Very nice, and minimal, allowing us to continue with a cheese course this time.

• two Albacore tuna steaks (totalling about 13 ounces) from Pura Vida Fisheries, rubbed top and bottom with a mixture of dry Italian fennel seed and one and a half dried Itria-Sirissi chilis (peperoncino di Sardegna intero) from Buon Italia, ground together in a mortar-and-pestle, the tuna additionally seasoned with salt, and pepper, then pan-grilled for only a little more than a minute or so on each side, finished with a good squeeze of organic lemon from Whole Foods, scattered with micro purple radish sprouts from Windfall Farms, and drizzled with olive oil
• a handful of small middle eastern cucumbers from Norwich Meadows Farm, sautéed in olive oil until lightly browned, seasoned with sea salt, and tossed with chopped calamint (aka mentuccia, nipitella or nepitella, and tasting like a cross between mint and oregano) from Berried Treasures Farm
• slices of a Bobolink bread, Red Fife baguette

There was a cheese course.

• Consider Bardwell ‘Manchester’, a goat cheese; Consider Bardwell ‘Experience’, a pasteurized cow cheese; another Consider Bardwell cow cheese ‘Dorset’; and the very funky Bobolink semisoft cow cheese, ‘Jean-Louis‘
• served with thin slices of the same Bobolink Red Fife baguette

 

• the wine was an Oregon (throughout) rosé, Underwood Rosé 2015 from Union Wine Co.
• the music was Toru Takemitsu’s ‘Garden Rain’ (which we listened to while it was in fact raining on our garden outside the windows)

it was one of those dinners that work out so well it makes up for any number of indifferent outings that may have preceded it.

Milkweed was the star, first, because I had never heard of its use in cookery; second, because I came upon it by chance in our local Greenmarket, offered by the local farmer himself; third, because the buds were so beautiful, both before and after arriving on our plates; and, fourth, because they were absolutely delicious and a perfect accompaniment to the scallops I already had in my insulated ‘creel’ when I spotted them.

Their flavor is described somewhere as a cross between that of green beans and asparagus; I’m only introducing that reference because Barry and I may be the only people we know within range of this post who now don’t have to rely on a description, especially one which denies their individuality.

 

• fourteen small-to-medium scallops from Blue Moon 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 a organic lemon from Whole foods, milkweed buds from Down Home Acres (in Unadilla, N.Y.) scattered on and around them, and a drizzle of good olive oil poured over the mix
• two sliced juicy fresh garlic cloves from Stokes Farm, gently heated for a minute or two in olive oil, joined by a number of small very sweet cherry tomatoes from Scopes Farm, each first punctured a couple of times with a thin pick, the tomatoes heated until they were barely cooked, some chopped wild mint from Berried Treasures and chopped basil from Tamarack Hollow Farm added and stirred into the mix
• a salad [not in the picture above] of semi-wild flowering cress from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, mixed with chopped baby shallots from Lani’s Farm, chopped summer savory from Stokes Farm and chopped parsley from Phillips Farm, salt, and pepper, dressed with good Campania olive oil and a little white balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper
• the wine was a California (Sonoma) white, Jac Cole unoaked Chardonnay Alexander Valley 2015
• the music was Counterstream Radio, streaming, and it included Nicolas Collins’ ‘It Was A Dark And Stormy Night’