Chef makes the most of spring's bounty

<p>With the first day of spring receding in our rearview mirrors, it's time to start lightening up our dinner plates and our cooking styles for the season.</p><p>We bid adieu to the earthy white root vegetables — the sturdy parsnips, turnips and rutabagas — that we slow-roasted and simmered on the back burner through the late fall and winter.</p><p>Instead, we welcome the sweet, tender greens of early spring, such as pea tendrils, radishes and fava beans, that are so delicate that we can eat them raw or barely cooked at all.</p><p>Like other Wine Country chefs, Patrick Tafoya of the Restaurant P/30 restaurant in Sebastopol has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the tender roots and delicate shoots of spring.</p><p>Radishes, spring onions and other fresh young things have been poking up on his dinner menu like so many young seedlings unfurling toward the sun.</p><p>“We just got some asparagus last week from the Sacramento Delta,” he said excitedly. “And we're pulling pea shoots off of everything right now.”</p><p>The chef is using the local asparagus as the base for a spring egg dish, Egg in a Hole, that will also be featured during the restaurant's new weekend brunch this month.</p><p>“We peel the asparagus and get rid of the skin,” he said. “Then we quick blanch it to set the color, season with oil and salt, and put them on the grill.”</p><p>The egg goes in the center of a slice of brioche toast. Then it's cooked in the oven, finished with some watercress and shaved Jack cheese, and served over the grilled spears. The combination of asparagus, eggs, buttery brioche and cheese is hard to beat.</p><p>“I'm a huge fan of eggs,” Tafoya said. “We're getting our eggs from Sensuous Farms (in Sebastopol). They have bright, orange yolks and are so much richer.”</p><p>Another early spring vegetable — the humble radish — has been slicing and dicing its way into a Mixed Baby Lettuce Salad at Restaurant P/30.</p><p>Tafoya uses two kinds of radishes for his ode to the crunchy root vegetable. He pickles some oval-shaped French breakfast radishes in Meyer lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and sugar. Then he shaves some big, round watermelon radishes, distinguished by a a green exterior that fades to pink inside, with a mandoline.</p><p>The salad of delicate baby lettuces is rounded out with a tangy goat-cheese feta from Redwood Hill Farm in Sebastopol.</p><p>“It's nice and sharp, but it has a good creamy texture,” he said. “And we dress the lot in a Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette.”</p><p>At this time of the year — a so-called “shoulder” season spanning late winter, spring and early summer — the chef likes to pair some of the fresh, young veggies with heartier meats and pastas.</p><p>For example, a warm pea shoot salad provides a foil for his Goat Cheese Gnocchi with Roasted Beets.</p><p>“Pea shoots are really delicate,” he said. “We wilt ours down, with a brown butter vinaigrette. ... It gives a nice contrast, the delicate and soft gnocchi versus the crisp but warm green.”</p><p>Right now Tafoya is serving a Spring Vegetable Salad — fava beans, spring onions, green garlic, and fingerling potatoes — as a contrast to his Liberty Duck Confit.</p><p>Like most chefs, Tafoya has been anticipating the new fava beans, which are tender and sweet in their youth but a little off-putting as they age.</p><p>“They tend to get bigger and bigger and a little mealy,” he said. “And once they're done, they're done.”</p><p>During this small window when the favas are small and tender, you don't need to peel them twice — just take them out of their pod. But at the restaurant, Tafoya always shells fava beans completely.</p><p>“I think fresh shelling beans are worth the legwork,” he said. “You could also use fresh cranberry beans.”</p><p>Now that the favas have arrived, Tafoya is looking forward to the English peas and the local strawberries, which he plans to preserve and serve with his signature dish, Fried Chicken with Brown Butter Waffle.</p><p>“The jam is finished with lemon zest and black pepper,” he said. “We're going to use the berries from the Sebastopol Berry Farm as soon as we can, and we'll start canning for next year.”</p><p>Once the peas pop open, Tafoya plans to serve them as simple pea purees and soups, with little or no embellishment.</p><p>“A fresh pea soup is one of the most honest preparations for that vegetable,” he said. “Just let the fresh pea do its job.”</p><p>Born and raised in Albuquerque, N.M., Tafoya has always worked in restaurants. He started out washing dishes and waiting tables in pizza joints and worked his way up.</p><p>After graduating from the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Ore., he got a job at The Heathman Hotel, a luxury boutique hotel in Portland, working under chef de cuisine Liz Ozanich.</p><p>When Ozanich was invited to open the Seafood Brasserie in Santa Rosa, Tafoya followed her to Sonoma County, working alongside the Northwest native for another three years.</p><p>That's also where he met chef Tim Vallery, who now owns Peloton Catering in Healdsburg. When Vallery left to lead the kitchen at the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club, Tafoya went with him.</p><p>After nearly five years, Tafoya left to run the Duck Club Restaurant at the Bodega Bay Lodge for a year. </p><p>Last July, just after he turned 32, Tafoya heard that a roadside restaurant along Highway 12, just west of Sebastopol, was becoming available. He jumped at the opportunity to open his own restaurant.</p><p>“I decided to work at the Duck Club until October, then I took three months off to renovate the space,” he said. “It was a quick turnaround.”</p><p>With the help of his wife, Christine, he repainted and redecorated the former Cafe St. Rose and resurrected it as Restaurant P/30.</p><p>The restaurant serves a grazing menu of comfort food that evolves with the seasons.</p><p>“I wanted to provide a restaurant that I'd want to eat at,” he said. “We have stacks of plates so people can share.”</p><p>Boasting a back patio that seats 46, P/30 is launching a new brunch on the weekends starting in mid-April. The menu will span classic egg dishes like omelettes and the Egg in a Hole. P/30 pastry chef Marianna Gardenhire is working on a housemade granola and pastries to round out the morning menu.</p><p>Meanwhile, she will begin incorporating some of the new spring fruits into the restaurant's dessert menu.</p><p>“We'll probably do a Fresh Berry Pot de Creme and a Strawberry and Rhubarb Tart,” Tafoya said. “Our desserts have an at-home appeal.</p><p>“It's stuff you'd make yourself, but still reminds you that you're at a restaurant.”</p><p>Watermelon radishes are available at farmers markets and specialty grocery stores. You could also substitute any another radish, Tafoya said.</p><p>Baby Green Salad with</p><p>Pickled and Fresh Radish,</p><p>Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette &</p><p>Redwood Hill Goat Cheese Feta</p><p>Makes 6 servings</p><p>For pickled radish:</p><p>12 breakfast radishes</p><p>3 Meyer lemons</p><p>1 tablespoon kosher salt</p><p>1 tablespoon super fine sugar</p><p>½ teaspoon black pepper</p><p>For Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette:</p><p>6 Meyer lemons</p><p>¼ cup champagne vinegar</p><p>1 cup canola oil</p><p>-Sugar, salt and black pepper, to taste</p><p>For salad:</p><p>¾ cup shaved watermelon radish</p><p>6 heads mixed baby lettuces, washed and stemmed</p><p>½ cup Redwood Hill Goat Cheese Feta, rinsed</p><p>Salt and pepper to taste</p><p>For pickled radish: Wash and quarter the breakfast radishes. Zest and juice the lemons, reserve separately. Dissolve the sugar, salt and pepper in the lemon juice. Toss the radishes in the seasoned juice and add the lemon zest. Allow to marinate for at least 5 hours or up to overnight, tossing occasionally. Adjust seasoning if necessary.</p><p>For vinaigrette: Combine lemon zest, juice and vinegar. Add the canola oil and season to taste with sugar, salt and pepper.</p><p>For fresh radish: Shave the radishes on a Japanese vegetable slicer, or with a very sharp knife, as thinly as possible.</p><p>For salad: Dress the greens with the vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper. Add the feta and the pickled and fresh radishes. Serve immediately.</p><p>“At the restaurant, we cure and confit the duck ourselves,” Tafoya said. “But if you don't happen to find yourself with multiple pounds of rendered duck fat and 24 hours to spare, you can purchase yours ready to cook from Whole Foods Market.” Tafoya suggests reserving your own bacon fat after Sunday breakfast, then strain and store.</p><p>Liberty Duck Confit</p><p>with Roasted Potato,</p><p>Spring Vegetable Salad</p><p>& Bacon-Mustard Vinaigrette</p><p>Makes 4 servings</p><p>For vinaigrette:</p><p>1 cup rendered bacon fat</p><p>1 cup canola oil</p><p>¼ cup whole grain mustard</p><p>¾ cup red wine vinegar</p><p>- Salt and pepper, to taste</p><p>For salad:</p><p>1 pound fingerling potatoes, split lengthwise</p><p>¼ pound red spring onion (2 cups)</p><p>¼ pound French green beans, lightly blanched (2 cups)</p><p>½ cup green garlic</p><p>1 cup fava beans, shucked, blanched and peeled (roughly 3 pounds raw weight)</p><p>½ cup bacon vinaigrette</p><p>¼ cup crispy bacon, finely diced</p><p>-Salt and pepper, to taste</p><p>- Crispy duck confit from 4 duck legs (see below)</p><p>For the vinaigrette: Allow the bacon fat to come to room temperature. Combine with the oil, vinegar and mustard. Season to taste with salt and pepper.</p><p>For salad: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and roast, cut side down, on a well oiled baking pan at 425 degrees until tender and caramelized, about 20 minutes.</p><p>Meanwhile, cut the red spring onions into two-inch pieces, throwing green tops away. Quarter lengthwise, and reserve. Slice the green garlic thinly on a sharp bias and reserve, throwing green tops away.</p><p>When the potatoes are ready, heat the vinaigrette in a large saute pan. Add the bacon, onions, garlic, fava beans, green beans, and saute until the vegetables are warm. Add the roasted potatoes and season the salad with the salt and pepper.</p><p>To crisp duck legs: In a small, non-stick saute pan, heat ¼ cup rendered duck fat or vegetable oil over medium heat. (It may be necessary to tilt the pan to pool the fat to achieve even color on the skin.)</p><p>Add the duck leg confit, one leg at a time, skin side down. Allow the skin to crisp for 4 or 5 minutes or until a deep mahogany color is achieved on the skin. Remove the duck leg from the pan and reserve on a roasting pan. Repeat with remaining legs. When all have been crisped, pop all the duck legs in the oven until warm, about 10 minutes.</p><p>This recipe is from Marianna Gardenhire, pastry chef for Restaurant P/30. To blind bake these tart shells, line the filled tart shells with parchment paper and fille the center with beans. This method prevents the tart from rising during the baking process.</p><p>Strawberry Rhubarb Tart with Lemon Thyme and Creme Fraiche </p><p>Ice Cream</p><p>Makes 12 servings</p><p>For dough:</p><p>10 ounces butter</p><p>1 cup powdered sugar</p><p>1 egg</p><p>1 egg yolk</p><p>1½ teaspoons vanilla extract</p><p>4 cups cake flour</p><p>1 teaspoon kosher salt</p><p>For rhubarb compote:</p><p>8 cups rhubarb</p><p>2 cups strawberries</p><p>1 cup sugar</p><p>½ cup orange juice</p><p>- Zest of one orange</p><p>For ice cream:</p><p>2 cups milk</p><p>1¾ cups sugar</p><p>1 vanilla bean, split and scraped</p><p>3 sprigs lemon thyme</p><p>10 egg yolks</p><p>Pinch salt</p><p>4 cups creme fraiche</p><p>For garnish:</p><p>Fresh strawberries (roughly 60), washed and stemmed</p><p>For dough: Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs. Add the vanilla. Add the flour and salt. Rest the dough in the refrigerator for one hour. Roll dough into 12 circles for each 4-inch tart pan. Blind bake the tart shells at 325 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove the beans and bake for an additional 10 minutes and reserve.</p><p>For rhubarb compote:</p><p>Slice rhubarb and strawberries. Put 2 cups rhubarb in a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Pour over the remaining raw rhubarb. Chill to room temperature and refrigerate overnight.</p><p>For ice cream: Steep the milk, sugar, vanilla bean and thyme for one hour. Do not allow to boil. Whisk together the yolks and salt. Temper the hot milk into the yolks, whisking constantly. Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Add the creme fraiche. Chill overnight. Spin in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.</p><p>To assemble: Fill the 12 tart shells three-quarters full with compote. Top with fresh strawberries. Serve with the creme fraiche ice cream.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Diane Peterson at 521-5287 or diane.peterson</p><p>@pressdemocrat.com.</p>