our friend the farmer

Dina recently made friends with a farmer. Yes, a real live farmer. Every so often we get a phone call early in the morning from Allison, the proprietor of Senneville Farm, merely 10 minutes away and home to incredibly fresh seasonal crops. Early this morning, she let us know that a batch of fresh asparagus was freshly picked this morning and she would leave it out for us to pick up at our leisure. If you've never had farm-fresh vegetables, you're missing out.

Instead of grilling, Dina decided to take the steaming route and then sauté the spears in a delicious mixture of garlic, olive oil, lime juice and some fresh dill, and finished with salt and pepper. It was tender, flavourful and incredibly fresh.

So hearty and delicious were these asparagus spears that we treated them as the main course. Alongside, some veal chops, simply seasoned with salt, pepper and chili flakes. We've always wanted to try these chops, but sadly, they were a little disappointing. I'm not sure whether it was the dry rub idea, or that grilling might not be the best cooking method for this cut of meat, but the veal lacked flavour and a certain 'je ne sais quoi'.

These veal chops were akin to pork chops, only more tender. Perhaps a wet marinade would have made for a more punchy flavour, but we think that an osso buco type preparation where the meat is simmered in a sauce for a long time would make for the most tender and delicious results.

But hey, you can't win 'em all and we would have been more than satisfied with a generous pile of Allison's asparagus and nothing else. We can't wait to find out what the next crop will yield...