Spring pea risotto, with frogs' legs tempura and minted pea salad

Hello from Maine!

We have spent the last few days here on a family trip, but also attending a cooking (and eating – if you have been following on Facebook, you know!) weekend at the White Barn Inn with Kevin Sbraga, the winner of Top Chef season 7.

The trip itself has been delightful, but meeting chef and watching him, as well as the staff at the White Barn Inn restaurant, work in the kitchen has been a real treat.

This morning, chef Sbraga presented and demoed one of his restaurant’s spring dishes, which I’m happy to share with you. So light and flavorful, and the best frogs legs ever.

Tips: A few tips from the chef: Frozen peas are better than fresh peas for the purée as they yield a creamier texture. For juicy and tender frog legs, marinate them in a half vegetable/half olive oil mix, heated and infused with garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns (seal the frogs legs and the marinade in a ziplock or vacuum-sealed bag).

You can, of course, omit the frog legs and this would still be silky and delicious.

Spring pea risotto, with frogs legs tempura and minted pea salad

You’ll need:

For the risotto
– 1/2 cup carnaroli rice
– 3 1/2 T white onion (diced)
– 4 T butter + more (a lot more, if you want) for finishing
– 1/4 cup white wine
– 2 quarts vegetable stock

For the pea purée
– 3/4 bag frozen peas
– 1 1/4 t chopped parsley
– 1 1/4 t salt
– pinch of sugar
– 1/4 cup water

For the tempura + salad
– 1/2 cup or 200g AP flour
– 1/2 cup or 200g cornstarch
– 1/2 cup seltzer
– 1 yolk
– frog legs (about one per serving)
– about 1/4 cup pancetta, cubed
– snow peas, cut into thirds
– pea leaves or shoots, trimmed
– mint, picked

1. Heat up a large, deep pan and sweat the garlic and onion in butter, stirring often. In the meantime, heat up the stock in a separate pot.

For the pea purée: blanch peas for two minutes, saving 1/4 cup blanching water to blend with the other ingredients. Blend, cool, do not strain, taste for seasoning.

2. Add rice to the onion and garlic and lightly toast, stirring. The rice should not change color.

3. Cover rice with several ladles of vegetable stock and add wine. (Here, you can start your kitchen timer at 11 minutes to go).

4. Stir and continue to add stock to the pan every few minutes.

5. Add the pea purée to the risotto mixture, right into the pot, just before serving. You can also add another 3-4 tablespoons of butter to the risotto once you take it off the stove.

6. Render the pancetta in a sauté pan and cook the snow peas in the fat. Combine pancetta, snow peas, chopped mint, and pea shoots and top risotto with the salad.

7. If you’re making the frog legs: whisk together the tempura batter ingredients, adding a bit more seltzer to the batter if it is too thick (it should coat but run off of your whisk or spoon). Dip frog legs in tempura batter and fry in vegetable oil.