• Baby Spring Lettuce with Sweet English Peas, Spring Onions and Champagne Vinaigrette

—Jessica Harrelson

• Shaved Asparagus with Garlic and Ginger

—Oscar Wilde

Enjoy our healthy Spring Farro Bowl recipe!

• Spring Farro Bowl

“Be kind like a flower and know that life is beautiful like springtime.”

– Debasish Mridha

• Baby Spring Lettuce with Sweet English Peas, Spring Onions and Champagne Vinaigrette

“Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate.”

—Alan D. Wolfelt

• Shaved Asparagus with Garlic and Ginger
• Strawberry and Meyer Lemon Meringue Pie

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well if one has not dined well.”

–Virginia Woolf

• Rack of Spring Lamb with Capay Farms Organic Ramps Soubise, Farro and Spring Vegetable Ragout
• White Asparagus Soup

A Cook’s Celebration of Spring

“Although early-morning hours are still quite chilly when I hurry out the door to start my day, spring is definitely in the air. I know it from the fliers announcing the first day of our local farmer’s market and by the fresh asparagus served at a recent dinner party, where the chef proudly beamed, “The first of the season!”

In many cultures around the world, spring means lamb. There are many different processes for cooking the celebratory lamb – Italy has a slow-roast process, which makes the meat exquisitely tender. Greece’s rotisserie-style process uses a special elongated grill over coals that accommodates a whole spitted animal and is raised and lowered as the heat rises and falls. Argentina uses a custom-made stake with cross bars that can accommodate a butterflied animal over a hardwood fire. The stake is driven into the ground and leans towards or away from the fire as the heat rises and lowers.

For my spring menu, I chose an indirect grilling method on my home barbecue grill, so you can prepare the recipe for your family and friends. This technique not only delivers a delicious leg of lamb, it also allows you to be outdoors enjoying the sweet air and warm temperature of a fine spring day.”

—Chef Rey Hernandez,
Co-Founder and VP, Epicurean Group

• Port Poached Otto Farm Cherries with Brioche and Clover Dairy Crème
• Grilled Butterflied Silver Star Farm Leg of Lamb, Grilled Polenta and Kohlrabi Slaw
• Amaranth Greens with Zucchini, Burnt Loo Loo Farms Ricotta Salata and Yellow Tomatoes
• Chilled Farley Farms Cucumber, Yogurt and Mint Soup

Experiencing the Season

“I’m smiling, rising on an early spring day. I’m looking forward to spending time in my sunny kitchen, filled with my favorite spring vegetables and fruits – fresh ramps, slender asparagus, tender dandelion greens, delicate pea shoots, crunchy baby radishes and organic strawberries. I’m thinking about what I will create with them.

We’re blessed here in California with an early spring. In the Northeast, it’s still snowing! I always encourage my family and friends to get outside and personally experience nature’s rebirth. Take a break from work and go on a hike or take a spin on your bike, push a stroller or take a walk with your little ones around the neighborhood. Look closely at the emerging buds and soft green leaves. Then take a step back and breathe in the fresh spring air. (And if you sneeze? It just means you’ve truly experienced it!)

Then, as the sun heads for the horizon, invite everyone inside to enjoy the end of a perfect day with an early evening feast of fresh seasonal food you’ve sourced locally and prepared with love. What could be a better way to welcome spring?”

—Chef Rey Hernandez,
Co-Founder and VP, Epicurean Group

• Watsonville Strawberry Dream Cake
• Pan Seared Pacific Cod with Happy Boy Farms Heirloom Tomato Confit Served with Roasted Asparagus with Red Bell Pepper and Laura Chenel Goat Cheese and Potato Casserole with Hobbs Bacon, Caramelized Onion and Dill
• Coke Farms Dandelion Greens, Pea Shoots and Butter Lettuce with Spring Radishes and Lemon Vinaigrette
• Chilled Spinach, Chervil and Strauss Family Yogurt Soup with Grilled Ramps

A Culinary Tribute to Spring

“While our friends back East and in the Midwest continue to suffer through an unusually long and harsh winter, here in Northern California spring has sprung!

With warm temperatures in the mid-seventies throughout much of February, it was an extremely early bud-break in the vineyards. Here, at Epicurean Group headquarters, fragrant flowering trees are blossoming, making a simple stroll down Main Street a delight. And now, with spring equinox and the lengthening days that follow, we have even more time to enjoy it.

In celebration of this glorious time of rebirth, I’ve crafted a menu that truly celebrates Spring’s seasonal delights and highlights our sustainable farming and ranching partners: a Yukon Gold & sorrel soup, baby lamb with mint pesto, a spring onion and English pea salad and to finish, a light rhubarb and strawberry granite. Serve the lamb with a delicious Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel – it’s the perfect pairing to pay tribute to spring.”

—Chef Rey Hernandez,
Co-Founder and VP, Epicurean Group

• Grilled Marin Sun Farms Grilled Leg of Lamb with Mint Pesto, Fregola and Asparagus and Leek Sauté
• Baby Spring Lettuce with Sweet English Peas, Spring Onions and Champagne Vinaigrette
• Coke Farms Yukon Gold Potato and Sorrel Soup
• Watsonville Strawberry Dream Cake

Early Spring Greens

“Thanks to the recent rains, Spring has arrived in our beautiful Bay Area. Emerald green shoots are emerging outside our windows and on our plates.

Bud break is beginning in the vineyards and my favorite springtime vegetables are starting to appear in the market: asparagus, English peas and pea shoots, rhubarb, fava beans and ramps. Lamb – and lamb’s lettuce, or mache – proclaim, “It’s spring!” with a tender succulence.

Lighter fare suits these brighter days and this menu makes the best of the season. Beginning with a white asparagus soup and an elegant chervil-dressed salad, lamb and peas pair perfectly, leading us to a satisfying rhubarb sabayon finish.

Share this tasty meal with your loved ones, served with one of our bright Russian River Pinots. Celebrate the season, the region – and the rain.”

—Chef Rey Hernandez,
Co-Founder and VP, Epicurean Group

• Medina Berry Farms Blackberry Tart
• California Halibut with Jacobs Farm Shishito Peppers and Olives, served with Lemon and Pea Risotto and Oven-Roasted Capay Farms Summer Squash
• Poached Rhubarb with Lemon Sabayon
• Rack of Spring Lamb with Capay Farms Organic Ramps Soubise, Farro and Spring Vegetable Ragout
• Faurot Ranch Organic Lamb’s Lettuce with Pea Shoots, Watermelon Radish, Parsley, Fava Beans and a Creamy Chervil Dressing
• White Asparagus Soup

“The days are lengthening and the sky is brightening. The unique clarity of California light sparkles on the bright green of the hills and the new growth, buds and flowers of early spring.

The first day of spring, March 20, celebrates the vernal equinox, when days and nights are both 12 hours long. On this day, the sun rises due east and sets due west.

With these longer, warmer days comes a lighter fare. Our menu showcases fish and early vegetables, greens and a light strawberry and Meyer lemon meringue pie – just the kind of recipes to make you grateful to be here, on the West Coast, in springtime.”

—Chef Rey Hernandez,
Co-Founder and VP, Epicurean Group

• Strawberry and Meyer Lemon Meringue Pie
• Almond-Crusted California Halibut with Asparagus and Morel Mushrooms
• Red Butter Lettuce with Microgreens, Red Onions and Orange Tarragon Vinaigrette
• Spring Vegetables in Broth

“I know that spring is here when the first bunches of tender asparagus and piles of fava beans appear at local farmers markets and produce stands. After a wintertime crafting menus of root vegetables paired with hearty braised meats, these fresh vernal greens entice. To celebrate the season, I’ve showcased spring greens in a savory vegetarian menu that even meat- and-potatoes eaters will cheer.”

—Chef Rey Hernandez, Co-Founder and VP, Epicurean Group

• Baked Strawberries with Meyer Lemon Zabaglione
• Wild Mushroom Lasagna
• Shaved Asparagus with Garlic and Ginger
• Insalata Mista