recipe | fresh peas with mint

pea pleasers... When the peas start plumping out, you have to act fast to grab your fair share of the harvest before my boys pillage the plants. Right up there with devouring all the wild raspberries, is the art of pea picking for these two garden devils. It doesn't matter the pea—sugar, shell, snap—they are all at risk. For the perky green pods are viewed as "garden candy" in their eyes.

The sugar snaps are still swelling up and the snow peas have been kicking about in our salads and sautés for a week or two now. But it is the shell pea that has been commanding the most attention this weekend. When I first moved to Maine, my neighbor taught me the old adage of plant your peas at tax time and you'll have them ready to serve on Fourth of July. Well, normally at tax time my garden is still under snow, but we were fortunate to get them on time this year. Mrs. Archer was right. The peas arrived just in time to make a very tasty dish for the holiday weekend.

Fresh Peas with Mint

1 lb of fresh peas (I use whatever type is currently ready for picking. It works equally well with sugar snap, snow and shell peas.)

2 tbs unsalted butter

handful of fresh mint, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Blanch the peas in eight cups of salted, boiling water for one minute. As the peas are blanching, melt the butter over medium-high heat in a large sauté pan. Transfer the peas to the skillet and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Toss in the mint and season as desired.

Last summer I made this dish, and by mistake, I tossed the mint into the hot butter at the same time as the peas. The result was absolutely outstanding. The mint sautéed up crisp, yet tasty. It was the perfect complement to the fresh snap of the peas. I tried to recreate it last week, but it just wasn't the same. Don't get me wrong, it was still an excellent dish, but I missed that crisp of the mint. Thankfully the peas are a plenty right now so I'll have several more opportunities to try. If I figure the secret out, I'll definitely share it.