Curly Girl Farm: Peas: Shelling is Rewarding

"What's in Season" article from first week in June:

Last week at market I had snow peas—lots of them. One of my farmer friends had a lot of strawberries. At the end we both had some of each leftover so we traded. I gave Mark five quarts of peas and he gave me five quarts of berries. It’s not often in today’s society that we get to utilize the barter system, so I’m always tickled when it happens. Some of my recent barters include gourds for chickens and honey for bacon. It is so nice when both parties feel they have gotten the best end of the deal, which was certainly how I felt with my peas-for-strawberries trade.

Strawberries were going to be the focus of my article this week, but I think I kind of missed the peak of the season. There is nothing better than fresh local strawberries, but the season is such a short one; it is gone before you know it. I always make sure to get enough strawberries each season to make a pie or two and at least one batch of jam. Ruth McLaughlin, whom you probably remember for her Monday farm column, was the best strawberry pie maker I ever knew. I feel privileged to have gotten her recipe before she passed away. She always made the “gel with whipped cream on top” type strawberry pie. This year I am also trying a “baked double crusted” type strawberry pie. This is the way our friend’s mother always makes her pies so I’m giving it a try. Sorry, you’ll have to wait for next year’s strawberry column to get one of these recipes. If this is making you hungry for strawberries there may be some vendors who still have a few quarts this week, so if you want to buy some I would recommend arriving early.

If not, you’ll be sure to still find peas at market this week. As I mentioned, I had a lot of snow peas last week. These are the flat kind most people use in stir fries. The week before it was sugar snap peas, which most people favor eating raw because they are so sweet and you eat them pod and all. This week there will probably be a lot of shell peas, or English peas, as some call them. This is the old fashioned kind you have to do a little bit of work to enjoy. Some people like shelling, others do not, but I think it is totally worth it. Fresh peas are just so much better than canned and even frozen peas. I’m going to take a basket of peas to my grandma’s and shell them with her on the front porch. She is such an interesting lady and I’m sure she’ll have some good stories to share about the “old days” while we are at it. Spending time with someone like that, enjoying these early summer evenings, is so rewarding that shelling peas does not seem like work at all.

Grandma will put some of them up in the freezer for us to enjoy this winter. She makes a really great chicken pasta salad to which she often adds peas. The peas give it a nice crunch. Of course, she doesn’t use a recipe so I’m not giving you quantities, but here is a general idea of how she does it.

Grandma Jean’s Chicken Pasta Salad

· Farfalle (bow tie) pasta

· Chicken, cooked and cut into small pieces

· Cheese, whatever you have on hand—cheddar, colby, swiss, etc. cut into small chunks

· Peas, raw and shelled

· Dressing: Plain yogurt & Miracle Whip

Cook and drain pasta and allow to cool. Add chicken, cheese, peas (sometimes she also puts in hard boiled eggs and celery—whatever is on hand.) Coat with the dressing. I would start with a couple of dollops each of the yogurt and mayo, mix that up and if you think it needs more, add more a little at a time.