A few common threads emerge, however. The kitchen garden is often a combination of herbs and other vegetables and sometimes flowers, grown in an accessible location, and designed for beauty as well as function.

Kitchen gardens throughout history are just as diverse in size, design, and components as their modern day counterparts. The French “jardins potagers”, or kitchen gardens, reached spectacular proportions in the chateaux of the 16th and 17th centuries, like the 20-acre extravaganza at Versailles, or the vast ornamental potager at the Chateau de Villandry. While these gardens were comprised of herbs and vegetables, their design, symmetry, and cultivation compare to the most impressive ornamental gardens.

Not surprisingly, when it came to cultivating food, the French were more experimental and diverse in their tastes than their neighbors in England. But both French and Dutch influences made their way across the Channel to England and eventually to the New World.

Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has recreated an early 1700s kitchen garden, known as the Sherburne Garden and Orchard, located on the museum property. Through careful research into historical records, combined with pollen and soil analyses, the museum has found evidence of raised beds as well as indications of what was grown in this early kitchen garden. Unlike the field crops that were grown outside of town (their evidence points to somewhere off current day Islington Street), the kitchen garden was the domain of the woman of the house, and contained not only the more tender vegetables but culinary and medicinal herbs as well.

Unlike the survival gardens of the frontier, Portsmouth’s early kitchen gardens benefited from a more peaceful and prosperous settlement with ships bringing both necessities and luxuries from across the Atlantic. Affluent families had the luxury of a garden that went well beyond subsistence. By the 1750s, there was a distinct movement towards ornamentation, and the sort of style and beauty apparent in architecture and interior design, became apparent in outdoor spaces as well.

Imagine the delight of watching the first spring greens emerge after the long, cold New England winter of 1720, and as the season progressed, picking the delicate early spinach, deer-tongue lettuce (or lettice as it was sometimes written in those days), as well as shallots, leeks, chives, parsley, thyme, basil, and coriander. In addition, there were crops like loose headed varieties of cabbage, edible-pod peas, radishes, turnips, broad beans, and cardoons, a relative of the artichoke.

The same diverse pleasures await the 21st century kitchen gardener. Each year, Jacquelyn Nooney, a self-described “maverick” and owner of Jacquelyn Nooney Landscape Design, Inc. creates the lovely 800-square-foot annual kitchen garden that adorns the grounds of Stonewall Kitchen in York. With more than 20,000 visitors each year, this particular kitchen garden needs to incorporate plants that are not only attractive and of culinary value, but will hold up to the rigors of being in a public space.

As Nooney says, in a kitchen garden especially, “The more senses you can engage, the more successful you are.” She stresses the importance of color, scent, taste, and texture. In addition to herbs and vegetables, she likes to include flowers like snapdragons, heliotropes, and zinnias as well as a vertical element like a topiary. Her designs tend toward the geometric, often using “blocks” of plants and using borders to define spaces that can then be “colored in” with different plants. Her designs recall the so-called “knot gardens” that use historic design motifs like diamonds and stars in quilt-like patterns.

Lucinda Clarke, who has managed the Wild Iris Herb Farm in York since 1978, has good advice for the home kitchen gardener. When helping a client with design, she says, “First, we decide on the basics, on what you have to have. . .then we have fun.” The basics, as the other experts agree, are the herbs and vegetables most in tune with the kind of cooking you do. There are no hard and fast rules.

One of her specialties is introducing people to the huge variety of plants, not only those grown at Wild Iris but available from specialty seed catalogs like Johnny’s Selected Seeds of Windslow, Maine and Renee’s Garden Seeds formerly Shepard’s Seeds. Clarke  encourages people who have very limited space to explore the many dwarf and container varieties of both herbs and vegetables. Bush cucumbers and cherry tomatoes can be grown on trellises or in containers on a porch, and bush basil can be grown in pots and produces small round plants with tiny aromatic leaves. In fact, as Clarke points out, container gardening has advantages like offering greater resistance to pests and greater control over the quality of the growing medium.

Other favorites of Clarke’s include lavender, lemon verbena (from which she made a lovely infusion that she served while we talked), and scented geraniums. She also encourages people to explore the many specialty varieties of herbs like pineapple and licorice mint, winter savory, and lemon basil. Common mint varieties, she warns, can easily choke out everything else so she advises planting these outside the defined garden space. Herbs like catnip encourage neighborhood felines to cavort in your carefully-tended space.

Edible flowers like nasturtiums, calendula, and violas provide both color and distinctive tastes. (Don’t be surprised however, if you have to reassure your dinner guests the first time flowers appear in a salad.)

Just planning a kitchen garden in the waning days of a long New England winter is enough to help us see the light at the end of the tunnel. And the first colors, tastes, and smells of a kitchen garden are surely some of the great delights of our long-awaited spring.

Shadadelic, Baby!!

Massachusetts may have its sacred cod but Connecticut has shad. Although only designated as the state fish in 2003, shad was an important food source long before the first settlers landed on New England shores. Native Americans saw shad as a seasonal gift and were known to have large springtime gatherings to roast shad over open wood fires, often planking them much as salmon is in the Pacific Northwest; a technique still used in springtime Connecticut shad bakes.

Shad spend most of their lives in the ocean but begin to make their way up freshwater rivers when it comes time to spawn. Shad begin to appear in rivers of the Northeast as early as March, and appear in the Connecticut River between April and June.

Shad is a member of the herring family and is valued not only for its flavorful meat, but for its excellent roe. The biggest drawback to enjoying shad is the number of bones—some 1300 in an adult fish, which grow to roughly 30 inches and typically weigh in at 3-5 pounds. And to make it even more challenging, the bones do not follow a neat pattern as they do in other bony fish, but run both horizontally and vertically. Old time shad boners guarded their techniques carefully, and for most of us, buying boneless fillets—or getting invited to a Connecticut shad bake—is the best bet.

Connecticut Stuffed Baked Shad

This recipe is adapted from The Yankee Cookbook, published in 1939 and attributed to the “New England kitchen of Louise Crathern Russell.”

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large shad, about five pounds
• 1 cup cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/4 pounds sliced bacon

 METHOD

1. Preheat over to 400.

2. Make sure the fish have been cleaned and gutted, but leave head and tail on. Rinse well and pat dry.

3. In a bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, butter, salt, pepper, onion and sage. Stuff the cavity of the fish with this mixture and sew edges together.

4. Place fish on a rack in a baking pan. Add water to pan. Lay bacon slices over shad.

5. Bake for 10 minutes at 400. The reduce heat to 325 and bake for another 30 minutes, basting frequently to keep fish tender and well browned.

Serves 6.

Broiled Shad Roe

This recipe is from the Herald Tribune’s Home Institute Cookbook, a classic and bestselling American cookbook originally published in 1937.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 pairs of shad roe
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Lemon wedges

 METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Brush roe with melted butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and broil 5 minutes on each side.

3. Serve with Maitre d’Hotel Butter, recipe below

Serves 6.

Maitre d’Hotel Butter

Maitre d’Hotel butter is one of the most classic additions to fish of all kinds. It’s simple and elegant and brings out the best in fresh seafood. Store some in the refrigerator and use on grilled or broiled fish.

INGREDIENTS

• One stick of butter at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon minced parsley
• 1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• Dash of white pepper

METHOD

Cream butter until soft. Add remaining ingredients and beat until fluffy.

Sautéed Shad Roe with Applewood Bacon

Classic preparations for shad roe are generally pretty simple and often include bacon which adds a nice salty, smoky touch.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 strips of apple cured bacon
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup shallots, sliced into rings
• 1/4 cup shallots
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• 3 pairs of shad roe

METHOD

1. Cook bacon in a large frying pan until crisp. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels. Add butter to frying pan and melt.

2. Add shallots and sauté until soft.

3. Mix flour salt and pepper on a plate and dredge the shad roe in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess.

4. Increase heat to medium and add roe to pan. Fry about 5 minutes on each side until golden brown.

5. Serve hot, with pan juices poured over and garnished with crumbled bacon, chopped chives and lemon wedges on the side.

 

“The boiled dinner has the Yankee straightforwardness that’s characteristic of so much regional food out of New England,” says Michael Stern, with his wife Jane, co-author of Roadfood and commentator for “The Splendid Table” on National Public Radio. The name itself is as plain as can be. There’s no gravy, no condiments, and the preparation and presentation couldn’t be simpler.”

No one’s really sure when the boiled dinner originated, but historians have noted its existence since the 1660s. Corning, or salting, meat is a preservation technique that goes back centuries, and corned meats got families through the winter. “Before refrigeration, boiled dinner was a tasty survival strategy,” notes cookbook author and Yankee magazine Senior Editor Amy Traverso. “The cut of meat needed to cook for hours, so you could go about your business while it cooked.”

Corned Beef and Cabbage and Boiled Dinner Variations

Boiled dinners are found in other cultures around the world, including the French pot-au-feu (beef, carrots, onions, leeks, and turnips) and Newfoundland’s “Jiggs Dinner” (corned beef, split peas, potatoes, carrots, turnip, and cabbage).

Savenor’s Market in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, prepares a corned beef and cabbage dinner that’s popular with patrons during mid-March. The shop corns its own beef, using brisket rubbed with celery seed, pink sea salt and spices; the meat sits for at least 24 hours before being cooked for four hours or more.

“Vegetables like savoy cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, leeks, and garlic are cooked separately, then added to the corned beef. We usually sell out of the dinners on St. Patrick’s Day,” notes Mark Gaudet, Savenor’s company chef.

The Wayside Restaurant, in Berlin, Vermont, serves boiled dinners on the 17th of every month, an homage to St. Patrick’s Day. And from those dinners comes the popular red flannel hash, a hearty dish comprised of leftover corned beef, potatoes, onions, and beets, ground up in a food processor or grater, then fried or baked (the dish purportedly gets its name from the beets). “It’s very popular,” according to Eric Burkholter, the Wayside’s manager.

For boiled dinner recipes, click here.

Wayside Boiled Dinner

Eric Burkholter of the Wayside Restaurant, in Berlin, Vermont, just outside of Montpelier, notes that their boiled dinners have been a menu staple for years.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 to 5 pounds corned beef
• 2 turnips
• 2 carrots
• 2 beets
• 1 medium head green cabbage
• 2 to 3 russet potatoes

METHOD

1. Put corned beef (trimmed of fat) in pot and cover with water. Allow water to come to slow, rolling boil for 2 hours. Check every 30 minutes and add water if necessary. Remove meat and wrap in foil to keep warm. Keep stock, strain off any fat.

2. Dice turnips, carrots, beets, cabbage, and potatoes. Add to pot of stock and cook on low heat until tender (check potatoes to make sure they don’t fall apart). Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Slice corned beef against the grain, into 1⁄8-inch slices.

4. Serve beef over cabbage. Place potatoes, carrots, beets, and turnips on the side. Serve with horseradish or mustard.

Serves 4

Boiled Dinner

This recipe originally appeared in the 1884 edition of the Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book by Mrs. Mary J. Lincoln (published by Roberts Bros., Boston). Lincoln, who ran the cooking school, counted among her students Fannie Farmer, who later went on to become director of the school and revised and reissued the cookbook in 1896.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 pounds corned beef
• 2 to 3 beets
• Small head of cabbage
• 1 small white French turnip
• 6 to 8 potatoes of uniform size
• 1 small, crook-necked squash

METHOD

1. Wash and soak corned beef in cold water, and put it on to boil in fresh cold water. Skim and simmer until tender, but not long enough for it to fall to pieces. Let it cool in the liquor in which it was boiled.

2. Put it into a flat shallow dish, cover it with a board, and press it. Remove all the fat from the meat liquor, and save it to clarify for shortening. Save the meat liquor, but do not let it stand in an iron kettle or tin pan.

3. Boil the beets the day before, also, and cover them with vinegar. The next day prepare the vegetables. Wash them all, scrape the carrots, and cut the cabbage into quarters; pare the turnip and squash, and cut into 3⁄4-inch slices, and pare the potatoes.

4. Put the meat liquor on to boil about 2 hours before dinnertime; when boiling, put in the carrots, afterward the cabbage and turnip, and ½ hour before dinner, add squash and potatoes.

5. When tender take vegetables up carefully; drain the water from the cabbage by pressing it in a colander. Slice the carrots. Put the cold meat in the center of a large dish and serve the carrots, turnips, and potatoes around the edge, with the squash, cabbage, and pickled beets in separate dishes; or serve each vegetable in a dish by itself. This may all be done the same day if the meat be put on to boil very early, removed as soon as tender, the fat taken off, and the vegetables added to the boiling meat liquor, beginning with those that require the longest time to cook. Boil the beets alone, remove the meat and fat before adding the vegetables and serve each as whole and daintily as possible.

Serves 4

How to Corn Beef

This method is described by Mary E. Gage on her website about traditional New England food.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 pounds of brisket or other cut of lean beef
• Glass, ceramic crock, or stainless steel pot large enough to hold meat
• 2 quarts of boiling water
• 1 cup salt (kosher salt, canning salt, or sea salt, or a combination of the salts according to your choice)
• 1/4 cup sugar (brown or white)

Optional seasoning:

• 2 bay leaves
• 8 peppercorns
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon pickling spices

METHOD

1. Put salt and sugar in bottom of pot, add spices. Pour boiling water over mixture. Stir and cool.

2. When cool, place meat in pot, turn to coat both sides, and cover.

3. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks, turning meat every other day.

Submerged Method:  Use a deep pot for brine, and put a heavy, non-reacting, clean weight on meat to hold it underneath the liquid. Cover pot and refrigerate.

Savenor’s Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner

This recipe is from Chef Mark Gaudet of Savenor’s Market. They use natural nitrates such as celery seeds and pink sea salt instead of chemicals to cure their meats.

INGREDIENTS

• 2-3 pounds Prime beef brisket, trimmed
• 4 ounces Savenor’s Prime Beef Rub
• 1 tablespoon Pink Hawaiian sea salt
• 1 tablespoon celery salt
• 1 quart unsalted beef stock
• 1-2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch rounds
• 1 pound parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch rounds
• 1 head Savoy cabbage, cut into 10 even pieces
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
• 2 yellow onions, peeled and quartered
• 1 sachet parsley, bay leaves, thyme, allspice, and black peppercorns
• 3 tablespoons Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

 METHOD

1. Trim and cure the brisket. Mix celery seed, sea salt and Prime Beef Rub to cure my brisket for twenty four hours. Rub the beef with the cure liberally and place it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

2. After the brisket has had time to absorb the flavors of the cure, wipe it clean with a damp paper towel and place in a large stew pot or crock pot with the sachet.

3. Pour stock in the pot and then fill it with water (using filtered water means there will be no mineral flavors). Bring to a rolling boil and reduce the heat to medium low so the liquid stays at a simmer. Simmer covered for two hours.

4. Add the garlic, potatoes, carrots and parsnips. Cover the pot again and simmer for another half an hour.

5. Add cabbage and onions and season with salt and lemon juice. Allow the pot to simmer for 20-30 additional minutes and you’re ready to serve.

6. Remove everything from the liquid and strain it. Reduce the liquid by two-thirds on low heat and use as sauce. When the brisket has had time to rest, slice and serve. Enjoy!

To read more about classic boiled dinners, click here.

Culinary Cabaret — Friday, March 9, 2012, 7-10 pm
at Clarke — the Ultimate Kitchen Resource Center, Milford, MA
The culinary and performing arts unite for an evening of fabulous food, wine and entertainment.

Local chefs, culinarians, and food and wine experts will dazzle with live demonstrations and tastings accompanied by the entertainment of Electric Youth and guest artists from the Franklin Performing Arts Company. Culinary Cabaret will support Electric Youth and their 2012 European Concert Tour including a Fourth of July performance for U.S. Troops stationed at Aviano Air Force Base in Italy.

Tickets are $60 per person, and include: dazzling live demonstrations by area chefs, inventive gourmet cuisine, distinctive Italian wines & craft beer, mouthwatering desserts, entertainment provided by the dynamic international performers of Electric Youth, and guest artists of the Franklin Performing Arts Company.

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW! Please call 508-528-8668 or visit www.electricyouth.com for more details.

18th Annual Seacoast Home & Garden Show — Sat. March 24, 10am-6pm & Sun. March 25, 10am-4pm
at the Whittemore Center Arena, Durham, NH
Inspirational ideas for the home and garden, and the popular Meet the Chefs cooking series.

Featuring over 200 exhibit booths, seminars, demonstrations, landscaping and floral pavilions and more, all showcasing a unique blend of products and services related to the home and garden. It’s an excellent opportunity to see many new products on the market, and the ideal time to talk with industry experts to get advice on the latest innovative products and services. The Meet the Chefs cooking series attracts standing-room-only audiences and highlights some of the top chefs in the Seacoast region, who will share their culinary secrets and recipes in a special kitchen furnished with state-of-the art appliances.

General admission is $8, Seniors 65+ is $6, Youth 6-16 are $4 and Children under 6 are free. Visit www.seacoasthomegardenshow.com for schedule and event details.

What better way to warm up on a cold, dark day than with a bowl of chowder? We’ve got soul-warming choices for you to try including our classic New England Fish Chowder featured on the cover. Our scallop story will make you long to visit the islands (well, Nantucket), but if that’s not enough tropical island time for you, come with us as we experience the culinary pleasures of the Dominican Republic.

Something old is new again as we test Dutch ovens, give Brussels sprouts a bit of sprucing, and sample old Kentucky (bourbon, that is.) Our farm-to-table story highlights the great dishes being created in the Berkshires, and our pasta stories (both regular and gluten-free) will help you carbo-load as you get in the last of your hibernation. We chat with Michael Symon, and challenge the idea of stocking a wine cellar. We go green to show you greenhouse gardeners that laugh in the face of cold weather, and preservationist gardeners who are not only honoring the past but teaching the future.

So settle in, eat well, and we’ll see you in the Spring!

Look for the Cabin Fever issue on newsstands soon, or subscribe here to have the issue delivered right to your door.

Get the recipe for the chowder featured on the cover here!

Basic New England Chowder

This simple chowder, featured on our Spring 2012 cover, packs a whole lot of options. Mix and match the fish to make it your own. Leave out the dairy to make a clear (Rhode Island) chowder. The recipe’s author, food historian Sandy Oliver, is working on a cookbook, Maine Home Cooking: 300 Recipes From Down East Kitchens, to be published by Down East Books in fall 2012.

INGREDIENTS

• 1- to 2-inch square of salt pork, finely chopped (or a couple tablespoons of butter, vegetable oil, or bacon fat)
• 2 to 3 medium potatoes, diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 pound shellfish, boneless fish filets or a combination
• Water or fish stock
• Optional: 14-ounce can of evaporated milk or up to 2 cups of light cream, half-and-half, or whole milk
• Oyster or Vermont common crackers

METHOD

1. Brown the salt pork in a stockpot or Dutch oven until you have crispy bits. Either remove the browned bits in the pot or leave them in, as you prefer.

2. Add the onion, potatoes, and fish in layers. Add water or stock until you can barely see the liquid through the ingredients.

3. Heat until the liquid comes to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are fork tender then add milk or half-and-half.

4. Continue to heat until the milk is hot through, but do not allow it to boil. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Chowder is usually better if it stands overnight in the fridge and is eaten the next day.

Serves 3

That champagne is distinctive, wonderful and desirable is without question. Its rarity (less than 7% of the world’s supply of sparklers) and its marvelous blending of chardonnay and pinot noir grapes make a wine like no other. But effervescent wines are made in almost every wine culture in the world, some with equally beguiling results and generally with a friendlier price tag.

So for Valentine’s Day (or for your birthday, or anniversary, or because it’s Tuesday…) branch out. Try cava (Spain), prosecco (Italy), sekt (German) or a California sparkler. And try them with food. (Breakfast in bed, anyone?) Sparkling wines are delicious with omelets, make warmed goat cheese a new treat, and there are few pairings better than bubbly and lobster. Come to think of it, it’s not bad with chocolate either. Any combination of these or other choices will be mood enhancing and attitude changing.

And, as Gerald Asher, my favorite wine expert and an editor at the late lamented Gourmet magazine wrote, “Above all, and who knows by what magic, Champagne makes any one of us feel younger, better looking and wittier.” Sekt, prosecco, cava. . . I think a good sparkling wine (and some flattering candlelight) can achieve all of the above.

Swiss Chard Dip. Photograph by Ali Goodwin.

Swiss Chard Dip

• Swiss Chard leaves (5–6), steamed
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• A pinch of salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until chard is minced.

2. Serve chilled with sliced cucumbers or slices of baguette.

Makes 1 1/2 to 2 cups.

From the story Winter Greens in the Winter 2010/2011 issue.

Braised Beet Greens

• 1 pound beet greens
• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup water or chicken stock
• Salt and pepper
• Your favorite vinegar

1. In a skillet, heat the oil and cook the onion until translucent.

2. Cut or tear the beet greens and add them to the skillet. Toss to coat them with oil. When greens are wilted down, add the water or broth, salt and pepper, and then cover and cook until tender for about 5 minutes.

3. Uncover and cook for another minute or two to let the moisture evaporate. Drain and serve with a drizzle of your favorite vinegar.

Makes 4 servings.

From the story Winter Greens in the Winter 2010/2011 issue.