It was almost a night off, since, although there were 2 courses, this meal was very easy to throw together.

• most of the bulb sections, including stems, of a bunch of ramps from Berried Treasures, heated with a little olive oil inside a heavy, high-sided, tin-lined copper pan with a bit of crushed dried dark habanada pepper and about the same amount of a crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia until the alliums had softened and begun to give pff an aroma, mixed with half a pound of Sfoglini rye blend ‘trumpets which had been cooked seriously al dente, the roughly chopped ramp leaves now added and everything (including some of the reserved pasta water) tossed and stirred over a low-to-moderate flame for a couple of minutes to blend the flavors and the ingredients, served with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano Vache Rosse from Eataly

There was a antipasto, served immediately before the trumpets.

• three ounces of an incredibly delicious salumi, La Quercia Ridgetop Prosciutto, from Whole Foods, drizzled with a very small amount of Alce Nero DOP ‘Terra di Bari Bitonto from Eataly
• baby arugula from Lani’s Farm, also drizzled with the oil
• slices of Bien Cuit rye and sunflower bread from Foragers Market

• the wine throughout was a lovely Italian (Marche) white, Cantina Sant’Isidoro – Pié di Colle 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was Bruckner’s 1888-1889 Symphony No. 3 (‘Wagner Symphony’), Andris Nelsons conducting the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig

I think this may have been the first time I’ve been able to combine 2 wild favorites of ours, skate wings from local waters and New York (Delaware County) ramps, in a single dish.

Splendid.

Oh, and the polenta flour coating on the skates was also local (Clinton Corners).

I already had the ramps (they can be kept for a surprising number of days if carefully packaged in an unsealed plastic bag in the refrigerator with the bulbs wrapped in a damp paper towel).

While still in the Greenmarket on Monday, I decided rainbow chard would make a good compliment to the skate with the ramps, for its trace of sweetness, and slight bitterness, and for the color it would add to the plate.

The red amaranth with the skate? I took a chance by adding a few sprigs, risking overkill, but it worked out fine.

And that color!

• four 4-ounce skate wings from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, coated all over with a local coarse polenta (‘Stone-Ground Polenta’ from Wild Hive Farm Community Grain Project) seasoned with salt and pepper, sautéed in olive oil and a bit of butter for 3 minutes or so on each side inside a heavy enameled cast iron oven pan (the only difficult part of this recipe is turning them over without breaking them up), removed to the plates and kept warm while about 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter and half a dozen ramps (leaves removed), sliced a bit, from Berried Treasures, were introduced into the pan and stirred over a now-lowered flame, only to allow the alliums to sweat a bit before the heat was turned off altogether and another 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter added to the pan along with the juice from half of a local sweet lemon from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island, some chopped lovage from Windfall Farms and a bit of chopped parsley from Lani’s Farm, and half a dozen of the ramp leaves which had been set aside, roughly chopped, everything stirred for a bit to blend together and make a proper sauce to be divided among the four wings, which were garnished with a scattering of ‘micro red amaranth from Windfall Farms
• a bunch of rainbow chard from Norwich Meadows Farm, wilted in a little olive oil in which 2 halved garlic cloves from Lucky Dog Organic Farm had been heated, along with a small amount of crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia, finished with a squeeze of juice from the same local lemon used on the skate
• the wine was a California (Sonoma) white, Jacqueline Bahue Carte Blanche Sauvignon Blanc Sonoma Valley 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was Franz Schmidt, Symphonies No. 1 and 2,  Neeme Järvi conducting, respectively, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

I just now realized what’s really missing in this picture, if not so much in the meal itself. Chopped Parsley (see an earlier version of the dinner). I sometimes forget that parsley (Petersilie) is very much a part of German cuisine, and it would be completely appropriate to find a bit of that herb on the top of this chop. I’ll pretend it’s there, and note here that the herb that can be seen above is a large bay leaf lying at the top right, already having done its thing inside the Bavarian Sauerkraut.

We accompanied the meal with the third act of ‘Die Walküre‘. It seemed seemly.

• one 16-ounce glass jar of sauerkraut (simply cabbage and salt) from Millport Dairy Farm, drained and very well-rinsed in several changes of cold water, drained again and placed inside a large, heavy, tin-lined copper sauté pan with one chopped red onion from Phillips Farm (I was out of yellow, which would have been the more conventional ingredient), one Honey Crisp apple from Locust Grove Orchards, 8 or 9 whole juniper berries and about the same number of Tellicherry peppercorns, a little salt, 1 large Sicilian bay leaf from Buon Italia, enough water to almost cover the sauerkraut, with more added later on as needed, all brought to a boil, simmered over a low flame, stirring occasionally, for less than half an hour, covered, and then uncovered for 20 or 30 minutes, after which two 9-ounce smoked pork chops from Schaller & Weber, first dried and briefly seared on both sides inside a dry cast iron pan, were buried in the sauerkraut and heated for about 20 minutes, the chops and sauerkraut arranged on 2 plates

I didn’t bring it onto the table this time, but a good German-style mustard should probably have been served on the side.

• three Carola potatoes from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, scrubbed, boiled unpeeled in heavily-salted water until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried in the still-warm vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, a couple tablespoons of rich Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter [with 12 grams of fat per 14 grams, or each tablespoon of butter; American butter almost always has only 11grams, which makes a surprising difference in taste and texture], after which the potatoes were arranged on the plates next to the chops and the sauerkraut, sprinkled with homemade breadcrumbs which had first been browned in a little butter
• the wine was an Austrian (Kremstal) white, Steinig Grüner Veltliner Austria 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was the third act of the ‘second day’ of Richard Wagner’s 1856 ‘Bühnenfestspiel‘, otherwise known as ‘Die Walküre‘, Sir Georg Solti conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with some magnificent soloists, Helga Dernesch, Hans Hotter, Birgit Nilsson, Brigitte Fassbaender, Berit Lindholm, Claudia Hellman, Helen Watts, Vera Little, Vera Schlosser, Christa Ludwig, Marilyn Tyler, Régine Crespin, Gottlob Frick, and James King, in a 1965 recording, part of a Ring series that remains a ‘benchmark‘ today, one of the most perfect performances – and recordings – of any opera, ever (fortunately it’s Wagner, and it’s one of his best) [we had listened to the first two acts the day before]

Today’s Sunday breakfast was somewhat more basic than usual (no alliums, not a single tomato, and only one herb and one micro green).

Both the incredibly delicious eggs and the bacon came from an Amish family’s farm in Lancaster County. We will be enjoying their smoked pork chops and sauerkraut tonight.

• the breakfast’s elements included 6 free-range eggs and 4 thick slices of thick bacon, all from Millport Dairy Farm, the eggs dusted with a little dried dark habanada pepper, Maldon salt, freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, micro cilantro and chopped lovage, the latter two both from Windfall Farms, and served with lightly-toasted
  Bien Cuit rye and sunflower bread from Foragers Market
• the Sunday music was the album, ‘W.F. Bach: Cantatas Vol 1’, the music performed by the Rheinische Kantorei and Das Kleine Konzert conducted by Hermann Max

It was all good.

• one 14-ounce duck breast from Hudson Valley Duck Farm, the fatty side scored in tight cross hatching with a very sharp knife, the entire breast then sprinkled top and bottom with a mixture of sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a little turbinado sugar (in our sugar bowl, infused over a very long time with a whole vanilla bean), left standing for 30 or 45 minutes before it was pan-fried inside a small oval enameled cast iron pan over medium heat in a tiny bit of olive oil for a total of 8 or 9 minutes, turning once, the fatty side down first, draining the oil part of the way through [to be strained and used in cooking later, if desired], removed when medium rare (cut into 2 portions to check that the center is of the right doneness, which means no more than medium rare), left to sit for several minutes before finishing it with a drizzle of juice from a sweet local lemon from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island and drops of olive oil, garnished with some micro red amaranth from Windfall Farms [NOTE: the tenderloin was removed from the breast before it was marinated, but seasoned as the rest of the breast, and fried very briefly near the end of the time the bulk of the meat was cooking, dividing it into two parts and arranging it on the plates aside the main section of the breast]
• four Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods halved, placed inside the pan as the asparagus completed cooking, turned once, removed, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and arranged on the plates near the duck breast sections
• 14 or so thick stalks of asparagus from Stokes Farm, trimmed, the stems peeled, tossed in a couple of tablespoons of butter, about a tablespoon of olive oil, and a few branches of thyme, inside a large enameled rectangular 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 15 minutes), finished with a sprinkling of Maldon salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry peppercorns
• the wine was a California (Lodi) red, Karen Birmingham Zinfandel Lodi 2014, from Naked wines
• the music was the album, ‘W. F. Bach: Concerti & Trios‘, works by Bach’s eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann (“neither a copycat nor a patsy to fashion” – from the liner notes)