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Each of these 3 elements needed attention in the moments before being served, and they each turned out very well, plus their tastes really complimented each other, and then finally there was that great color thing going on all over the plate. Feeling good about this meal. two filets (together just under a pound) of that excellent local fish,…

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it took almost an hour   We were hoping it would be less. Well, a large amount of water has to come to a boil and then a sturdy artisanal pasta will take its own good time, and after that there’s a little swirling or stirring, and pretty soon it’s a pretty late supper. Okay, it was late,…

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lots of herbs   and unltimately lots of alliums as well   The meal tasted far more luxurious than the amount of money which exchanged hands at the fishmonger today would have suggested. Also, the availability of ramps and asparagus made for an entrée fit for a king, or at least a somewhat unpresuming monarch. four 3-ounce…

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hot.   In all of Italy, couscous is a tradition only in Sicily and in Sardinia (apparently with the exception of somewhere in Rome): In Sicily it’s cooked with fish, in Sardinia with lamb; we were right on target this evening. a small serving of a rich couscous (prepared with Sicilian olives, garlic, dried peperoncino, cherry tomatoes, and…

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untitled (rose scallops) 2005 I forgot to return my memory card to the camera before I shot, or thought I had shot, pictures of this meal, so there is no pictorial record of it; the image above describes several forms of shellfish, and last night we had only scallops, but I like the photograph. I captured it in a fish stall,…

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The duck and its preparation was very familiar (except for a little fillip at the end), but this time it seemed juicier than ever. It may have been the fact that I sautéed it in a new tin-lined copper skillet this time instead of the enameled cast iron pan I have always used before (although I…

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I forgot to sprinkle the lovage on the eggs until after I had taken the picture   The ramp fest continued into breakfast the next morning. The bacon and the eggs were from Millport Dairy Farm (the wonderful German-oriented produce of these Pennsylvania Amish folk reminds me more and more of the beautiful, rich Wisconsin dairy farms…

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I’ve always gone pretty easy on the amount of ramps I use in a meal, because it hasn’t occurred to me that I could but more than one bunch at a time; because I always improvise both the occasions and the amounts when I incorporate ramps into a meal; and because I’ve assumed that if a little…

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The monkfish recipe is absolutely terrific. I had already been a big fan of couscous, and my enthusiasm had been magnified by my two earlier experiences with this Sicilian treatment of coda di rospo. Somehow joining these few ingredients results in one of the sweetest food marriages I have ever witnessed. We hadn’t enjoyed chard at…

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This is a pretty tasty way to serve mackerel, Michael White’s very simple Sicilian-inspired recipe, and it’s a pretty simple process, which may help explain why I still haven’t come up with many alternatives for this wonderful fish, except for the time I tried an excellent one by Gordon Ramsey. Boston mackerel (seven 2-ounce filets) from Blue…

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