and a purple napkin as well

 

These delicious savory crab cakes, made by one of the Greenmarket fishing families, are now familiar kitchen friends here, but we never tire of their complex flavors, and the ease with which they can be prepared is welcome every time.

• two crab cakes from PE & DD Seafood (ingredients: crab, egg, flour, red & green peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, milk, celery, parsley), heated in a heavy cast iron pan, 3 to 4 minutes on each side, and served on a bed of 6 Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, which were chopped and combined with salt, black pepper, one finely-chopped small Fresno pepper from Eataly, a bit of homemade French Basque piment d’Espellate purchased in a small town north of Baie-Comeau, Quebec last year from the producer’s daughter, and some chopped fresh oregano leaves from Stokes Farm, finished with juices from the salsa drizzled over the cakes
• small German Butterball potatoes (I think) from Tamarack Hollow Farm, scrubbed, boiled in salted water, drained, steamed dry, rolled with a small amount of olive oil, a bit more salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and chopped tarragon from Eataly
• purple winter kale from Tamarack Hollow Farm, wilted with olive oil in which one slightly-crushed Calabrian Rocambole garlic clove from Keith’s Farm had been allowed to heat until pungent, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of fresh olive oil
• the wine was a California white, David Akiyoshi Chardonnay Clarksburg 2014, from Naked Wines
• the music was Jaap van Zweden conducting the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4