I decided to avoid turning on the oven this time; it’s the medium I use to prepare shrimp using my more usual, and probably favorite, simple recipe. I think the alternative I chose, that involved several pans on top of the range, may have heated up the kitchen and breakfast room more than the oven would have, but it was a pleasant change, and delicious.

• squid prepared mostly according to this recipe of Josē Pizarro, using a pound of cleaned squid from American Seafood Company, one yellow onion from S. & S.O. Produce Farms, red fingerlings from Norwich Meadows Farm, peperoncino Calabresi secchia from Buon Italia, one spring/fresh garlic bulb from Berried Treasures Farm, fresh thyme from Stokes Farm, Columela Rioja 30 Year Reserva sherry vinegar, and flat leaf parsley from John D. Madura Farms
• a mix of red grape tomatoes from Kernan Farms and golden cherry tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm, heated gently in a little olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, with a mix of chopped herbs remaining from a couple of recent meals sprinkled on top
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) white, Baglio di Grìsi Grillo 2016, from Eataly Vino
• the music was an inspired mix of the song of our resident garden Mockingbird and Ravi Shankar’s 1956 album, ‘Three Ragas’

yes, they look just like strawberries

 

It was a very satisfying meal, and it would have worked at least as well on a cold day, mostly because of the rye flour and ale barley malts in its origins, and the dark breadcrumbs with which it was finished.

There were radishes.

• between a fourth and a third of a cup of homemade breadcrumbs added to a cast iron skillet in which a tablespoon of olive oil had been heated over a medium flame, toasted, stirring frequently, until golden and crisp, probably only a minute or two, transfer to a small bowl and mixed with a teaspoon of zest from an organic Whole Foods lemon and some (half a teaspoon?) peperoncino Calabresi secchia from Buon Italia,  and set aside while preparing the pasta: 8 ounces of Sfoglini Pasta Shop‘s Bronx brewery BxB radiators (“organic semolina flour, organic rye flour, water, Bronx Belgium Pale Ale barley malts (Muntons Maris Otter/Tipple, Wyermann , Castle Chateau Biscuit, Weyermann Caramunich I, Bries Malted Re, Bries Flaked Rye’, according to the package, and I’m like the fact that the mix differs a little from the one indicated on last package I used) cooked inside a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente (usually a challenge with Sfoglini products, probably on account of ingredients beyond what are usually a part of artisanal pasta). drained, reserving 1 cup of pasta cooking liquid, and added to a sauce which began with 6 ounces of beautiful red radishes from Alex’s Tomato Farm in the Chelsea 23rd Street farmers market, their greens removed and set aside, sliced into 1/4″ rounds, sautéed in a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat inside a large antique copper high-sided pan until they had become tender and browned in spots (about 2 minutes), then removed to a small bowl and another tablespoon of oil added to the pan together with one sliced stem of spring garlic from Berried Treasures Farm, the allium stirred until fragrant, which was basically a matter of seconds, and the radish greens, which had been washed in several changes of water, plus some ‘Italian dandelion from Berried Treasures Farm, both roughly chopped, added to the pan, along with some of the reserved pasta cooking water, stirred until only beginning to wilt, the cooked pasta itself now added and mixed with the greens, stirring, more pasta water added as necessary until the liquid had emulsified, the reserved radishes now returned and mixed in, followed by a half tablespoon or so of juice from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon and some freshly-ground black pepper, the sauced pasta arranged in 2 shallow bowls, and sprinkled with the breadcrumb mixture prepared earlier 
• the wine was an Italian (Tuscany) white, San Felice Vermentino Toscana 2017, from Philippe Wines
• the music was Jordi’ Savall’s 1994 album, ‘La Lira D’Esperia: The Medieval Fiddle‘

It’s a great fish. This is also a great treatment for it, and this time I was fairly successful in holding back on the extras, something I admonished myself for in the post describing the last time I used this great ‘found’ recipe.

• *one 17-ounce bluefish from Danielle, of American Seafood Company at Saturday’s Down to Earth Farmers Market on 23rd Street in Chelsea, rinsed, cut into 2 sections, rubbed with olive oil and a little Columela Rioja 30 Year Reserva sherry vinegar, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed inside a vintage oval tin-lined copper au gratin pan, sprinkled liberally with a very pungent dried Sicilian oregano from Buon Italia and a bit of dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi, also from Buon Italia, covered with thin slices of one small red onion from Norwich Meadows Farm, thin slices of 4 or 5 small, ripe, high-tunnel-grown red tomatoes from Lani’s Farm, some chopped fresh oregano from Phillips Farms, 8 or 9 pitted and halved Kalamata olives, and several thin slices of Whole Foods Market organic lemon, baked at 425º for just 15 minutes, garnished with micro bronze fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• two pairs of conjoined yellow summer squash from Lani’s Farm, cut into 2-cm rounds (‘figure eights’?), sautéed in a little olive oil for a few minutes inside a high-sided heavy tin-lined copper pan, turning once, until well on their way to being caramelized, then part of a length of a shaft of one spring onion from Berried Treasures Farm, cut into one-cm sections, was added to the squash and stirred until softened, the pan removed from the flame, the squash seasoned with sea salt and Freshly-ground black pepper, tossed with chopped spearmint from Keith’s Farm (I neglected to precede the mint with a squeeze of lemon, because I had forgotten, but I deliberately left out the addition of some pitted and halved black olives, because some of those were already engaged with the bluefish
• the wine was a California (Carneros) white, La Tapatia Chardonnay Carneros 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was the album, ‘La Lira d’Espéria II: Galicia‘, with Jordi Savall, Pedro Estevan, David Mayoral, and Pedro Estevan, performing on, respectively, I believe, the Rebec, the Tenor Fiddle, the Rabab (Rabel Morisco), and various percussion instruments

I’ve decided to post a description of this simple meal because it, and an infinite number of variations of it, works so well as a refreshing break from dinners, or a series of dinners, centered on protein.

• one small spring fennel bulb from Alewife Farm, the stems removed, cut lengthwise into  wedges, each piece retaining a portion of the root end, sautéed, along with the stems, trimmed of their fronds, in a little olive oil inside a large antique high-sided copper pan until softened and beginning to color, cut sections of a section of a stem of spring garlic from Berried Treasures Farm added near the end, along with a crumbled piece of a dried golden/orange habanada pepper (that one’s a little complicated), then 8 ounces of cooked and drained Afeltra spaghettoni, from Eataly Flatiron, added and stirred over medium-high heat with some of the reserved pasta cooking water, and more than a handful of lengthwise-halved golden pear-shaped tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm, that had been sourced at the Saturday 23rd St Greenmarket, added and stirred into the pasta, the mix seasoned with a little freshly-ground black pepper, a generous amount of the fennel fronds, rinsed and chopped, tossed in before the spaghettoni was arranged in 2 shallow bowls, drizzled around the edges with a little olive oil
• the wine was an Italian (Tuscany/Maremma) white, Sassoregale Maremma Toscana Vermentino 2017, from Philippe Wines
• the music was Jordi Savall’s album, ‘Orient-Occident Vol 2 – Hommage a la Syrie‘

It’s June 25, and this is my first sighting of garlic in a shape that looks pretty much like what most people would recognize as belonging to this extraordinary allium. I’ll call it ‘transitional garlic’. It fits somewhere between ‘spring garlic’ (which first appears as a spear looking almost exactly like a scallion, then developing more and more into a bulbous clove enclosure, or ‘garlic round’), and the mature garlic head with its separate cloves and papery, protective layers of skin.

The photograph is of a bucket of young garlic heads at the Phillips Farms stand in the Union Square Greenmarket. Just after taking the picture, I reached into the container to pick out one of them and, even more touching them, I caught their beautiful, innocent scent (think garlic as fruit), a delicate tease of a more mature form that we will be enjoying later in the summer.

I know the asparagus should be turned the other way, but I was in a hurry

 

It looks like a bit like veal, but it’s actually a section of a thick striped bass fillet, and it tasted even more serious than veal.

The asparagus was an experiment. I don’t think I’ve cooked very thin asparagus since I started this blog almost 10 years ago, and after this experience (I still find the texture of the small spears less satisfying than that of the grownups) I’m not likely to go back unless I intend to use this glorious vegetable in a pasta or egg dish. I have to admit however that they’re a more convenient than the larger ones that have to be peeled.

• one 16-ounce striped bass fillet from American Seafood Company, halved crosswise, dredged in a seasoned Union Square Greenmarket-purchased local coarse-ground whole wheat flour from the Blew family of Oak Grove Mills Mills, then dipped into a shallow bowl with a mixture of one Americauna chicken egg from Millport Dairy Farm whipped with a few tablespoons of chopped parsley from Stokes Farm and a few drops of milk, sautéed for a few minutes over a medium flame in a mixture of butter and olive oil, skin side down, covered loosely with a tent of aluminum foil (because the fish was quite thick) inside a heavy copper skillet, then turned over, the tent replaced, and sautéed for a few more minutes, or until the fish was cooked through (the time will vary each time with the size of the fillets and the height of the flame), removed from the pan and arranged on two plates, the heat under the pan now turned off and a couple inches from a stem of Berried Treasures Farm spring garlic, sliced, scattered inside and stirred a bit, (adding oil if necessary), those juices then drizzled over the bass, followed by a squeeze of an organic lemon from Whole Foods, and a garnish of micro bronze fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• two medium plum tomatoes from Stokes Farm, halved, the cut sides generously seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan-grilled above a medium-high flame, face down, for a couple minutes, turned and grilled briefly on the other side, finished with a dab of olive oil, a bit of balsamic vinegar, and some chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• one pound of pencil-thin asparagus from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, the bottoms trimmed, rolled with a little more than a tablespoon of olive oil, a little sea salt, and a bit of freshly-ground black pepper inside a large Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic pan, roasted at 400º for about 7 to 10 minutes, removed to the plates and sprinkled with zest from a Whole Foods Market organic lemon, sprinkled with chopped spearmint from Keith’s Farm
• the wine was an Argentinian (Salta) white, Terrazas de los Andes Reserva Torrontés 2016, from Philippe Wines
• the music was the album, ‘Haydn 2032, Vol. 4: Il distratto‘

This rather simple meal was one of the best I’ve ever put onto a table.

Both the fish and the vegetable were extraordinarily fresh, which is a great start, and I’d already worked with both of the recipes fairly often.

Swordfish had been a favorite of mine since I was quite young (I can hardly believe we enjoyed it as often as we did, in 1940’s and 1950’s Detroit), and I’ve always been fond of peas, except when they arrive in metal.

When I was growing up there was only one kind of pea, pisum sativum, and it usually arrived in the kitchen as a frozen box, an innovation of Clarence Birdseye had introduced almost a hundred years ago. Years later, along with other Americans, I discovered snow peas [pisum sativum var. saccharatum], which I still associate with wok cookery, although they had been cultivated in Europe since the nineteenth century, and it seems like only yesterday that the sugar snap pea [pisum sativum var. macrocarpon] arrived on the scene, although apparently it was actually the late 70’s.

• one thick 13-ounce swordfish steak from Pura Vida Seafood Company in the Union Square Greenmarket, halved marinated for more than half an hour in a mixture of olive oil, a tablespoon of a mix of fresh spicy oregano from Windfall Farms, a small amount of crushed dried pepperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia, about the same amount of crushed dried golden/orange habanada pepper, and a thinly-sliced section of a spring red onion from Norwich Meadows Farm, after which it was drained, covered on both sides with a coating of homemade dried breadcrumbs, pan-grilled over medium-high heat for 4 minutes on each side, or until barely cooked all of the way through, removed, seasoned with a little Maldon salt, a bit of juice from a Whole Foods Market organic lemon squeezed on top, a bit more sliced spring red onion, drizzled with a little olive oil, garnished with micro bronze fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge, lemon wedges on the side

• small sugar snap peas from Sycamore Farms in the Union Square Greenmarket, washed, their stems and strings trimmed, parboiled for just over a minute inside a large vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot, drained, dried in the same pot, shaking it over a low flame, then set aside, and just before serving, warmed inside a heavy, broad, tin-lined copper pot in which a small sliced stalk of spring garlic from Berried Treasures Farm had first been softened with a little olive oil over a moderate flame, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, tossed with chopped spearmint from Keith’s Farm
•  the wine was a Portuguese (Douro) white, Crasto White 2016, from Garnet Wines
• the music was the album, ‘Antonio Rosetti: Piano Concerto; 2 Symphonies‘

Steak and potatoes, and tomato too. Also the return of the ramp.

• two 7-ounce dry-aged grass-fed Angus beef sirloin tip filets from Greg and Mike at the Sun Fed Beef/Maple Avenue Farms stall in the Union Square Greenmarket, brought to room temperature, dried, sprinkled on both sides with a generous amount of freshly roughly-ground black pepper, placed on a very hot cast iron grill pan for just about 9 minutes, turning twice, salting each side after it had been been turned, removed and arranged on the plates, finished with dabs of mosty-thawed ramp butter that I had put into the freezer almost 2 months ago, using small, first-of-the-season woodland ramps from Lucky Dog Organic, part of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, and some Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ 

• fourteen ounces of Red Gold new potatoes from Berried Treasures Farm, washed, scrubbing lightly, boiled in well-salted water, drained, dried in the still-warm vintage glass pot, rolled in a little olive oil, seasoned with Maldon salt and freshly-ground black pepper, garnished with micro red basil from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• two medium plum tomatoes from Stokes Farm, halved, the cut sides generously seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan-grilled above a medium-high flame, face down, for a couple minutes, turned and grilled briefly on the other side, finished with a dab of olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar
• the wine was a Portuguese (Dão) red, Quinta da Pellada Dac Red Blend 2014, from Garnet Wines
• the music was Bruce Brubaker’s January, 2018 album, ‘Codex’

We’re really crazy about tuna steaks prepared this easy way, and I don’t object to the fact it’s simpler than pie to do. What surprised me this time was how formidable a rival the vegetable accompaniment I’d chosen turned out to be. It too could hardly have been easier to prepare, which was also a surprise, since I normally go through all kinds of contortions to bring out the best in treviso, or any of the other chicories I love so much.

• two 8-ounce tuna steaks from American Seafood Company, rinsed, dried, seasoned on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, then rubbed, tops and bottoms, with a mixture of a tablespoon of a wonderful dry Sicilian fennel seed from Buon Italia that had been crushed in a porcelain mortar and pestle along with a little dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia, ending, also on both sides, with little more than a pinch of dried golden/orange habanada pepper, pan-grilled above a medium-high flame (for only a little more than a minute or so on each side), finished on the plates with a good squeeze of the juice of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market and a drizzle of olive oil, garnished with micro scallion from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• a small handful of golden cherry tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm, in Carlisle, New Jersey, at Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market on 23rd Street, washed, halved, heated inside an antique enameled cast iron porringer in a little olive oil, sea salt, and freshly-ground black pepper, garnished with micro red basil from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• one very-thinly-sliced spring garlic stem from Berried Treasures Farm or/and one spring red onion from Norwich Meadows Farm (and maybe a small piece of shallot, also from Norwich Meadows Farm), heated in a tablespoon or more of olive oil inside a heavy pan until softened, before 2 medium heads of early, loose-leaf) treviso from Campo Rosso Farm, roughly chopped, added to the pan, along with some sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, stirring all along until the radicchio had mostly wilted, finished with barely a splash of balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the wine was a Portuguese (Alentejo) white, Esporao Monte Velho White 2016, from Garnet Wines
• the music was New Sounds, streaming

We haven’t had what we call a home picnic in a long time. in fact, as I look at the search box on this site, unless I haven’t always been posting these simple meals, it appears it’s been a very long time.

These dinners can normally be assembled without any planning, since we usually have on hand most of what might be needed to set out such a meal.

• on Tuesday what we had on hand included 4 ounces of Applegate Naturals prosciutto from Whole Foods Market, some leftover sweet soppressata from Buon Italia, Orwasher’s ‘Ultimate Whole Wheat’ bread from Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market, some water buffalo brie from Riverine Ranch, Consider Bardwell Danby cheese, some purple leaf lettuce from Tamarack Hollow Farm with some previously-toasted pine nuts from Buon Italia, golden tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm with Berried Treasures Farm spring garlic and Two Guys from Woodbridge lovage and micro red basil
• the wine was an Italian/Austrian (Alto Adige/Südtirol) white, Alois Lageder Pinot Bianco 2016 from Garnet Wines
• the music was an album of partitas, sonatas and sinfonias composed by Franz Ignaz Anton Tuma (1704-1774)