This entrée was shockingly quick and easy to assemble, incredibly (literally!) delicious, and very beautiful.

Psst! I snapped the picture before sprinkling the top of the chop – and its environs – with more minced fresh green-and-copper-colored fennel fronds (it made the plate even, well, . . . prettier).

• using a variation on a recipe favorite of mine, originally adapted from “Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe”, I thoroughly dried and seasoned two 8-ounce pork chops Barry and I brought home from a wonderful new butcher shop in the West Village, Hudson & Charles, seared them in a heavy enameled iron pan over high heat, then squeezed half of a lemon over the top, placed the pan in a 400º oven for 15 minutes along with the lemon (turning once, the lemon then pressed over the second side of each, which was then basted with the juices), the chops removed from the pan when they were firm to the touch, and sprinkled with finely-chopped copper fennel fronds from Norwich Meadows Farm
• small red and orange bell peppers from Norwich Meadows Farm, halved, the seeds removed, sautéed over a high flame until slightly caramelized, and finished, the heat still up, with chopped basil (Full Bloom Market Garden in South Deerfield, Massachusetts) from Whole Foods, and a small amount of balsamic vinegar
• the wine was a Portuguese white, a Minho, Quinta da Aveleda 2013 (80% Loureiro, 20% Alvarinho)

**

 

• Setaro spaghetti from Buon Italia, tossed with a sauce of sautéed chopped shallots from Phillips Farm and garlic from Berried Treasures, plum tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm and dried chiles added and cooked for a few minutes, followed by chopped parsley from Paffenroth Gardens which was cooked still more briefly, then finally a healthy amount of flaked smoked Striped Bass from Blue Moon Fish added to the mix
• the wine was a Spanish sparkling, a Penedes from Terrunos, German Gilabert Cava Brut Nature Reserva

The meal included three courses, each with its own aesthetic, and all the food groups appear to be represented.  The images aren’t bad, so here they are, beginning with the first.

• thinly-sliced Alto Adige Speck from Eataly, drizzled with Lamparelli olive oil from Buon Italia
• arugula from from Migliorelli Farm, dressed with the same oil, drops of lemon juice, salt and pepper
• slices of ‘Rustico Classico” from Eataly
• the wine was a California white, from Napa Valley, LMR Rutherford Longmeadow Ranch Sauvignon Blanc 2013

• wild Coho salmon fillet from Whole Foods, roasted in butter, then dressed with a sauce of chopped heirloom tomato from Berried Treasures, basil from BloomMarket Garden (Massachusetts) from Whole Foods, chopped, and chopped lovage from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, a bit of lemon juice, and olive oil
• pea pods from Norwich Meadows Farm, blanched, then finished with salt, pepper, and oil
• the wine was a California Red, Forenzo Pinot Noir Sonoma 2012

• sliced Arlet apple (aka “Swiss Gourmet”) from Samascott Orchards
• Slybro goat cheese from Consider Bardwell
• the wine was the same Pinot Noir that accompanied the previous course

What a great idea! Dredging this extremely tender fish with polenta, rather than flour, gives it real presence while protecting its delicacy. It wasn’t my invention, but rather Mila‘s.

• skate from PE & DD, dredged in a somewhat coarse polenta from Citarella, seasoned with salt and pepper, pan-fried until golden brown, removed from the pan, the heat turned down below the pan, some butter, chopped shallots and finely-minced garlic added, both aliums stirred and cooked (‘sweated’) briefly, the flame then turned off entirely, and lemon juice, chopped parsley from Paffenroth Gardens and lovage from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm added to the pan along with a little more butter and stirred once again until the butter melts, the sauce then poured over the fish
• yellow Romano pole beans from Norwich Meadows Farm, blanched, drained and dried, then reheated along with oil, finished with salt an pepper and chopped copper (or bronze) fennel fronds from Norwich Meadows Farm
• minutina from Bodhitree Farm, wilted and seasoned, as a contorno
• the wine was a Long Island white, Wölffer Estate Classic White Table Wine 2012

 

This past Wednesday I noticed for the first time that fresh cannellini beans were available at the Union Square Greenmarket.  Yeah, I know.  I think they may have been offered there for some time, by several farmers, but it was only while I was picking out potatoes at Mountain Sweet Berry Farm‘s stall that I really noticed them.  I overheard someone asking about the farm’s fresh beans.  I joined the conversation, and a minute or two later I was on my way home with, not just fresh cannellini beans, but fresh cannellini beans, still in their yellow pods.  I was so excited about my find that it didn’t occur to me that once home I would have trouble learning how to prepare them (the only things that came to mind were garlic and sage).  I found nothing inside any of the volumes on my long shelf of Italian cookbooks, and nothing on line, until I came across Georgeanne Brennan’s post on the SFGATE site.

While I ended up altering her recipe somewhat, I have to give her almost full credit for the extraordinarily delicious fruit of what was only a modest industry in the kitchen tonight, and for the fact that the meal ended up even more Tuscan in character than I could otherwise have imagined.  The beans were, literally out of this word, a perfect example of the beauty of fresh natural ingredients treated minimally.  Also, the combination of beans, tomato and shallots was a union inspired by the gods, or at least those who were still hanging around Italy after the discovery of the New World.

I’ve saved the beans’ rich cooking broth as a small treasure, to be incorporated, I hope, in a sauce later this weekend.

• serious pastured veal loin chops from Tamarack Hollow Farm, seared, rubbed with crushed garlic from Garden of Spices Farm, then roasted in a hot oven for six or seven minutes, removed, allowed to rest on warm plates for five minutes, while being drizzled with the pan juices, lemon, and olive oil, and finally scattered with chopped lovage from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm
• fresh cannellini beans from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, rinsed and podded, placed in a saucepan under two inches of water along with sage from Berried Treasures and a fresh bay leaf from West Side Market, slowly heated for about 25 minutes, then added to a mixture of sautéed shallots from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm and some roughly-chopped heirloom tomatoes (yellow and maroon) from Berried Treasures, finished with lemon juice, and parsley from Paffenroth Gardens
• minutina from Bodhitree Farm, barely wilted, then seasoned with salt and pepper and good olive oil
• the wine was a light Italian red, Il Commensale Dolcetto d’Aqui 2012