Month: June 2016

scallion and mint-marinated swordfish; tomato; puntarelle

swordfish_tomato_puntarelle

I think I’m finally beginning to understand swordfish, at least on an epicurean level. This was one of my most successful outings with this noble fish.

  • two 6 1/2-ounce swordfish steaks from Pura Vida Seafood, in the Union Square Greenmarket, marinated for less than a half hour in a mixture of olive oil, a very small amount of dried Itria-Sirissi chili, peperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia, chopped fresh wild mint from Berried Treasures Farm, and much of a finely-chopped stem of a red-tinged Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, after which it was drained well, covered with a coating which was a mix of dried homemade bread crumbs, then pan-grilled over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, removed, seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled with a little organic lemon juice from Whole Foods, a little more scallion, and drizzled with olive oil before serving
  • halved and seasoned San Marzano tomatoes from Stokes Farm, pan-grilled and finished with a dab of olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar
  • a little puntarelle from Paffenroth Gardens, prepared in the Roman manner
  • the wine was a French (Aude) white, Laurent Miquel Albarino Lagrasse France 2014
  • the music was Q2 Music streaming, notably Fred Lerdahl’s String Quartet No. 3

crab cake with tomato-mint-chili-scallion salsa; puntarelle

crab_cake_salsa_puntarelle

I still can’t say enough about how delicious these crab cakes are, and how much fun it is to assemble a base for them, usually some kind of salsa. They also require very little heat to prepare, and the puntarelle doesn’t ask for any, which means this entire entrée was particularly welcome on an evening when our breakfast room air conditioner wasn’t working.

The cherries were, well, a bowl of cherries.

cherries

  • two crab cakes from PE & DD Seafood (the ingredients are crab, egg, flour, red & green peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, milk, celery, and parsley), heated in a heavy copper pan, 3 to 4 minutes to each side, served on a salsa composed of 6 Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, which had been chopped and combined with salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a bit of homemade French Basque piment d’Espellate we had purchased in a small town north of Baie-Comeau, Quebec last year from the producer’s daughter, some dried Itria-Sirissi chili, peperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia, chopped wild mint from Berried Treasures, a section of the stem of a Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, chopped, and wild arugula from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, and, when all was plated, the small amount of juices left at the bottom of the bowl of salsa drizzled on top of the crab cakes
  • puntarelle from Paffenroth Gardens, prepared in the Roman manner
  • sweet cherries from Kernan Farms
  • the wine was a California (Lodi) white, Karen Birmingham Sauvignon Blanc Lodi 2015
  • the music was Philip Blackburn’s ‘Ghostly Psalms’

sautéed flounder; tomato-shallot-lovage butter; peas, mint

flounder_tomato_peas

This rather French (yay France!) preparation for flounder turned out better than ever tonight, and I’ve worked it many times before; the vegetables were equally delicious.

  • four flounder fillets (3-ounce or more each) from Blue Moon Seafood, sautéed in olive oil and butter over high heat until golden brown (2-3 minutes on the first side, 1-2 minutes on the other, served with a tomato butter composed a little earlier by melting some ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘ and adding one chopped shallot from John D. Madura farm, cooking it until softened and fragrant, removed from the heat, allowed to cool for 2 or 3 minutes, then tossed with half a dozen sliced Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, seasoned with salt, some chopped fresh lovage from Bodhitree Farm, and a few drops of red wine (Chianti) vinegar
  • fresh English peas from Eckerton Hill Farm, shelled, boiled briefly in salted water, drained, transferred to another pan and dried over low heat, stirred with butter, a pinch of sugar, sea salt, and freshly-ground Telicherry pepper, served with chopped wild mint from Berried Treasures
  • the wine was a French (Anjou) white, Château Soucherie Coteaux Du Layon Vendange à La Main 2014
  • the music was Counterstream radio, streaming

rigatoni with garlic, garlic scapes, lemon, butter and lovage

penne_scape_lovage

This dish was even better than I had imagined it would be. The whole exceeded the parts, even though all of the ingredients were already stars at the start, as far as I was concerned; when they got together, they totally outdid themselves.

It was also a very easy meal to prepare, produced little more heat in the kitchen than what was needed to boil the water, and it came together very quickly.

I came across the basic recipe while searching on line for something to do with garlic scapes and pasta (maybe I was too mentally lazy to go it alone, but I’m also always hoping for a surprise when I search the internet). I substituted a great penne for the spaghetti specified, and, simply because I could, I added an herb, lovage to be precise.

Note, and an admission: I neglected to add salt and pepper to the mix, somehow not noticing that both were mentioned in the recipe, and thinking it was purposeful, because of the amount of lemon included. I will add both the next time I visit this super recipe, but I have to say, neither of us missed them their punch this time.

  • Setaro Penne Rigatoni, from Buon Italia, about 10 ounces, served with a simple fresh sauce which began with 3 minced cloves of garlic from Trader Joe’s and 2 cups of tender garlic scapes from Alewife Farm, cut into 2-inch lengths, sautéed in olive oil for 3-4 minutes, then a little butter and most of the juice of one organic lemon from Whole Foods added to the pan, the drained pasta added once the butter had melted, along with zest from most of one lemon, the mix stirred over low heat, during which time some reserved cooking water was added to help emulsify it, finally seasoned with salt and pepper, and some chopped lovage from Bodhitree Farm added
  • the wine was an Oregon (vineyards across the state) white, A to Z Oregon Pinot Gris 2014
  • the music was Q2 Music, streaming

 

spaghetto, pesto di cavolo nero, primavera cipolla e aglio

cav_nero_pasta

This is a wonderful dish. On Monday night it started out as one which was pretty much a product of necessity, or at least of wanting to make space in the larder. Happy chance.

I had a little cavolo nero, and a couple young red onions for which I didn’t have any specific plans, there was a piece of Parmesan cheese I didn’t want to grow old, and of course I always have some good pasta, and every other staple which would be needed for a dish in which it would be featured.

The recipe is from Jamie Oliver; I halved the amounts for the 2 of us. My “liquidiser” was an ancient Osterizer.

I used 8 ounces of Afeltra spaghetto, from Eataly, but of course the fresh ingredients were very local. Instead of a leek, I used two small red-tinged Japanese scallions from Norwich Meadows Farm, the cavalo nero was from Eckerton Hill Farm, organic garlic was from Trader Joe’s, and the cheese was Parmigiano Reggiano Vacche Rosse from Buon Italia.