I used to cook pasta dishes far more often than I do now.  In fact I occasionally thought that we might be eating too much pasta, even when I had persuaded myself at the same time that might not even be possible (think Sophia Loren, as in, “Everything you see I owe to spaghetti”).  I cannot account for its more rare appearance on both our table and this blog in recent years, except that I think I’ve been hugely distracted by the diversity of the bounty available at our local farmers’ market, the incredible Union Square Greenmarket.

This particular meal managed to bridge both impulses, or fancies, since it includes both some rather precious, very-late-season leeks I had picked up in Union Square on Wednesday, and an eventuation of a slightly-modified version of a Mark Bittman pasta recipe I hadn’t even looked at in almost ten years.

• two lightly-smashed Rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm and two dried chiles from Buon Italia, sautéed in olive oil until the garlic browns, the chiles then removed, finely-chopped Jacüterie Alpine Cervelat, purchased late last fall at the Cold Spring farmers’ market, added to the pan and stirred for a minute, then four smallish leeks from Rogowski Farm which had been trimmed, split, washed, and sliced, added to the garlic oil and stirred until they wilt, freshly-ground black pepper and two minced Maine Backyard Farms mid-size tomatoes from Eataly added to the pan and cooked, stirring occasionally, until the leeks appeared to begin to brown, the sauce tossed with about twelve ounces of Rustichella d’Abruzzo spaghetti cooked al dente , more olive oil, some reserved pasta water, and chopped parsley from Manhattan Fruit Exchange
• the wine was an Italian red, Piedmont Wine Project Gambai Rosso 2013
• the music was Dvořák’s Symphony No. 1 (and I had thought he couldn’t count below 6), and Fred Lerdahl‘s wonderful String Quartet No. 1

The plated dish may not look quite as neat as it did the last time I prepared this dish, but it was almost as delicious.  Presentation counts, but it doesn’t really massage the flavor;  I think the difference lay in the fact that last November the squash I had was very special.

• one smallish Butternut squash from Keith’s Farm, peeled and cut into 1/4″ slices, roasted with butter in a large ceramic oven pan, removed from the oven, placed on serving plates and kept warm until finishing cooking the cod, for which it would be a base
• fillet of cod from American Fish Company, cut into four pieces, dredged in flour and seasoned, then quickly sautéed until slightly browned and just cooked through, removed and placed on top of the squash on serving plates, while additional butter was added to the pan and, after it had sizzled and browned, also some sherry vinegar, the sauce cooked for 10-20 seconds more before it was poured over the fish and the vegetable
• upland cress from Two Guys from Woodbridge, not dressed
• the wine was a new California white, Matthew Iaconis Napa Valley Chardonnay 2013 (it’s Matt’s, and it comes from Naked Wines; what’s not to love?)
• the music was Johann Friedrich Fasch and Ignaz Josef Pleyel (with no Furtwängler anywhere within hearing range this time)

Completing a full circle, last night it was back to polenta.  I had one more piece of the excellent lambs liver I’d bought from 3-Corner Field Farm early in January.  The first bit went into a sauce for hare; the second was sautéed whole and accompanied by cabbage leaves and roots;  and last night the third portion was prepared in the tradition of northeastern Italy.  Inexplicably, it’s also a tradition followed by my dear Wisconsin-born, fränkisch–Extraktion Mutter (except that Mother never prepared polenta).

• two thinly-sliced red onions from John D. Maderna Farms, along with three fresh bay leaves from Westside Market, cooked over low heat until the onions were golden, then seasoned with salt and pepper, a small bit of water added, its non-liquid contents removed and set aside, some olive oil added to the pan if necessary, the heat turned up to medium-high and 1/2-inch slices of lambs liver from 3-Corner Field Farm (nine ounces) which had been dusted with flour, stir-fried until seared, the onions returned to the pan without the bay leaves and reheated with the liver, two tablespoons of white wine vinegar added and stirred with the meat and vegetable
• coarse white polenta (Moretti Bramata Bianca, farina di granoturco, from Buon Italia in the Chelsea Market) cooked with water and no milk, finished with butter, seasoned with salt, and served with the liver
• the wine was a northern Italian red, Paruso Dolcetto d’Alba Piani Noce 2013 from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was a recording, via Spotify of Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 with the Berlin Philharmonic, in the old Philharmonic Hall/alte Philharmonie, October 31, 1943 (three months before both it and the Beethoven Hall/Beethovensaal  were destroyed by British bombs)
• the post-dinner presentation was the intense documentary, ‘Reichsorchester‘, watched at home via the excellent Berlin Philharmionic Digital Concert Hall

note: red objects in foreground are smaller than they appear

 

The chops were small, but just the right thickness for finishing in the oven. Their outer sides showed a layer of fat generous enough to help retain the juiciness promised by their width.  They were perfectly shaped, and I knew they would taste as good as they looked, because they were from Flying Pigs Farm.  I had purchased the frozen matched pair from the owner Michael Yezzi’s stand in the Union Square Greenmarket.  The turnips came home about the same time, from one of my favorite vegetable producers, Norwich Meadows Farm, also in the Greenmarket.  The slightly-outsized, exceedingly-red Maine ‘cocktail’ cherries have become something like my regular go-to tomatoes.  In the winter months I buy them regularly at Whole Foods Markets, although there are excellent Greenmarket sources for tomatoes, and I patronize them almost as often.  The herb and the alliums were each picked up in the Greenmarket some time since the beginning of February, and the fact that they were there this month is pretty shocking, even to me.

The meat was possibly even more delicious than the usual standard of the supplier and the very familiar recipe (from Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers’ “Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe“).  This time I used no herbs to finish the chops, only the baby leeks I’ve become attached to over the past weeks.  The turnips were as sweet as candy, but it was a savory sweet augmented by spring garlic and rosemary, with a bit of crunch on the edges, and succulent inside.

• two thick, bone-in loin pork chops (approximately 8 ounces each) from Flying Pig Farms, thoroughly dried, seasoned with salt and pepper, seared in a heavy enameled cast-iron pan, half a lemon squeezed over them then left in the pan with them while they roasted in a 400º oven for about 14 minutes (flipped halfway through and the lemon squeezed over them once again), removed from the oven, sprinkled with sliced baby leeks from Rogowski Farm, the pan juices spooned over the top
• purple-top turnips from Norwich Meadows Farm, cut into half-inch pieces, tossed with oil, rosemary from John D, Maderna Farm, fresh garlic from Rogowski Farm, salt, and pepper, roasted for about half an hour at 425º
• Maine Backyard Farms ‘cocktail tomatoes‘ from Eataly, halved, added to the pan with the pork chops, cut-side down, in the last moments they were in the oven, seasoned
• the wine was a California white, Franc Dusak, white Wine Mendocino 2014
• the music was ‘Boris Godunov‘

I couldn’t get to the Greenmarket on Saturday, but I still hoped we could have seafood that evening.  Thinking lately of squid ink pasta, partly because we already had both spaghetti and penne forms in the larder, decided to mix it with cooked crabmeat, since I would be able to up a fresh container of that luscious crustacean just half a block down the street.  The concept hardly needs a proper formula, but while looking for ideas which might incorporate vegetables I already had on hand, I came across this extremely simple recipe by Frank Camora.

• one seeded and chopped red serrano pepper from Eatlay, heated gently in olive oil along with one fresh spring garlic from Rogowski Farm and a small dry Rocambole garlic clove from Keith’s Farm, both sliced thinly, the heat turned up for a short time while white wine is added, the pan removed from the heat and about one quarter of an eight-ounce container of crabmeat, Little River Seafood brand, ‘blue’ from Virginia, purchased at Whole Food, added to and crushed in the oil, the pan returned to a very low heat where the contents begin to emulsify as a sauce; in the meantime half a pound of pasta (Neapolitan Pastificio F.lli Setaro spaghetti al nero di seppia), boiling in a large pot of salted water, three cups removed near the end for adding to the mix later, now drained and tossed with the sauce (removed from the heat just before), the remaining crabmeat added, along with the addition of enough pasta water to keep the pasta moist and a generous amount of chopped parsley from Eataly, both sprinkled into it and garnishing the bowls when served
• lemon quarters were served on the side, and fully enjoyed squeezed onto the pasta
• the wine was a really terrific California rosé, Akiyoshi Sangiovese Rosé 2013