Here’s what’s in season for Spring. Not everything may be available in your area, but what is there should be domestic—not imported from overseas.

Some of the items are harvested for only a few weeks; others are around for a while.

So peruse the list, note what you don’t want to miss out on, and add to your shopping list.

The list was created by Produce for Better Health Foundation. Take a look at their website, FruitsAndVeggiesMoreMatters.org for tips on better meal planning with fresh produce.

> The year’s 80 fruit holidays.

The year’s 60+ vegetable holidays.
 
 
SPRING FRUITS

 
 
SPRING VEGETABLES

 

[5] Red sorrel is a hardy, leafy herb that you can grow at home. It has a bright, tart flavor with grassy undertones and tangy notes similar to lemon or sour apple. Use it raw in salads or as a garnish, or cooked as a leafy green vegetable like spinach. Add them to casseroles, marinades, omelets, sauces (including purés), soups, or stir-fries (creamed of sorrel soup is a real treat. Its flavor pairs well with cheese, cream, eggs, potatoes, sour cream, whole grains, and yogurt. Also use it with veal and fish, especially smoked or oily fish like salmon and mackerel.

[1] It’s jackfruit, and it’s in season. You’re most likely to find it at Asian markets. Jackfruit is the largest tree fruit, reaching as much as 120 pounds in weight, 35 inches in length, 20 inches in diameter. It has become more prominent over the last few years as a meaty substitute for vegetarians and vegans. Here’s more about it (photo by August Binu | CC-BY-SA-3).

[2] Cherimoya, often called the custard apple, is the fruit of a tropical evergreen tree. The fruit is heart-shaped, with a creamy texture and a flavor blending pineapple, banana, and strawberry. The fruit is eaten fresh or used in desserts (but its seeds, leaves, and limbs are toxic and should not be ingested).

[3] Butterhead lettuce. Popular varieties include Bibb (Limestone), Boston, Buttercrunch, Mignonette (Manoa) and Tom Thumb. Check out the different types of lettuce (Abacus Photo).

[4] Cardoons look like celery, but they’re not related. They’re actually a close relative of the artichoke, and have an artichoke-like flavor, rather than a celery-like taste. .

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Scafata is a dish from the Umbria region of Italy, typically made with spring vegetables such as artichokes, escarole, fava beans, green (English) peas, and Swiss chard, and flavored with basil, mint, and often, guanciale (bacon made from the jowl of the pig). They inspire this recipe for spring salad with prosciutto.

We’ve adapted a recipe from ParmaCrown.com into a spring vegetable salad with prosciutto (Parma ham). In our version, you can:

 
The difference between prosciutto and serrano ham is below.
 
 
RECIPE: SPRING SALAD WITH PROSCIUTTO

Ingredients For 4 Servings

For The Cooked Version

 
For The Raw Version

 
Vegetables For Both Versions

 
Toppings

Preparation

For The Cooked Salad

1a. COMBINE the wine, oil, and onion in a large skillet; cover and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini, snow peas, peas, artichokes, asparagus, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat, simmer partly covered about 5 minutes, stirring frequently until vegetables are al dente (or, if you prefer, tender).

For The Raw Salad

1b. MAKE the vinaigrette: Whisk the oil and vinegar with salt and pepper to taste. A pinch of dry mustard helps keep the emulsion from separating. Toss the vegetables in vinaigrette just to moisten. Place the remaining vinaigrette in a small pitcher for those who would like more.
For Either Salad

2. POACH the eggs. Divide the vegetables among four plates. Top each with two slices of prosciutto di Parma and an egg. Garnish with chopped fresh mint, if desired.
 
 
PROSCIUTTO & SERRANO HAMS: THE DIFFERENCES

Both prosciutto and Serrano hams are dry-cured: salted and hung in sheds to cure in the air. Both are served in very thin slices. Country ham, preferred in the U.S., is smoked, and a very different style from dry-cured hams.

While prosciutto and Serrano hams can be used interchangeably, they are different.

Italian-made prosciutto is never made with nitrates. American made prosciutto, as well as both domestic and Spanish Serrano-style hams, can have added nitrates.

 
MORE

 
 
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*If serving the salad raw or blanched, substitute 1/2 cup green onions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, for the cooked onion.
 
 
†The artichokes should be plain, not marinated.

[2] Prosciutto, Italian ham, is always thinly sliced (photo © Consorzio di Prosciutto di Parma).

[3] Spring peas, also known as English peas and green peas, are part of our spring salad (photo © Maude Restaurant | Los Angeles).

[4] Snow peas, popular in Chinese cuisine, are finding their way into more non-Asian dishes (photo © Burpee).

[5] Prosciutto in the making: hams hanging to cure in the air.

[6] Air-cured and delicious (photo © )

Built in 1934 to transport goods through Manhattan, the High Line ran from 34th Street to Spring Street in SoHo. The elevated tracks were built through the center of blocks, rather than over the avenue.

By 1980, interstate trucking was the preferred mode of commercial transportation, and the trains ceased to run. Over time, the tracks covered with wild vegetation. Property owners wanted the tracks torn down.

In 1999, two neighborhood residents began to advocate for the High Line’s preservation and reuse as public open space. The first part of the renovation opened to the public in 2009 and it is now complete—and magnificent.

The High Line is part of the renaissance of the far west side of Chelsea, long a bleak industrial area. A decade ago, art galleries priced out of other neighborhoods led the gentrification, followed by boutique hotels.

One of Death Ave’s deconstructed dishes, a stacked Greek salad. Photo courtesy Death Ave | NYC.

Then the high rise residential buildings began to pop up, many along the High Line. If you’re going to live far west in Chelsea, having a neighborhood park—especially such a hip, trendy one—is an amenity unmatched by other ‘hoods.

Along with the burgeoning numbers of visitors and residents came the restaurants. We recently visited a particularly charming one, Death Ave.

A RESTAURANT NAMED “DEATH?”

First, you’ll say: What kind of name is Death Ave for a restaurant, much less a modern Greek one?

Its location, Eleventh Avenue, was nicknamed “Death Avenue” in the late 19th century.

In the mid-1800s, the Hudson River Railroad built freight train tracks, to transport meat and other goods to the city’s bustling Meat Packing District (today, there’s no more meat packing but a loft and condo neighborhood).

Although inconceivable today, the train tracks ran at street level, right through the same avenue that was used by pedestrians and carriage traffic. Inevitably, hundreds of people were hit and killed by the trains. By the 1890s, the street was nicknamed “Death Avenue.”

The stretch of avenue where the restaurant is located is drab, but gentrification will come. And until then, restaurateur Michael Tzezailidis has built a beautiful new restaurant. A 120-year-old tenement building has been transformed into an urban oasis.

There’s a bar for drinking and nibbling; private, curtain-enclosed booths; a main dining room with and a splendid patio with a retractable roof for rainy days. It has a large bar and lounge area along with table seating.

The menu is a creative modernization of Greek fare: a deconstructed Greek salad and souvlaki “tacos” for dinner and deconstructed ham and eggs for breakfast and brunch.

There is also more conventional fare, from a mezze plate to braised octopus and lamb shank, all stylishly served.

The cocktails are impressive (be sure to have the current specialties); and although we have to return to try the beer, there’s an in-house brewery. Death Ave is an “estiatorio and zythopoiia”; in Greek, estiatorio is a restaurant, zythopoiia is a brewery.

It’s a lovely place to relax after your stroll on the High Line.

Raw milk, another term for unpasteurized milk, is used for drinking and making cheeses. When milk is pasteurized (heated to more than 100°F/40°C), hundreds of varieties of beneficial bacteria are killed along with the potentially harmful ones.

If left alive, those good bacteria interact with the milk to provide significantly more complexity and depth of flavor to the cheese.

That’s why many connoisseurs prefer raw milk cheeses.

Due to rare but potential illness from unpasteurized milk, the FDA restricts the distribution of raw milk cheeses aged less than 60 days*; although raw milk cheeses are readily available in Europe.

So you can buy raw milk cheese in the U.S., just not fresh ones (for example, no fresh goat cheese or Camembert). The restriction also applies to imported cheeses.

Nor can retailers sell raw milk for drinking; although in its wisdom, the FDA allows consumers who visit farms bring their own containers to buy raw milk.†

THE ISSUE WITH RAW MILK

Despite modern sanitation, there are still some questionable practices in industrialized dairying.

This bloomy-rinded cheese from New York State is aged for 60 days, just enough to be legal in the U.S. It’s made by Vulto Creamery in Walton, New york. Photo courtesy Murray’s Cheese.

How did mankind survive thousands of years of eating unaged raw milk cheeses?

They did it before the scourge of food industrialization. With the shift from farm to factory, there was an increase in foodborne pathogens.

In industrialized production, cows are crammed into feedlots (rather than those that graze in meadows) have a greater risk of carrying pathogens. Milk from different farms is delivered to a central processing facility. There is a much greater risk that one or more farms delivers contaminated milk.

The U.S. government instituted policies to ensure that the milk, cheese and other dairy products were not harmful to human health by insisting on pasteurization for drinking milk and young cheeses.

Many of today’s small farmers feel that fresh milk from healthy animals, handled in a responsible manner and used immediately, does not require pasteurization. They drink their own milk raw, because it is far more flavorful.

As with other foods involving potential rare pathogens—Caesar salad, mousse (it’s made with raw eggs and not cooked), steak tartare, sushi and so forth, the decision to drink raw milk or eat raw milk cheese is a personal one. As outbreaks of E.coli from meat and vegetables prove, many “legal” foods are unsafe.

Head to a cheese store or a market with a good cheese department, and buy a selection of raw milk cheeses. They’re often not marked, so you may need a cheese specialist to point them out.

Enjoy a cheese plate for lunch—with fruits, nuts, breads or crackers and a salad on the side—or after your main dinner course, instead of dessert.

Have wine or beer with your cheese plate. After all, it’s a celebration!

 
*The 60-days rule was established in 1949, with questionable scientific evidence. It posited that within 60 days, the the acid and salt in cheese would kill the harmful bacteria. But there have been outbreaks of pathogens in both raw and pasteurized cheeses.

†It is illegal to distribute raw milk in the U.S., but the law allows consumers to go to a farm with their own containers and purchase raw milk. This is essentially ludicrous, as many who would buy it cannot get to the farms; and any containers brought from home will not be as clean as new ones used by farmers.

April 17th is National Cheese Ball Day.

Here are 12+ cheese ball recipes, spelled cheeseball, if you prefer. The recipes are both savory and sweet (dessert cheese balls).

 
The first recipe below is from Taylor Takes a Taste for EatWisconsinCheese.com.

Also below:

> Today’s recipe.

> 11 more delicious cheese ball recipes.

> Different cheeses you can use.

> Flavorful mix-ins.

> Different coatings for cheese balls.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> Cheese ball history.

> The history of cheese.

> The history of Cheddar.

> The history of cream cheese.

> The different types of cheese: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 30 cheese holidays.

> The year’s 90 snack holidays.

> The year’s 40+ beer holidays.

> The year’s 25+ red wine holidays.

> The year’s 22+ white wine holidays.
 
 
RECIPE: PIMENTO CHEESE BALL WITH SALTED PECANS

Ingredients For 5-8 Servings

 
Preparation

1. MELT the butter in a non-stick skillet. Add the pecans and toast until fragrant, but not burned. Remove from the heat and toss in the salt. Allow to cool, then chop into medium to small pieces. Set aside.

2. PLACE the remaining ingredients into a large bowl. With a fork, mix until creamy. Chill for 1 hour.

3. LAY about 12 inches of plastic wrap on a level surface. Scoop out the chilled pimento cheese and form into a ball on top of plastic wrap. Roll the cheese ball in the chopped pecans, making sure the entire surface of ball is covered.

4. WRAP the ball tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. Before serving, allow the frozen ball to thaw for half an hour. Serve with your favorite crackers, chips or pretzels.
 
 
MORE CHEESE BALL RECIPES

[1] While many cheese balls are coated in crushed nuts, this one adds fresh herbs for vibrant appearance and taste. Here’s the recipe. You’ll find more delicious coating ideas below (photos #1, #4, #5, #6, #7, and #8 © Taste Of Home).

[2] How about a cheese ball covered in bacon, jalapeños and pecans? Here’s the recipe (photo © Brown Eyed Baker).

[3] Mini cheese balls in phyllo cups. Here’s the recipe from A Spicy Perspective (photo © A Spicy Perspective).

[4] Crab Rangoon Cheese Ball. Here’s the recipe.

[5] Serve different crackers, toasts, and breads with the cheese ball.

While the traditional cheese ball is usually built on a foundation of cream cheese and sharp Cheddar, the possibilities can employ any cheeses with the texture and flavor profile you desire. The most important combination is one with spreadability.
 
 
Soft Cheese(s) For The Foundation

To start, you need a “binder” cheese that’s soft enough to mix but firm enough to hold a spherical shape once chilled.

 
 
The “Flavor” Cheeses

These are usually semi-hard cheeses, finely shredded so they incorporate evenly into the soft base.

For the best results, always grate the cheeses yourself. Pre-shredded bagged cheeses are coated in potato starch or cellulose to prevent clumping, which can give your cheese ball a slightly grainy or waxy mouthfeel.

 
 
The “Accent” Cheeses

These are crumbles typically folded in sparingly to add dimension without overwhelming the “flavor” cheese. However, you’re the chef here: Add as much as you want to, to achieve your desired flavor profile.

 
 

[7] This recipe, popularized by the Pioneer Woman, has bacon and scallions into the classic Cheddar-cream cheese base.
 
FLAVORFUL MIX-INS

You can build layers of flavor and texture in the interior of the cheese ball. Since the base is dense, chop the mix-ins finely. Be sure to thoroughly pat dry “wet” ingredients.

 
 
OUTER COATINGS FOR CHEESE BALLS

The classic coatings are crushed pecan or walnuts, which are delicious. But there’s so much more to consider.

The goal of the coating or “crust” is to find something that provides a crunch or a flavor pop to contrast with the cheeses. Consider:

 

[8] In addition to crackers or baguette slices, add crudités to the plate. Here’s the recipe for this Garlic Parmesan Cheese Ball
 
________________
 
*The difference between “Swiss” and Gruyere cheeses: There are five different categories of cheese made in Switzerland. However, when Swiss cheese makers immigrated to the U.S. the hard style called Emmental/Emmenthal/Emmentaler, hard with large holes (called eyes), was the style Americans learned to think of as “Swiss cheese.” Not all authentic types of Swiss cheese are hard or have eyes.
 

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