Sauteed Buttery Peas with Mint and Feta Cheese

After spending my first 24 years enjoying the fruits of others' labor in the kitchen while rarely making my own contribution to the dinner spread, my culinary career was jump-started when I decided to give The Gastronomer five 3-course dinners as a Christmas present last year. The menus were taken almost exclusively from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, a fantastic, foolproof resource for the beginning cook. These peas were served alongside salmon and leek pot pies for the main course of Menu #1.

Recipe by The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh mint
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 pound frozen peas (3 cups)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
  
• salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallot, mint, and garlic and cook until softened. Stir in the peas (do not thaw beforehand) and the sugar. The Test Kitchen authors recommend frozen peas for their consistent flavor and ease of use. Cover and cook until the peas are heated through, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with the feta cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Yield: 4 servings
Estimated Start-to-Finish Time: 10 minutes
Actual Start-to-Finish Time: 20 minutes
Substitutions: We ate some of the peas without the cheese (shown above), as we found that it overwhelmed the flavor of the mint, but both ways were delicious.