it took almost an hour

 

We were hoping it would be less.

Well, a large amount of water has to come to a boil and then a sturdy artisanal pasta will take its own good time, and after that there’s a little swirling or stirring, and pretty soon it’s a pretty late supper.

Okay, it was late, even for us; it was nearly midnight.

But it was delicious, and probably both better and more comfy than any alternative we had after returning home close to 11 o’clock.  We came directly from Louise Fishman’s opening at the Philadelphia ICA, which had culminated a wonderful day trip to Philadelphia.

The recipe is from Mark Bitttman, ‘Minting A Pasta Dish For Summer‘. I’ve been saving it since 2003. He writes that the amount of the herb indicated, “..allows the mint to announce its presence’.  If you like mint as much as I do, I don’t think using more of it in this recipe would be a bad idea at all.

I halved all of the ingredients.

• eight ounces of artisanal pasta (here Setaro Nodi Marini from Buon Italia), after it had been cooked al dente in a large pot of water and drained, immediately turned into a warmed bowl and thoroughly mixed with 2 or 3 tablespoons of its cooking liquid, 2 tablespoons of ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘, about a fourth of a cup of chopped peppermint from Lani’s Farm, and about a fourth of a cup of Parmesan cheese from Whole Foods, grated, seasoned with salt an pepper to taste, divided into 2 shallow bowls, sprinkled with micro beets from Two Guys from Woodbridge (because I had a small amount already washed and dried), and also for the color), and served with additional cheese on the side
• the wine was an Italian (Sardinia) white, La Cala Vermentino di Sardegna 2014
• the music was from Q2, streaming (it was late, and we were too tired to remember the pieces)

lots of herbs

 

and unltimately lots of alliums as well

 

The meal tasted far more luxurious than the amount of money which exchanged hands at the fishmonger today would have suggested. Also, the availability of ramps and asparagus made for an entrée fit for a king, or at least a somewhat unpresuming monarch.

• four 3-ounce Porgy fillets from Blue Moon Fish, pan-seared over medium heat in a bit of butter with thinly-sliced spring garlic from Bodhitree Farm and salt, the fish basted at least several times with the the garlic butter for about 2 minutes, then turned over, the heat reduced to low, a cover placed on the pan and the filets cooked for about another minute or two, the cover removed, 2 or 3 tablespoons of mixed fresh herbs thrown in (I used parsley, mint, lovage, savory, thyme, and oregano this time) and the basting continued for about another minute, or until the fish was cooked through (the recipe was slightly modified from one written by Melissa Clark)
• an equal mix of ramps from Berried Treasures and asparagus from Phillips Farm, rolled in olive oil with salt and pepper, the ramp greens separated from the bulbs, and the asparagus and bulbs pan-grilled until cooked through and grill marks appeared, removed, replaced briefly by the ramp greens, then all of the vegetables combined on a warm platter and distributed to plates
• the wine was a California (Clarksburg) white, Richard Bruno Clarksburg Chenin Blanc 2015
• the music was from the album, ‘Barbary Coast’ (Red Light New Music), and mostly just Liam Robinson, Chris Cerrone, and Ted Hearne

hot.

 

In all of Italy, couscous is a tradition only in Sicily and in Sardinia (apparently with the exception of somewhere in Rome): In Sicily it’s cooked with fish, in Sardinia with lamb; we were right on target this evening.

• a small serving of a rich couscous (prepared with Sicilian olives, garlic, dried peperoncino, cherry tomatoes, and juices from the monkfish with which it had been prepared a few days ago), a mix which, having survived the earlier feast, was now  gently reheated while small amounts of a good stock were added to the mix, and served in shallow bowls

 

• four absolutely superb small lamb loin chops from Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, cooked on a very hot grill pan for about 5 or 6 minutes on each side, seasoned with salt and pepper after they were first turned over, finished with juice of a local lemon from Fantastic Gardens of New Jersey, chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge, chopped winter savory form Stokes Farm, and a drizzle of olive oil
• a large handful of micro beets from Two Guys from Woodbridge, washed, drained, allowed to dry, then gathered on two plates where they were drizzled with a good Umbrian olive oil (Luciana Cerbini Casa Gola from Buon Italia), a squeeze of the same local lemon used on the lamb, salt and pepper
• kale rabe from Alewife Farm, washed, drained, and braised in a heavy pot in which two halved garlic cloves from Whole Foods had first been allowed to sweat in some olive oil, the dish finished with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a very special California (Sonoma) red, Scott Peterson Rumpus Cabernet Sauvignon California 2014 from NakedWines.com
• the music was Aulis Sallinen’s Symphony No 5, Ari Rasilainen conducting the Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic Orchestra

 

untitled (rose scallops) 2005

I forgot to return my memory card to the camera before I shot, or thought I had shot, pictures of this meal, so there is no pictorial record of it; the image above describes several forms of shellfish, and last night we had only scallops, but I like the photograph. I captured it in a fish stall, Pura Vida Fisheries, over 10 years ago at the Union Square Greenmarket.

 

The scallops were not big, and so would have been less successful on a pan grill than when the are larger, and I was aching to use my new 10-inch tin-lined copper skillet, so that’s where they found themselves last night, sautéed, however briefly, inside a luxury French vessel. I decided to top them with some ramp butter when they were done, mostly because it was there. It was a remainder from preparations for a steak dinner a few days before. It contained both lemon zest and lemon juice, so nothing more would be needed to finish the scallops, except that I also had a lot of micro beet greens left from a container bought last Friday (it was the smallest they had at the time), so they ended up dressing up the flavors – and altering the color scheme.

The tomatoes were sautéed whole, and spring garlic finished the dish; it was an allium from Nevia No’s just-retired Bodhitree Farms, bought on her last day in Union Square, and it and the remainder of the bunch will be my final physical connection with her genius.

The rainbow chard was also from Nevia’s farms, and it was as sweet and beautiful as the first half of the same bouquet had been.

• twelve medium scallops from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, rinsed, dried very thoroughly, sautéed in a heavy tin-lined copper pan, 2 minutes on one side, 1 on the other, removed to 2 warm plates, spread with a ramp butter (ramps from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, quickly par-boiled, dried and chopped, mixed with softened butter, organic lemon zest and juice, salt, and pepper, then placed in the refrigerator until ready to be used, but removed one hour before the meal, to soften), micro beets from Two Guys from Woodbridge scattered over the top
• eight Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, each punctured with a small skewer, sautéed in a little olive oil until they began to soften, seasoned with salt and pepper, removed to a warm bowl, then 1 stem of spring garlic from Bodhitree Farms, thinly-sliced bulb and wider-sliced greens, immediately tossed into the still-warm pan in which the tomatoes had cooked, stirred a few seconds, then the garlic and tomato juices poured on top of the tomatoes themselves, followed by a sprinkling of chopped oregano from Eataly and lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• rainbow chard from Bodhitree Farms, sautéed with olive oil, finished with a squeeze of juice from an organic lemon, some crushed dried Itria-Sirissi chili
• the wine was an Oregon (Willamette) white, Scott Kelley Pinot Gris Willamette 2015
• the music was Aulis Sallinen’s Piano Trio, Op. 96, and his Symphony No. 4, Op. 49 

 

The duck and its preparation was very familiar (except for a little fillip at the end), but this time it seemed juicier than ever. It may have been the fact that I sautéed it in a new tin-lined copper skillet this time instead of the enameled cast iron pan I have always used before (although I really love that older pan), or the fact that I cooked it a little more slowly than I normally do.

The nutty ozette potatoes are always a treat, especially roasted.

The green vegetable however was entirely new to me. I’m pretty open almost any new greens by this time in the year, and the flowering Pak Choi I saw in the Greenmarket on Friday looked pretty spectacular.

• one 14-ounce duck breast from Hudson Valley Duck Farm, its fatty side scored by a very sharp knife with regular cross-hatching, sprinkled with a mixture of salt, crushed telicherry peppercorns, and a bit of turbinado sugar (which had been infused over time with a vanilla bean), the breast left standing for about an hour before it was pan-fried over medium heat with a very small amount of olive oil, removed when medium rare (cutting it into the two serving portions at that time to be certain of its state) finished with a squeeze of organic lemon, a small amount of tomato butter (improvised from elements prepared for an earlier entrée), and chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• ozette potatoes from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, halved lengthwise, tossed with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary leaves from Stokes Farm, roasted at 450º for about 20-25 minutes, tossed in the pan, as soon as they emerged from the oven, with thinly-sliced spring garlic from Bodhitree Farm, finished with a sprinkling of micro beets from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• flowering pak choi from Alewife Farm, washed, drained, and braised very lightly in a heavy pot in which four tiny garlic cloves from Trader Joe’s had been allowed to sweat over low heat in some olive oil, the dish finished with a bit of crushed Itria-Sirissi chilies (peperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia), sea salt, a squeeze of organic lemon, and a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a California (Mendocino) Zinfandel, Paul Dolan Zinfandel Mendocino County 2013
• the music was the last hours of ‘Symphomania‘, a 24-hour marathon of 21st-century symphonic music curated by Will Robin, and presented on Q2 Music

I forgot to sprinkle the lovage on the eggs until after I had taken the picture

 

The ramp fest continued into breakfast the next morning.

The bacon and the eggs were from Millport Dairy Farm (the wonderful German-oriented produce of these Pennsylvania Amish folk reminds me more and more of the beautiful, rich Wisconsin dairy farms of the each of my parents’ families). The leeks were from Berried Treasures, the dried pepper was crushed Itria-Sirissi chilies (peperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia), the chopped lovage I later scattered over the eggs was from Two Guys from Woodbridge, and the toast was from a loaf of Eric Kayser’s demi-Vendôme (whose ingredients are, simply, de farine de froment, de levain, de germe de blé).

• the music (note: this was midday, on a Sunday), continuing our custom of listening to some form of liturgical music in the first hour(s) of the seventh day, was the ‘Les messes à teneur‘ [the tenor masses] of Guillaume Du Fay, performed by the ensemble, The Cut Circle.

I’ve always gone pretty easy on the amount of ramps I use in a meal, because it hasn’t occurred to me that I could but more than one bunch at a time; because I always improvise both the occasions and the amounts when I incorporate ramps into a meal; and because I’ve assumed that if a little goes a long way, a lot would probably go too far.

Recently however, while looking at formal recipes which feature this much-prized wild leek, I was surprised to see that generous quantities were usually specified.

At the Greenmarket on Friday, for the first time ever, I bought my leeks ‘by the pound’. On Saturday I used 8 ounces of my new treasure, and another few ounces found their way into a bacon and eggs breakfast the next morning.

I’m feeling good about this.

The recipe is pretty simple, although I was still able to overlook performing one small move, which probably explains why some of my pasta stuck to the bottom of the pan immediately, and none of it ever browned. My blunder was that I didn’t toss the cooked and drained spaghetti with olive oil before introducing it into the hot pan. The browning would have made the flavors a little more complicated, added an additional color to a dish which was already pretty colorful.

• the ingredients I used in the pasta were 8 ounces of Afeltra spaghettone; 8 ounces of ramps from Berried treasures; chopped mint from Phillips Farm (I had on hand only half of the 1 ounce specified, so its effect was more subtle than it could have been); 4 ounces of a California (Clarksburg) white, David Akiyoshi Chardonnay Clarksburg 2014, from Naked Wines; a fourth of a cup of grated ‘Organic Parmigiana Reggiani Hombre’, from Whole Foods; and a sprinkling of micro beets from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the wine was a California (Clarksburg) white, Karen Birmingham 2015 Pinot Grigio
• the music was again from the Eighth Blackbird album, ‘Hand Eye‘, this time specifically works of Christopher Cerrone and Jacob Cooper

The monkfish recipe is absolutely terrific. I had already been a big fan of couscous, and my enthusiasm had been magnified by my two earlier experiences with this Sicilian treatment of coda di rospo. Somehow joining these few ingredients results in one of the sweetest food marriages I have ever witnessed.

We hadn’t enjoyed chard at home for some time, and this bunch of rainbow chard (larger than we cold consume in one meal, so there will be another appearance) was just about the most beautiful I had ever seen; also, it turned out, possibly the most delicious. Unfortunately it is the very last of this farmer’s bounty we will be be privileged to have on the table: Nevia No’s wonderful Bodhitree Farm has retired.

• one 17-ounce monkfish tail from Blue Moon Fish, prepared using a David Pasternak recipe which includes M’hamsa Couscous from Tunisia (purchased at Whole Foods), olive oil, sliced garlic from Whole Foods, some superb Mutti baby Roma tomatoes from Eataly (also available at Whole Foods), and a handful of  Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, cracked green olives from Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, and almost all of one whole crushed dried Itria-Sirissi chili (peperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia), the fish cooked, because of its size, much longer than specified in the recipe (15 minutes?)
• rainbow chard from Bodhitree Farms, sautéed with olive oil, finished with juice from an organic lemon, and most of another crushed dried Itria-Sirissi chili
• the wine was an Italian (Sardinia) white, La Cala Vermentino di Sardegna 2013
• the music was a great evening of Q2 streaming, and included ‘Continuum II’ by Jane Antonia Cornish, and ‘Muistin pitka jyrina’, by Riikka Talvitie

This is a pretty tasty way to serve mackerel, Michael White’s very simple Sicilian-inspired recipe, and it’s a pretty simple process, which may help explain why I still haven’t come up with many alternatives for this wonderful fish, except for the time I tried an excellent one by Gordon Ramsey.

• Boston mackerel (seven 2-ounce filets) from Blue Moon Fish Company, washed, dried, brushed with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, pan grilled over high heat for five or six minutes, turning once, transferred to plates and topped with a salsa of quartered Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, which had been tossed with olive oil, wild capers in brine which had been rinsed and drained, some organic lemon juice, salt, and pepper
• about half a pound of a mix of potatoes, mostly Yukon Gold from Whole Foods, and one Red Norland from Lucky Dog Organic, boiled until tender, drained, cooled slightly, cut into quarters, placed in a skillet and cooked over high heat for about 5 minutes (or, ideally, until the potatoes had just begun to brown, but the tubers had been boiled too long this time, or had cooled too long, and so were unable to), one medium clove of thinly-sliced garlic from Whole Foods added, the heat turned down, the potatoes cooked slowly until they had (or might have) browned fully, about 3 minutes longer, seasoned with salt and pepper and kept warm until the fish had been cooked
• a few tender collard greens from Lani’s Farm, washed, drained, and braised very lightly in a heavy pot in which two halved garlic cloves from Whole Foods had been allowed to sweat in some olive oil, the dish finished with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a French (Rhône) white, E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône 2014
• the music was from the album, ‘William Lawes: Royall Consort Suites‘, with Monica Huggett conducting the Ensemble Sonnerie

It was one of the 6 anniversaries as a couple which we celebrate each year (yeah, ‘6‘!), in this case the 24th anniversary of what we refer to, somewhat discreetly, as the night of ‘the Magic meal’.

The meal had to be special, but when I was planning it we didn’t expect our oven would be again be operational by that day, so that ruled out the baked pasta from the original menu of over two decades before, which was Johanne Killeen and George Germon’s Conchiglie al Forno, with shiiatake mushrooms, a head of radicchio, 3 (or 4) different cheeses, cream, and some fresh sage.

I consulted the muse, and when Barry suggested going with a good steak, I realized the rest of the meal was going to be just as easy as the featured player.

Meanwhile, I had been seduced by the color of the beet pasta spotted inside a display counter near the door of a pasta shop I passed on my way to Dickson’s Farmstand, so I realized that would take care of the first course, and it also made a second contorno unnecessary, allowing me to concentrate on the steak, and the celtuce which I had found at the Greenmarket the day before. The color of the pasta was more subdued, as I expected, after it had been cooked, but the taste was not.

• six ounces of beet fusilione (large-scale corkscrew) dry pasta from the small Rana Pastificio store in the Chelsea Market, briefly boiled, until al dente, drained, swirled around in several tablespoons of good butter, seasoned, served in low bowls and sprinkled with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
• the celebratory wine, enjoyed both before and during this first course, was a delicious New Mexico (Sierra County) sparkling, Gruet Blanc de Noirs 

 

• one 14.5 ounce New York strip steak from Dixon’s Farmstand, brought to room temperature, dried with paper towels, pan grilled for 4 or 5 minutes on each side, scattered with a little sea salt and freshly-ground Telicherry pepper (once it had been turned over), divided into two pieces and removed to warm plates, drizzled with a little ramp butter (ramps from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, quickly par-boiled, dried and chopped, mixed with softened butter, organic lemon zest and juice, salt, and pepper, then placed in the refrigerator until ready to be used)
• the very small stems of a ‘head’ of celtuce from Lani’s Farm (far smaller than the last time I prepared this vegetable), the ‘stalks’ cut into 2-inch sections and very quickly par-boiled, then dried, minced and rolled in a little butter over a moderate flame for a minute or two, along with some wild garlic, also from Lani’s Farm, followed by the celtuce leaves which had been torn off of the stems earlier, washed several times and drained, both stems and leaves served on plates with a sprinkling of pine nuts which had earlier been heated in a cast iron pan until they had begun to brown
• the wine was a Washington (Columbia Valley) red, Katy Michaud Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2013
• the music on this very frustrating New York State primary day was some delightful early 18th-century country music composed by Joseph-bodin De Boismortier, ‘Divertissements De Campagne’