Tag: corvo

spaghetti with ramps

dinner, 4/?/11

This is an extremely simple meal, but it’s very seasonal, and entirely dependent upon the geographic location of the kitchen, since ramps (wild leeks, Allium tricoccum) are available only for a few weeks in the early spring, and only in certain areas along the coast of eastern North America, from South Carolina into Canada.  They are also becoming extremely popular, the darlings of a growing food sub-cult, and that  is apparently exposing them to overharvesting.

  • Ligurian olives and Roberto’s grissini
  • spaghetti (superb Afeltra artisanal pasta from Gragnano, near Naples) tossed with sauteed ramps from the Greenmarket and seasoned with red chili flakes, then finished with a topping of homemade dried sourdough bread crumbs which had been heated in a bit of olive oil with a pinch of salt
  • wine: Sicilian white, Corvo Fiore 2009, from Eataly Wines

[because I had nothing current, the image used here is actually one used in this post describing a 4/24/10 meal]

new Quebec goat’s milk cheese

I picked up a “log” of a new goat’s milk cheese while I was at Garden of Eden last week.   “Le Cendrillon” is described by the producer, Alexis de Portneuf, as a “vegetable ash-covered cheese with a marble-textured rind and a smooth ivory body;  acidulous , semi-strong taste that becomes more pronounced with age”.

I admit that I was pulled in by the attractive packaging, and by the information supplied on the small poster which was a part of the modest store display.   It promised something new in a goat cheese, a promise which interested this foodie, already a fan of things goat, and it was completely fulfilled.   I was also attracted by its geographic heritage:  Le Cendrillon is a relatively-new goat cheese and it comes from Quebec.

We enjoyed it tonight (May 6)  at the end of a simple meal of pasta, accompanying it with the thinly-sliced and toasted heal of a one-week-old loaf of whole wheat from Amy’s Bread in the Chelsea Market, along with the last of the bottle of 2007 Corvo (Sicily) Insolia in from Philippe Wine in Chelsea

[image from canada.com]

dinner, March 25, 2009

  • appetizer of thin-sliced prosciutto di parma (Citarella), with thin grissini;  a simple salad of dandelion leaves dressed with lemon and oil on the side
  • large scallops (Blue Moon Fish in the Union Square Greenmarket, but fisherman Alex Villani docks his boat at Mattituck Inlet on eastern Long Island), lightly floured and browned in butter, the pan deglazed with lemon and a bit of white wine, then seasoned and finely-chopped parsley added;  served with quickly-boiled thin asparagus spears, topped with oil and lemon;  all accompanied with Italian bread from the Union Square Greenmarket
  • wine:  2007 Corvo (Sicily) Insolia in from Philippe Wine in Chelsea