Because it introduced almost nothing that was new into the food conversation on this blog, I wasn’t going to bother doing a post about this meal, but there was that ephemeral garlic mustard part, so I changed my mind.

• sixteen sea scallops (14 ounces) from Pura Vida Seafood, rinsed, dried very thoroughly, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, briefly grilled (90 seconds on each side) in a medium size enameled cast iron pan, finished with a squeeze of juice from a Chelsea Whole Foods Market organic lemon, a sprinkling of a very special treat, some chopped spring garlic mustard (alliaria petiolata/jack-by-the-hedge [Br.]), both blossoms and leaves from Tyler Dennis of Alewife Farm, and a drizzle of olive oil [they were still delicious, but because I was distracted near the end of their ideal cooking time, I left them on the grill a little too long, a mistake which curiously shrunk them in size]
• three Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, halved, the cut sides sprinkled with salt and pepper placed in a little olive oil inside a small blue antique (1930s) Pyrex Flameware pan, and heated gently until just before they would have begun to lose shape, arranged on the plates and sprinkled with Sicilian fennel pollen from Buon Italia, a drizzle of good olive oil

• just under 20 ounces of 14 thick asparagus spears from John D. Madura Farms, trimmed, their stems peeled, rolled, along with half a dozen ramp bulbs and stems (the green leaves set aside), in a couple tablespoons of olive oil inside a large rectangular enameled cast iron pan, sautéed over medium high heat while frequently rolling or turning them until they were beginning to brown (about 15 minutes), finished with a sprinkling of Maldon salt and freshly-ground black pepper, then rolled once again with the reserved ramp leaves, now thinly sliced
• the wine was an excellent and inexpensive French (Gironde/Bergerac) white, Chateau Laulerie Bergerac Blanc 2018, from Flatiron Wines
• the music was the 1999 album of exquisitely austere guitar music, ‘Hans Werner Henze / Maximilian Mangold ‎– Royal Winter Music’,  Erste und zweite Sonaten Über Gestalten von Shakespeare, the pieces composed in 1976 and 1980 respectively