The salsa I have often prepared as a ‘bed’ for these wonderful crab cakes from the Union Square Greenmarket has no formula. Usually dominated by tomatoes of some kind, it’s always a (varying) mélange of bits of herbs and spices, often including a bit of some kind of allium.

The crab and the salsa is always accompanied by a vegetable, which, depending upon what I have, can really brighten up a color palate which would already be doing some showing off.

In this case there was a lagniappe, one small heirloom tomato, originally intended to be part of the salsa (along with another of its own kind, a Striped German, and a few cherry tomatoes). Last night it was still a very light yellow, but it had been sitting at the window for days, just as long as its companion, from the same farm, so I just assumed it too would be ripe by now.  Not paying attention, I started slicing it before I noticed that it was very firm, and that it had almost no taste. I decided a little heat might be just what it needed, and it was: I ended up with a luscious side dish of ‘fried yellow tomato’, and wished there had been more of its sort.

 

• two terrific crab cakes from PE & DD Seafood (the ingredients are crab, egg, flour, red & green peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, milk, celery, and parsley), heated in a heavy copper pan, 3 to 4 minutes to each side, served with some dressed arugula from Hawthorne Valley Farm, which had been partially covered by a salsa composed of one Striped German heirloom tomato from Central Valley Farm and a few Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, all chopped, salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a bit of homemade French Basque piment d’Espellate, some dried Itria-Sirissi chili, peperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia, scissored garlic chives from Lani’s Farm, and, once plated, drizzled on top with the very small amount of juices left at the bottom of the bowl of salsa, the whole assemblage then sprinkled with micro basil from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• Maxibel Haricots Verts, from Norwich Meadows Farm, blanched, drained and dried, reheated in oil, finished with salt, pepper, and stemmed and chopped flowering chervil from Willow Wisp Farm
• one small unripe heirloom tomato from Central Valley Farm, cut into small pieces, sautéed in olive oil in a small copper pan until the edges were beginning to brown, seasoned with sea salt, freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, and a pinch of Turbonado sugar, sprinkled with a small amount of several chopped fresh herbs that had been briefly hanging out in the refrigerator
• the wine was a California (Lodi) rosé, Karen Birmingham Rosé Lodi 2015
• the music was Antonio Vivaldi’s first (of 94) opera, the 1713 ‘Ottone In Villa’, performed by Giovanni Antonini, conducting Il Giardino Armonico

Turkey.

The meal just happened; there had been no plan to relate to the events of the day. Something seriously scary was occurring on the other side of the earth just as I was mentally assembling this meal of monkfish, incorporating 2 tails I had purchased in the Greenmarket just after noon. I was still ignorant of what was going on in Anatolia. But because I liked this scary-looking fish, and because Barry and I had both enjoyed its treatment in this Sicilian formula several times before, I had already decided on a recipe that quite literally stretched beyond the European continental littoral, although the music programming for the meal came later.

The news breaking throughout the day, and evening, inevitably formed a prominent backdrop to our simple plates of monkfish, couscous, and sweet peppers, the recipes and the music relating, although at a considerable remove, to the geographical, political, and cultural environment in which a governmental coup was unfolding.

So, yes, I’m talking about couscous, and in this case a rather classic Sicilian dish little known outside la Regione Siciliana (or Rome), which incorporates a wonderful ingredient usually associated only with the cultures of North Africa, and, to a lesser extent, the middle east.

Which gets us back to Turkey.

The music, celebrating complexity, diversity, and beauty of the culture of the Levant, was a conscious decision.

 

a farm stand’s colored awnings can cast an unworldly light on vegetables

 

The preparation of the early season peppers  which I picked up at the market the same day I found the fish may not have been particularly Mediterranean, but I’m very fond of both the taste and the process.

• two 8 1/2-ounce monkfish tails from Pura Vida Fisheries, prepared using a David Pasternak recipe which includes M’hamsa Couscous from Tunisia (purchased at Whole Foods), olive oil, sliced garlic from Whole Foods, one and a half 16-ounce cans of superb Mutti baby Roma tomatoes from Eataly (also available at Whole Foods), and cracked Sicilian green olives from Whole Foods, and almost all of one whole crushed dried Itria-Sirissi chili (peperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia), the fish cooked, because of its size, much longer than specified in the recipe (I think I went with 15 minutes)
• a dozen or so small black and white (actually a deep purple and a creamy pale green) bell peppers, from Norwich Meadows Farm, stemmed, split, seeded, the pits removed, sliced lengthwise 2 or 3 times, fried for a few minutes in olive oil inside a steel pan while pressed under a weighted iron pan, skin side down, until blistered, then turned and fried, again under the pan, for another minute or so, a small handful of washed and dried leaves and tender stems of some whole Thai basil from Norwich Meadows Farm and a splash of (medium quality) balsamic vinegar added to the pan, stirred for a few seconds until the herb was wilted and the vinegar had sort of exploded in the heated oil, removed from the heat and served beside the fish [I did this in 2 batches, because, in my hurry, I had started with a pan too small to handle all of the peppers at once]
• the wine was a French (Provence) rosé, Famille Sumeire Château Coussin Le Rosé de S. Méditerranée 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was the Jordi Savall album, ‘Istanbul’, followed by his ‘Orient-Occident’, both with Hespèrion XXI

The frittata was improvised. I had a good supply of fresh eggs, more than enough garlic scapes, lots of tomatoes, but the trigger was a sighting of fresh blossoming chervil in one of the stalls in the Union Square Greenmarket that day. I’m always on the lookout for something new, and while this particular very ancient herb was known to me, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in a market, and I know I haven’t used it in the kitchen.

 

I was sure it would be a good companion for the mix in this frittata, and I used it in both the egg mixture and as a dusting on top of it after it left the broiler.

The other ingredients were few: about 6 or 8 ounces of garlic scapes (no other garlic form was used); 2 kinds of tomatoes, ‘The Best Tomatoes’ from Stokes Farm, within the egg mix itself, and half a dozen Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, sliced and placed on the top after the egg had partially cooked; there was also sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, and a couple tablespoons of milk.

 

 

• a few ounces of garlic scapes from from Willow Wisp Farm, cut into 1 or 2-inch sections, sautéed in olive oil in a 10″ cast iron pot until softened, removed, allowed to cool, then added to a bowl in which 8 eggs from Millport Dairy had been whipped before half a pound or so of small halved cherry tomatoes from Stokes Farm were added, the mix seasoned with salt and pepper and the scapes introduced along with a generous amount o stemmed and chopped flowering chervil from Willow Wisp Farm, the egg mixture poured into the pan in which the scapes had been prepared, then cooked slowly over a low-to-moderate flame until the eggs were almost done, Maine cherry ‘cocktail’ tomatoes from Whole Foods, each sliced into four disks, arranged on the top of the mixture, which was placed in a pre-heated broiler and finished with more of the chervil, served on a edge of several leaves of radicchio from from Hawthorne Valley Farm, dressed with a good Campania olive oil, salt, pepper, and a mixture of chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm and parsley from Stokes Farm
• the wine was a French (Burgundy) sparkling, JCB by Jean-Charles Boisset Brut N° 21 Crémant de Bourgogne NV
• the music was Rameau’s Zaïs, with Christophe Rousset’s Les Talens Lyriques

I’ve made the Mario Batali’s recipe for grilled eggplant (using all kinds of eggplant) something of a classic in our kitchen; and this alternative to using an oven in the preparing small squid, bodies and tentacles (a lot of tentacles in this instance) is approaching the same status.

They’re both delicious, and each of the formulas is open to variations.

 

• three quarters of a pound of small cleaned squid, bodies and tentacles from Blue Moon Fish, marinated for about half an hour (half of that time in the refrigerator) in a bowl with a mixture of zest and juice of an organic lemon from Whole Foods, thinly-sliced garlic from Whole Foods, olive oil, pungent dried Italian oregano from Buon Italia, salt, and pepper, then removed from the marinade and pan-grilled briefly over high heat, arranged on plates, sprinkled with fresh lemon juice and a mix of some chopped parsley from Stokes Farm and chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm [the basic recipe, with more specific instructions appears here]
• three small Japanese eggplants from Lani’s Farm, split lengthwise, scored, brushed with a mixture of oil, finely-chopped garlic from Whole Foods, and chopped Thai Basil from Norwich Meadows Farm (I had no fresh oregano, which is specified in the recipe, and, besides, I was already using dry in the squid), then seasoned with salt and pepper, pan-grilled, turning once, sprinkled with chopped milkweed buds from Down Home Acres [the basic recipe is here‘
• the wine was an Italian (Sardinia) white, La Cala Vermentino di Sardegna 2014
• the music was Handel’s ‘Riccardo Primo‘ [Richard I], with Les Talens Lyriques directed by Christophe Rousset

Both surprised and delighted to spot white asparagus in Union Square on Monday (I think it may even have been a first for the Greenmarket), I immediately picked out a small bundle to take home. The spears were small, each had a tinge of green toward the top, and it was no longer spring. These are all attributes not found with Spargel in the land whose people are obsessed with it to the point that when green asparagus appears on a menu in Germany, it has to be so described as grüner Spargel, to avoid both misunderstanding and disappointment.

They were delicious, and, although I think it’s still a work in progress, I will be looking out for more, maybe come spring next time.

I served the asparagus as a separate course, as much for aesthetic reasons as anything else, but I also wanted to pay a lot of attention to the preparation of a rare find, one I was doing for the first time.

• approximately 8 ounces of white asparagus from Lani’s Farm, trimmed and peeled, gently boiled until cooked through in a generous amount of water along with salt, a pinch of turbinado sugar, fresh organic lemon juice from Whole Foods, a bit of ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘, and a small piece of dried white bread, drained, dried on the top of a towel, removed to 2 plates and drizzled with lemon juice, a good Campania olive oil, D.O.P. Penisola Sorrentina “Syrenum”, and some chopped lovage from Campo Rosso Farm
• served with slices of Grandaisy ‘Sette Grani‘

 

• the main course was salmon, prepared in a way slightly modified from a very good Melissa Clark recipe, using one fresh, wild 12-ounce sockeye salmon fillet from Whole Foods, marinated in the refrigerator in a covered dish for about 2-3 hours while coated on both sides with a mix of light brown turbinado sugar, sea salt, freshly ground tellicherry pepper, freshly ground allspice, freshly ground nutmeg, and the zest of half of an organic lemon from Whole Foods, after which the fish was rinsed, patted dry, brought to room temperature, oiled generously, and cooked on an enameled grill pan, first flesh side down, then turned, cooked for another minute, removed, drizzled with a little juice from an organic lemon from Whole Foods and some olive oil, and served with wedges of the same lemon
• three different varieties of yellow summer squash (from Norwich Meadows Farm and Lani’s Farm, cut into 1/4″ diagonal slices, tossed in olive oil, sea salt, and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, pan-grilled, removed to a bowl where the squash was tossed with a few thinly-sliced Kalamata olives, olive oil, organic lemon juice, and a combination of chopped calamint and chopped wild mint, both from Berried Treasures
• the wine was an Austrian (Wagram) rosé, Fritsch Rosé Zweigelt vom Donaulöss 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault

• the dessert course was simply 2 perfect peaches from Tree-Licious Orchards
• the wine before and during the fruit course was an Oregon (Willamette) white, Kings Ridge Pinot Gris 2014

• the music througout the dinner was the entirety of Jean-Baptiste Lully’s gorgeous, ‘Persée‘, in a great performance by Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by Christophe Rousset