more of a springtime feel of the dish. It truly is one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten.

Other Pasta Dishes You'll Love

Humble Pasta and Mushrooms: Get the recipe here.

Turkey Meatball + Roasted Lemon Zucchini Pasta: Get the recipe here.

If you like this recipe, please give it a rating by clicking the green stars in the recipe card below. And I invite you to follow my newsletter by signing up in the box at the bottom of the page. You'll receive a gift of my Flavors of Oregon tartine recipe booklet as soon as you do.

Modern Pasta Primavera

Course: Breakfast + Brunch, Main Dish

Cuisine: French

Season: Evergreen (April - July)

Dietary: Nut-Free

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 to 6

A deconstructed take on a classic, featuring early spring vegetables and a delicious new sauce.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1 bunch asparagus, stems peeled if thick
• 4 small artichokes, leaves and choke removed to expose heart, and cut into eighths or 1 12-14 ounce can or jar of artichoke hearts
• 1 pound fava beans, removed from their pods (optional) or edamame
• 12 ounces fresh or frozen peas
• 1 head fennel, sliced into fans through the root end
• 12 - 16 ounces fresh egg pasta sheets, or other pasta of your choice
• salt for pasta water and to taste

Primavera Sauce

• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter or ghee
• 4 ounces pancetta, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 large shallot, finely minced
• ½ cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
• 1 bunch fresh chives
• 1 bunch fresh dill
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Prepare the Eggs

• Cover the eggs with water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. For perfect jammy eggs, allow to boil for 7 minutes. While they are cooking prepare a bowl with ice water. After the eggs boil for 6 ½ minutes, remove them from the boiling water into the ice bath. Leave them in the ice bath for 10 minutes. Remove them from the water, peel them, slice them in half, and them set aside.

Get the Vegetables Ready

• Prepare all the vegetables: Peel the asparagus stems with a peeler if they are the chubby variety, and trim or snap off the woody ends. Pull off the leaves from the artichokes, scrape out the fuzzy chokes with a spoon, and trim the stem with a peeler. Remove the fava beans from their pods. Slice the fennel bulb into ½ inch fans down through the stem end. The peas will be added to the sauce later.
• Place a large pot of well-salted water on to boil. When it comes to a boil drop in the asparagus and let cook until bright green and just starting to be tender, about 4-5 minutes; remove an set aside. Drop in the shelled fava beans (or edamame) and cook 6 minutes until tender; remove and set aside. When the fava beans are cool enough to handle, slip them out of their waxy skin. Drop in the artichoke heart wedges (if using fresh artichokes) and cook until tender, about 6 minutes; remove and set aside. Keep the water at a low boil.

Make the Sauce

• Melt the butter into a 10" skillet or saucier over medium heat. When it begins to bubble, add the pancetta and cook, stirring frequently, until the pancetta has rendered some of its fat and is beginning to lightly brown.
• Add the sliced fennel to the skillet, and cook until just translucent, stirring often, about 5-6 minutes.
• Add the sliced garlic and minced shallot to the skillet, stirring often, until they are just beginning to become translucent, about 3 more minutes.
• Add the white wine and about a teaspoon of salt and ground pepper (to taste) to the sauce, stirring until the wine has reduced about half. (The fennel will absorb some of it.)
• Add the fresh or frozen peas to the sauce, cooking for one minute. Stir the finely minced chives and dill into the sauce, reserving a tablespoon of each for garnish. Turn the heat to low while you cook the pasta.
• Bring the pot of water back to a full boil. Cut the pasta sheets into 3" squares, drop them into the boiling water, and cook according to package directions. (Most fresh sliced garlic and minced shallot to the skillet, pasta only takes 90 seconds to cook.) Drain pasta and set aside.

Assembling the Dish

• On a pretty platter, lay out the cooked pasta squares. Arrange the asparagus, artichoke hearts, fava beans, peas, and fennel over the pasta. Spoon the sauce over the vegetables and pasta. Arrange the halved eggs over the top, and garnish with the remaining fresh herbs.

Notes

Make It Your Own:

Fava beans are wonderful, yet they can be hard to find and do add a little work to this dish. Feel free to omit them, or swap in edamame.

Prepping fresh artichokes to get to their hearts also adds a lot of time to this dish. For a shortcut substitute frozen, canned or jarred artichoke hearts (marinated or not.). 

Thick stemmed asparagus is preferred, but use what's available. 

Gluten-free option: use your favorite GF pasta.

Vegetarian option: omit the pancetta.

The success of this dish lies in not overcooking any of the vegetables. They are young and tender, and don't need much time on the heat to be perfect. 

Just when the "Third Places" urban panning concept became the norm the whole world broke. The fantastic little coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and public squares where people meet to exchange ideas, have a good time, and solidify relationships shut down. All the people packed up their backpacks and man bags and retreated home to their first places.

That was a year ago.

At first it was nice, right? Soft clothes, relaxed grooming habits and timelines, no commutes, more time with the family, pets, and houseplants was all right. With exception of the virtual school part that many of you have endured, there wasn't much to complain about in those first months, especially for us introverts.

Don't get me wrong-- my home is very, very nice. But as they say, familiarity breeds contempt. After 12 months of being trapped in it, there's a growing sense of malaise with my first space. So, I say to myself, what am I going to do about it? Whining isn't helping, sister, so get off your tuckus and figure this one out. It is novelty you're missing, I tell myself. If I look around, I might find some variety right here at home without spending any of the dimes that are lost under my sofa cushions.

Here are five no and low-cost ways to inject novelty into our home spaces right now.

1. Go through your cupboards and pantry and find all the fancy foodstuff you've been hoarding. That jar of homemade fig jam the neighbor gave you, the cute jar of honey with the chunk of honeycomb in it, and the fancy package of crackers? What are you waiting for? Get a nice cheese and give yourself an special little appetizer experience this weekend. That expensive box of Maldon salt hidden on the back of the shelf? Pour some into a pinch bowl and keep it out to fancify your finished dishes. Now is the time to drink the good wine and use the truffle oil, even if it's just on mac and cheese or frozen French fries.
2. Do the same thing with bath products you've squirreled away. Glitz up your day-to-day routine by digging out these bougie things you've been saving. If a worldwide pandemic isn't a special occasion, I don't know what is. Smell nice. Use a new soap or soak and call it a fake-ation spa experience.
3. Switch up your bedding. Rustle through your linen closet for stashed sheets, comforters, blankets, and bedspreads and exchange them for your day-to-day ones. What is old is new again. Go crazy mixing patterns and colors. Making things different is what this is all about. For that matter, why not sleep in the guest room for a week, just to shake up the routine? Almost anything divergent is helpful about now. It's only a temporary commitment meant to lift your spirits and see things anew.
4. Do the spiff-and-swap throughout your space. Channel your inner Leanne Ford and snip some branches from your yard and put them on your table in the biggest jar you can find. If you've got your grandma's china or an unused set of dishes or top-shelf glassware, use them now. Would it make your space more alive to paint those shelves bright blue like you've always wanted? Channel your inner Rayman Boozer and do it. I recently swapped the art pieces around in our house, an easy ennui-busting solution with the cheer-rising effect I'd hoped for.
5. Now that you've lifted your first space from the doldrums, what is the one aspirational thing you'd like to incorporate into your cooking cred, something that challenges your skills? Clear the deck this weekend, make a shopping list, and get ready to blow your own mind. How about adding the perfect European café steak-frites to your repertoire? Learn to sous vide a steak-- Lana at Lana Under Pressure is a great teacher. I do not typically make fried foods at home, so I also challenged myself to make perfect hand-cut French fries to replace the baked ones I usually do, and I can't wait to do this for friends once we become vaccine-worthy. It was fun, and gave me a new skill.

Homemade Authentic French Fries

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: French

Season: Bounty (August - October), Evergreen (April - July), Mist (November - March)

Dietary: Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 22 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 28 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Making real-deal French fries at home is fun! Make them to go with your European café-style sous-vide steak for perfect steak-frites.

Print Recipe

Equipment

• Candy/Deep Fry Thermometer

Ingredients

• 2-3 large Russet potatoes per person
• 3 liters canola or peanut oil
• salt

Instructions

• Scrub and peel the potatoes. To cut them into perfect French fries, square them up by trimming of the top, bottom and four sides of the potato to start with a block. Then, slice the potatoes into approximate 1/3 inch (less than 1/2 centimeter) slabs, and then cut the slabs into approximate 1/3 inch strips.
• Place the cut potatoes into a large bowl of cold water. Leave for 15 minutes. This removes excess starch from the potatoes that would cause them to stick together when cooked, and helps them be extra crispy.
• While the potatoes are soaking, pour the oil into a deep pot, at least 5 inches deep. Begin to heat the oil on medium heat.
• After 15 minutes, drain and thoroughly rinse the potatoes. Lay them out in a single layer on a clean kitchen towel. Dab them dry with another clean towel to remove all water from all sides of the cut potatoes.
• Raise the heat under the pot to medium high. Bring the canola or peanut oil to 270°F (130°C) when measured with an instant-read thermometer.
• First fry: Working in batches, place the dried cut potatoes into the hot oil. You may use a fry basket or mesh strainer to lower them into the oil, and to remove them from the oil. Blanch them for 8 minutes. They will look pale and flabby. That's OK! Lay them out on a baking sheet to cool, separating them with tongs.
• Second fry: Raise the oil to 350°F (180°C.) Mind your temperature. When the oil is at temperature (use your instant-read thermometer again) place some of the blanched potatoes into the hot oil, being sure not to overcrowd them. You'll be doing this step in batches unless you're only cooking a few potatoes. Cook the potatoes until they are a nice medium-golden color, or to your liking.
• Remove the potatoes with a strainer (or fry basket if you're using one) and put them into a large bowl.
• Toss with a generous amount of your favorite salt, and serve while hot with excellent ketchup.

Notes

Make It Your Own:

Add pepper, red chili flakes or paprika, garlic powder, or minced rosemary to the salt, or any combination of them to suit your tastes.

Sprinkle with truffle oil. If you do this, be sure to stand over it and inhale the beautiful scent that will waft up when the oil hits the hot French fries. 

Tip:

Mind your temperature along the way. If you're using a heavy pot as you should be, the temperature will want to climb and drop. You'll likely need to continuously keep an eye and make adjustments throughout the process. 

This is a hands-on, eyes-on process. To stay focused, don't attempt to multi-task!

The Oregon season of mist is starting to pull back and make way for our evergreen season. It is uplifting to feel how just three more minutes of sunlight a day warms ones bones. The daffodils and crocus, a little late this year, are poking up their cheery heads. Even the dog beginning to shed in never-ending tufts is a welcome sign of spring. The one true sign it is time to shift from winter foods is when the grasses turn intense chlorophyll green.

Still, mornings are cold and the mist is more present than not. Something lighter than a dense soup or stew but still hot and nourishing just sounds right. Honor the shift in cravings you may have as the grasses and clover green up brightly. This Healing Chickpea + Orzo Bowl in Ginger Broth couldn't be an easier solution. Be sure to check out the Make It Your Own options in the recipe, as this one has a lot of ways to make it work for whatever it is you need.

When you're feeling under the weather-- be it a little (or worldwide proportioned) virus, heartache or disappointment, this bowl is a perfect year-round healer and cheer-giver. The simple ginger-turmeric tea and coconut milk broth is as easy as boiling water, and would make a nutritious snack all on it's own. The whole thing comes together with zero fuss in under 20 minutes. The gingery goodness and light but complete protein will have you feeling as sprightly as a bright yellow daffodil in no time.

Healing Chickpea + Orzo Bowl in Ginger Broth

Course: Quick + Easy, Soup + Stew

Cuisine: Fusion

Season: Bounty (August - October), Evergreen (April - July), Mist (November - March)

Dietary: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Vegan

Preparation: One Pot/One Pan

Prep Time: 12 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Author: Pam Spettel

Made with tea broth and light yet hearty ingredients, this bowl will revive all forms of sorrows and ills. As uplifting a daffodils in the spring.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 5 cups water boiled
• 5 ginger turmeric tea bags
• 1 13.5 oz. can full fat coconut milk
• 3 limes juiced
• 1 lime cut in six wedges
• 1 ½ tsp Asian fish sauce for vegan option use coconut aminos
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 15 oz. cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
• 1 lb. GF or traditional orzo, cooked, or see rice Make it Your Own option
• ½ bunch cilantro chopped
• Sriracha or spicy Asian chili sauce

Instructions

• In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil and add teabags. After they are fully immersed, add coconut milk, put a lid on the pot, and leave to steep for 10 minutes. Remove tea bags.
• Stir lime juice, fish sauce, and salt into the tea/coconut milk broth. Keep at a low simmer.
• In a blender, blend together one cup of the garbanzos and a few ladlesful of the broth. Once it is blended smooth, add it back to the broth and stir.
• Pile garbanzos and orzo into shallow bowls. Ladle broth around them.
• Garnish generously with chopped cilantro and Sriracha to taste. Serve with lime wedges.

Notes

Make It Your Own:

For a warm restorative to coming in from the cold, forget the garbanzos and orzo. Ladle the hot broth (with or without blended chickpeas) into a cup. Use the cup to warm your hands while the broth warms your soul.

Replace the orzo with jasmine rice and replace the garbanzos with tiny cubes of silken tofu.

For a non-vegetarian meal, add 4-6 peeled shrimp per person to the broth and simmer 4 minutes until just cooked through. 

Experiment with various Asian chili sauces to kick up the heat. 

Add to or substitute thinly sliced spinach whiskers for the cilantro.

Makes excellent breakfast or lunch leftovers. Store any remaining broth, garbanzos, and orzo in a jar. Gently simmer to reheat.