Welp City News #9

This month's recipe comes from our good friend Dr. Julia Skinner of Atlanta, GA. This selection was inspired by our recent travels, which included some time in France. Not only is she a lovely hostess and tons of fun, but she's also a brilliant chef, historian, author, and artist. Thanks so much Julia!

French veggies

French food is all about fresh, high-quality ingredients, which in the summer means lots of fresh vegetables. In Nantes (on the western coast), vegetable dishes are simple and highlight what's available locally and in season. This includes a salad green called mache nantais, which is native to France and has been an important foraged food there for centuries (I substitute spinach for it here in the states). In modern times, we typically eat it raw, but depending on where we look in history, it (and most other vegetables) would have been cooked instead.

Asparagus is also really popular in Nantes and across the Loire river valley (so popular, in fact, that a Brotherhood of Asparagus was formed farther east in Alsace). It's served in a lot of different ways, but I like it roasted. Both the salad and the asparagus go well with the Breton vinaigrette recipe below. Vinaigrette dressing has been common in many European cuisines for thousands of years, although the name ‘vinaigrette’ did not appear to describe the sauce until 1699.

If you've never made your own salad dressing before, don't be afraid! It's really easy (I promise!) and a ton better than anything you can buy at the store.

Salad
5 radishes
3 cups mache, spinach, or other tender greens
2 small carrots
1 small leek
1 small cucumber
1 bunch parsley

-Thinly slice the radishes, carrots, leek, and cucumber using a mandolin or by hand
-Arrange on a platter with the greens
-Top with chopped fresh parsley (you can use the rest of the bunch for the vinaigrette, below)

Asparagus
1 bunch asparagus
1 tbsp olive oil
sea salt
pepper

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
-Place asparagus on a sheet pan and toss in the olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste
-Roast for 15-20 minutes or until tender.

Breton vinaigrette
¼ c white wine vinegar
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp dried chervil*
2 tbsp fresh parsley
1 tbsp finely diced shallot
2 tsp capers, drained
1 tsp fresh chopped chives
sea salt
pepper
½ c extra virgin olive oil

-Add all ingredients except oil to a blender and blend to combine (or, alternately, very finely chop the chervil, parsley, shallot, capers, and chives, and whisk in to the vinegar and mustard)
-With the blender running (or, with your hand continuously whisking the dressing mixture), slowly pour in the olive oil until fully incorporated

*You can substitute all kinds of fresh and dried herbs here, so don't worry if you can't find chervil!

More about Julia:

I'm a food historian, chef, artist, and (sometimes) professor and librarian living in Atlanta. I'm the founder and director of Root, an organization that makes food history accessible, and uses food as a way to build our connections to the past and to each other. I also work as the fermenter for Ladybird restaurant, where I am building a whole program based on pickles and fermented food. I'm also an artist, and trained as an academic (I have a PhD in Library Science), and all of that helps me with my research, and helps me look at the history of food though a lot of different lenses.

Welp City News! Issue 9

First, The News: