We had these three beautiful heirloom plum tomatoes on the windowsill, the last of a stock which had been the gift of a friend with a vegetable garden north of the city, and they were definitely all at the peak of their ripeness.  We already knew how perfectly delicious they were, so there wasn’t any question about cooking them, or burying them with a lot of other ingredients.

I decided pasta was the answer, a good artisanal pasta, with nothing other than these red beauties, their natural green condimento, basil, a bit of gently-crushed garlic, a pinch of Sicilian chili, and olive oil. Other than the spaghettone, all of the ingredients would remain uncooked, except to the extent they would be affected by the heat of the boiled and drained pasta.

• three large, ripe heirloom plum tomatoes, from Lower Hayfields, a friend’s Hudson Valley garden, cut into rough chunks, placed in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of a decent olive oil, 3 lightly-crushed garlic cloves from Berried Treasures, about half of a cup of New York CIty basil from Gotham Greens via Whole Foods, and a prudent amount of crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia, stirred and allowed to sit while 8 ounces of Afeltra Spaghettone from Eataly was cooked (it’s a slightly thicker spaghetti, made in southern Campania with 100% Puglian grain), after which the pasta was combined with the tomato mixture in the bowl, stirred well, about half of it divided into 2 shallow bowls (this was only a first helping, since this primi was also the secundi last night), and finished with a modest sprinkling of chopped herbs, a mix which included more basil dill, and oregano [the basic recipe, from Mark Bittman, is one I had cut out of the New York Times Magazine 5 years ago, but have never used; the addition of the herb topping isn’t in his text, and it isn’t really in line with what I’ve written I’ve written above, but I had forgotten to reserve some of the basil for a garnish, and happened to have the other herbs handy at the moment]
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) white, Corvo Insolia 2014
• the music was Nadia Sirota’s  2103 album, ‘Baroque’

I couldn’t decide whether to serve tomatoes or peppers with the tuna last night, and then I realized the decision had already been made for me: Since there really weren’t enough tomatoes, and those that I had were very ripe, I ended up combining them with the pepppers.

• two thick 7-ounce tuna steaks from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, rubbed top and bottom with a mixture of dry Italian fennel seed and a little dried Itria-Sirissi chilis (peperoncino di Sardegna intero) from Buon Italia, both ground together in a mortar-and-pestle, their surfaces additionally seasoned with salt and pepper, pan-grilled over a high flame for only a little more than a minute or so on each side, removed to the plates, finished with a good squeeze of lemon from Whole Foods, scattered with some chiffonade-cut red sorrel from Norwich Meadows Farm, and drizzled with a very good olive oil
• four medium banana peppers (light yellow and one darker, one orange) and one green Anaheim pepper, all from a friend’s Lower Hayfields Hudson Valley garden, seeds and pith removed, very roughly chopped, sautéed over a high flame until slightly carmelized, a part of a small red Calabrian pepper from Campo Rosso Farm, finely-chopped, added a bit earlier, the heat turned down and a large handful of small red cherry tomatoes, also from Lower Hayfields, tossed into the pan and heated until they had begun to break down, the vegetables finished in the pan with the addition of chopped fresh oregano leaves from Stokes Farm, and a dash of balsamic vinegar, divided onto the 2 plates, where they were sprinkled with a little micro bronze fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the wine was a California (Central Coast) rosé, 99 Barrels Derek Rohlffs Santa Lucia Highlands Rose 2015

There was a small fruit and cheese course.

• seven striped yellow figs from California, via Eataly, and tiny amount of a terric blue cow cheese, ‘Barden’, from Consider Bardwell Farm

• the music throughout the meal was from Counterstream radio, streaming, and it included at least some of Morton Feldman‘s early ’70s  pieces for voices and Instruments

The parts seemed promising, but the whole was totally wicked.

• five smallish green zebra cultivar tomatoes from our friend’s garden in Lower Hayfields, roughly chopped, mixed with a generous amount of torn New York City basil from Gotham Greens (via Whole Foods), a few leaves of dried sage from Stokes Farm, and a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice, then tossed into a large pan in which 3 minced cloves of garlic from Willow Wisp Farm had been cooked in olive oil until fragrant, succeeded  by one very large minced fresh shallot from Lucky Dog Farm, also cooked, stirring until softened, seasoned with salt and freshly-ground pepper before half a pound of Afeltra Penna Rigata [‘grooved pens’] from Eataly, cooked al dente, was added and emulsified by stirring further for a minute or two over a low flame with a little reserved pasta water, served in bowls, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with micro purple radish greens from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the wine was an Italian (Alto Adige/Südtirol) white, from Chelsea Wine Vault, La Manina Manincor 2013
• the music was the remainder of the album, Olivier Messiaen: ‘Vingt Regards Sur L’Enfant Jesus’, performed by pianist Joanna MacGregor we had been listening to on Sunday morning

Tomato sill, breakfast room.

 

Thanks to a generous weekend-gardener friend, we’ve been living with tomatoes all week, and this early meal was a part of the terrific experience. The picture at the top was taken 4 days ago; after our meal this morning only one of the small baskets of red cherry tomatoes and 3 of the long plum tomatoes remain on that sill.

We had a late breakfast today; sort of a lunch.

• the 6 eggs and the thick pieces of bacon both came from a Pennsylvania Amish farm, Millport Dairy, which sells in the Union Square Greenmarket (John is driven to New York by an ‘English’ friend); the 2 sliced ripe medium-size tomatoes were an heirloom Green Zebra and a red plum (a beautiful rounded triangle in cross-section), both from Lower Hayfields, a friend’s garden in Garrison, north of New York; the toast was from the heel of a 3-day-old sturdy ciabatta from Bobolink Dairy, the ‘untoast’ from a 1-day-old Eric Kayser ‘Pain de campagne’; the herbs were a mix of many kinds, all from Greenmarket farmers, although the tomatoes were sprinkled with some torn New York CIty basil from Gotham Greens, via Whole Foods; there was also an absolutely wonderful aromatic Middle-Eastern-style seasoning blend, ‘L’eKama‘
• we have a Sunday morning tradition of listening to classical music somehow related to religion (usually Christian), notwithstanding our seriously-expatriot status vis-à-vis the faiths in which we were raised; today the music was Olivier Messiaen: ‘Vingt Regards Sur L’Enfant Jesus’, performed by pianist Joanna MacGregor

• fourteen medium scallops from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, washed, drained and very thoroughly dried on paper towels (twice), generously seasoned with salt and pepper, pan grilled for about 90 seconds on each side, finished with a squeeze of lemon and a scattering of purple micro radish from Two Gus from Woodbridge, then drizzled with some good olive oil
• more than a handful of red and orange cherry tomatoes, halved, from Lower Hayfields, a friend’s garden in the Hudson River town of Garrison, heated briefly in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, a bit of New York CIty basil from Gotham Greens, via Whole Foods, torn, mixed in, and served dusted with micro bronze fennel, also from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• curly kale, again from Lower Hayfields, wilted in a little olive oil in which several bruised organic garlic cloves from Willow Wisp Farm had first been heated or ‘sweated’ in the oil with a small amount of crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia, seasoned with salt and pepper, and, once on the plates, drizzled with olive oil
• the wine was a French (Savoie) white, Jean Perrier et Fils Cuvée Gastronomie Savoie Abymes 2015
• the music was Johann Friedrich Fasch, ‘Orchestral Works, Vol. 3’

Yeah, it was a something of a feast, although perhaps lighter than what would normally be associated with the word. We had invited two friends to dinner, to celebrate their return to New York, and we knew they really enjoyed food, and conversation.

I think we were all pretty lucky nothing was bungled, especially since the meal and the talk continued for almost 5 hours, counting a certain amount of lingering.

As the menu was coming together during the day I gradually realized that it would be almost entirely Italian, in fact southern Italian, and Sicilian, although with a few obvious, and some perhaps not so obvious, exceptions.

We began the evening with breadsticks, toasting ourselves with a excellent sparkling wine.

• the wine was a California (Sonoma) sparkling white, W. Donaldson Blanc de Blancs

The first course was a classic Italian appetizer.

• an insalata Caprese, with one large red plum tomato and one ‘green zebra’ heirloom tomato from Lower Hayfields, a friend’s garden in Garrison, sliced, arranged on 4 plates, slices of Italian mozzarella di Bufala Campania from Buon Italia tucked in between the slices, sprinkled with Maldon salt and coarsely-ground pepper, some torn leaves of basil from Lucky Dog Organic Farm sprinkled on top, and all drizzled with a Campania olive oil, Syrenum D.O.P. Peninsula Sorrentina
• the bread was a sturdy ciabatta, made with unbleached whole-grain wheat flour, from Bobolink Dairy
• the wine was a California (Lodi) rosé, Karen Birmingham Rosé Lodi 2015

The star of the main course was triggerfish, variously known in Italy as pesce balestra, pisci castaregia, pescepuorco, pescio porcu, pesce porco, pesce puorco, or mola, and in Sicily as pisci porcu, or pisci poccu, so it’s definitely Mediterranean as well as western Atlantic. 

[Note: From the front, the triggerfish looks curiously like a Boeing 747; go ahead, ‘Google it’.]

• four 6-ounce fillets of triggerfish fillets from Pura Vida Fisheries, rinsed, dried, seasoned with salt and freshly-ground black pepper, sautéed inside a large, heavy, enameled cast iron pan in olive oil over medium-high heat for only about 2 minutes on each side, removed to 4 plates, drizzled with a little fresh lemon juice, immediately sprinkled with chopped fresh dill from Keith’s Farm, with more dill tossed into the pan along with a few drops of olive oil, pushed around with a narrow wooden spatula, those juices then drizzled over the fish, which was then sprinkled with fennel flowers from Ryder Farm, and finished with micro bronze fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• two round Italian heirloom eggplants, one a Biellese ‘Prosperosa’ from Berried Treasures Farm, the other an heirloom Sicilian from Phillips Farm, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds, brushed with a mixture of olive oil, finely-chopped garlic, chopped mint leaves, salt, and pepper, the slices pan-grilled, turning once, arranged on an oval platter, sprinkled with some more chopped mint, drizzled with a little olive oil
• four small sweet orange peppers from Eckerton Hill Farm, 2 pale green banana peppers from Lower Hayfields, halved or quartered, seeds and membranes removed, sautéed inside a heavy copper skillet wiht a little olive oil over a high flame until slightly cararmelized, with one seeded and finely-chopped small red Calabrian pepper from Campo Rosso Farm added near the end, the peppers finished in the pan, with the addition of chopped oregano leaves from Stokes Farm and a dash of balsamic vinegar
• the wine was a French (Bordeaux) white, Château Ducasse Bordeaux Blanc 2015, with an grape blend of 60% Sémillon, 35% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Muscadelle, the large proportion of Sémillon, being unusual for the region

There was a cheese course, the portions very small.

• there were 3 local cheeses, each from Consider Bardwell Farm, ‘Slybro’ (goat), Rupert (cow), ‘Barden’ (blue cow), and one Swiss cow cheese, ‘Bergflichte’, from Canton Thurgau, via Eataly
• the bread was the Bobolink ciabatta again
• the wine was a California (Clarksburg) white, David Akiyoshi Chardonnay Clarksburg 2015, from Naked Wines

The fruit course was even more minimal than the cheese plate had been.

• striped yellow figs from California, via Eataly, and a few blackberries from Phillips Farm

The final, sweet, course was pretty Italian, at least until I added the maple sugar topping.

• Sicilian lemon sorbetto from Ciao Bella, via Whole Foods, topped with ‘Maple Candied Ginger’ which I’ve kept in the freezer for just such an opportunity, from a source I no longer can remember

The music throughout the evening was our conversation.

 

This one really had to be rushed, since we had come back from gallery openings later than we had expected, and it was a ‘school night’. I was afraid this fine fish might suffer, but because it requires so little fuss, because all the other ingredients were so fresh, and because I specifically picked formulas which were really quick to prepare, everything turned out super.

Putting the salsa together was the most complicated and time-consuming part of the process, and even that was a total cinch, required no concentration, and allowed me to set up everything else while it was sitting around blending flavors.

• two 5-ounce black sea bass fillets from Blue Moon Fish, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper, sautéed over a fairly brisk flame with butter and a little olive oil inside a large, thick oval copper pan, skin side down, turned after about 2-3 minutes, the other side cooked for about the same length of time, removed to 2 plates when done, covered at least a little to keep warm, and 2 tablespoons of butter added to the pan, allowed to melt, a couple tablespoons of chopped lovage and chopped parsley, both from Keith’s Farm, and a tablespoon of lemon juice, or a little more, stirred in the butter some before it was spooned on top of the fish
• the bass was accompanied by a salsa, prepared about 30 minutes in advance, of halved cherry tomatoes from Lower Hayfields, a friend’s garden in Garrison, up the Hudson, pitted and chopped black oil-cured olives from Whole Foods, fresh dill from Willow Wisp Farm, chopped, basil from Gotham Greens at Whole Foods, torn, one small red Calabrian pepper from Campo Rosso Farm, salt, pepper and olive oil
• curly kale, again from Lower Hayfields, wilted in a little olive oil in which several bruised organic garlic cloves from Willow Wisp Farm had first been heated or ‘sweated’ in the oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and drizzled, once on the plates, with olive oil
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, David Akiyoshi Reserve Chardonnay 2015
• the music was from the album, ‘Adams, Cox, Fink, Fox‘, music of John Luther Adams, Rick Cox, Michael Jon Fink, and Jim Fox

I did not know that the pea crab, like ourselves, loves mussels as much as it loves oysters. Tonight we found a number of them in our bowls of shellfish (t took us a few minutes to realize where the extra crunch was coming from).

The pea crab: sent to remind us that food isn’t made in factories, or at least that it shouldn’t be.

While they have occasionally been considered a delicacy here and elsewhere in the world, occasionally remaining so even today, I can’t imagine, even if you could get past the icky factor, how you’d be able to accumulate enough of the tiny creatures to make even a small splash on a plate.

FOOTNOTE: From the department of, ‘you learn something new every day‘: “A male pea crab will rub the edge of a shellfish containing a female pea crab for hours until the shellfish opens and allows the male pea crab to enter.” Sweet.

If I haven’t totally turned off the reader, the rest of this post is likely to be a bit more conventually toothsome.

• two pounds of mussels, purchased that same day in the Union Square Greenmarket from Blue Moon Fish, lightly-scrubbed and de-bearded where necessary, then combined in a large, heavy enameled cast iron pot with 2 cups of beautiful red cherry tomatoes from Lower Hayfields, a friend’s garden in Garrison, halved, plus half of a cup of good white wine (Sandy Cove Sauvignon Blanc 2014, from Chelsea Wine Vault), most of one large fresh shallot from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, about a quarter of a teaspoon of crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia, 3 tablespoons of rich ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘, a generous amount of freshly-ground pepper, and 3 tablespoons of coarsely-chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm, everything steamed over high heat for a very few minutes, served in shallow bowls with a sprinkling of additional chopped lovage, and accompanied by slices of a Rustico Classico from Eataly (there were seconds).
• the wine was a French (Loire) white, Éric Chevalier Clos de la Butte Muscadet-Côtes de Grandlieu 2014
• the music was a program of new music from Q2 Music, streaming

I had just gone to Eatlay for bread yesterday, but as I was passing Luca Donofrio‘s fresh pasta counter I spotted this awesome-looking pasta. I had already decided I was going to put together a very simple meal tonight, and I immediately realized that this mafaldine would make it special even without tweaking of any kind.

I was also a little excited (also sad) about the surprisingly modern history of the name the Italians have given the pasta: the ill-fated Princess Mafalda of Savoy is the reference.

 

We were 3 at dinner. Our friend Michelle Vaughan had come by to drop off a huge organic bounty from the gardens outside her cottage, ‘Lower Hayfields’, in Garrison, New York, north of the city, and of course we wouldn’t let her go.

We began with a course of salumi.

• thinly-sliced Speck from the Südtirol/Alto Adige, via Eataly, drizzled with a fine olive oil, a Campania D.O.P. Penisola Sorrentina ‘Syrenum’, and served with curly kale leaves from Michelle Vaughan and Lower Hayfields, also drizzled with the olive oil, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and a few drops of white balsamic
• the bread was a Rustico Classico from Eataly
• the wine was a California (Lodi) rosé, Karen Birmingham Rosé Lodi 2015

The main course came together with the pasta I mentioned above, and some deep-red cherry tomatoes with the most awesome flavor. I believe they are actually an heirloom variety, ‘black cherry tomato’. It was the last of my supply of any tomatoes before it was replenished by Michelle with several kinds of cherry tomatoes; at least 4 kinds of heirloom tomatoes, including plum tomatoes; 2 kinds of sweet peppers; fingerling potatoes; and curly kale.

• one pound of fresh Mafaldine pasta from Eataly, with a sauce made by heating in a deep, enameled cast-iron pot 2 roughly-chopped cloves of garlic from Willow Wisp Farm with one very small red pearl onion from Paffenroth Farms, and most of one small red Calabrian pepper from Campo Rosso Farm, until all were pungent and softened, tossing in a good number of halved black cherry tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, stirring, some reserved pasta cooking water added to help emulsify the mix, seasoned with salt and pepper, a generous amount of torn New York CIty basil from Gotham Greens via Whole Foods mixed in, the pasta removed to 3 shallow bowls, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with more basil and some homemade breadcrumbs (browned a little earlier in a little olive oil with a pinch of salt)
• the wine was an Italian (Campania) white, I Vini della Sibilla Falanghina dei Campi Flegrei 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault

We finished with a small plate of cheese and a few very ripe black figs.

• Consider Bardwell’s ‘Rupert’, a cow cheese; ‘Coupole’, a goat cheese from Vermont Creamery, via Foragers Market; and Bergflichte’ [‘mountain fir’], a soft washed-rind Jersey cow cheese from Canton Thurgau, in northern Switzerland, via Eataly
• black California figs from Whole Foods
• the wine was a California (Sonoma) white, Scott Peterson Rumpus California Sauvignon Blanc 2015, from Naked Wines

• the music throughout the very long evening was that of our voices, eventually fortissimo, as we got into discussing politics of all things

La Cucina Italiana.

The squid was certainly Italian, both the fact of squid and the preparation; the vegetables were also Italian, again, fact and execution (the wine however was Spanish, because, well, we didn’t have a suitable Italian on hand).

La Cucina Povera.

Nothing put onto the table last night was ‘costly’, and, except for the squid, for which I exchanged $6 with the fisherman’s family that day, it basically incorporated what was already in the kitchen or pantry.

• twelve ounces of cleaned squid, bodies and tentacles, from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, marinated for about half an hour (half of that time in the refrigerator) in a bowl containing a mixture of the zest and juice of most of one lemon, thinly-sliced garlic from Willow Wisp Farm, olive oil, pungent dried Italian oregano from Buon Italia, some finely-chopped pieces from a red Calabrian pepper from Campo Rosso Farm, salt, and pepper, then removed from the marinade, drained, pan-grilled briefly over high heat, arranged on plates, sprinkled with fresh lemon juice and some chopped parsley from Keith’s Farm, drizzled with olive oil [the basic recipe, with more specific instructions appears here]
• one luscious round Sicilian (heirloom?) eggplant, from Phillips Farm, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds, brushed with a mixture of olive oil, finely-chopped garlic from Willow Wisp Farm, chopped peppermint leaves from Stokes Farm, salt, and pepper, the slices pan-grilled, turning once, removed to a platter, replaced in the pan by one orange-red heirloom tomato (‘Striped German’), sliced into 1/2-inch rounds and its surfaces seasoned with salt and pepper, where it was grilled on both sides, arranged on the platter with the eggplant, sprinkled with more freshly-chopped mint leaves, drizzled with a little olive oil, some micro bronze fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge tossed on the top, the vegetables kept at room temperature, for a short while while the squid was grilled.
• the wine was a Spanish (Rueda) white, Naia D.O. Rueda 2014, Verdejo old vines, from Philippe Liquors
• the music was François Francoeur, ‘Symphonies pour le Festin Royal’, Hugo Reyne conducting La Simphonie du Marais [music composed for the 1773 wedding banquet of the Comte d’Artois, later to become the last Bourbon king of France, as Charles X]