Very simple.

Once the scallops, 2 vegetables, and 2 herbs had been washed and dried, the tomatoes and oregano chopped, and the basil torn, this meal came together in about 10 minutes, and pumping a minimum of heat into the kitchen.

 

• fourteen medium scallops from P.E. & D.D. 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 small sweet lemon from Trader Joe’s, a scattering of budding oregano from Stokes Farm, most of it chopped, and a drizzle of good olive oil poured on top

• small okra from Lani’s Farm, sautéed over a high flame in a large cast iron pan with a little olive oil and some crushed dried Itria-Sirissi chili (peperoncino di Sardegna intero), stirring, seasoned with sea salt
• one chopped heirloom tomato from Eckerton Hill Farm and 2 quartered Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, dressed with a Campania olive oil, Maldon salt, Tellicherry pepper, a little balsamic vinegar, and tossed with some torn basil leaves from Sycamore Farms
• the wine was a New York (North Fork) rosé, Bridge Lane Rosé 2015
• the music was Johann Adolf Hasse’s 1725 opera, ‘Marc’ Antonio e Cleopatra’, in a performance by le Musiche Nove, Claudio Osele conducting

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’

Once again last night I had the chance to appreciate why striped bass are so popular, and part of the reason why they command a somewhat premium price in the local markets.  The daily limit is still strictly controlled, on Monday my fishmonger told me it had been slightly relaxed for the size of their operation, so we may be able to enjoy a little more this year (meaning I won’t have to show up at the Greenmarket at dawn to bring home part of their catch (not that I ever have).

As for the recipe I used this time, because I had no interest in turning on the oven on a hot and humid evening, I consulted my files for a formula which could be implemented on top of the stove.  I did not however take advantage of Martha Stewart’s suggestion that the dish I ended up producing with her simple recipe could have been served at room temperature, mostly because I wanted it to relate to the temperature of the tiny fresh peas I had also picked up that day.

• one 15-ounce striped bass fillet from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, marinated for half an hour (half of that time in the refrigerator) in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, thyme branches from Eckerton Hill Farm, squashed organic garlic cloves from Trader Joe’s, then removed from the marinade, and allowed it to drip dry (with the help of a paper towel) placed on an enameled grill pan on top of a medium-high flame, skin side down, seasoned with salt, grilled until skin was lightly browned and starting to crisp, before being turned and cooked through, or about 10 minutes, and garnished with chives from Lani’s Farm cut in 3/4-inch lengths (also one chive flower, prominent in the picture above) and lemon wedges.
• thinly-sliced red spring onion bulbs from Tamarak Hollow Farm cooked in a little butter until softened, tiny shelled peas from Lani’s Farm added along with a little bit of water and simmered until tender, seasoned with salt and coarsely chopped pepper
• a small number of flowers and buds of ‘organic green leaf squash’ (per Zaid Kurdieh’s sign at his stall) from Norwich Meadows Farm, sautéed in olive oil until softened, then seasoned with salt and pepper
• the wine was a French white, Château la Rame, Bordeaux 2014
• the music was Haydn’s last, and not-quite-completed, 1791 opera, ‘L’anima del filosofo, ossia Orfeo ed Euridice‘

I’m writing shorter posts here, at least for a while, since I had neglected publishing anything at all for weeks. I may later go back and resurrect a few of the more interesting meals that never made it in print here in February and March, but I’m making no promises to myself that I will take the time to do it.

This meal was unusual, not just because it involved smoked scallops (although these are not unfamiliar inside our kitchen), but because this time I had ‘cooked’ the bivalves (lightly) and served them with a bit of a sauce. In fact this was the second time I had done this, but the first time had been during the Food Blog ‘blackout’).

As always, almost every part of the meal came from local producers selling in the Union Square Greenmarket.

• only about 9 ounces of smoked scallops from Pura Vida Seafood, warmed inside a heavy copper pot in a bitof utter, heated through, briefly, removed and kept warm, replaced by about 4 ounces of white wine, half an ounce of fresh lemon juice, a bit of chopped thyme, and a teaspoon of chopped garlic, the flame turned up and the liquid reduced until almost gone, 3 tablespoons of cold butter added, one at a time, and swirled in until melted, and just before the last one was introduced, some finely sliced green sections of spring garlic, and a bit of chopped peppermint mixed in, the scallops returned to the pan, tossed to coat, served immediately on a bed of wild baby dandelion, including some tight buds (they looked and crunched like fresh capers), the sauce spooned over them
• a few Peter Wilcox potatoes, from Windfall Farms, boiled, halved, tossed with a little butter, garnished with chopped baby fennel fronds
• two Italian heirloom tomatoes from Shushan Farm, halved, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a pinch of dried aji dulce pepper, heated in a little olive oil
• the wine was a Basa Rueda blanco 2017, from North Village Wine
• the music was  Beethoven’s 1st string quartet, and his 1st and 2nd piano sonatas, the quartet performed by the Miró Quartet, and the sonatas by Igor Levitt

It was our fourth seafood dinner in 9 days, but the first one to include actual fish. Until last night there had been mussels, scallops, and crabs, but nothing with fins.

• six beautiful 2 or 3-ounce orange/red ocean perch fillets from American Seafood Company’s stand at Saturday’s Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market on 23rd Street, rinsed and dried, both sides brushed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil mixed with a total of little more than one teaspoon, combined, of chopped ‘Chesnok Red’ garlic from Alewife Farm and a section of one thinly-sliced ‘red spring onion’ from Norwich Meadows Farm, seasoned, also on  both sides, with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed inside an enameled cast iron pan and broiled, skin side up, 4 or 5 inches from the flames, for 4 or 5 minutes, or until the skin had become crisp and the fish cooked through, finished on the plates with some olive oil that had been heated inside a small antique enameled cast iron porringer over a very low flame for about 3 minutes with 2 salted, rinsed, and filleted Sicilian anchovies from Eataly, rinsed and filleted, the perch garnished with scissored bronze fennel buds and blossoms, from RIse & Root Farm, served with organic California lemon halves from Whole Foods Market on the side
• three small Pozzano plum tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, halved lengthwise, dried thoroughly, placed cut side down on a plate that had been sprinkled with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan-grilled, cut side down, then turned over, and finished with a dab of olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar, garnished with chopped marjoram from Stokes Farm
• one small fennel bulb from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, the fronds having already been removed and set aside after it had arrived at the apartment, cut into bite size pieces and sautéed inside a large high-sided tin-lined copper pan with a couple tablespoons of olive oil until beginning to caramelize, stirring in near the end one thickly-sliced garlic clove and 3 small red shishito peppers, sliced, until the garlic had softened and the mix had become pungent, finished by tossing in some of the more tender fennel fronds, chopped, the vegetables arranged on the plates with a sprinkling of more fennel fronds
• the wine was an Australian (Victoria/Rutherglen) white, Jen Pfeiffer The Rebel Sauvignon Blanc 2018, from Naked Wines
• the music was a 1658 opera by Pier Francesco Cavalli, ‘L’Ipermestra’,  Mike Fentross conducting La Sfera Armoniosa , with one particularly gorgeous tenor voice