Tomato sill, breakfast room.

 

Thanks to a generous weekend-gardener friend, we’ve been living with tomatoes all week, and this early meal was a part of the terrific experience. The picture at the top was taken 4 days ago; after our meal this morning only one of the small baskets of red cherry tomatoes and 3 of the long plum tomatoes remain on that sill.

We had a late breakfast today; sort of a lunch.

• the 6 eggs and the thick pieces of bacon both came from a Pennsylvania Amish farm, Millport Dairy, which sells in the Union Square Greenmarket (John is driven to New York by an ‘English’ friend); the 2 sliced ripe medium-size tomatoes were an heirloom Green Zebra and a red plum (a beautiful rounded triangle in cross-section), both from Lower Hayfields, a friend’s garden in Garrison, north of New York; the toast was from the heel of a 3-day-old sturdy ciabatta from Bobolink Dairy, the ‘untoast’ from a 1-day-old Eric Kayser ‘Pain de campagne’; the herbs were a mix of many kinds, all from Greenmarket farmers, although the tomatoes were sprinkled with some torn New York CIty basil from Gotham Greens, via Whole Foods; there was also an absolutely wonderful aromatic Middle-Eastern-style seasoning blend, ‘L’eKama‘
• we have a Sunday morning tradition of listening to classical music somehow related to religion (usually Christian), notwithstanding our seriously-expatriot status vis-à-vis the faiths in which we were raised; today the music was Olivier Messiaen: ‘Vingt Regards Sur L’Enfant Jesus’, performed by pianist Joanna MacGregor

• fourteen medium scallops from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, washed, drained and very thoroughly dried on paper towels (twice), generously seasoned with salt and pepper, pan grilled for about 90 seconds on each side, finished with a squeeze of lemon and a scattering of purple micro radish from Two Gus from Woodbridge, then drizzled with some good olive oil
• more than a handful of red and orange cherry tomatoes, halved, from Lower Hayfields, a friend’s garden in the Hudson River town of Garrison, heated briefly in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, a bit of New York CIty basil from Gotham Greens, via Whole Foods, torn, mixed in, and served dusted with micro bronze fennel, also from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• curly kale, again from Lower Hayfields, wilted in a little olive oil in which several bruised organic garlic cloves from Willow Wisp Farm had first been heated or ‘sweated’ in the oil with a small amount of crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia, seasoned with salt and pepper, and, once on the plates, drizzled with olive oil
• the wine was a French (Savoie) white, Jean Perrier et Fils Cuvée Gastronomie Savoie Abymes 2015
• the music was Johann Friedrich Fasch, ‘Orchestral Works, Vol. 3’

Yeah, it was a something of a feast, although perhaps lighter than what would normally be associated with the word. We had invited two friends to dinner, to celebrate their return to New York, and we knew they really enjoyed food, and conversation.

I think we were all pretty lucky nothing was bungled, especially since the meal and the talk continued for almost 5 hours, counting a certain amount of lingering.

As the menu was coming together during the day I gradually realized that it would be almost entirely Italian, in fact southern Italian, and Sicilian, although with a few obvious, and some perhaps not so obvious, exceptions.

We began the evening with breadsticks, toasting ourselves with a excellent sparkling wine.

• the wine was a California (Sonoma) sparkling white, W. Donaldson Blanc de Blancs

The first course was a classic Italian appetizer.

• an insalata Caprese, with one large red plum tomato and one ‘green zebra’ heirloom tomato from Lower Hayfields, a friend’s garden in Garrison, sliced, arranged on 4 plates, slices of Italian mozzarella di Bufala Campania from Buon Italia tucked in between the slices, sprinkled with Maldon salt and coarsely-ground pepper, some torn leaves of basil from Lucky Dog Organic Farm sprinkled on top, and all drizzled with a Campania olive oil, Syrenum D.O.P. Peninsula Sorrentina
• the bread was a sturdy ciabatta, made with unbleached whole-grain wheat flour, from Bobolink Dairy
• the wine was a California (Lodi) rosé, Karen Birmingham Rosé Lodi 2015

The star of the main course was triggerfish, variously known in Italy as pesce balestra, pisci castaregia, pescepuorco, pescio porcu, pesce porco, pesce puorco, or mola, and in Sicily as pisci porcu, or pisci poccu, so it’s definitely Mediterranean as well as western Atlantic. 

[Note: From the front, the triggerfish looks curiously like a Boeing 747; go ahead, ‘Google it’.]

• four 6-ounce fillets of triggerfish fillets from Pura Vida Fisheries, rinsed, dried, seasoned with salt and freshly-ground black pepper, sautéed inside a large, heavy, enameled cast iron pan in olive oil over medium-high heat for only about 2 minutes on each side, removed to 4 plates, drizzled with a little fresh lemon juice, immediately sprinkled with chopped fresh dill from Keith’s Farm, with more dill tossed into the pan along with a few drops of olive oil, pushed around with a narrow wooden spatula, those juices then drizzled over the fish, which was then sprinkled with fennel flowers from Ryder Farm, and finished with micro bronze fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• two round Italian heirloom eggplants, one a Biellese ‘Prosperosa’ from Berried Treasures Farm, the other an heirloom Sicilian from Phillips Farm, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds, brushed with a mixture of olive oil, finely-chopped garlic, chopped mint leaves, salt, and pepper, the slices pan-grilled, turning once, arranged on an oval platter, sprinkled with some more chopped mint, drizzled with a little olive oil
• four small sweet orange peppers from Eckerton Hill Farm, 2 pale green banana peppers from Lower Hayfields, halved or quartered, seeds and membranes removed, sautéed inside a heavy copper skillet wiht a little olive oil over a high flame until slightly cararmelized, with one seeded and finely-chopped small red Calabrian pepper from Campo Rosso Farm added near the end, the peppers finished in the pan, with the addition of chopped oregano leaves from Stokes Farm and a dash of balsamic vinegar
• the wine was a French (Bordeaux) white, Château Ducasse Bordeaux Blanc 2015, with an grape blend of 60% Sémillon, 35% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Muscadelle, the large proportion of Sémillon, being unusual for the region

There was a cheese course, the portions very small.

• there were 3 local cheeses, each from Consider Bardwell Farm, ‘Slybro’ (goat), Rupert (cow), ‘Barden’ (blue cow), and one Swiss cow cheese, ‘Bergflichte’, from Canton Thurgau, via Eataly
• the bread was the Bobolink ciabatta again
• the wine was a California (Clarksburg) white, David Akiyoshi Chardonnay Clarksburg 2015, from Naked Wines

The fruit course was even more minimal than the cheese plate had been.

• striped yellow figs from California, via Eataly, and a few blackberries from Phillips Farm

The final, sweet, course was pretty Italian, at least until I added the maple sugar topping.

• Sicilian lemon sorbetto from Ciao Bella, via Whole Foods, topped with ‘Maple Candied Ginger’ which I’ve kept in the freezer for just such an opportunity, from a source I no longer can remember

The music throughout the evening was our conversation.

 

This one really had to be rushed, since we had come back from gallery openings later than we had expected, and it was a ‘school night’. I was afraid this fine fish might suffer, but because it requires so little fuss, because all the other ingredients were so fresh, and because I specifically picked formulas which were really quick to prepare, everything turned out super.

Putting the salsa together was the most complicated and time-consuming part of the process, and even that was a total cinch, required no concentration, and allowed me to set up everything else while it was sitting around blending flavors.

• two 5-ounce black sea bass fillets from Blue Moon Fish, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper, sautéed over a fairly brisk flame with butter and a little olive oil inside a large, thick oval copper pan, skin side down, turned after about 2-3 minutes, the other side cooked for about the same length of time, removed to 2 plates when done, covered at least a little to keep warm, and 2 tablespoons of butter added to the pan, allowed to melt, a couple tablespoons of chopped lovage and chopped parsley, both from Keith’s Farm, and a tablespoon of lemon juice, or a little more, stirred in the butter some before it was spooned on top of the fish
• the bass was accompanied by a salsa, prepared about 30 minutes in advance, of halved cherry tomatoes from Lower Hayfields, a friend’s garden in Garrison, up the Hudson, pitted and chopped black oil-cured olives from Whole Foods, fresh dill from Willow Wisp Farm, chopped, basil from Gotham Greens at Whole Foods, torn, one small red Calabrian pepper from Campo Rosso Farm, salt, pepper and olive oil
• curly kale, again from Lower Hayfields, wilted in a little olive oil in which several bruised organic garlic cloves from Willow Wisp Farm had first been heated or ‘sweated’ in the oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and drizzled, once on the plates, with olive oil
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, David Akiyoshi Reserve Chardonnay 2015
• the music was from the album, ‘Adams, Cox, Fink, Fox‘, music of John Luther Adams, Rick Cox, Michael Jon Fink, and Jim Fox

I did not know that the pea crab, like ourselves, loves mussels as much as it loves oysters. Tonight we found a number of them in our bowls of shellfish (t took us a few minutes to realize where the extra crunch was coming from).

The pea crab: sent to remind us that food isn’t made in factories, or at least that it shouldn’t be.

While they have occasionally been considered a delicacy here and elsewhere in the world, occasionally remaining so even today, I can’t imagine, even if you could get past the icky factor, how you’d be able to accumulate enough of the tiny creatures to make even a small splash on a plate.

FOOTNOTE: From the department of, ‘you learn something new every day‘: “A male pea crab will rub the edge of a shellfish containing a female pea crab for hours until the shellfish opens and allows the male pea crab to enter.” Sweet.

If I haven’t totally turned off the reader, the rest of this post is likely to be a bit more conventually toothsome.

• two pounds of mussels, purchased that same day in the Union Square Greenmarket from Blue Moon Fish, lightly-scrubbed and de-bearded where necessary, then combined in a large, heavy enameled cast iron pot with 2 cups of beautiful red cherry tomatoes from Lower Hayfields, a friend’s garden in Garrison, halved, plus half of a cup of good white wine (Sandy Cove Sauvignon Blanc 2014, from Chelsea Wine Vault), most of one large fresh shallot from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, about a quarter of a teaspoon of crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia, 3 tablespoons of rich ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘, a generous amount of freshly-ground pepper, and 3 tablespoons of coarsely-chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm, everything steamed over high heat for a very few minutes, served in shallow bowls with a sprinkling of additional chopped lovage, and accompanied by slices of a Rustico Classico from Eataly (there were seconds).
• the wine was a French (Loire) white, Éric Chevalier Clos de la Butte Muscadet-Côtes de Grandlieu 2014
• the music was a program of new music from Q2 Music, streaming