This recipe is from Joe Cucunato, of proprietor of Joe S. Sausage in Albuquerque.
Serves 4-6

This can be prepared in the kitchen, but Joe uses his grill to cook the paella start to finish. You can use charcoal, gas or wood, all work well.

Ingredients:
1 T. saffron
1 t. smoked Spanish paprika
2 C. water
2 C. white wine
2 C. clam juice
1 red or white onion
1 red bell pepper
1 Roma tomato
6 or more cloves of garlic
(Note: don't worry about drowning this dish in garlic, you are going to roast them; roasting mellows the overpowering flavor of garlic)

1 lb. Joe S. Sausage Spanish Chorizo
1 lb. Joe S. Sausage Andouille
(note: If you want, include 1lb. Shrimp)

1/4 C. olive oil
2 C. Bomba or Calasparra rice

Use 8 C. liquid for the Bomba rice. Or if you choose, use Calasparra rice, 6 C. of liquid; the liquid in this case is the combination of water, white wine and clam juice.

1/4 C. parsley, chopped

Fire up grill.

Over a fire roast the onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato, cut up, place in paella pan.
Add rice, parsley, paprika, saffron, olive oil, water, white wine, clam juice. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.

Grill the sausages over medium a fire for ten to twenty minutes- so the sausages have grill flavor, are almost fully cooked, yet contain the juices vital for flavor that will drip into the paella during the finishing of the dish.

When the sausages are ready, place them on top of the paella and place the pan on the grill. Close the top of the grill and let the dish finish for another 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Before serving, slice the sausages atop the paella.

Another item that has been in short supply all winter - eggs. And if we're blessed we'll have a few strawberries in late spring to savor with the custard.
Serves 4

Custard
2 C. whole milk
1/4 C. whipping cream
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 T. finely grated orange peel
1/4 t. ground cardamom
1/8 t. salt
1/3 C. honey - something light and delicate
4 large egg yolks
1 whole large egg
Compote
1-pint strawberries, hulled
1 orange, juiced
1 T. honey
1/4 t. ground cardamom
For Custard:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Combine 2 cups milk, whipping cream, vanilla bean, orange peel, ground cardamom and salt in heavy bottomed saucepan. Simmer milk mixture over medium heat until tiny bubbles appear around edge of saucepan. Remove from heat and let sit for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes remove the vanilla bean from the milk. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into milk mixture; and add the scraped bean back to the milk. Re-heat the milk again until tiny bubbles appear around edge of saucepan. Remove from heat and remove the scraped bean, add honey and stir until honey melts. In a medium bowl or standing mixer, whisk the egg yolks and whole egg until blended. Pour a thin stream of the hot milk mixture into egg mixture while whisking eggs rapidly. Strain custard through a fine meshed sieve into large measuring cup.
Pour custard into four oven safe ramekins or custard cups.
Set dishes in 13x9-inch baking pan. Add enough boiling water to baking pan to come halfway up sides of dishes. Cover baking pan loosely with aluminum foil. Bake custards until knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Transfer dishes to rack and cool completely before covering and refrigerating for at least 3 hours.
For Compote:
Place sliced strawberries in medium bowl. Mix the orange juice with 1 T. honey and ground cardamom. Compote can be prepared 2 hours ahead, and refrigerated.
Top the custards with a tablespoon or so of the compote, and serve.

I love to use leftover roasted potatoes for this soup. You could roast both the potatoes and the Jerusalem artichokes for a richer tasting soup.
Serves 4

1_ lb. Jerusalem artichokes, unpeeled and roughly chopped
2 T. of butter
2 leeks, finely chopped, white part only
1 large onion, diced
1 _ C. roasted potatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
3 T. heavy cream
2 T. white truffle oil
2 T. fresh chives or garlic scapes, snipped
salt and white pepper
Truffle Oil (optional but wonderful)

Heat olive oil in a large pot over moderately low heat. Add the leeks and onions and sauté 10 minutes, then cover and steam, stirring occasionally until soft, about 5 more minutes. Add the potatoes.

Put the Jerusalem artichokes in a pan of salted water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for eight minutes, then drain.

Mash the artichokes, then stir them into the onion and potato mixture. Add 3 cups of the stock, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Purée the soup in a blender, if it is very thick add enough remaining stock to thin it a bit. Pour the soup through a sieve into a clean pan. Stir in the heavy cream and reheat the soup gently, without letting it boil. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into four warm bowls. Drizzle a few drops of the truffle oil over the surface and sprinkle with the chopped chives or garlic scapes and serve immediately.

Recipes courtesy of Chef John Cox
Serves 4

SUNCHOKE GRATIN
1 lb. Sunchokes (spray with cold water in sink and scrub with kitchen towel)
1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes
2 roasted and peeled green chiles - or 1/2 c. chopped green chile
1T. sage, chopped
1t. fresh rosemary, chopped
1 t. fresh thyme, chopped
3 T. butter
1/2 c. Oaxaca cheese, grated
1/2 c. Cotija cheese, grated
1 c. heavy cream
1 T. smoked sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Slice the cleaned sunchokes into roughly even length sticks the width of a pencil. Cut the potatoes the same way, to resemble the size of the sunchokes. Toss together all of the ingredients chopped reserving half of the grated cheeses. Put the mixture into a 10" cast iron skillet or a heavy baking dish--sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on the top. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and put into a 350º degree oven for 1 hour--remove the foil and turn oven up to 400º--cook for 20 more minutes or until golden brown. Gratin is done when you can easily poke the bottom of the pan with a butter knife.
You can find smoked sea salt at The Spanish Table in Santa Fe, or at specialty food stores.

GREEN CHILE SAUCE

1 lb. chopped green chiles
1 t. chopped garlic
1 t. green coriander seeds
1 t. cumin seeds
1 small onion, diced
2 c. fresh chicken stock
1 bunch of cilantro, cleaned
2 T. butter
Sea salt

Sauté the green chiles, garlic, coriander, onion and cumin until aromatic. Add the stock and simmer gently until the onions are soft. Cool slightly and transfer the stock to a blender, add cilantro and butter and blend until smooth and silky. Season to taste with sea salt.

Cooking the Lamb Rack

2 Shepherd's Lamb racks
Salt and pepper
2 Thyme Sprigs
3 T. butter

Half an hour prior to cooking, season the lamb racks aggressively with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a seasoned cast iron pan melt half the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted and bubbling, add the lamb and cook for approximately 7 minutes or until well caramelized--flip the rack and repeat on the other side. Pour off the extra lamb fat and put the remainder of the butter and the fresh thyme into the pan with the racks. Transfer the pan to a 400º oven and continue to cook until it suits your tastes--I prefer medium rare, which takes about 5 minutes in the oven. Allow the lamb racks to rest in a warm area for at least 10 minutes prior to cutting and serving.

Cooking the Lamb Sausage

4 Shepherd's Lamb green chile lamb sausages
1 T. sea salt

Bring 2 quarts of water to a simmer and season with sea salt. Add the sausage and gently simmer for 5 minutes. Puncture the sausage casings with a paring knife and transfer them to a preheated grill to brown and finish cooking.

Suggested Sides and Accompaniments

Fresh Asparagus--blanched and sautéed with butter and garlic
Whole Roasted Garlic Cloves--(the red variety from Acalde is great)

Joel Coleman, Chef at Mauka in Santa Fe offered us the following recipe:
Serves 8 as an appetizer

POKE SPRING ROLL
3 lbs. ahi tuna (1/4 in. dice)
2 bunch scallions (chopped w/ whites)
1/4 C. sesame oil
3 T. tamari
1 T. Korean chili flakes
1/2 C. hijiki (seaweed)
2 T. sesame seeds
sea salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and let sit for 20-30 minutes. Place about two tablespoons of the mix in a spring roll wrapper, carefully roll and seal with egg wash, fry in 375 degree oil for approximately 20 seconds.

PINEAPPLE CHUTNEY
1 pineapple (small dice)
1 t. garlic (minced)
2 t. ginger (peeled & minced)
3 t. lemongrass (finely minced)
2 T. Thai chiles (minced)
1 t. Korean chili flakes
1 T. coriander (toasted and ground)
1/4 C. rice vinegar
1 t. allspice
1 bunch scallions (chopped w/ whites)
1 T. raw sugar

Sauté lemongrass and ginger for 1-2 minutes, add garlic, then add pineapple, cook for 5 minutes, add remaining ingredients except for scallions and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes in refrigerator and add scallions.

Spoon chutney on to plate, slice poke roll in to 4 pieces and serve atop chutney. Optional garnish: black tobiko caviar, and chive.

Last spring while buying herbs from Barb Mann and Wendy Maguire's Gallinas del Sol Farms stall, I glanced over at their board and saw they had guinea hens. I inquired, and went home with two of the tasty birds for Easter dinner. After such a long winter, it was thrilling to find a such a fresh treasure. Guinea hen, or Pintade in French, has a delicious flavor, kind of a cross between chicken and pheasant but not gamey, mild and sweet, leaner than chicken - this is the bird that speaks of spring to me.

Serves 2
One 3 to 4 pound guinea hen or farm-raised chicken, whole, giblets removed, at room temperature.

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons, cut in half
1 small orange, cut in half
2 T. butter, softened
2 sprigs fresh oregano
1 t. fresh oregano, chopped

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Season the cavity of the guinea hen with salt and pepper, and stuff it with the lemons and orange half, and two sprigs of oregano.
Mix the butter with the remaining teaspoon of oregano. Loosen the skin from the breast meat of the hen and rub the butter and oregano on the meat, under the skin.
Roast the hen breast side down for 25 minutes, then turn breast side up. Baste with the pan juices and finish roasting until it is golden and cooked through, another 25 minutes for a total cooking time of about 50 minutes. To test for doneness, pierce the thigh joint with a sharp knife to see that the juices run clear.
Remove the guinea hen from the oven and sprinkle it lightly with salt. Turn it breast side down, and let it rest for at least 20 minutes. Remove the citrus from the cavity, cut the guinea hen into serving pieces, and squeeze the lemon, orange halves, and pan juices over the bird.

Serves 1-2

1 small head spring lettuce or baby greens - anything small and perfect and new
1 small white spring or salad turnip, sliced thin, with skin on
2-3 red radishes, sliced into paper-thin rounds
_ C. small handful of mint leaves, coarsely chopped
1 medium avocado, cubed
1/3 C. of crumbled or cubed goat feta

Optional additions or substitutions:
_ medium fennel bulb, sliced as thinly as possible
_ C. freshly shelled peas, uncooked
A small handful of smoked trout, torn into bite-size pieces
A small handful of chickpeas

Vinaigrette
1 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 T. freshly squeezed orange juice
6 T. olive oil
1 t. honey
1 t. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Whisk all together, taste and adjust seasonings, adding more lemon or orange juice, honey or salt to taste.

In a medium bowl, combine the lettuce, radishes, turnip, and mint leaves. Toss with vinaigrette to taste. Add the avocado and feta. Serve straight from the bowl.