Because I already had enough vegetables on hand already, almost my only purpose in heading for the Union Square Greenmarket that day was to secure a seafood entrée for dinner.  It had only occurred to me to also pick up oysters because, while still abed, I had seen the Blue Moon Fish Company retweet of a tweet about their wild oysters. It included a link to an article in the Village Voice featuring both wild oysters and Blue Moon family anchor, Stephanie Villani, and I thought, what the heck…

Only later did we add an embellishment, in the form of a ‘theme’:  Barry had suggested that I bring home two dozen, which would make it something of special event, so we looked around for an occasion, or excuse, for a mid-week oyster feast, perhaps a birthday or anniversary, something at least a little splendid. He suggested we consider it in honor of the Guggenheim Museum first opening its doors on that day and month in 1959, ten years after the death of its patron, Solomon R. Guggenheim, and six months after the death of its architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, and I thought, why not?

It turned out that we had a tiny bonus inside the bag I brought home.  It was the first time in 50 years of consuming oysters (and often opening them myself), that I came across what turned out to be an additional, distantly-related shellfish species crouched up inside one of the bivalves.  It was only when I looked very closely at what I had removed from it while it lay on my large oval plate (you can actually see it inside the top center oyster in the picture), that I noticed it was moving; it looked like a very tiny, perfectly formed, translucent crab (see the image at the bottom).

Thanks to the internet gods I learned almost immediately that what I had in front of me was an ‘oyster crab’, also called a “pea crab’.  At almost the same moment I also learned that it was common (or uncommon) enough to be considered a delicacy by those who know and observe such things, for instance in Delmarva, and on the far end of Long Island.

So I slurped it down, but not without a tentative chew.  I figured that if I had the nerve to eat raw oysters, how was a tiny crab going to be a problem?

• a dozen wild ‘Robin’s Island Oysters’ (Long Island Sound) from Blue Moon Seafood for each of us, shelled, served on the half shell (plus one pea crab for me) without any accompaniment except some wonderful Mario Fongo grissini integrale from Buon Italia
• the wine with the oysters (and the oyster crab) was a California (Napa) white, California white, in a Burgundy style, Matthew Iaconis Napa Valley Chardonnay 2014 (it’s Matt’s wine, and it comes from Naked Wines)
• the music with the oysters was Johann Sebastian Bach’s, ‘The Well-Tempered Clavier I, Preludes and Fugues Book 1’, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, piano

The swordfish was actually my fourth choice as an entrée to follow the oysters, the John Dory, Tautog (Blackfish), and Boston mackerel all having sold out by the time I arrived at the Blue Moon Greenmarket stall at about 11:45, which was earlier than usual, I have to say.  Because of both the time and effort I expected we might spend on the bivalves, and it being a ‘school night’, I wanted the preparation of the second course to be both fast and relatively uncomplicated.  The choice of the vegetables would follow suit.

The fish was absolutely delicious. How to account for its excellence when the only real difference between this outing with this recipe and previous ones was the combination of herbs?  Or their numbers?  What I choose is usually very much determined by what I have on hand, and therefor might never be repeated.  But then I’m almost obsessed with herbs, and there seems to me to be almost nothing that can be done wrong with them.

• one swordfish steak from Blue Moon Seafood, cut into two six-and-a-half ounce pieces, rubbed with a mixture of fresh herbs (here lovage, tarragon, dill flowers, peppermint, parsley, thyme, and rosemary, all from various Greenmarket farmers) chopped together with sea salt, then mixed with some freshly-ground pepper, minced garlic and lemon zest, and a bit of olive oil to moisten the herb mix, spread onto the surface of the fish before it was pan-grilled and basted throughout the cooking process with some of the reserved rub mixture, finished with a squeeze of lemon, and a drizzle of olive oil, served with eighths of lemon
• a mix of tomatoes (including three small heirlooms and two small San Marzano from Berried Treasures Farm), each sliced in half, placed face down on a plate which had been spread with salt and pepper, then dried somewhat with a paper towel and placed in a hot grill pan, turned once, removed, finished with a bit of olive oil, a few drops of white balsamic vinegar, and torn basil leaves from a basil plant (Full Bloom Marker Garden, in Whately, western Massachusetts) from Whole Foods
• a very small bunch of radish greens from Norwich Meadows Farm, wilted in olive oil in which a small garlic clove, also from Norwich Meadows Farm, had been allowed to sweat for a bit, then seasoned with salt, pepper, and a bit more olive oil
• the wine with the swordfish was a beautiful and quite unusual Spanish (Catalonia) white, Elvi/LV Wines In Vita Alella 2011, with Pansa Blanca (Xarel-lo) and Sauvignon Blanc grapes, carried home this week from Appellation Wines
• the music with the entrée was Mitsuko Uchida and the Cleveland Orchestra performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat major, K456

one oyster crab, coming up (note that the inside width of the bowl is only 2 3/8 inches, or 6 centimeters)

The entrée was simply a bowl of the dish of spaghetti, red onion, savoy cabbage, and sweet Italian sausage left over from two nights before, heated and sprinkled with some chopped parsley from Stokes Farm, so I’m only uploading an image of the dessert cheese course.

• ‘Brebis Blanc’ soft sheep cheese from 3-Corner Field Farm, and some ‘Barden Blue’ from Consider Bardwell, served with a bosc pear from Troncillito Farms, and slices of a loaf of fresh ‘trucio’ from Sullivan Street Bakery
• the wine was a really, really good Austrian (Wagram) white, Wimmer-Czerny Roter Veltliner 2014 (made from Roter Veltliner grapes, which are not to be confused with Grüner Veltliner)
• the music was Sviatoslav Richter, Kiril Kondrashin, and the London Symphony Orchestra performing Liszt’s two piano concertos

Because flounder, or any of several related species found within New York waters, is such a great dining fish, because it’s so freely available, extraordinarily fresh, from our local fishermen, but also because, for many months of the year, we’re also fortunate to live with a huge bounty of tomatoes, I end up rearranging this basic recipe over and over again. And it seems to get better each time. But, just as important as any of those considerations, there’s the fact that it’s a very simple and very quickly-prepared entrée.

• two 6 or 7-ounce Long Island waters flounder fillets from P.E.&D.D. Seafood, lightly seasoned, cooked in a pan over high heat for a few minutes, turning once, then placed on plates, a couple of spoons of ‘tomato butter’ [see below] placed on top
• tomato butter, made by cooking, until slightly soft and fragrant, a tiny amount of shallot from Norwich Meadows Farm in a generous amount of butter, then letting the flavored butter cool slightly before being poured over three different small, fresh, very ripe heirloom tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, chopped, then combined with a tablespoon of tarragon, chopped, from Stokes Farm, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and a few drops of red wine vinegar
• arugula, from Ryder Farm, dressed simply in some good olive oil, lemon, Maldon salt, and freshly-ground black pepper
• the wine was a California (Sonoma) white, Scott McLeod, Chardonnay Russian River Valley 2014 
• the music was the album, ‘Time Curve – Music for Piano By Philip Glass and William Duckworth‘, performed by Bruce Brubaker

Note to self:  This is a great dish, but the amount of cabbage suggested in the recipe which inspired it should be reduced dramatically, by half, or even more.

I had not been looking at the forecast at all, so I didn’t choose this entrée because we were expected to get the first real taste of colder weather the night I put this dish together, but obviously a meal which included cabbage and sausage was a welcome greeting for a new season.

The basic form of the recipe (which was in fact itself pretty basic, with few ingredients) comes from Martha Stewart. It was delicious, but, as I mentioned above, the amount of cabbage she prescribes is far more than needed.  There was enough left over to allow another visit with it, even as an entrée.

• eight ounces of Setaro spaghetto from Buon Italia, tossed with a sauce which included 14 ounces of ‘Jane’s So Sweet’ Italian pork sausages from Flying Pigs Farm (the minimal ingredients are: pork, water, salt, black pepper, fennel, and garlic, in natural hog casings) one 24-ounce savoy cabbage from Berried Treasures, one large red onion from John D. Madura Farm, and a bit of a good white wine vinegar
• the wine was a California (Central Valley) white, JC van Staden Pinot Grigio 2014
• the music was Mozart, the String Quartet No. 18

Note to self: The vegetable side dish may be difficult to recreate, since I’ve never before come across tromboncino (or zucchetta), but it was at least a terrific one-off, and a great companion to the excellent fresh scallops.  Keep a sharp eye out for this vegetable.

I really did splurge a bit, although unintentionally, in ordering twelve scallops for the two of us.  Eight would have been sufficient (a number which would have cost only about about $11.50 at today’s market price), but they made for a great meal, and I have to admit that there was very little else to accompany it, even if that very little else comprised a superb dish.

My preparation of the vegetables was an adaptation of this recipe, which I found on line while searching for information on the squash itself.  Tromboncino, or  zuchetta, goes by many names, but it is an heirloom form of zucchini, and it apparently originated in Liguria, making it, I thought, particularly suitable as an accompaniment to the seafood I had chosen for the meal.

• ten sea scallops from Pura Vida Fisheries, washed, rinsed and dried very thoroughly, pan grilled, finished with a squeeze of lemon juice and drizzled with olive oil [the recipe, one of my favorites there, or anywhere else, is included in Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers’ ‘Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe‘]
• some very small and tender tromboncino, or  zuchetta, from Berried Treasures Farm, washed, dried, cut into small portions, sautéed in butter and oil over medium heat until they began to brown, turning/stirring occasionally, seasoned with salt and pepper before slivers of one jalapeño pepper from Berried Treasures Farm and one small quartered heirloom tomato and a handful of halved ‘Mountain Magic’ red cherry tomatoes, all from Norwich Meadows Farm, were added, the heat turned low and the contents of the pan simmered for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the zucchini was cooked to taste and the tomatoes had begun to form a sauce, the dish finished with chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm.  Cooking hint: I left the jalapeño as slivers, so they would be easy to spot and remove, once on the plates, should they have turned out to be hotter than expected. 

• the wine was a California white, Miriam Alexander Chenin Blanc 2014
• the music was the Kreutcher quartet playing some of Anton Reicha’s quartets

a wonderful pairing, even before the wine was poured

The meal was a treat, and had I not purchased all the ingredients myself, I might have had a hard time believing that all ingredients together probably set me back only 11 or 12 dollars, and that’s for two people!  Even considering that it was a dinner prepared at home, the figure is pretty incredible, although absolutely verifiable.  The squid cost $6.50 (and had I wanted to clean them myself, it would have been only about $3.25), the treviso was less than half that, and the oil, lemon, balsamic vinegar, dried oregano, dried chile, salt, and pepper just might have brought the total up to the figure I mentioned above.

This is one of the reasons why we can afford to eat out in New York, at least once in a blue moon. Perhaps ironically, this time the seafood itself was actually from the ‘Blue Moon’, to be specific, Blue Moon Fish.  Exactly who’s irony was involved, I can’t say, since I don’t know the story behind the name Alex and Steph gave to their little blue-hulled fishing boat).

Ruby’s rendering, of the ‘Blue Moon’, spotted on the bulletin board of her family’s Greenmarket stall

• cleaned squid bodies and tentacles from Blue Moon Fish, in Union Square Greenmarket, rinsed, dried, placed in an enameled cast iron pan after its cooking surface had been brushed with olive oil and heated on top of the range until very hot, then sprinkled with some super-pungent dried Italian oregano from Buon Italia and one crushed dried pepperoncino, also from Buon Italia, with a good squeeze of lemon juice and some olive oil drizzled over the top, placed in a pre-heated 400º oven and roasted for five minutes
• one head of treviso, from Lucky Dog Organic, quartered lengthwise, drizzled with a little olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, turned several times to coat well, and placed, cut-side down on a baking sheet, roasted in the same 400º oven, turning once, for 12 minutes or so, or until the leaves are wilted and charred slightly, transferred to plates, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and a squeeze of lemon
• the wine was a Spanish (Valladolid) white, Blanco Nieva Verdejo 2013, from Manley’s Wine & Spirits
• the music was Sviatoslav Richter playing Beethoven piano sonatas

extravagantly simple, and also simply lavish

There could hardly be a simpler meal than this one.  In addition, few could be easier to make, if it weren’t for the amount of attention needed to see that a large number of simple eggplant ‘coins’ are properly  cooked before they’re tossed with an extraordinarily good artisanal pasta.

I found the very minimal recipe many years ago inside a magazine article describing half a dozen simple pasta dishes. It was described by Fred Plotkin as the inspiration of Signora Francesca Pantonocito, relayed to him by her daughter Laura.

I can’t find anything on line about either Pantonocito, so I have noting else to share, except one very useful tip, from the recipe’s author, that zucchini could well be substituted for the eggplant.  Normally I’d be tempted to suggest adding mint in either case, but this formula is absolutely perfect as it is, so long as a very good pasta is used.

• Setaro spaghetto from Buon Italia (about eight ounces), tossed in a large cast-iron pan in which thinly-sliced coins of Japanese eggplant from Lani’s Farm had been allowed to brown in a coating of olive oil over high (but not smoking) heat, then removed, the oil remaining, the pasta with melanzane then finished with freshly-ground black pepper and a generous sprinkling of very good Red Cow Parmesan cheese from Eataly
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) red, Corvo Nero d’Avola 2012
• the music was the Brooklyn Rider album, ‘Dominant Curve‘, which includes Debussy’s String Quartet

We’ve been pretty distracted by a number of evening commitments over the last few days, only some of them related to another New York art fair weekend (full disclosure:  I did not go to Frieze).  Although we still managed to eat very well, it means that there hasn’t been a lot of excitement in the kitchen lately.  Tonight’s meal represented the beginning of a return to real cookery, even if it was pretty much only a question of assembly.

• Rustichella d’Abruzzo Pappardelle (an eight-ounce package of dry noodles), served with a sauce using Golden Oyster Mushrooms from Blue Oyster Cultivation in the Greenmarket (see the image below), prepared pretty much according to this simple recipe (note: I toasted the pine nuts before adding them to the bowls)
• the wine was an Italian red, Gabbiano Chianti 2012 (we note that the vineyard itself was established nearly 900 years earlier, which is not extraordinary in that part of the world)
• the music was streamed from Counterstream Radio

Golden Oyster Mushrooms, at the Blue Oyster Cultivation stand

It was another anniversary, and the cool weather returned just in time for us to enjoy a meal in which two of its three elements asked for a 425 to 450 degree oven.

• two 6-ounce Tri-tip steaks from Dickson Farmstand Meats, dried, seasoned with freshly-ground black pepper, seared, then roasted in a very hot oven for about seven minutes, salted and removed to warm plates, where they were allowed to rest for a few minutes while three ramp bulbs, chopped, were stirred around in the still-hot pan, followed by their leaves, cut lengthwise, and the steaks finally sprinkled with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil, covered with the ramps, and served
• small Gold Nugget potatoes from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, boiled, then dried in the same vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had been cooked, and finished with salt, pepper, butter, scissored chives, and chopped parsley
• large spears of asparagus from Stokes Farm, trimmed and peeled, dotted with butter, from Millport Dairy, salted, roasted at 450º for 15 to 20 minutes, rolled twice during that time, with freshly-mortared black pepper and a sprinkling of lemon juice added at the end
• the wine was a Spanish red, Viña Eguia Rioja 2009
• the music was provided by Q2 streaming

I used to prepare this dish as often as it might occur to either one of us, but the last time must have been before I began this blog, over six years ago.   I’ve had the package of dry orecchiette (‘little ears’) in the cupboard for a few weeks, but it was only last night that I could take advantage of a convergence of this excellent pasta, some spring Greenmarket broccoli rabe, and no dinner plans which could forestall our enjoyment of my favorite version of the Puglian favorite, orecchiette con cime di rapa.

It was as delicious as each of us had remembered.  There was one snag however, although one not related to the taste.  I have the willful habit of wanting to incorporate as much of a vegetable as I can when cooking it, and in this case I would have been better advised to discard some of the rapini stems, or at least remove them and cook them a little longer than the rest of the greens.  I’ve never encountered this problem before with this vegetable, but let’s just say that in a couple of cases last night the larger pieces were more than chewy.  After we finished dinner Barry proffered, “Stems are the gristle of the vegetable world.”.

Twenty-five years ago I discovered the recipe I still use, in the tall volume, ‘Italy, The Beautiful Cookbook’.  The book itself is indeed beautiful, as are the recipes.  It’s also a wonderful tour through a magnificent culture, one with which Barry I paired our actual Italian tours in the years after I acquired the book.

• half a pound of Benedetto Cavalieri ‘Single Orecchiette’ and half a pound of broccoli rabe, bottom stems removed and the rest of the vegetable roughly chopped, boiled together in a large pot until the pasta was al dente, about a ladleful of the pasta water reserved before draining, then tossed into a separate pot in which 3 garlic cloves and half of a dried red chile pepper had been heated until the garlic had colored lightly, everything (including a judicious amount of the reserved pasta water) tossed for a couple of minutes to blend the flavors and the ingredients, before being served, sprinkled on top with half of a cup of fresh breadcrumbs browned earlier (this time I used some of a Balthazar Multi-Grain boule), along with a pinch of salt, in a little olive oil
• the wine was an Italian white, Saladini Pilastri Falerio 2013
• the music was Ernest Chausson’s ‘Poème de l’amour et de la mer‘