If you’ve been thinking about a juicy Easter ham gracing your table next week, there’s still time to order the best.

In our opinion, that’s a Kurobuta (koo-row-BOO-tuh) ham from Snake River Farms. We’ve order at least one each year, and we never cease to be very, very happy.

Kurobuta ham has been called the world’s best ham. Made from pure-bred Berkshire pork, it’s also known as the Kobe beef of ham, because of the fine intramuscular marbling that makes the meat melt-in-your-mouth tender.

How good is this ham? Succulent beyond expectation with a perfect smoke and impeccable seasoning, subtle notes of clove and other spices caressing one’s tongue.

And the most celestial aroma! We were truly sad when the last bite was gone.

Our butcher, one of New York’s finest, already carried the Wagyu beef (an American-bred Kobe style) from Snake River Farms, but not the Kurobuta ham. After we shared some of our Kurobuta with him, he became an instant fan and a wholesale client.

All you have to do is head to SnakeRiverFarms.com or phone 877.496.4220.

And if you’re already set for Easter, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are coming up soon! For lovers of fine food, a Kurobuta is a memorable gift.

A final comment: Kurobuta ham isn’t a luxury: It’s a necessity!
 
 
HAM FACTS & FUN

There are good things about decaf, and less good. First, the good: In addition to avoiding jitters and helping you get to sleep, decaf in general is better for your health*. Here’s some reporting from Diana Villa at Care2.com. It’s not a comprehensive discussion, but we offer it as a starting point to those who wonder if decaf might be better for them.

Decaf coffee is good for your liver.

In a study of more than 28,000 participants over 10 years, one study found that people who drink at least three cups of coffee a day had lower levels of four liver enzymes often linked to damage and inflammation.
 
Decaf coffee reduces diabetes risk.

At least one in 10 Americans opt for decaf. Photo courtesy Filicori Zecchini.

In a study of 47,911 men by the Harvard School of Public Health, researchers found that those who consumed six or more cups of coffee a day—regular or decaf—had an 18% lower risk of developing prostate cancer, and were 60% less likely to die of it. The results suggest that it’s the coffee antioxidants, not the caffeine, that offer the protection.
 
*This article is not a medical advisory; people with certain conditions or the potential to develop them should restrict caffeine. Discuss your caffeine intake with your healthcare provider.

Now for the caveats:

Decaf doesn’t mean caffeine-free.

According to FDA regulations, coffee must have 97% of the original caffeine removed in order to be labeled as decaffeinated. If you drink five to ten cups of decaf a day, you can still be consuming the caffeine equivalent of a cup or two of regular coffee.
 
The amount of caffeine in decaf coffee varies significantly.

While a cup of regular coffee usually contains about 100 mg of caffeine, a 2007 Consumer Reports test of 36 popular brands found some cups of decaf that had more than 20 mg of caffeine. In this study, a cup of decaf from Dunkin’ Donuts had 32 mg of caffeine!
 
Decaf might raise your cholesterol.

According to the American Heart Association, decaffeinated coffee may raise your LDL [bad] cholesterol. Researchers tracked three groups of participants: those who drank three cups of regular coffee a day, those who drank three cups of decaf, and those who drank no coffee. Three months later, the decaf group alone experienced an 8% spike in apolipoprotein B, a component of LDL cholesterol.

There are different ways to decaffeinate coffee; some use chemical agents. Look for a Swiss Water Process or a brand that uses the CO2 method to decaffeinate. These two are also the only certified-organic methods to decaffeinate.

And now, it’s time for our first cup of coffee of the day. We’re going for an espresso, caffeinated.
  

It’s time to serve sides of fresh-steamed green peas and make some delicious fresh pea soup.

But what else should you be doing with these bright green jewels? Their sweet flavor and bright color can grace your table in so many other ways.

You can use almost any cooking method, from boiling, braising or microwaving, to sautéing, steaming and stir-frying. Add them raw to salads and pop them into your mouth as a snack.

They take only a few minutes to cook. In fact, you need to watch them to avoid ending up with mushy peas (if this happens, make a quick pea purée; and if they’ve lost their bright hue, add a teeny drop of food color). We aim for “al dente.”

Create recipes with these flavor accents:

Fresh picked and divine. Photo courtesy The Chef’s Garden.

 
We can’t think of anything more delicious than fresh peas with asparagus, fiddleheads, morels and ramps—or as many of these as you can get hold of—sautéed with garlic in olive oil. Garnish with a chiffonade of fresh mint.

Don’t dally: The season is short! For inspiration, here are just ways to use the bounty of fresh peas.
 
GREEN PEAS AT BREAKFAST

 
GREEN PEAS AT LUNCH

 
Plus:

 
*Romaine, bell pepper, red onion and feta, with a fresh dill garnish. Add some lemon zest to the vinaigrette.

Easy, peasy: an appetizer or snack of crostini
with ricotta and fresh peas. The recipe is below. Photo courtesy Chalk Point Kitchen |
NYC.

GREEN PEAS AT DINNER

RECIPE: GREEN PEA & RICOTTA TOAST

Enjoy this for breakfast, as a first course or a snack. We chose a rustic Italian loaf with sesame seeds, but any peasant bread will do.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. STEAM the peas to al dente and let cool. Combine the ricotta with salt, pepper and lemon zest to taste. Stir in peas to taste (few or many).

2. TOAST the bread and slice as desired (depending on the diameter of the loaf, cut the toast into manageable pieces).

3. SPREAD toast with the pea-ricotta mixture. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Garnish and serve.
 
HOW TO BUY & STORE FRESH PEAS

Buying Fresh Peas

For the best flavor, choose small peas. They’re younger, sweeter and more tender than large ones. Look for medium-size pods that are firm and green, with no yellowing. Break open a pod and check the peas. They should be small, bright green and firm. Taste the peas in the pod: They should be tender and sweet.

Freshness counts. As with corn, once picked the peas’ high sugar content begins to convert to starch. Don’t pay for mature peas. You might as well use frozen peas.

Don’t pay extra for shelled peas. You don’t know how fresh they are; and since you aren’t shelling peas day in, day out, it’s a fun activity.
 
Storing Fresh Peas

 
 
THE HISTORY OF PEAS

The pea is native to western Asia and North Africa, and are one of the oldest cultivated foods, dating to the beginning of agriculture in the Middle East (as long as 10,000 years ago [8000 B.C.E.).

By 2000 B.C.E., pea cultivation had spread throughout Europe and east into India. By the first century C.E., peas were introduced to China and soon after 1492, to the New World.

Along with broad beans and lentils, peas were a staple for most Europeans during the Middle Ages. By the 1600s and 1700s, it became popular pick and eat immature peas. In France and England, where the eating of green peas eating young peas became a fashion.

New varieties of peas were developed by the English during this time, including the familiar green peas we call garden peas and English peas.

Thomas Jefferson grew more than 30 varieties of peas at Monticello. As the process of canning food became widespread in the 19th century, green peas moved beyond spring and became available year-round [source].

Clarence Birdseye introduces the first frozen peas in 1952, which, everyone can agree, enabled a semblance of fresh peas year-round.
  

March 26th is National Spinach Day.

Popeye may have enjoyed his spinach straight from the can, but for today, we can come up with 20 better suggestions.
 
 
BREAKFAST

 
DIPS & SPREADS

 
LUNCH & FIRST COURSES

 
MAINS

 
PIZZA

 
SIDES

 
SALADS

 
 
THE HISTORY OF SPINACH

According to Mediterranean food expert Clifford A. White, spinach comes from a central and southwestern Asian gene center. It may have originated from Spinacia tetranda, which still grows wild in Anatolia.

The plant, which does not like heat, was successfully cultivated in the hot and arid Mediterranean climate by Arab agronomists through the use of sophisticated irrigation techniques.

The first known reference to spinach dates to between 226 and 640 C.E., in Persia. Over trade routes, spinach was introduced to India and then to ancient China in 647 C.E., where it was (and still is) called “Persian vegetable.”

The first written reference to spinach in the Mediterranean are in three tenth-century texts. It became popular vegetable in Provence, and by the 15th century was common in Provençal gardens.

It traveled north, and Europe became a spinach-loving continent.

[2] Beet, spinach and apple salad (photo © Butterball).

[3] Spinach frittata (photo © Sun Basket).

In season now, these little artichokes are a treat for artichoke lovers and a lovely shade of vegetable for Easter dinner.

Called fiesole (fee-YEH-so-lay) in Italian, the baby purple artichoke—the size of a large egg—belongs to the botanical genus and species, Cynara scolymus, which includes the green globe artichokes and purple globe artichokes.

Artichokes are the immature flower heads of an herbaceous perennial thistle plant in the Compositae botanical family. The cardoon, or artichoke thistle/wild artichoke, is a different species: Cynara cardunculus. Here’s more about artichoke varieties.

The tulip shaped baby purple artichokes have the same great flavor as their large green and purple kin and are easier to eat because they haven’t developed the fuzzy portion of on top of the choke. They are bright violet in color; the colors fade only slightly when they are cooked.

The only thorn in the flesh is exactly that: The leaves still have sharp tips.

Baby purple artichokes. Photo courtesy Melissas.com.

HOW TO BUY BABY ARTICHOKES

Look for firm, thin, compact leaves (called a tight core) that are bright without discoloration. If you squeeze the artichoke and it squeaks, it is fresh!

Store them, unwashed in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Here’s a photo spread on how to prepare artichokes for cooking.
 
HOW TO SERVE BABY ARTICHOKES

Baby artichokes are easy to prepare. They may be baked, boiled, braised, marinated, poached, roasted or steamed. When slow-cooked, artichokes become tender and more flavorful, absorb the flavors with which they are cooked. [Source]

Artichokes pair well with both fatty and high acid ingredients: anchovies, bacon, basil, butter, cheese (especially goat and feta), cream, garlic, lemon, hollandaise, mushrooms, pepper, sausage, thyme, tomatoes, vinaigrette, white wine and truffles.

You can find many recipes online, but here are two thoughts:

A purple globe artichoke. The variety is called “Sangria.” Photo courtesy Frieda’s.

Artichokes were first cultivated in the Mediterranean region thousands of years ago in Maghreb, the region of North Africa west of Egypt, where they still grow wild. They spread through the Mediterranean region.

The Greek philosopher and naturalist Theophrastus (371-287 B.C.E.) wrote of artichokes being grown in Italy and Sicily.

The Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides (40-90 C.E.), a surgeon with the Roman army of Emperor Nero, wrote about artichokes at the time of Christ.

Ancient Greeks and Romans considered artichokes a delicacy and an aphrodisiac. In the ensuing centuries, they were grown in France and other areas of Europe.

In America, Martha Washington’s Booke of Cookery contains a 17th-century recipe entitled “To Make Hartichoak Pie.” In the early 1800s, French immigrants settling in the Louisiana Territory planted artichokes.

In 1922 Andrew Molera, a landowner in the Salinas Valley of Monterey County, California, lease land to Italian immigrant farmers and encouraged them to grow the “new” vegetable, as artichokes were fetching high prices. [Source]

Fiesole artichokes are named for the city of Fiesole, Italy, an ancient Etruscan town located in the hills above Florence. They were initially bred from the Violetta de Provence artichoke, a purple variety native to southern France.

As for its botanical name, Cynara scolymus: The genus name comes from the Greek kynara, artichoke. Scolymus derives from the Greek word for thistle.