The first peas of the season

The home made duck 'prosciutto' was finally ready to be cut and eaten. I'd read about an appetizer pairing it with pear which seemed a natural enough combination and a damn tasty one too! Neil used his considerable cutting prowess to slice the meat paper thin, which we placed on top of diced pear dressed with oil, salt and pepper all sitting proudly atop a flax seed cracker. It worked relatively well, we weren't exactly singing its praises and savouring every mouthful but it was definitely 'prosciutto' enough to be credible as a home made option. The main problem was the chewiness. It was very chewy, like trying to bite through thinly sliced rubber and the pear wasn't ripe at all so the sweetness was lost as a good balance. Even though this all sounds like it was a complete disaster after all, be assured it wasn't. The mere sense of accomplishment itself was enough to warrant some small inkling of success. 

It's interesting to think that this would have been one of the main ways to preserve food before the age of the fridge. Imagine being around all that prosciutto, bresaola and Salami. 

A very beautiful pear. Hard as nails which is how I love to eat them, with a knife cutting off small slices. Pears generally get sweeter as they ripen, so having half of this beauty left, I can reproduce the appetizer with more success next time.

Peas, in January? Me thinks these are not local. I may be wrong, they may have come from some hot house nestled in someone's garden or indeed be some special sort of early cropper. Somehow, though, I think not and it's far more likely that they have come from Mexico. The strange 'shooting' ones at the front of the picture were odd and delightful in a childish, giggly sort of way.

Recipe at bottom of post. Peas boiled briefly and mixed with some green beans with oyster sauce and soy, bought from the local market in a tub. (I'll give you an actual recipe that I've made before, however.)

Recipe: Peas and green beans with red onion, red pepper and oyster sauce.

1/2 cup peas, podded

1/2 cup green beans, topped and tailed

1/2 red onion, sliced thinly

1/2 red pepper, seeded and sliced thinly

1/2  tbsp oyster sauce

1/2  tsp soy sauce

1/8 tsp sugar

pinch red pepper flakes

Boil the peas in salted water until tender, (about 3 minutes) or nuke them in the microwave for about 2 minutes. (Remember to cover them with something like a plate or they will explode and embed themselves into the crevices which are impossible to clean). Drain.

Boil the green beans briefly in boiling salted water, just for about 1 minute to blanch and let the green colour shine, drain.

In a frying pan or wok, heat 1 tsp oil until hot over medium heat and fry the onion and pepper until slightly soft but with some bite left.

Add the beans, peas and sauces, stir around well and serve, sprinkle with the pepper flakes.