roasted squid with oregano, chili, sorrel; choy sum, garlic

yu_choy_sum

the last bunch of flowering bok choy

 

I wanted the beautiful yellow flowers in this ‘Strauss‘ of yu choy sum (Brassica rapa var parachinensis, Brassica rapa var purpurea, or flowering bok choy), to be seen even after I had wilted most of the greens, so I cut them from their stems and set them aside after they had been washed. They were added to the braised greens only at the very end.

The ‘before’ can be seen above, and the ‘after’ just below.

squid_oregano_sorrel_ yu_choy_sum

  • a little over three quarters of a pound of squid, bodies and tentacles, from American Seafood Company, rinsed, dried, then very quickly arranged in an enameled cast iron pan after it had been and heated on top of the range until very hot and its cooking surface brushed with olive oil, the cephalopods then sprinkled with some super-pungent dried Italian oregano from Buon Italia and one crushed dried pepperoncino, also from Buon Italia, with a good squeeze of juice from a local Lisbon lemon (Long Island Fantastic Gardens, in the Union Square Greenmarket), some olive oil drizzled over the top, placed in a pre-heated 400º oven, roasted for four or five minutes, removed from the oven, and a handful of small sorrel leaves from Windfall Farms tossed over the top and lightly stirred with the juices that had accumulated in the pan
  • a bunch of yu choy sum (flowering bok choy) from Lani’s Farm, added to a heavy enameled cast iron pan where one bruised and halved garlic clove from Whole Foods  had been heated until beginning to brown, the greens stirred until tender, then put onto the plates, where they were seasoned with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil
  • the wine was an Italian (Campagna) white, Falanghina Feudi di San Gregorio 2014
  • the music was Peter Maxwell Davies’ beautiful opera, ‘Taverner’, Oliver Knussen and Stefan Asbury conducting His Majesties Sagbutts and Cornetts, Fretwork, and London Voices, with John Graham Hall , Peter Hall, Peter Sidhom, Michael Chance, Quentin Hayes, David Wilson-Johnson, Stephen Richardson, Fiona Kimm, Martyn Hill, Stuart Kale, and Tom Jackman