Month: October 2010

Calabrese salame, cauliflower frittata

dinner, 10/18/10

(color it purple, gold or green – or just leave it white, like ours this time)

I love cauliflower in every form, and I’m equally fond of eggs.  I’d been looking for the flowered cabbage in the Greenmarket all summer, but hadn’t found a small, good-looking head, in any color, until this past weekend.  As I had on hand some very fresh Greenmarket eggs from Knoll Krest Farm which I didn’t want to hold onto long, I thought of one of my favorite recipes.

  • slices of Calabrese salame (Columbus Salumeria, from Trader Joe’s), served with Greenmarket red dandelion greens dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette along with slices of “Wheat Italian Bread” from Wild Hive Bakery in the Greenmarket
  • cauliflower frittata, made in a 12-inch pan and not flipped (very, very easy:  see recipe), including in the saute mix some thinly-sliced stem as well as the torn green pointed leaves tightly enclosing the head, the eggs beaten with a bit of grated Parmigiano from Eataly and added when the vegetable had begun to color, the thin “omelet” finished with a sprinkling of anise hyssop blossoms and torn leaves, from Keith’s Farm in the Greenmarket
  • a nibble of Cave-Aged Cheddar from New Jersey’s Bobolink Dairy (Greenmarket), served with thin toasts of the same wheat bread
  • wine:  Spanish, Naia 2008 Rueda (Verdejo) by Jorge Ordonez, from 67 Wine

[image from clipart ETC (unfortunately I forgot to record the supplier, and snap an image, while  I was at the Union Square Greenmarket)]

lardo toasts, roast lamb, coriander turnips

dinner, 10/15/10

The lardo in the first full course was awesome, but the little roast was the probably the featured attraction in this dinner.

I knew that using a slow oven for the second would mean a chance to relax and enjoy some cooking smells for a longer period of time than usual, but while the entree was finishing up in the oven I began to think that it might have slipped out of my control (I was afraid that I had overcooked the lamb – and even the turnips).   I was working with a really very small piece of meat, but I suspected that this shoulder cut could not be cooked as rare as I would normally.

It turned out perfectly in the end.  We were able to enjoy the most luscious and juicy roast lamb – and cracklings – I know I’ve ever had (it also had an excellent gamey taste, more than that to which I’m accustomed in lamb).  There were also some excellent caramelized turnips, with almost-crunchy edges and seasonings which gave them a distinctive but subtle Mediterranean piquancy.

Welcome to fall.

  • quartered “Easter Egg radishes” (parti-colored) from the Union Square Greenmarket, served with our favorite salt, Maldon
  • warm toasts of a terrific, and very sturdy, “Wheat Italian Bread” (locally-grown organic grains, including whole spring wheat flour and organic whole winter wheat flour, sea salt, yeast, sesame seeds, egg wash) from Wild Hive Bakery covered with very thin slices of Mangalitsa heritage pork lardo from Mosefund, whose stall is in the Sunday New Amsterdam Market Downtown, sprinkled with a bit of freshly-ground black pepper and served with red dandelion leaves from the Greenmarket which had been tossed with a light lemon vinaigrette
  • wine:  Italian, from the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Trentino Intaglio 2008, from Eataly Wines
  • a small (13 oz)  rolled boneless lamb shoulder from Arcadian Pastures, first slit all over to accommodate slices of Rocambole garlic (Keith’s Farm, in the Greenmarket) and rosemary leaves, rubbed with oil and lemon juice (ideally, it should then sit in the refrigerator for hours, but not this time), seared and first slow-roasted (270 degrees F) covered, to a juicy medium or slightly more, then with the cover removed and the oven turned up to 425 degrees, browned on top, sliced and served with lemon wedges;  accompanied by chunks of turnips from Bodhitree Farm, tossed in oil, Alderwood salt (from The Filling Station) and pepper, spread onto a large ceramic pan and roasted at 425 degrees, removed from the oven and tossed in a bowl with oil, minced garlic, chopped Titan parsley from the Greenmarket’s Paffenroth Gardens, lemon juice, and ground coriander seeds
  • cheese and fruit:  small amounts of three cheeses, a mild blue ewe’s milk, Bonneyview Farms’ Mossend Blue, purchased from Saxelby’s Cheesemongers (whose shop is located in the Essex Street Market) at the New Amsterdam Market, Bonrus;  an Alta Langa Piedmontese, from Eataly, also of ewe’s milk;  and a cow’s milk cheese, the Cave-Aged Cheddar of New Jersey’s Bobolink Dairy, the three served with golden raspberries from Berried Treasures
  • wine:  French, Domaine Mas de Martin 2007 Coteaux du Languedoc from Pasanella and Sons Vintners

novel squash ravioli, again 10/10/10

Ground cherries aren’t just for salads, salsas and spreads.  The pasta recipe described below doesn’t conform with any known Italian tradition, but until about 300 years ago neither did the tomato, so maybe in another hundred or so  . . . .

I hadn’t yet published the post I had begun two weeks ago (describing a very good meal featuring squash-filled ravioli), when we enjoyed virtually the same entree again two nights ago.  It was a winner both times, so I’ve decided to use the second meal as an opportunity to post something which would include the binary date 10/10/10.   Of course the real reason for this blog is the deliciousness of the meal – and the fact that it was almost a complete, largely-serendipitous invention of my own.  It’s also incredibly simple, quick, very, very easy, and clearly healthy.  Also, if you’re as fond of squash- or pumpkin-stuffed pasta as I am, but slightly tired of sage and butter route and looking for new ways to enjoy it, read on.

  • sliced heirloom tomatoes (two small “peach” heirlooms and one small orange heirloom, all from the Berried Treasures Farm Greenmarket stand), served with drops of good oil and castings of shredded basil, the herb also from the Greenmarket;  accompanied by an awesome chevre from the Greenmarket’s Ardith Mae Goat Cheese and thin slices of Balthazar Bakery‘s multigrain crescent bread, from Citarella
  • squash-filled ravioli from Eataly (fresh egg pasta “stars” stuffed with pumpkin, amaretti, mustard, salt and nutmeg), sauced with oil and a bit of cooking water, a handful of halved ground cherries (a recent obsession of mine) from Pittstown’s Oak Grove Plantation in the Greenmarket, chopped cutting celery* from Brewster’s Ryder Farm stand, also in the Greenmarket, a generous crush of pink peppercorns (a secret passion) purchased, some time ago, from Dean & Deluca in Tribeca, oil, and grated Parmesan
  • wine:  Sicilian white, Corvo Fiore 2009, from Eataly Wines

* in September the ground cherries used were from Berried Treasures;  also, I had used lovage instead of cutting celery;  I’m not surprised that I preferred the lovage, but then on the second night I tried a few pieces of pasta with some torn anise hyssop leaves, from cuttings picked up at Keith’s Farm in the Greenmarket, suggesting it and any number of other herbal possibilities