Once again I was afraid that I might have bought more vegetables and herbs at the Greenmarket than I was likely to use, at least without a well-planned campaign for the weekend.

I made a plan, and it’s working.

Last night I managed to include some or all of 4 of them in one meal.

 

Fortunately the small amount of each vegetable, added to the modest size of the duck breast, made it possible.

• one 12-ounce Pat LaFrieda boneless duck breast from Eataly, the fatty side scored by a very sharp knife with cross-hatching, then sprinkled with a mixture of sea salt, ‘India Special Extra Bold’ Tellicherry peppercorns, and a bit of turbinado sugar (infused over time with a vanilla bean), the duck left standing for much of an hour before it was pan-fried over medium heat with a very small amount of duck fat remaining from an earlier meal, removed when medium rare (cutting it into the two portions at that time to be certain), finished with a drizzle of organic lemon, sprinkled with purple micro radish sprouts from Windfall Farms, and dressed with a bit of Campania olive oil
• two small heads of green cauliflower from Norwich Meadows Farm, separated into florets , sautéed in olive oil which had heated slices of fresh garlic from Stokes Farm, a little crushed dried Itria-Sirissi chili from Buon Italia, garlic, a little crushed dried fennel and coriander seed, then braised with 4 small halved Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, their juices first removed, and finished with torn calamint from Berrid Treasures
• tiny fairy eggplants from Norwich Meadows Farm, sliced in half, tossed with oil, chopped fresh garlic from Stokes Farm, salt, pepper, chopped lovage from from Tamarack Hollow Farm and chopped basil from Campo Rosso Farm, quickly grilled on a ribbed cast-iron pan
• the wine was a fantastic treat, a California (Napa) red, Scott Peterson S.P. Drummer Napa Red Blend 2014
• the music was Alphons Diepenbrock, ‘Symphonic Suite ‘Elektra’ and ‘Hymne an die Nacht’ (think 1900 late romanticism); after the meal, we enjoyed the Tallis Scholars/Peter Phillips performing ‘Sicut lilium inter spinas’ on Yle Klassinen, streaming

 

Images of the fairies grilling:

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’

The night was again far too muggy for cooking, and we still don’t have air conditioning in the kitchen area, but I didn’t think I would be hanging out near the range for long.

I was wrong.  It was far too long.

The pasta however was quite right, and afterward we were able to treat ourselves to the first cold dessert of the summer.

• ten ounces of Afeltra spaghetti chitarra, cooked al dente, mixed with a sauce of several cloves of garlic from Whole Foods, sliced and heated in a pan along with one large dried Itria-Sirissi chili (peperoncino di Sardegna intero) from Buon Italia, where the garlic was followed by half a pound of pieces of boned smoked swordfish steak from P.E.&D.D. Seafood and some savory pangrattato (here, some homemade days-old breadcrumbs toasted with olive oil in which more garlic and some salted and rinsed anchovies from Buon Italia had first been heated for a short while), the mix then tossed together over a low flame while some of the pasta water was added, served in bowls, where it was finished with a sprinkling of mixed fresh herbs from the Greenmarket and some chopped stems of spring onions from John D. Madura Farm.

There was also a genuine dessert last night.

• a dollop of Ciao Bella ‘Madagascar Vanilla’ gelato on top of some ripe purple fig segments from Whole Foods (no, the fruit was not at all local, just Italian-ish, which almost counts, at least for me); the figs had first been sprinkled with turbinado sugar and drizzled with a little Toschi Orzata Orgeat syrup

 

• the wine was an Italian (Tuscany) white, Villa Antinori Toscana 2014
• the music was Jan Dismas Zelenka’s Sonates Pour 2 Hautbois Et Basson, performed by the Ensemble Zefiro; and, later in the meal, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major Op. 10 No. 3, in a wonderful early recording by Martha Argerich

It was so hot.

It was a delicious dinner, but I’ll never again do something that requires so much time and stove hovering on the kind of warm and sticky night we had yesterday. To properly account for my sanity, when I started out assembling and planning the meal I had a reasonable expectation that the air conditioning in our kitchen areas was going to work.

It didn’t, but I only learned that fact about an hour before I had to begin cooking.

I made it through to the end. It was very good, but I’m certain we would both have enjoyed it more had the climate in both the kitchen and the dining area been more reasonable: I read 90º on the thermometer hanging at the edge of the kitchen after I had turned off the flames on the top of the range; there was no air moving (the fan would have inhibited the open gas flame); and it definitely wasn’t a dry heat.

• a 1-pound cod fillet from P.E. & D.D. Seafood , divided into 2 portions (to make the fish a little easier to turn over), dredged lightly in seasoned coarse stone-ground flour, then dipped into a mixture of one beaten egg from Millport Dairy and half of a cup of chopped parsley from Phillips Farm, sautéed in a long oval copper pan over medium-high heat in a mix of olive oil and ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘ (one tablespoon of each), turning once, for about 7 or 8 minutes, garnished with chopped dill from Bodhitree Farm, and drizzled with a little lemon juice, lemon wedges served on the side
• ten small red new potatoes (the first of the year, for me), from Norwich Meadows Farm, boiled in well-salted water, drained, dried in the still-warm glass pot, rolled in a little olive oil and some chopped spring red onions (they look like scallions) from John D. Madura Farm, seasoned with good course sea salt, freshly-ground telicherry pepper, sprinkled with chopped flowering thyme from from Bodhitree Farm (I had intended to mix the potatoes with chopped summer savory from Stokes Farm, not thyme, but things were moving fast at this point, and I hadn’t yet washed and dried the savory, so, to save time (ha!), I reached for the small cup holding one of the herbs left from my preparation of the stuffed zucchini blossoms (for those, see below)]
• twelve zucchini flowers from Bodhitree Farm, prepared mostly along the lines of this recipe by Mario Batali, each stuffed with a mixture of grated Parmigiano Reggiano Vacche Rosse from Buon Italia, chopped flowering thyme from Bodhitree Farm, chiffonade-cut basil from Tamarack Hollow Farm, freshly-grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper, sautéed in a little olive oil inside a large cast iron pan until golden brown on both sides, drained on paper towels, and served at room temperature (I wasn’t crazy enough to cook them at the same time I was preparing both the cod and the potatoes, and ‘room temperature’ is perfectly appropriate for most vegetables)
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, S & A Verdelho Calveras County 2015
• the music was from Counterstream radio

I’m a big fan of cabbage, all kinds of cabbage, but the Savoy is super, and this particular one a great beauty.

 

This was the second time I had prepared this delicious pasta, and once again it was a winner.

It’s Bittman’s recipe, pretty much to the letter, although reduced to 75% in its proportions, I used a very different pasta from the one he indicates, and once again I finished it with a combination of parsley and lovage.

• my ingredients included emmer reginetti from Sfoglini Pasta Shop, organic garlic from Whole Foods, canned salted anchovies from Buon Italia, dried Itria-Sirissi chili (peperoncino di Sardegna intero) from Buon Italia, Italian bay leaves from Buon Italia, a Savoy cabbage from Norwich Meadows Farm, parsley from Phillips Farm, and lovage from Bodhitree Farm
• the wine was a California (Napa) white,  Matthew Iaconis Napa Valley Chardonnay 2014 (a Burgundy style, it’s Matt’s wine, and comes to us via Naked Wines
• the music was Francisco José de Castro’s Trio Sonatas

It was also lunch.

It was pretty hastily thrown together around noon today, and the ingredients included some which had ben prepared fresh for the meal the night before ( call it ‘overstock’).

• The eggs and bacon were from Millport Dairy; the San Marzano tomatoes, seasoned, pan-grilled, then drizzled with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar, were from Stokes Farm; there were at least half a dozen herbs, from (various) local farms, tossed around among both the eggs and the torn branches of some wonderful flowering half-wild watercress from Lucky Dog Organic Farm; various spring alliums from two different local farms, sliced, were added to the pan in which the eggs were frying; there were 5 different peppercorns (including ‘pink peppercorns’, which are not actually pepper) and several pinches of some kind of paprika, an unlabelled bonus envelope inside the package of sauces I had ordered from L’eKama a while back; and the bread was a Bien Cuit baguette from Foragers Market
• the music, on this anniversary of Stonewall, was that of the brilliant, kindly, generous, out-queer composer, Lou Harrison, from the Naxos album, ‘Homage to Lou Harrison‘

 

It was a warm evening.

The first course never got anywhere near a stove.

I was very fortunate in the greens I had been able to bring home from Union Square on Friday: They were a perfect, spicy foil to the headiness of the smoky pork.

None of the elements of the second course spent more than a few minutes on the top of the range.

I had constructed the meal around the second course, a beautiful piece of fresh wild salmon that I was determined to cook without using the oven, and the rest of the meal had to go with the same proviso. Fortunately there were no taste sacrifices anywhere along the line.

• thinly-sliced Alto Adige Speck from Eataly, each piece rolled around the tines of a fork and put on a plate, drizzled with some very good olive oil from Campania, accompanied by a handful of semi-wild flowering cress from Lucky Dog Organic Farm dressed with the same oil, a little white balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper
• slices of a She Wolf Bakery sourdough baguette

 

• the salmon was prepared in a manner slightly modified from this interesting Melissa Clark recipe, using one fresh wild 14-ounce sockeye salmon fillet from Whole Foods, marinated in the refrigerator in a covered dish for about 4 hours while coated on both sides with a mix of light brown turbinado sugar, sea salt, freshly ground tellicherry pepper, freshly ground allspice, freshly ground nutmeg, and the zest of half of an organic lemon from Whole Foods, after which the fish was rinsed, patted dry, brought to room temperature, oiled generously, and cooked on an enameled grill pan, flesh side down, removed, dusted with dried Pollen Ranch Dill Pollen, sprinkled with chopped fresh dill from from Bodhitree Farm, drizzled with olive oil and served with lemon wedges, organic, from Whole Foods
• two Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, sliced, mixed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and chopped basil from Tamarack Hollow Farm
• flat green pole beans from Norwich Meadows Farm, blanched, drained and dried, then reheated in oil, mixed with chopped red-tinged Japanese scallions from Norwich Meadows Farm, and finished with salt, pepper, and chopped lovage from Bodhitree Farm

There were cherries, from Kernan Farms.

• the wine was a California (Lodi) rosé, Karen Birmingham Rosé Lodi 2015
• the music was Q2 Music, streaming

I think I’m finally beginning to understand swordfish, at least on an epicurean level. This was one of my most successful outings with this noble fish.

• two 6 1/2-ounce swordfish steaks from Pura Vida Seafood, in the Union Square Greenmarket, marinated for less than a half hour in a mixture of olive oil, a very small amount of dried Itria-Sirissi chili, peperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia, chopped fresh wild mint from Berried Treasures Farm, and much of a finely-chopped stem of a red-tinged Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, after which it was drained well, covered with a coating which was a mix of dried homemade bread crumbs, then pan-grilled over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, removed, seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled with a little organic lemon juice from Whole Foods, a little more scallion, and drizzled with olive oil before serving
• halved and seasoned San Marzano tomatoes from Stokes Farm, pan-grilled and finished with a dab of olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar
• a little puntarelle from Paffenroth Gardens, prepared in the Roman manner
• the wine was a French (Aude) white, Laurent Miquel Albarino Lagrasse France 2014
• the music was Q2 Music streaming, notably Fred Lerdahl’s String Quartet No. 3

I still can’t say enough about how delicious these crab cakes are, and how much fun it is to assemble a base for them, usually some kind of salsa. They also require very little heat to prepare, and the puntarelle doesn’t ask for any, which means this entire entrée was particularly welcome on an evening when our breakfast room air conditioner wasn’t working.

The cherries were, well, a bowl of cherries.

• two crab cakes from PE & DD Seafood (the ingredients are crab, egg, flour, red & green peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, milk, celery, and parsley), heated in a heavy copper pan, 3 to 4 minutes to each side, served on a salsa composed of 6 Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, which had been chopped and combined with salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a bit of homemade French Basque piment d’Espellate we had purchased in a small town north of Baie-Comeau, Quebec last year from the producer’s daughter, some dried Itria-Sirissi chili, peperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia, chopped wild mint from Berried Treasures, a section of the stem of a Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, chopped, and wild arugula from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, and, when all was plated, the small amount of juices left at the bottom of the bowl of salsa drizzled on top of the crab cakes
• puntarelle from Paffenroth Gardens, prepared in the Roman manner
• sweet cherries from Kernan Farms
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, Karen Birmingham Sauvignon Blanc Lodi 2015
• the music was Philip Blackburn’s ‘Ghostly Psalms’