Lamb chops from 3-Corner Field Farm, pan-grilled, then finished with a green salsa very much dominated by lovage from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm; accompanied by yellow cauliflower from Norwich Meadow Farms, pan-roasted  with garlic, anchovy fillets, and crushed chiles, then finished with chives; red kale from Phillips Farms, wilted with garlic, dressed with oil, was a contorno.

The wine was an Australian red, Wirra Wirra Vineyards’ 2012 Scrubby Rise, a blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot.

one of our favorite things, and very little prep required

 

A New England Fourth of July, and a remembrance

 

We decided on a piscatorial 4th of July, if only because it was a Friday, and I almost always buy fish if it’s a Greenmarket day.  As it turned out, there were few stalls in Union Square on the holiday almost everyone celebrates in some way, and there were no fishers.

I headed to Citarella, only blocks away (we’re so blessed in our location, for at least some things), and picked up local seafood stars for two courses, 12 Wellfleet oysters*, and a local-waters cod fillet weighing just under a pound.

Neither of us adds anything to the perfect simplicity of raw oysters, and I already had some red kale from Phillips Farms, so when planning the meal that evening I decided to keep both courses very simple,  preparing one of our favorite dishes, Mark Bittman’s “Steamed fish on kale”.  Incidentally, it’s an inspired recipe, both for its ease and for its adaptability:  Any white fish can be substituted for cod, and almost any fresh, tender cooking greens can be substituted for the kale used here.  I used olive oil this time, although I don’t know why, other than the fact that most of my cooking is done with the fruit of that tree, but I agree with Bittman that in this case butter is better.

We accompanied both courses with a Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Stéphane Orieux 2013,  from Appellation Wine and Spirits.

 

also a great favorite of ours, with only a little more work

 

* I believe it must have been briny Wellfleet oysters that were the comestible stars of my romantic  introduction to raw seafood in 1965.   It occurred under the tutorage of a very preppy, impossibly-handsome, older (I was 24, he was 33) Rhode Island gentleman with whom I had just begun my first affair.  The time was a glorious summer afternoon like this one, and the venue was Boston’s Union Oyster House; we sat next to each other on stools at the ancient raw bar.

May Steve be resting in peace, with his ‘drinky-poo’ – maybe  a Mount Gay and tonic – in his hand.  Note to self, and to all:  Barry was not yet born at the time.

only using the oven early in the day

 

This is another warm-weather entrée, although this one does require some heating, of both the range and the oven, early in the day (or, possibly even better, the day before).  The recipe is based loosely on Martha Rose Shulman’s “Tunisian Style Baked Cauliflower Frittata“, printed in the New York Times last year (in the winter).  It’s a fairly casual formula which would seem to welcome many variations, including, among others, the choice of hot sauce.

I added a salad of ripe summer vegetables, cucumber and tomatoes I had on hand, dressed with oil and white wine vinegar, a pinch of sugar (a nod toward the Maghreb?), and some torn basil and mint.

I served it at room temperature, which is generally ideal for any frittata.

We picked a Sicilian rosé to accompany the meal, Di Giovanna Gerbino Nerello Mascalese Rosato, from Chelsea Wine vault.

 five different cucumber cultivars

 

Last Wednesday, thinking to avoid a hot kitchen when we sat down to dinner, and craving a meal which would show off a good German-isch wine, I decided to assemble a meal of smoked trout with classical accompaniments, all of which could be served at room temperature. I headed for the Union Square Greenmarket to land the trout and to pick the vegetables and herbs I’d need for cold potato and cucumber salads.

Finding the trout was easy:  David Harris of Max Creek Hatchery brings some wonderful whole Rainbow and Brook (both fresh and applewood-smoked) into our town every Wednesday.  I already had some red-skin new potatoes at home, purchased  only days before from Eckerton Hill Farms, but, needing cucumbers, I returned to their stand and spotted some beauties in – as I soon found out – five varieties. I asked the cheerful vender which of them might be best for a German cucumber salad in particular; without any hesitation, she suggested I should use a mix (That would probably never have occurred to me;  I’m so literal when it comes to traditional cookery).  I picked one of each, but that evening, in the interest of portion control, our salad included only a mix of three.  They nevertheless made for a complex mix of flavors and textures in a Gurkensalat as good or or better as any I’ve ever tasted.

The relatively simple recipes for the cucumber and potato salads came from my trusty old copy of Mimi Sheraton’s classic “German Cookbook”.   I added lovage to the cucumbers (my innovation this time, because I had it, and because it too is one of my favorite things), then parsley and chive to the potatoes.  All the herbs came from the Greenmarket.   In addition to the fresh herbs, the cucumber salad involved white wine vinegar, white pepper, and  bit of sugar, while the potato salad included shallot (in lieu of onion, which I strangely didn’t have), beef stock, white wine vinegar, and white pepper there too.

The condiment for the trout was my own improvisation: I used softened cream cheese, a bit of softened butter and a small amount of @ronnybrookfarm‘s terrific plain yoghurt, together with grated horseradish from John D. Madura Farm (that stuff keeps forever in the crisper), a taste of L’ekama, which had shown up in a ‘goody bag’ a while back, to spice it up. some ground white pepper, and dill. I also sprinkled chopped dill directly on the trout fillet itself.

The wine?  We lingered long over this meal, partly because we didn’t have to worry about the food getting cold (or, of course, warm), so we were able to sample a bit from two very different bottles.  The first was a very pleasant Sylvaner/Riesling blend from Rheinland-Pfalz, an der Nahe, produced by Weingut Rapp;  the second was an outstanding Niederösterreich Grüner Veltliner from Landhaus Mayer.

We expect to be eating with a German accent more often.

 

very cool on a hot night