Barry and I used to call meals like this ‘picnics’. More recently, in the case of particularly German versions, I’ve labelled them ‘Picknicks‘ on this blog. In fact, the appropriate German term would be ‘Brotzeit‘, and that’s how I’ve described this one.

The gorgeous lettuce included on the plate is a purple variety whose name was not indicated on the stand where I purchased it. The only lettuce image I snapped that afternoon was actually of a green version of the same breed, and at the time it just happened to be boasting a single purple leaf from its neighbor.

• with the exception of the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, butter, and confiture, the items included on the plate were essentially from local sources: Blutwurst or Zungenwurst, a variation of head cheese, from Schaller & Weber; a dollop of Italian (Asiago) Lingonberry Jam (a berry much like the German ‘Preiselbeeren‘) [not pictured]; purple lettuce from Norwich Meadows Farm, dressed with an Italian olive oil, Alce Nero DOP ‘Terra di Bari Bitonto’, from Eataly, an Italian white wine vinegar, Aceto Cesare Bianco, from Buon Italia, Maldon salt, and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper; orange cherry tomatoes grown in Ontario, from Whole Foods Market; large red cherry tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm; Isny Allgäu ‘Adel Egger’ raw milk cheese, from Schaller & Weber, and ‘Danby” goat cheese and ‘Rupert’ cow cheese, both from Consider Bardwell Farm; 2 Rot-gebeizt pickled eggs from Millport Dairy Farm; slices of a Balthazar rye boule from Schaller & Weber, and ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘ [not pictured]
• the wine was a German (Mosel) white, Weingut Axel Pauly Trinkfluss 2014
• the music was the album, ‘The Palais-Royal‘, compositions from the Paris palace and court of Phillip II, Duke of Orléans, Regent during the long minority of Louis XV, and a composer himself

Phillippe II, Duke of Orléans, detail of a 1706 portrait attributed to Jean-Baptiste Santerre [image from Online Galleries]

It was a bright, clean, vernal meal, even if the warm humid weather on that penultimate day of spring suggested July or August. Full disclosure: I had the air conditioner going inside the kitchen and breakfast room throughout both the preparation and enjoyment of this meal.

The colorful vegetables I had picked up at two greenmarkets over the previous 3 days set the tone.

• fourteen medium scallops (13 ounces) 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 organic lemon from Whole Foods Market and a scattering of purple micro radish from Windfall Farms, then drizzled with some good olive oil
• eight halved medium tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm, Mullica Hill, NJ, purchased Saturday at Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market, rolled inside a heavy, high-sided tin-lined copper pot with a little olive oil in which much of one head of green garlic from Lani’s Farm had been heated until it had become fragrant, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper and some chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm tossed in
• five baby zucchini from Lani’s Farm, separated from their blossoms (which were set aside), cut lengthwise and sautéed in a heavy, tin-lined copper skillet until beginning to brown, tossed with chopped peppermint from Lani’s Farm, removed to the plates while the blossoms reserved earlier, now halved, were sautéed in the same pan, for only a few seconds, then arranged on top of the zucchini pieces
• the wine was a California (Lake County) white, Dancing Crow Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Lake County 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was Georg Philipp Telemann’s 1726 opera, ‘Orpheus’, René Jacobs conducting the Academy for Ancient Music Berlin and the Berlin RIAS Chamber Chorus; the album liner notes describe the work as “..a successful synthesis of national operatic forms from Italy, France and Germany.”

I can’t account for the abrupt contrast between the dinner the day before and this one enjoyed on Sunday, other than with the fact that everything else I had on tap for an entrée on this warm and humid evening would have involved the use of the oven.

• one 12-ounce pacłage (2 links) of ‘German Brand Blood Pudding’ from Schaller & Weber, allowed to sit, still in their casings, for 20 minutes inside a covered pan of water that had been brought to the boiling point and the flame then extinguished, removed from the water, their casings removed, stirred with a couple tablespoons of butter, an ‘expression sweet’ yellow onion from Norwich Meadows Farm, and one roughly-chopped Honey Crisp apple from Locust Grove Orchards inside a heavy tin-lined copper pan with high sides, served with a dollop of Italian (Asiago) Lingonberry Jam (in Germany it would be ‘Preiselbeeren‘)
• eight small red ‘new potatoes’ from Norwich Meadows Farm, boiled in well-salted water, drained, dried in the still-warm vintage glass pot, rolled in a little ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, sprinkled with chopped parsley from Phillip’s Farm
• 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 heavy, high-sided, tin-lined copper sauté pan with one chopped red onion and one yellow, both from Phillips Farm (I think the red onion may account for the pink blush in the sauerkraut), another cored and chopped Honey Crisp apple from Locust Grove Orchards, 8 or 9 whole juniper berries and about the same number of Tellicherry peppercorns, a little salt, one large Sicilian bay leaf from Buon Italia, enough water to almost cover the sauerkraut, all brought to a boil, simmered, covered, for less than half an hour over a low flame, stirring occasionally, and then uncovered for 20 or 30 minutes more
• the wine was a German (Mosel) white, Weingut Axel Pauly Trinkfluss 2014
• the music was Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’, René Jacobs conducting the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Berlin RIAS Chamber Chorus

We had not been able to eat at home for 2 nights, so I already had all the vegetables I needed to cook last night. What I didn’t have was seafood, which meant I would still have to go to the Union Square Greenmarket. But the weather was horrible, with torrential rains beginning at the exact time I would have to head out. I decided instead to see what I could find at the Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market. It’s set up on 23rd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues, each Saturday during the summer and fall.

It’s much smaller in scale than the market in Union Square, but it includes some very good venders/farmers, including, most important for me that day, the excellent American Pride Seafood Company.

There co-owner Glenn Bickleman’s iced vitrine displaced an extraordinary variety of fish and shellfish, an embarrassment of riches. I asked him what he thought I should pick (this is very much not like me). He suggested the swordfish or the tuna, but we had enjoyed both recently in Portugal and Galicia. His third choice was the gray sole, and it did look beautiful. I bought an even number of fillets for the two of us, at a very good price. They added up to just over a pound. It was more than I would normally want to serve, and it meant I’d have to use two pans, but I felt like indulging ourselves.

• six grey sole fillets (one pound) from American Seafood in Chelsea’s Down To Earth Farmers Market, averaging just over 2 and a half ounces each, seasoned well with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, cooked in a mixture of a little olive oil and a little butter inside 2 enameled cast iron pans over medium-to-high heat for little more than a minute on each side, placed on warm plates, some ‘tomato butter’ arranged on each plate between the fillets [the butter had been composed a few minutes earlier by melting some ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘, then adding a little of one small shallot from Windfall Farms and a little green garlic from Lani’s Farm, both finely diced, inside a small pan, cooking gently until they had softened and had become fragrant, removing the shallot butter from the heat, allowing it to cool for 2 or 3 minutes, then tossing it with 4 ounces of halved orange Ontario cherry tomatoes from Whole Foods Market which had first been tossed with almost a teaspoon of chopped tarragon from Keith’s Farm, stirred gently, seasoned with salt, with a few drops of red wine (Chianti) vinegar stirred into the mix at the end]

• one small bunch of green chard from Keith’s Farm, washed, roughly chopped, then wilted in a little olive oil in which 2 halved Christopher Garlic Ranch garlic cloves from Eataly had been heated until fragrant, finished with a squeeze of juice of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, and drizzled with olive oil
• the wine was an Italian (Langhe) white, Azienda Agricola Rivetti Massimo Aurelia Arneis Langhe 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was the gorgeous album, ‘Istanpitta: Danses Florentines du Trecento’ [Estampie: Florentine dances of the Trecento], performed by Idriss Agnel (Oud), Henri Tournier (Bansuri), Henri Agnel (Cetera), Mickael Nick (Quinton), Djamchid Chemirani (Zarb) 

 

This dinner was mostly assembled in my mind over about half an hour at the Union Square Greenmarket today. It began, as usual, with a visit to the fish monger, that order to ensure the best chance for a good selection of the local catch. It was a Wednesday, when, unless I’m looking for local trout or shrimp, the fish seller is normally the very active stand of the Blue Moon Fish Company. This time I decided to treat Barry and I to some sea bass, which commands a premium price that its qualities actually deserve. It was already one o’clock but I was lucky enough to bag the last 3 fillets.

A few minutes later I spotted some foraged mushrooms at the Windfall Farms stand. They would make a perfect compliment for the bass. I couldn’t resist them anyway, for their beauty, and for their relative rarity (it was actually the first time I had ever seen these fungi).

I knew the main vegetable would be the 10 small local tomatoes I had picked up at the market 2 days earlier: They had been grown indoors (after all, it was still technically spring in New York), but they had now fully ripened and were already showing some maturity beyond that stage; they were unlikely to last another day.

I had also picked up some herbs after purchasing the fish, continuing to rebuild a stock depleted or disposed of before we had left for Portugal almost 3 weeks earlier, but until I started the preparations for dinner I didn’t actually know which of them would be a part of it.

• three sea bass fillets (a total of 13  ounces) from Blue Moon Fish Company, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper, sautéed for 2-3 minutes over a fairly brisk flame with butter and a little olive oil inside a large, thick oval copper pan, skin side down, then turned and the other side cooked for about the same length of time, removed to the plates when done (covered at least a little to keep warm until the sauce was completed), a tablespoon or more of butter added to the pan, and 4 ounces of foraged Wine-cap mushrooms [Stropharia rugosoannulata], from Windfall Farms, cut into medium-size pieces and sautéed, stirring, until lightly cooked, seasoned with sea salt, freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, a couple tablespoons of a mix of chopped parsley from Phillips Farm and lovage from Keith’s Farm, and a tablespoon or more of the juice of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, the mushrooms stirred some more before they were arranged on the warm plates
• ten small indoor-grown tomatoes from Lani’s Farm, washed, halved, heated inside a large, heavy, high-sided tin-lined copper pan in which one sliced green garlic from Lani’s Farm had first been warmed in a tablespoon or more of olive oil, seasoned with sea salt, freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, a small amount of chopped fresh tarragon form Keith’s Farm stirred into the tomatoes, finished on the plates with some thinly-sliced green stems from the garlic
• the wine was a Portuguese (Tejo) white, Casa Cadaval Padre Pedro Tejo 2014, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was from the album, ‘Mujeres de las Americas‘, works composed for clarinet, bassoon & piano trio, performed by Trío Neos, whose members are Eleanor Weingartner (clarinet), Wendy Holdaway (bassoon), and Ana María Tradatti (piano); the works are included are by Nancy Galbraith, Marta Lambertini, Marta Lambertini, Gabriela Ortiz, Adina Izarra, Georgina Derbez,  and Tania Leon

Each of the elements of this simple meal is a part of the cuisine of Portugal or Galicia, with the possible exception of the sugar snap peas, although it’s unlikely they would be found there in the arrangements I made last night.

• one 13-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 about 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 an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, chopped rosemary from Phillips Farm and a drizzle of olive oil
• ten small Ontario yellow ‘cherry’ tomatoes from Whole Foods Market, heated, the flame now turned off, inside the pan in which the duck had been fried, while being rolled with a wooden spoon, seasoned with salt and pepper, arranged on the plates sprinkled with chopped baby fennel from Lani’s Farm
• sugar snap peas from Lani’s Farm, parboiled for about a minute and a half, drained, rolled inside a heavy tin-lined copper pan with a little olive oil in which one small chopped green garlic head from Phillips Farm had been heated until fragrant, seasoned with Maldon sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, finished with chopped peppermint leaves from Lani’s Farm
• the wine was a California (Sonoma) white, Scott Peterson Rumpus Chaos California 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was Mozart’s Symphony No. 39, René Jacobs conducting the Freiburger Barockorchester

We had arrived back from Portugal and Galicia the night before enjoying this meal. The meals there, many of them incorporating fish and shellfish, were one of the highlights of the trip.

Somehow we had missed dining on one of Iberia’s most noble fishes even though we were there for 16 days, so it seemed right that the first meal I prepared on our return would feature swordfish (Espadarte, in Portuguese, Galician, and Spanish), one of our own local favorites.

While we were away I did miss the huge selection and seasonal variety of the fresh vegetables available in New York City, especially since Iberian cuisine doesn’t seem to emphasize them as much as I have come to, after years of familiarity with French and then Italian cooking models. While we were wandering a Santiago market a Spanish friend pointed to bunches of large-leafed kale and explained that in Spain the vegetable is used in soups (but apparently only in soups). That’s kale, a vegetable whose familiar name accounts for fully 113 results on this food blog, and may include a dozen or so varieties. But turnip greens were big on most menus at the time we were there.

I’m also enjoying a reacquaintance with my easy access to fresh seasoning vegetables and herbs, just a short walk from my kitchen (and with no steep gradients, unlike virtually everywhere in Portugal and Galicia).

• one swordfish steak (13 ounces) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, halved, then marinated for half an hour in a mixture of olive oil; 3 cloves of a green garlic bulb from Lani’s Farm, chopped; fresh peppermint leaves, also from Lani’s Farm and also chopped; and a very small amount of crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia, the steaks drained well, coated on both sides with homemade dried breadcrumbs and pan-grilled over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, removed to 2 plates, seasoned with sea salt, a small amount of white balsamic vinegar tossed on the steaks and then some of the green garlic leaves, chopped, sprinkled on top, before being drizzled with a little olive oil
• a couple handfuls of small red ‘new potatoes’ from Norwich Meadows Farm, boiled in well-salted water, drained, dried in the still-warm vintage glass pot, rolled in a little olive oil, seasoned with salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, sprinkled with chopped baby fennel fronds and some of the stems, finely-chopped
• a small bundle of small-diameter celtuce from Lani’s Farm, the leaves, removed from the ‘stalks’ and washed several times, wilted in a bit of olive oil and set aside, then the stalks, peeled, cut into half-inch sections, briefly par-boiled, drained and dried, sautéed in a little olive over a moderate flame for a minute or two, along with more of the chopped green garlic, then tossed with a sprinkling of pine nuts which had earlier been heated in a cast iron pan until they had begun to brown, the celtuce leaves reserved earlier now gently reheated and distributed onto the plates, the sliced stalks and pine nuts placed on top
• the wine was a Portuguese (Tejo) white, Casa Cadaval Padre Pedro Tejo 2014, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was Haydn, his Symphonies Nos. 91 & 92 ‘Oxford’, René Jacobs conducting the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

This is one of the four unglazed ceramic (stoneware) pans I use regularly (two large, one medium, one small), and I cannot say enough about how wonderful they are.

I use them mostly for roasting vegetables, but they’re also ideal for pizza, at least by my lights.

This one is the most seasoned of the four, in both senses (they should be washed as you would a good cast iron pan, that is, without using soap).

I don’t recall how I first heard about them, more than 8 years ago, but I bought mine on line. They are made and distributed by the marketing company, Pampered Chef.

I was just cleaning out the refrigerator to put together a meal before we leave for Portugal, and also trying to avoid wasting anything, and somehow we still managed to enjoy a pretty good dish of pasta, also a pretty dish of pasta.

• six ounces of garlic scapes from Norwich Meadows Farm, sautéed in a large enameled cast iron pot with and a little crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia before the addition of the roots from 2 bunches of chioggia beets which had been trimmed of all but a stump of their green stems, scrubbed, cut into wedges, parboiled until almost softened, the beet roots pushed around inside the pot, then joined by many of the roughly-chopped beet leaves themselves, stirring them into the mix until they had wilted, finally 7 ounces of Sfoglini red fife blend zucca, cooked al dente, added with some of reserved pasta water and moved about over a medium flame until the sauce had emulsified, the finished pasta arranged inside 2 shallow bowls and garnished with a bit of homemade breadcrumbs which had been browned in a little olive oil with a pinch of salt [note: with the second helping we enjoyed grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Vache Rosse from Eataly on top, which was as satisfactory a finish as the breadcrumbs]
• the wine was a California (Lodi) rosé, Karen Birmingham Rose Lodi 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was Mozart’s 1771 opera (the boy was but 14 at the time),  ‘Ascanio In Alba’, performed by Jed Wentz conducting Musica ad Rhenum and the Coqu Vocal Ensemble

Part of my life seems like it’s lived in the 19th century, or at least the first part of the 20th. I buy my comestibles from local farmers or maybe their helpers. I cook at home for our little family, and sometimes for guests as well, almost every night. I wash dishes by hand. We use cloth napkins exclusively, even if we usually keep the same ones over several days, replacing them in our assigned napkin ring (this is definitely a homey 19th century thing).

My food venders know me, and aware that I’m open to almost anything new, they occasionally suggest I try something out of the ordinary (I note here that “open to anything new” may not be something universally associated with the 19th century). That’s how this cut ended up on our table Sunday night. It started with, “Hey would you like something special?”

I’m not saying pork tenderloin is exactly out of the ordinary, but it’s shown up on this site only once in the 8 years it’s existed.

I didn’t have to be sold on the beautiful purple asparagus I saw mixed with some green ones at another farm stall just steps from that where I had found the pork a few days earlier. I knew that the purple stalks lose almost all of their color once cooked, but they were gorgeous. As their numbers were fewer than the green, I gathered up some of both.

Our spring ramps are gaining a little weight by the end of May, and this may have been the last we’ll see of them, at least from some forager/farmers. I included some with the asparagus.

• one 11-ounce pork tenderloin from Consider Bardwell Farm, seasoned on all sides with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, seared inside a tin-lined copper gratin pan, before a mixture of about a quarter cup of water, a third of a cup of white wine (Fattoria Sardi Vermentino 2015), 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, and several tablespoons of chopped fresh sage from Eataly (with hindsight, I might have left the herb whole) were poured over it, the pan placed inside a preheated (425º) oven and the meat roasted, the sauce spooned over it half way through, for about 15 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registered 145 degrees, removed, and allowed to rest for about 10 minutes before it was sliced, thickly, arranged on 2 plates, the sauce, which had been produced almost naturally, poured on top (if necessary, it can be thinned by adding more water, or thickened by raising the flame, both while stirring), a little micro purple radish added as garnish
• ten or 12 thick asparagus spears (1.3 lbs) from John D. Madera Farm, an equal number green and purple, trimmed and their stems peeled, and the fat white sections (green leaves removed) of an equal number of late-season ramps (the bulbs grow larger as their short season advances) from Berried Treasures Farm, along with a handful of thyme branches from Stokes Farm, rolled with a little more than a tablespoon of olive oil, a little sea salt, and a bit of freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper inside a large Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic pan and roasted in the pan at 425º for about 20 minutes, while 6 or 8 of the reserved green ramp leaves, roughly-chopped, were thrown onto the top and pushed around a bit just before the asparagus and ramp bulbs had finished cooking, at which time the vegetables were removed to 2 plates and drizzled with juice from a sweet orange-colored local lemon from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island
• the wine with this course was an Italian (Sicily) Liotro Inzolia 2015, from Garnet Wines

There was also a small primi, served just before the tenderloin.

• pasta that remained from dinner the night before, gently re-heated, served with more browned homemade breadcrumbs
• the wine was an Italian (Tuscany) white, Fattoria Sardi Vermentino 2015, from Garnet Wines

 

• the music throughout was the album, ‘Konzerte Am Dresdner Hof‘, which includes works by Francesco Maria Veracini (1690-1768), Johann David Heinichen (1683-1729), Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758), Johann Georg Pisendel (1687-1755), and Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773)