Last night we had plans to see what turned out to be a brilliant production of Athol Fugard’s brilliant 1969 ‘Boesman and Lena’ at Signature Theatre. We knew we’d be home fairly late, late at least for making a dinner, so while at the Greenmarket that afternoon while picking a seafood and a vegetable, I chose what what could be placed on the table in a short amount of time. An excellent crusty loaf of bread, also from the Union Square market, was enough to finish the course.

• fourteen scallops (15 ounces) from Pura Vida Seafood, washed, drained, and very thoroughly  dried on paper towels (twice), generously seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan grilled for about 90 seconds on each side, arranged on warm plates, finished with a squeeze of a sweet local lemon from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island in the Union Square Greenmarket, and a drizzle of Trader Joe’s Italian Reserve extra virgin olive oil,

garnished with micro red chard, also from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• red frill mustard from Two Guys from Woodbridge (most of that farm’s live plant, sold in a container with its roots in water), wilted gently inside a medium size antique copper pot in a little olive oil in which one halved clove of ‘music’ garlic aka ‘strong neck’ from Windfall Farms had been heated gently until it had begun to soften, seasoned with salt and pepper, arranged on the plates and drizzled with the same Trader Joe’s olive oil

• pieces torn from a sturdy ‘baguette sarasin’ (buckwheat flour bread) from the Eric Kayser shop on Broadway below Madison Square
• the wine was a French (Loire/Sancerre) white, Serge Laloue, Sancerre 2017, from Flatiron Wines
• the music was the Kevin Volans album, ‘Volans: Music for Wind Ensemble’

 

[the image of the baguette is from the bakery’s own site]