Month: December 2014

prosciutto, radicchio; warmed clam sauce linguine

prosciutto_radicchio_lovage

I thought I was going to be eating as a bachelor earlier this week, so I had expected to only have some leftover linguine with clam sauce from two nights earlier (sans the clams themselves, which had disappeared in the first round.  Then Barry IM-ed me that he would be home earlier than planned, and would join me for dinner.  Anticipating such a possibility, or the need for improvisation on some other night, I fortunately had fixings on hand for a decent first course.

  • Colameco’s prosciutto from whole Foods, drizzled with good olive oil
  • radicchio from Eataly, dressed with the same oil, a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper
  • slices of Rustica Classica from Eataly

linguine_with_clam_sauce_leftover

  • leftover linguine alle Vongole in Bianco (now bereft of the clams), gently oven-heated in a cazuela, then drizzled with olive oil and dusted with fresh chopped parsley (both after this picture was shot)
  • the wine was an Italian (Südtirol) white, St. Michael Eppan Alto Adige Pinot Grigio 2013

tuna steak with fennel seed, chiles; two kales

tuna_steak_two_kales

I knew it had to be quick, because we were going to be at an Ensemble Pi concert that night;  my instructions were to pick up something at the Greenmarket that did not involve much time to prepare when we got back from NoHo, probably a bit after ten o’clock.   The next day’s schedule included an early rise for at least once of us;  that meant that the night before would be what Barry and I call a ‘school night’, meaning  getting to bed at a decent hour, or at least what we have come to call a decent hour.

I think I heard the words, ‘scallops’ and ‘tuna’ just as I stepped out of the apartment, but when I arrived below 17th Street around noon it was the tuna that attracted my attention first, although for no particular reason, as I love both dishes.

  • tuna steak from Blue Moon Fish, rubbed with a mixture of fennel seed and dried peperoncini, ground together, seasoned with salt, and pepper, then pan-grilled for only a minute or so on each side, finished with a good squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil
  • two kinds of kale, green and purple, from Tamarack Hollow Farm, braised with olive oil and a clove of garlic from S.S.&S.O. Farms which had been split and heated in the oil until starting to color, the vegetable then seasoned with salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil
  • the wine was a northern Italian (south Tirol) white, J. Hofstätter Pinot Grigio Südtirol-Alto Adige 2013

linguine alle Vongole in Bianco (linguine, clams)

linguine_con_vongole

There are so many ways to make this dish, it hardly merits mentioning any of my own, and I have a number of variations myself, but this is what I did on this one night.  I bought the shellfish rather than fish when I was at the greenmarket on Monday because that night I was going to have to put together something using leftover Guinea fowl, but I wanted to have some kind of seafood the next day (which was not a Greenmarket day) and I knew the clams would still be alive and fine then.

  • Afeltra linguine tossed in a large pot in which two garlic cloves from S.S.&O. Farm, minced, and one crushed peperoncino had been heated in some olive oil before being joined by little neck clams from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, along with their cooking juices after they had been steamed open in a separate pot, the entire mix sprinkled with a bunch of parsley from Stokes Farm, chopped
  • the wine was an Italian white, Bricco del Sole Langhe Chardonnay 2011

cabbage, fennel, radicchio, Guinea Hen, gorgonzola

red_cabbage_salad_gorgonzola

This past Saturday I noticed a smallish glass container on the middle shelf of the refrigerator: The meat leftovers for the meal of Guinea fowl! I wasn’t really worried about the time it had spent on the shelf, especially since it was very well sealed, and it looked very fresh.  I tasted it nevertheless;  it was really delicious.  I couldn’t use it that night, or even the next, because I already had fresh fish at home for the first night, and two fresh lamb chops for the second.

This meant that I had time to do some planning, and the first thing that came to mind for an entrée that would use my surprise package was, almost naturally for me, a salad, certainly using some fresh greenery stuff.  Then I realized that I had bought a large red cabbage on Saturday, expecting it would be good for at least two meals, even if I had not yet imagined them.  I checked on line, hoping for a brilliant idea which would combine cabbage, fowl, and other ingredients I had on hand or could easily gather.  I found one on Epicurious.com, but I’m afraid my idea of working with the freshness of the meat got lost in my enthusiasm for its ingredients.  The ‘salad’ recipe however was terrific.

In the list of ingredients for “Warm Red Cabbage Salad with Roast Chicken and Gorgonzola Cheese” the chicken (or Guinea fowl) could well be substituted with pork or some other meat, or it could remain entirely vegetarian.  In fact it’s so incredibly rich, this ‘salad’ almost cries out for a green salad accompaniment!

The recipe is actually pretty simple, and, once you line up the ingredients, takes very little time.   In order to hurry the process along later in the evening, I had roasted the walnuts before we left for what turned out to be a terrific 8 o’clock Wet Ink Ensemble concert three blocks away, but we were back at home a little after 10, and sat down to dinner a little after 11.

  • red cabbage from Tamarack Hollow Farm, a small fennel bulb from Norwich Meadows Farm, a small head of radicchio from Eataly, one small red onion from Norwich Meadows Farm, all the vegetables sliced thinly and placed in a large bowl along with coarsely-chopped toasted walnuts, one small carrot from Norwich Meadows Farm cut into matchstick-size pieces, a small Bosc pear from Caradonna Farms, cut into eight wedges, everything mixed together with a dressing of garlic from S.S. & O. Farm, chopped, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, and olive oil, the whole sautéed until the mix is warm and the cabbage slightly wilted, with cooked Guinea fowl, broken into bit-size pieces, added near the end, all served in large shallow bowls and topped with bits of gorgonzola cheese and a sprinkling of chopped fennel fronds
  •  the wine was a French (Alsatian) white, Gentil HUGEL 2013 AOC Alsace

lamb chops, garlic, rosemary; roasted roots; greens

lamb_chop_roasted_roots_radish_greens

This meal is pretty straightforward, so I can’t think of anything to say about it, other that the fact that the other two lamb chops from the package of four I bought on Saturday are waiting in the freezer for another meal, and that I also still have more of all the roots which accompanied the meat in this dinner.

  • two lamb chops form 3-Corner Field Farm, seasoned, brushed with garlic from S.S.& O. Farms and rosemary from Phillips Farm, both chopped, then pan-grilled
  • roots (celery root, parsnips, and carrots from Norwich Meadows Farm, and German Butterball potatoes from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm) together with shallots from Keith’s Farm, all roasted together, then finished, before they were removed from the oven, with chopped garlic from S.S. & O. Farm, and chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge
  • radish greens, from a Greenmarket source I did not record this time, dressed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar
  • the wine was a French red, Clos Chanteduc Côtes-du-Rhône 2011