With the distractions of so many time-sensitive art events this week, the contents of the icebox and the larder have both shrunk dramatically: I haven’t been to the markets, so I’ve found myself improvising more than I usually would.

Thursday night’s meal was grounded in an excellent steak which, anticipating a late return home, I had defrosted the night before. For vegetables, I did have some ramps, more than enough large cherry tomatoes for the two of us, and some arugula which I had bought with the idea of having it accompany a first course of a fine salume. In the end the tomatoes and the arugula got the nod; the ramps were reserved for another day.

• thirteen and a half ounces of grass-fed New York Strip Steak from Milport Dairy, dried, pan-grilled to medium rare, drizzled with some local Lisbon lemon from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island (yeah, David’s citrus is still hanging on), sprinkled with lovage from Windfall Farms, and drizzled with a little olive oil
• eight Maine cherry ‘cocktail’ tomatoes from Whole Foods, slow-roasted with a generous amount of dried Italian oregano from Buon Italia, olive oil, and two halved organic garlic cloves from Trader Joe’s
• one bunch of arugula from Gorzynski Ornery Farm, washed, drained, dressed with Casa Gola olive oil, Maldon salt, freshly-ground Telicherry pepper, and more local Lisbon lemon
• the wine was a California (Amador) red, S & A Portuguese-style red wine Amador County 2013, made with Touriga Nacional and Tinto Roriz (aka Tempranillo) grapes
• the music was from the Phillip Glass’ album, ‘Glass Piano; Bruce Brubaker’

A package of a good frozen filled pasta is a lifesaver when there’s little time – and maybe even less energy – for putting together a dinner after returning home late in the evening [this time, after a lovely pop-up art fair on an island between the Harlem River and the a tidal strait of the East RIver]. The only other things necessary for an elegant small meal might be butter or olive oil and an herb, but there’s almost something else hanging around the kitchen that would make the dish unique.

This time, for me, the trigger was the small bundle of ramps which I had stashed at the bottom of the refrigerator, and the improvising went on from there.

• twelve ounces of Rana cheese tortoloni ‘delicata’ boiled briefly in a large pot of salted water, some of which was reserved before the pasta was drained, tossed with a sauce composed of a few tiny garlic cloves from Whole Foods allowed to sweat in a little olive oil, joined by part of one sliced Serrano pepper from Whole Foods and the bulb sections of half a dozen ramps from Berried Treasures, which were sautéed until soft, the ramp stems added and pushed around the pan, and then 5 halved Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, stirred until beginning to break up, the ramp leaves introduced into the mix and quickly wilted, several tablespoons of the reserved pasta water added while the sauce was stirred, the pasta and sauce seasoned with a little salt and some freshly-ground pepper, divided into two shallow bowls, sprinkled with both chopped lovage from Windfall Farms and the last of my supply of micro beets from Two Guys from Woodbridge (they had survived undiminished for 10 days!), and drizzled with a little olive oil
• the wine was a California (Clarksburg) white, Karen Birmingham 2015 Pinot Grigio
• the music was Kalevi Aho’s Clarinet Quintet 

I’ve become very fond of Sfoglini pasta, for the quality, the variety of its forms and ingredients, its seasonal products, their local origin, and of course the beautiful coarse (and functional) texture of the dry product’s surfaces, as seen above in the picture of their ‘Rye Trumpets’ (a shape the Italians called ‘campanelle’ [or bells, suggesting these], which I prepared on Tuesday evening).

The night was cool, and a little damp. I hadn’t planned anything in particular for dinner, but something earthy seemed it order. Also, we had just come from a visit to Collective Design, so naturally even before getting home I was already thinking of the several different Sfoglini pasta designs and ‘flavors’ sitting in the larder.

Note: The great Italian car designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro, is responsible for one of the most intriguing and aesthetically pleasing pasta designs of our time, his 1983 Voiello Marille.

While we didn’t have any marille on hand, we did have Sfoglini’s ‘organic rye blend trumpets’. I love anything rye, and while trying to come up with a sauce, the rye reference made me think of German-isch lands. I then remembered that I had a modest amount of something sympathetic to rye in our crisper, a kernel of a red cabbage, probably enough to make something to mix with the pasta. It was a remnant from the preparations for a meal almost 3 weeks back (I love that brassica for its toughness almost as much as for its taste).

Altogether it sounded like it was going to be a northern Italian treat, so we pulled out a familiar and very good Pinot Grigio from the wine rack and quickly chilled it.

• eight ounces of dry Sfoglini rye blend trumpet pasta, cooked al dente in a large pot of salted water, some of the water reserved near the end before it was drained, added to a large enameled cast iron pot in which earlier one thinly-sliced red onion from Norwich Meadows Farm had been softened in a couple tablespoons of ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘, to be followed by 3 small minced garlic cloves from Whole Foods, stirred until fragrant, 3 or 4 rosemary branches from Stokes Farm tossed in and heated for a minute or so, more butter added at that point, followed by about half a pound of cored and thinly-sliced red cabbage from Eataly, stirred well and cooked, covered, for about 15-20 minutes, or until tender, near the end of the cooking a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar poured in, followed by a handful of chopped green sections of fresh garlic from Bodhitree Farm, everything stirred again, the pasta now added to the cabbage, and some of the reserved water introduced to the mix in stages and stirred above a low flame to keep it moist, served with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese from Whole Foods sprinkled on top
• the wine was an excellent Italian (Alto Adige/Südtirol) white, St. Michael-Eppan Pinot Grigio 2014 [the link is to a 2013 vintage on a 67wine.com page, the people from whom we had bought this wine in years before], purchased from Philippe Liquors, making this super Germanic Pinot Gris almost ‘locavore’
• the music was Symphony No 8, Op. 81 “Autumnal Fragments”, by Aulis Sallinen

It was wild. The meal was almost entirely wild, and if I had used the wild garlic or ramps I had in the crisper rather than the cultivated spring garlic, it would have been even more so.

The simple recipe for the salmon came from Sam Sifton, in the New York Times.

Incidentally, while preparing the greens in this meal, I was able to again confirm that ‘stinging nettles‘ hold no terror for me, and because of that I left out the adjective which usually accompanies the word ‘nettles’ (I don’t know if there’s any relationship, but I’m also blessed with an immunity to poison ivy).

• one pound of wild Coho salmon from Whole Foods (offered at a very special price on Monday), rinsed, dried, sprinkled on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper, brushed/slathered with a mixture of Dijon mustard and turbinado sugar, placed skin side down in a 400º oven for about 12 minutes, removed, divided into 2 pieces, and sprinkled with chopped winter savory from Stokes Farm
• three fourths of a cup of truly wild rice (acquired years ago from a friend, and still very much alive and tasty!), rinsed, soaked in one and a half cups of water for an hour, drained, aded to 2 cups of boiling chicken broth made with Better Than Bullion chicken base, allowed to return to a boil, the heat then lowered and the rice simmered until tender but firm, about 50 minutes in this case, the excess liquid drained off, the rice fluffed with at wooden fork, served on two plates, topped with small dollops of ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘
• four ounces of young, tender nettles (I believe they were foraged) from Tamarack Hollow Farm, blanched in salted water for about 2 minutes, drained and set aside while two sliced fresh garlic stems (the bulbs only) were softened in a pan with two tablespoons of butter, the nettles added and stirred until warmed up, their cooking liquid gradually added, then finished with salt, pepper, a sprinkling of organic lemon from Whole Foods (had I the time at this point, I would have included lemon zest), and a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a French (Beaujolais) red, Chapelle des Bois Chiroubles 2013
• the music was Aulis Sallinen’s Symphony No 7, and his ‘Chorali’ Op. 22, Ari Rasilainen conducting the Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic Orchestra in both pieces

This turned out to be a pretty sturdy meal for the first day of May, but the temperature never got much above 50º, so it wasn’t very far out of line with the real weather. In fact, I was able to use a 450º oven to cook 2 of the 3 items on the plates and still not really heat up the kitchen.

• two 8-ounce bone-in loin pork chops from Flying Pig Farm, thoroughly dried, seasoned with salt and pepper and seared quickly in a heavy enameled cast-iron pan before half of an organic lemon was squeezed over the top and left in the pan between the chops, when they were placed in a 425º oven for about 14 minutes (flipped halfway through, the lemon squeezed over them once again and replaced between them), removed from the oven, sprinkled with micro beets from Two Guys from Woodbridge, the luscious pan juices spooned over the top
• Ozette potatoes from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, halved lengthwise, tossed with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary leaves from Stokes Farm, roasted at 425º for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until cooked through, browned, and a bit crispy on the edges, and, as they emerged from the oven, drizzled with a little chopped spring garlic, the green parts only, from Bodhitree Farms (softened earlier in a little olive oil over a low flame), then finished with chopped parsley from Eataly
• twelve ounces of fairly thick asparagus from Phillips Farm, trimmed, the stems peeled, tossed in a couple of tablespoons of butter, about a tablespoon of olive oil, and 5 branches of thyme, inside a large enameled cast-iron pan, then sautéed over medium high heat, frequently rolling or turning them in the mix of butter, oil, and herb until crisp-tender and beginning to brown (about 8 to 10 minutes), finished with a sprinkling of Maldon salt and freshly-ground Telicherry peppercorns
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, S & A Verdelho Lodi 2015, by Sarah Wuethrich and Ana Diogo
• the music was Nicolas Bacri’s ‘Les Quatre Saisons‘, performed by the Orchestre Victor Hugo Franche Comté