Sfoglini makes great pasta, and they use local grains and local vegetables with the flavored varieties. The beet fusilli is among our favorites. Last night I was very happy to find inspiration for another way to serve it, on line. The site I found provided merely the sketchiest of recipes and no quantities were cited, so I’ll outline here what I did with [most of] the elements that it included. Since I had no fresh goat cheese to stir into the mix, as suggested by the recipe, I used a little Parmesan, at the very end.

• eight ounces of boiled Sfolini Beet fusilli pasta, some of the cooking water reserved (by the way, this pasta only takes about 5 or 6 minutes to cook, and it goes to al dente with no warning), drained and stirred into a large heavy antique tin-lined copper pan in which about a tablespoon of juice from a Whole Foods organic lemon had been briefly stirred over low heat with 2 tablespoons of heated olive oil, about a tablespoon of zest from the same lemon and couple handfuls of baby arugula from Eckerton Hill Farm added to the mix and gently stirred in, along with a ladle or more of the reserved pasta cooking liquid, then a small handful of toasted pine nuts tossed in, the pasta served in 2 shallow bowls, with a little Parmigiano Reggiano Hombre from Whole Foods Market grated on top, and a bit of olive oil drizzled around the edges
• the wine was an Oregon (Willamette Valley) red, Scott Kelley Pinot Noir Willamette 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was Mahan Esfahani performing Bach’s Goldberg Variations, on harpsichord

There were no smaller pieces, like those I would usually buy, inside the fisherman’s bucket when I stopped by yesterday, but since the swordfish looked so good (and Warren indicated it was a cut close to the belly), and the price was also very good, I didn’t feel guilty about coming home with a pound and a quarter of such goodness.

Fortunately, that evening I was able to prepare the steaks suitably and grill them à point, but then, unless you fall asleep in the middle of the process, it’s really hard to mess up a swordfish steak.

• two thick 10-ounce swordfish steaks off of Scott Rucky’s fishing vessel, ‘Dakota’, from American Seafood Company in the Union Square Greenmarket, marinated for more than half an hour in a mixture of olive oil, maybe half a teaspoon of super-pungent dried Sicilian oregano from Buon Italia, a small amount of crushed dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia, and a chopped section of a Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, drained well, covered on both sides with a coating of homemade dried breadcrumbs, pan-grilled over medium-high heat for 5 minutes on each side, removed, seasoned with a little sea salt, a little juice from a Whole Foods Market organic lemon squeezed on top, garnished with purple micro radish from Two Guys from Woodbridge [although they were not drizzled with a little olive oil this time, out of consideration for thos beautiful crusty breadcrumbs, I think I really should have]
• one 5 or 6-inch ‘sugar dumpling’ squash from Tamarack Hollow Farm, scrubbed, halved horizontally, the seeds removed, divided into one-inch wedges, tossed lightly in a bowl with olive oil, sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and one section of a golden dried habanada pepper, then arranged on a large, unglazed, well-seasoned ceramic Pampered Chef pan and roasted on one side at 450ª for 15 minutes, turned onto the/an other side and allowed to roast for 15 more minutes, removed from both the oven and the pan, once they had softened inside and the edges of the skin somewhat carbonized and crunchy, stirred inside a large heavy tin0lined copper sauté pan in which 2 whole bruised cloves of Keith’s Farm Rocambole garlic had been gently heated in a bit of olive oil before joined by some roughly-chopped sage, also from Phillips Farms
• hothouse-grown local baby arugula from Eckerton Hill Farm, sprinkled with a tiny bit of Maldon salt and freshly-ground black pepper, drizzled with a bit of a very good Sicilian olive oil, from Agrigento, Azienda Agricola Mandranova
• the wine was an Italian (Marche) white, Fontezoppa Verdicchio di Matelica 2016, from Garnet Wines
• the music was Mozart’s 1772 opera, ‘Lucio Silla’, Leopold Hager conducting the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, Salzburg Radio Chorus, and the Salzburg Mozarteum Chorus., with an amazing cast, Edith Mathis, Helen Donath, Arleen Augér, Werner Krenn, Julia Varády, and Peter Schreier

The pasta part of this dinner of 3 small courses was another opportunity to show what a real difference a very good artisanal pasta can make.

The antipasto that precede it was identical to one we had enjoyed 2 days earlier, except that there was a different bread this time.

While I’m looking at the image above, of the pasta, I’m reminded of how much I like what happens to the whole little peperoncini after they mix with some warm oil: they assume a luscious candy apple metallic red surface and color I’ve always associated with vintage 50s hot rods..

The course was almost as simple as it gets: Spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino, but, as I’ve written before, the ingredients have to be the very best available or the dish won’t be what it’s supposed to be, which is, really really great.

• three minced Rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm heated gently over medium-low heat  inside a large antique tin-lined copper pot until softened and beginning to turn golden, 2 salted Italian anchovies from Buon Italia, thoroughly rinsed, filleted, and chopped, added, stirred in and mashed with a wooden spoon, followed by 2 whole dried peperoncino Calabresi secchia, along with one crushed section, from Buon Italia, and one half of a quarter cup of chopped parsley from Westside Market plus a few ounces of the pasta cooking water, the sauce allowed to simmer for a minute or two before 8 ounces of boiled Setaro spaghetti from Buon Italia, drained while it was still a little chewy in the center, was introduced into the pot, the heat turned up and the mix stirred over the flame for a minute or so, or until done to taste (maybe forget the “to taste” part, as that might be impossible to determine at this juncture), arranged in shallow bowls and the remainder of the chopped parsley sprinkled over the top

There was a third, simple cheese course to match the minimalism of the first two.

• two cheeses from Consider Bardwell Farm, ‘Danby’, a goat milk cheese, and  ‘Pawlet Reconsidered’, from cow’s milk
• toasts from the last of a loaf of 12 Grain & Seed bread from Bread Alone

 

• the wine throughout the meal was an Italian (Lombardy) white, Bruno Verdi, Pinot Grigio, 2016, from Flatiron Wines & Spirits
• the music was Mozart’s ‘ Mitridate, rè di Ponto’, Christophe Rousset conducting Les Talens Lyriques

This is an absolutely terrific fish, and I did particularly well by it on Monday night, thanks to a wonderful recipe I’ve used often, with some variations, but whose origin I no longer remember.

• *one 20-ounce fillet of pollock from P.E.&D.D. Seafood, rinsed, dried, halved, and seasoned on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed skin side down inside a buttered an oval tin-lined copper gratin pan, spread with a mixture of softened unsalted Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ mixed with zest from most of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, a very little chopped Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm, slices of part of one Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, and part of a piece of a  crushed orange/gold home-dried Habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm (harvested fresh last fall), the fish baked for about 15-17 minutes at 350º, removed to 2 plates, the cooking juices poured over the top, and a teaspoon or so of Sicilian salted capers, which had first been rinsed, drained, dried and heated briefly inside a small antique enameled cast iron porringer in a bit of olive oil, scattered over the fillets, with that oil, the pollock finished with a garnish of micro chervil from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• *Nicola potatoes from Tamarack Hollow Farm, boiled with a generous amount of salt until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried while still inside the large still-warm vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, tossed with 2 tablespoons of rich Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’, sprinkled with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and then some chopped winter savory from Stokes Farm

• *several stalks of celery (noting here that this is in late January) from from Phillips Farms, their leaves removed and and the best reserved for another day, trimmed, tossed with olive oil, sea salt, and freshly-ground pepper, pan-grilled until slightly carbonized but still pretty crunchy, finished with lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge.
• the wine was a New Zealand (North Coast) white, Shebang, North Coast White ‘Cuvee IV’, NV, from Flatiron Wines & Spirits
• *the music was an absolutely fantastic album, in both conception and execution, ‘Time Present and Time Past’, Mahan Esfahani performing, with Concerto Köln, music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Francesco Geminiani, Henryk Górecki, Steve Reich, Alessandro Scarlatti, and, on digital tracks, G.F. Handel, works which were either composed for or transcribed for his preferred instrument, the harpsichord

I was introduced to this dish probably 30 years ago. I won’t repeat the story here, but I described it at length in this November, 2015 post.

It’s an absolutely delicious tomato sauce, although so simple that you feel like you’re not actually cooking, just watching the sauce cook itself, and the pasta is pretty special too. Like all cooking, and especially the most minimal dishes, the goodness depends as much on the quality of the ingredients as on the professionalism of the cook. I try really hard when assembling this one.

 

THE RECIPE

In an enameled cast iron pot or other non-reactive pan, large enough to hold the pasta after it’s been cooked, sauté 2 or 3 cloves in 4 to 5 tablespoons of olive oil, but only until the garlic is pungent.

Add one 28-ounce can of real San Marzano tomatoes (already-chopped or whole, and ideally without basil), crush the tomatoes with a wooden spoon if they are whole,  sauté uncovered at high heat for 5 minutes, stirring a few times to reduce the liquid (yes, the juices will spatter a bit; I use a black apron and check the surrounding environment after this step).

Reduce the heat to very low, so the sauce is barely bubbling, add sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste, and simmer for a full 30 minutes.

Add a few whole leaves of fresh basil and continue simmering for 15 minutes more, again stirring occasionally.

Note: The sauce can be prepared a little ahead of time, to avoid any competition with the boiling pasta.

When the pasta has cooked, drain it and add it to the pan, or mix sauce and pasta in a warm bowl.

Serve, but do not add cheese.

 

• On Sunday I halved the recipe and used Setaro Paccheri from Buon Italia, cooked barely al dente, a point which is just about perfect for this perfect, very rich sugo. It was the very same pasta I’d first seen for the first time many  years ago in a storage room filled with imported foods inside the West Village hair salon run by Nic Soccodato, my barbiere Salernitano/sometime backroom Importatore di prodotti Salerno. I asked him what kind of sauce would accompany these large loops and he generously shared his wife’s recipe for a sauce his family enjoyed as a special treat – on Sundays! I started the sauce in a large enameled cast iron pot with 3 tablespoons of Whole Foods Market house Portuguese olive oil and 3 large cloves of Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm (more garlic than I usually use), one 14 oz can of Afeltra Pomodoro S. Marzano dell’Agro Sarnese-Nocerino D.O.P. (which is from Nic’s patria) from Eataly, and because it was winter I used 3 whole basil leaves taken from a package of Gotham Greens Rooftop basil from Whole Foods that I had carefully stored frozen between sheets of waxed paper last year. And that was it.

 

There was an antipasto, one of the rewards of serving such a simple main course.

• slices of local salame Biellese sallumeria from Eataly, served with a bit of watercress, also from Eataly, both drizzled with a little Whole Foods Market in-house Portuguese olive oil
• slices of ’12 Grain & Seed bread’ from Bread Alone in the Union Square Greenmarket

 

• the wine throughout was an Italian (Campania) red, Ocone, Aglianico del Taburno ‘Apollo’ 2012, from Flatiron Wines & Spirits
• the music was Mozart’s 1769 opera, ‘La Finta Semplice’,  Peter Schreier conducting the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra

I was trying to find something novel about this fast breaker, so I was going to mention the chervil, or actually, micro chervil, but it seems this wasn’t the first time I had included it with eggs.

So there is no novelty, but the whole thing was delicious, because how can you go wrong with bacon and eggs, even if you add a few fussy things to the combination.

The eggs themselves weren’t a novelty, but they were incredibly delicious. I credit the Americauna chickens, and the Amish farmer(s) who got them to New York as fast as they could.

• on or near the plate above there were small blue-shell Americauna chicken eggs and thick bacon from Millport Dairy Farm, Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market, most of the chopped green section of a Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, crushed dried orange/gold habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm, Maldon salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a pinch of nearly-dried chopped winter savory from Stokes Farm, micro chervil from Two Guys from Woodbridge, toasts from both a loaf of ‘8 grain 3 seed’ bread from Rock Hill Bakery and a She Wolf Bakery sourdough bâtard, and rich Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’
• the music was the album, ‘In Excelsis Deo’, described as “Church music, court music and the historical memory of folk songs, 1702-1714”, including works by the Catalan composer Francesc Valls (1671-1747) and Messe à deux chœurs et deux orchestres by the French composer Henry Desmarest (1661-1741), plus “Music from the Time of the Wars between Spain and Catalonia”, all performances by La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concerts des Nations, Jordi Savall conducting

I figured pork chops would be an excellent side for the sweet potatoes I had been looking forward to, but the chops from Flying Pigs Farm are always so good they weren’t going to be incidental to anything. Also, as excited as I was about the potatoes, I was equally enthusiastic about using myrtle on the pork for the first time.

As for those sweet potatoes, when I asked Keith (Keith Stewart, the vegetable sage) what cultivar they were, he told me that at this time of the year it was probably impossible to know which of the two they had planted, Covington or Beauregard, were in the bin that day, so my call would be as good as his. He assured me however that it was not that they had been up to any cultivar-ian miscegenation, (I asked), that it was only that they had been moving into each other’s fields somewhat indiscriminately.

I was going to add some watercress to the plate, for something green, but then I remembered that, from among the dozens of smaller Brussels sprouts I had roasted on Thursday, I had kept back 3 significantly larger ones, for just such a circumstance.

• two 8-ounce bone-in loin pork chops from Flying Pig Farm, thoroughly dried, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and sprinkled with some small leaves and crushed berries (5?) of dried Italian myrtle [It. Mirto], berries and leaves, from Buon Italia seared quickly on both sides inside a heavy enameled cast-iron pan, half of a Whole Foods Market organic lemon squeezed over the top, then left in the pan between the chops, placed in a 425º oven for about 14 minutes (flipped halfway through, after which the lemon was squeezed on top again and replaced in the pan between them), removed from the oven, arranged on the plates and garnished with micro chervil from Two Guys from Woodbridge, some of the really luscious pan juices spooned over the top, the remainder placed on the table inside a glass sauce boat
• three medium Brussels sprouts from John D. Madura Farms, washed, trimmed, dried, and halved, tossed with olive oil, sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, roasted in a 400º oven on a small unglazed Pampered Chef oven pan until they were browned and crisp on the outside, about 15 or 20 minutes
• less than one pound of small sweet potatoes (either Covington or Beauregard) from Keith’s Farm, unpeeled, but washed thoroughly, sliced into 3-quarter-inch pieces, tossed in a bowl with olive oil; sea salt; freshly-ground black pepper; 3 large unpeeled Rocambole garlic cloves, also from Keith’s  Farm; a tablespoon or so of small dried sage leaves which had originally come fresh from Stokes Farm; and a bit of crushed dark dried habanada pepper, originally fresh from Norwich Meadows Farm, spread onto a large well-seasoned Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic oven pan, roasted T 400º for about 30 minutes, garnished with micro amaranth from Two GUys from Woodbridge
• the wine was a California (Napa) white, La Tapatia Chardonnay Carneros 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was Mozart’s very early (1767) opera, ‘Apollo Et Hyacinthus’, from the album, ‘Complete Mozart Edition Vol 26’

Sometimes the picture on these posts may be as good as the food, but not always, since my first priority is getting the plate to the table rather than arranging an “I’m ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille” installation. This was one of those good sometimes.

The beautiful purple radishes were almost as key to this meal as the wonderful red sea perch, and I picked both of them up within the first few minutes of my arrival at the Union Square Greenmarket yesterday. I’ve cooked sea perch many times, but this was my first experience with purple Korean radishes (I bought the last 3 roots on the farmer’s table Friday).

• four red sea perch fillets from Pura Vida Seafood, rinsed, dried, brushed, the skin side and the other side, with 2 tablespoons of olive oil mixed with more than a teaspoon of a combination of chopped rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm and the white of one thinly-sliced Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, seasoned, also on both sides, with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed inside an enameled cast iron pan and broiled skin side up, 4 or 5 inches from the flames, for about 5 minutes, or when the skin had become crisp (and it definitely did this time) and the fish was cooked through, sauced with a bit of olive oil in which 2 salted anchovies from Buon Italia, rinsed and filleted, had been heated over a very low flame for about 4 minutes until the anchovies had fallen apart, kept warm while the fillets were broiled, the perch finished on the plates with micro chervil from Two Guys from Woodbridge, and organic Whole Foods Market lemon wedges served on the side
• watercress, undressed, from Eataly
• Korean Bora King purple radishes (they’re purple on the inside as well) from Alewife Farm, unpeeled, trimmed, washed and scrubbed well, cut as thick wedges, tossed in a bowl with a little, olive oil; a pinch of dried golden habanada pepper; a few branches of thyme and winter savory, both from Stokes Farm; sea salt; and freshly-ground black pepper, roasted for 20 to 25 minutes or so, at 375º or 400º inside a medium Pampered Chef unglazed pan, garnished with micro red amaranth from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the wine was a French (Bordeaux) white, Chateau Laulerie, Bergerac Blanc, 2016, from Flatiron Wines
• the music was an early Mozart opera (1767, with a debut in Salzburg; he was 11 at the time), ‘Die Schuldigkeit Des Ersten Gebots’, Ian Page conducting the Classical Opera Company, with  Sophie Bevan, Andrew Kennedy, Sarah Fox, and Allan Clayton

I’ve cooked seared duck breast more often than I can count, but it’s never the same, even when the trimmings are, and it’s never a disappointment.

This wonderful local bird is available all year round, but I can’t quite get used to enjoying Brussels sprouts in the middle of the winter.

• one duck breast (.85 lbs) from Hudson River 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, left standing for about 45 minutes before it was pan-fried inside a small oval enameled cast iron pan, dry, over medium heat for a total of about 10 minutes, the fatty side down first, then turned over halfway through, draining the oil from the pan part of the way through [to be strained and used in cooking later, if desired], the duck removed when done (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 it was finished with a drizzle of juice from an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, a bit of chopped rosemary from Stokes Farm and a drizzle of olive oil [NOTE: the tenderloin, to the right of the breast proper in the image above, had been removed before the duck was marinated, but seasoned like the rest of it, then fried very briefly near the end of the time the larger section was cooking]
• two ripe, halved, Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market, dried with a paper towel, placed cut side down inside the pan as the breast was was finishing, turned once, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates next to the duck and drizzled with a drop of olive oil
• micro red amaranth from Two Guys from Woodbridge, a garnish for the tomatoes
• small January Brussels sprouts from John D. Madura Farms, snapped directly off their 2-foot stalk, washed, trimmed, and dried, then tossed with olive oil, sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, roasted in a 400º oven on a large unglazed Pampered Chef oven pan until they were browned and crisp on the outside (they will taste surprisingly sweet and quite nutty), arranged on the plates and finished with a sprinkling of herbed fresh breadcrumbs (although become somewhat dry and crusty themselves after 10 days), left from a supply made for an earlier meal, that is, a mixture of crumbs from what was then a day-old polenta boule from She Wolf Bakery, finely-chopped fresh thyme and winter savory leaves from Stokes Farm, a little peppermint from Phillips Farm, parsley from S. & S.O. Produce, salt, and pepper
• the wine was a French (Cotes-du-Rhone) red, La Manarine, Cotes-du-Rhone, 2015, from Flatiron Wines & Spirits
• the music was Vivaldi’s ‘Dresden Sonatas’, performed by Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, violin, Rinaldo Alessandrini, cembalo, and Maurizio Naddeo, cello

In spite of its somewhat grand appearance in the picture above, it’s one of the most perfect minimal meals I know, and it’s been very popular with Barry and me for years. This time it was even more spectacular, for a reason probably related to a decision to include some habanada pepper in the mix.

Monkfish is the ideal choice, but almost any firm white-fleshed fish would work.

Also, I don’t think I had ever before included the particular potato cultivar, Nicola, that went into dish last night, although we had already enjoyed it in other dishes several times before. I  picked out medium sizes while at the Greenmarket stall yesterday. While researching it today and looking for a link to use, I learned this potato had its origins in the Lüneburger Heide [Eng. Luneberg Heath] in Lower Saxony.

The original recipe, from Mark Bittman, appeared in the New York Times almost 20 years ago.

These images show the dish as it looked just before it went into the oven with the fish, and as it looked coming out 10 or 12 minutes later:

• * four monkfish tails (a total of 20 ounces) from American Seafood Company, rinsed, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, roasted at 400º for 10 or 12 minutes with three fourths of a cup of black oil-cured olives from Buon Italia, pits removed, on top of a bed of a full pound of very thinly-sliced unpeeled Nicola potatoes from Hawthorne Valley Farm that had been scrubbed, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and already roasted for about 40 minutes (reversing the direction of the pan once) in a very generous amount of olive oil (1/4 of a cup) with 13 dry Italian bay leaves, also from Buon Italia, and a pinch or so of a mix of both crushed dried orange/gold and crushed dark habanada pepper inside a large enameled cast iron pan, the potatoes having been removed when they had softened and their edges had begun to crisp, the contents of the pan, after the fish was cooked through, arranged on 2 plates and garnished with micro red amaranth from two Guys from Woodbridge, with a little undressed watercress from Eataly nestled on the side
• the wine was a California (Napa) white, Sterling Vintner’s Collection Pinot Grigio 2016, from Philippe Liquors
• the music was Mozart’s 1775 opera, ‘Il Re Pastore’, Ian Page conducting the Classical Opera, with soloists Sarah Fox, John Mark Ainsley, Ailish Tynan, and Benjamin Hulett