[This is the latest in an ongoing guest series brought to you by Southborough’s Culinary Underground. In this installment, Chef Lori shares a favorite recipe featuring a favorite ingredient.]
March is here and the sap is going to start running in New England.
However: have you checked out the price of maple syrup lately? Ack! I’ve stopped baking with it; a cup of maple syrup per recipe? Ka-ching! Now, I use it sparingly, usually in beverages, sauces, and dressings. And I prefer to cook with Grade B syrup; Grade A maple syrup is beautiful, but thin and not as mapley-tasting as the B-grade; I save the good stuff for waffles.
Which brings me to a favorite cookbook recipe. A few years ago, I spent a weekend at Trout Point Lodge in Nova Scotia – a beautiful place, with great meals and wine, oyster-gathering, and some cooking classes. Their cookbook, The Trout Point Lodge Cookbook: Creole Cuisine from New Orleans to Nova Scotia
So in a search for a more inspired maple-based salad dressing, I turned to their book. A Canadian cookbook, must have some killer maple syrup recipes, right? Well, Trout Point’s recipe for Maple Lemon Cream is outstanding. The use of butter is sublime, but you can use a good olive oil instead.
The authors suggest serving it on hardy greens or a mesclun salad. But I think it’s perfect for strawberry-spinach salad. Strawberries from Florida, maple syrup from Maine – spring must really be here.
Maple Lemon Cream Dressing
(1/4 Cup)
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup – Grade B!
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon heavy cream
Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl. This will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Culinary Underground School for Home Cooks is committed to furthering the art and craft of home cooking through engaging and educational hands-on and demonstrations classes. Using the best seasonal ingredients, mastering techniques, minimizing prep, and maximizing flavor are the focus of their classes. For more information and a class schedule, visit culinaryunderground.com.
