It was neither fish, flesh, nor fowl, but, perhaps uniquely, it did include the milk of bovines, so not vegan either.

There was treviso, Vermont treviso.

• two small sliced Japanese scallions from Norwich Meadows Farm and one whole dried peperoncini Calabresi secchia from Buon Italia heated over a low flame in a tablespoon or so of Whole Foods Market house Portuguese olive oil inside a large, heavy, antique high-sided copper pan, stirring until the allium had softened, the zest and some of the juice of an organic California lemon from Whole Foods Market then mixed in, followed by half of a one-pound package of an all-New York-grain pasta, cooked al dente and drained, Sfoglini‘s spaccatelli (which includes local organic durum semolina and organic hard red wheat flour, New Jersey Riverine Ranch water buffalo milk, and water), an all-New York-grain pasta, cooked al dente and drained, picked up at the Riverine ranchers’ stall in the Union Square Greenmarket, plus, adding it gradually while stirring, more than half a cup of reserved pasta cooking water, then continuing to stir the mix over a moderate to high flame until the liquid had emulsified, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, and, after the heat was turned off, 2 handfuls of roughly chopped treviso radicchio from Tamarack Hollow Farm, the pasta arranged in shallow bowls, some toasted pine nuts, or pinoli, from Buon Italia tossed on top, finished with a bit of olive oil drizzled around the outside of the pasta and garnished with red micro basil from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, F. Stephen Millier Angels Reserve Pinot Grigio Lodi 2017, from Naked Wines
• the music was Francesco Geminiani’s Concerti Grossi Op 3,  Fabio Biondi conducting Europa Galante 

It was much like a dinner of salads. Although the crab cakes and the beans each had been cooked a bit, they didn’t insist on being any more than just a little warm when we started eating.

• two crab cakes from P.E. & D.D. Seafood (ingredients: crab, egg, flour, red & green peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, milk, celery, parsley), heated in a heavy vintage seasoned cast iron pan, barely 3 minutes to each side, served on a fresh ‘wild’ tomato salsa composed of tiny ‘wild’ tomatoes (‘Matt’s Wild Cherry’?) from Norwich Meadows Farm, more than a tablespoon of fresh oregano buds, also from Norwich Meadows, a bit of one small medium spicy finely chopped ahi rico pepper from Alewife Farm, a tablespoon or so of olive oil, sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, the salsa itself arranged inside a ring of peppery small-leaf/baby arugula from Windfall
• a couple handfuls of haricots verts from Berried Treasures Farm, left whole, blanched, drained and dried in the same pan over low-medium heat, shaking, set aside in a bowl until the crab cakes were being heated, at which time they were warmed up in a little oil inside a heavy well-seasoned cast iron pan, joined by the finely chopped segments of one garlic scape, also from Berried Treasures finished with Maldon salt and freshly-ground black pepper
• the wine was a California white, D.H. Elliott California White Blend 2017, from Naked Wines
• the music was an album of 8 baroque/classical string concertos by Francesco Durante, Werner Ehrhardt conducting Concerto Köln 

Now that’s a starter.

• red shishito peppers, an heirloom non-hybrid variety of peppers from Alewife Farm, which, at least in this very first experience of them, we both found even more delicious than the familiar, less mature, green ones (they were chewier, in a good way, and while each boasted a little heat, the hottest of this batch was still not as hot as the hottest green shishito we might regularly experience), washed, drained, dried, then sautéed over medium high heat in a seasoned 13.5″ cast iron pan for a few minutes, stirring, seasoned with Maldon salt, arranged on the plates, more of the salt added, to taste
• slices from a She Wolf Bakery miche
• the wine was an Italian (Abruzzo) rosé, Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, Sirio 2017, from Astor Wines

The main course was just as delicious as the appetizer, although without the frisson of anticipating a surprise level of scoville units; also it was a little more complicated to prepare.

• four tiny loin goat chops, each averaging less than 3 ounces, from Lynnhaven Dairy Goat Farm, marinated for about 45 minutes in a mix of a couple tablespoons of olive oil, 2 small sliced cloves of fresh garlic from from Alex’s Tomato Farm, freshly-ground black pepper, 8 slightly-crushed juniper berries, some roughly-chopped rosemary from Phillips Farms, one medium crushed bay leaf from Westside Market, and a little zest from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, then pan-grilled for a few minutes, turning 3 times, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper after the first time, finished with a bit juice from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon and a drizzle of olive oil, garnished with micro red basil from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• eight tiny golden zucchini or yellow summer squash from Berried Treasures Farm, the last on the farm’s Greenmarket table that afternoon(one of those in the picture didn’t survive the journey), washed, dried, halved lengthwise, tossed with a little olive oil, sea salt, and freshly-ground black pepper, pan grilled until softened and slightly charred, turning once, arranged on the plates, scattered with cut parsley and torn spearmint leaves, both herbs from Phillips Farms, a bit of one finely chopped medium spicy ahi rico pepper from Alewife Farm, also 8 or so halved pitted kalamata olives from Whole Foods Market, drizzled with a little olive oil and served at room temperature
• some peppery red watercress from Dave Harris’s Max Creek Hatchery
• the wine was a Spanish/Catalonia/Priorat red, Sao del Coster, Priorat 2015, from Flatiron Wines 

• the music throughout the meal was the beautiful symphonies Joseph Martin Kraus composed in the 1770’s and 1780’s, Werner Ehrhardt conducting Concerto Köln

 

[the image of Kraus as a student in Erfurt is a portrait attributed to Jakob Samuel Beck, and it appears on the composer’s Wikipedia page]

Actually, it was the egg shells that were blue.

 

I don’t think I should be posting every meal on this blog, and in fact I don’t always do. I especially don’t think I should be writing about every single Sunday breakfast, since they’re almost always assembled around many of the same things, eggs, usually fried eggs, because we like fried eggs, and because we want to avoid challenging the cook early in the day.

The colors that appear on the plates make for some of the most interesting weekly variations, and yesterday’s plates were particularly sweet examples, but it was also because I was excited about sending all 6 eggs to the table with perfect unbroken yellows, giving the toast more to do, that I decided to include this particular early meal in the blog.

• clearly seen in the picture are thick slices of bacon from pastured pigs and blue Americauna eggs from free-range chickens, both from Millport Dairy Farm, a bit of shallot from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, a little chopped fresh habanada pepper from Alewife Farm, Maldon salt and freshly-ground black pepper, a bit of finely-chopped mildly-spicy aji rico pepper from Alewife Farm, one green zebra heirloom tomato from Stokes Farm, cut flowering dill flowers from Rise & Root Farm, and lightly-toasts slices of both a Pain D’Avignon rye and a She Wolf Bakery miche
• the music was the album, ‘Orlando di Lasso: Laudate Dominum’, with Andrew McAnerney directing Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montreal

(I used the common American Italian expression for prosciutto only because it meant that I could fit the other words in the header in a single line)

 

The antipasto was very tasty, but it didn’t represent anything new on our table. The pasta was also wonderful, but it really was very new, at least to us.

It started with the tomatoes.

I had been looking for some outside inspiration for using some perfectly ripe green heirloom tomatoes (not green as in ‘not ripe’) that I thought really should be sent to the table that night.  I decided to go with a recipe from Martha Stewart’s site, even before I had read it very closely. When I did, I realized that it described a cold, salad pasta, and not a conventional warm entrée. I decided to work it as the latter, while noting the usefulness of the former as a warm weather meal that could be prepared ahead of time, making it very useful for entertaining.

• one ounce (yeah, one ounce) of Principe Prosciutto di San Daniele from Whole Foods Market, divided onto 2 plates, drizzled with a good Campania olive oil (Lamparelli O.R.O.)
• some peppery small-leaf, or baby arugula from Windfall Farms, lightly dressed with the same olive oil, Maldon salt, freshly-ground black pepper and a small squeeze of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market
• slices of a She Wolf Bakery miche

The main course was a pasta dish I largely cribbed from Martha Stewart, although I think I ended up making it my own. The original recipe describes a room temperature salad.

• one small chopped shallot from Lucky Dog Organic Farm and 3 large Agostino Recca salted Sicilian anchovies from Buon Italia, in the Chelsea Market, rinsed well in several changes of water and filleted, heated together in a tablespoon or so of olive oil inside a large antique high-sided copper pot until the anchovy had dissolved, after which a total of 8 or 9 ounces of Afeltra 100% Italian Pasta di Gragnano spaghetto from Flatiron Eataly, cooked al dente, was added, along with, pouring gradually, most of a cup of some reserved pasta cooking water, everything stirred together over a medium to high flame until the liquid had emulsified, the pasta seasoned with sea salt and black pepper, and nearly 2 cups of a mix of chopped parsley and spearmint, both form Phillips Farms, reserving enough for a garnish, were then mixed in, followed by 11 or 12 ounces of sliced green zebra heirloom tomatoes from Stokes Farm, which were slipped into the pot and gently lifted through the spaghetto before it was divided into 2 shallow bowls, sprinkled with pine nuts from Buon Italia that had been toasted in a dry cast iron pan earlier, drizzled around the edges with olive oil, and sprinkled with some of the reserved herbs
• the wine was an Italian (Campania/Ischia) white, Casa d’Ambra Ischia Bianco 2017, from Garnet Wines
• the music was an album of piano pieces by Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann brilliantly performed by Soheil Nasseri, whom we had heard perform, and met, last Thursday when he performed at Merkin Concert Hall