It’s been a rainy April, but that just means May’s bounty of flowers is just around the corner. May also brings warmer weather, outdoor dining, and grilling season. That is why this edition of tips and tricks overheard at COOK is all about preparing you and your kitchen for the month ahead. Read on to learn from the talented chefs that have come through our doors recently.  Get ready for May with these pro chef tips!

Tip #1: April Showers Bring May Violets

Nothing says May quite like fresh flowers. Fortunately for us at COOK, Heather McMonnies of Food Hedge brought in a bounty of foraged spring goodies. The kitchen was alive and vibrant with violets, stinging nettle, green strawberries, lavender, bergamot, magnolias and much more. Heather mentioned that you can pick violets right off your lawn and use them to create fun snacks. By pouring boiling water over a bunch of violets and adding pectin you can make violet jam! Be sure to add lemon juice to maintain the bright purple color. Teaming up with Heather for this foraging dinner, Eric Leveillee, now of Marigold Kitchen, used the violets to create a lovely dessert – violet granita. Essentially he put violets, lemon juice, lemon zest, water and sugar in a pot and gently heated it up to dissolve the sugar. Then he strained it off and froze it. At the end of the meal he removed it from the freezer and used a fork to break it up into bluish ice crystals. Ahhh, refreshing!

Tip #2: Keeping An Herb Garden Stash

Do you have a harvest of herbs from your outdoor or windowsill garden? Or maybe you just bought too many herbs and want to make sure they don’t wilt and go to waste. Beth Kaufman Strauss of Grateful Plate came into COOK to showcase the wonders of garden-fresh herbs. She started off the class by teaching guests the best way to store your herbs so that they stay fresh: wrap them in a towel and put them in a resealable bag. You can then store them in the fridge for a few weeks. Alternatively, you can extend their shelf life further by making herb oil by blending them together with oil.

Tip #3: Burger Season

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of grilling season. Take some advice from a professional who loves a good brunch burger, Becca O’Brien of Two Birds Catering and Canning. While putting on a big ol’ brunch, Becca made a bacon, egg and cheese slider with sage and blueberry jam and pickled jalapeños. When cooking burgers on a flat-top or a cast iron pan, Becca advised taking a ball of ground meat and squashing it down directly on the hot surface. Let it cook and sit there, do not move it! This will create a crust on your burger that will make for great texture and also will lock in the juices and flavor. If you’re grilling your burgers, Becca suggested using pre-formed patties and flipping them as necessary to cook them evenly.

Tip #4: Like Mother, Like Daughter

Don’t forget – Mother’s Day is May 13th! Frances Vavloukis of BodyX brought her daughter Eleni to COOK, and Frances proudly let Eleni, who is studying at Le Cordon Bleu, show guests how to clean leeks the fast and easy way. Eleni made a shallow crosscut at the top of the leek and cut off part of the bottom. She then held the leek vertically, put it under running water and rubbed the leek to dislodge all the dirt. Pat them dry, and you’re ready to make a healthy meal to get ready for beach season!

Tip #5: What Came First, The Grilled Chicken Or The Grilled Egg?

Here’s some more grilling advice. Ever think of making eggs on the grill? Well that’s exactly what Chris Tavares of Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse does! While conversing with COOK guests about the joyous days of grilling soon to come, Chris talked about how he likes to show his kids how to cook. He told his kids that he could grill an egg, and they responded with, “But it will fall through the cracks!” Alas, Chris has a simple trick for grilling eggs with no grill grate mess. Simply put a whole egg in the shell on the grill and cook it, that’s it! He explained that it is basically like hard-boiling the egg, just without water.

Enjoy the sunny weekend, and see you in May!