Tuesday was the official first day of spring, but until these greens appeared in the Union Square Greenmarket on Friday, I wasn’t quite feeling it.

We really celebrated the equinox yesterday, after an antepasto which only looked springy.

While the Speck, a dry-cured, lightly smoked ham, isn’t specific to any season, the pasta it introduced was, as it came garlanded with fava greens.

The first course almost came as a kit.

• four ounces of Citerio Fresco prosciutto from Whole Foods Market, drizzled some Frankies 457 Sicilian olive oil, the gift of a friend, arranged at the edge of a spray of baby arugula from Windfall Farms, dressed with the same oil, Maldon salt, and freshly-ground black pepper
• slices of an organic multigrain baguette from Bread Alone

The pasta was assembled almost as easily.

• a few loose handfuls of fava greens from Campo Rosso Farm, washed, drained, and gradually added to a pot more than large enough to hold half a pound of cooked pasta (I used a large enameled cast iron pot in this instance) in which a 3 cloves of Keith’s Farm Rocambole garlic had already been heated and softened a bit, the greens stirred and allowed to wilt only slightly before stirring in some lemon zest and maybe a little lemon juice, then 8 ounces of cooked and drained Afeltra 100% grano italiano spaghetti, produced in Gragnano, from Eataly Flatiron, added and stirred over medium-high heat with some of the reserved pasta cooking water, arranged inside low bowls and finished with some olive oil, grated Parmigiano Reggiano Hombre from Whole Foods Market, and freshly-ground pepper to taste.
• the wine was an Italian (Campania) white, Fiano di Avellino, Ciro Picariello 2015, from Astor Wines
• the music was Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, ‘From the New World’, Andris Nelsons conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Because we had originally expected to be otherwise engaged for the evening, the plan was to improvise a simple pasta, but then the reason for doing so disappeared. At 7 o’clock it was still early enough to defrost something that would encourage me to do something with some vegetables I had that were still at their peak, so I pulled 4 lamb chops out of a packed freezer. Inside a large bowl, and after several changes of cold water, within about an hour and a half they were defrosted and ready for the grill pan.

While going through my photo stream, I just realized that both the fennel bulb and the fava greens had been the very last of their kind on the tables of their respective farmers’ stalls.

• four loin lamb chops (18 ounces total) from Shannon Brook Farm in the New York Finger Lakes, brought to room temperature, dried thoroughly, cooked on a very hot enameled cast iron grill pan for a total of 10 or 12 minutes, turning them over twice, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper after the first time, finished with a squeeze of juice from an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, scattered with some chopped rosemary from S. & S.O. Farm and chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge, finished with a squeeze of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon and and a drizzle of olive oil
• one medium-size, very ripe ‘Expresso heirloom’ tomato from Cherry Lane Farm, halved, dried with a paper towel, placed on the grill pan as the chops were finishing, turned once, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates next to the chops and drizzled with a drop of olive oil
• one bunch of fava bean greens from Gorzynski Ornery Farm, tossed, after lots and lots of washing and trimming and draining (but worth it for the taste, and I had the time), in a tablespoon of olive oil inside a large seasoned cast iron pan over high heat, once the oil had become hot, stirred until they had quickly wilted, arranged on the plates, sprinkled with sea salt, then garnished with a bit of purple micro radish, from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• one medium fennel bulb from Stokes Farm, prepared mostly as described in this Epicurious recipe, that is, washed, trimmed, sliced into 8 vertical wedges (I followed that up with toothpicks to secure the layers), tossed, along with one-inch segments of the larger stem pieces, inside a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil, one slightly-crushed Rocambole garlic clove from Keith”s Farm, a bit of chopped thyme, also from Stokes Farm, a crushed small piece of orange/gold dried habanada pepper, a bit less of a crumbled dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia; sea salt; freshly-ground black pepper, spread onto a medium unglazed Pampered Chef oven pan and roasted at 425º for 35 minutes, turning the fennel once, a dozen pitted Gaeta olives tossed on top, the fennel turned upright and returned to the oven for 8 or so minutes more, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates, some of the chopped fennel fronds sprinkled on top, and the toothpicks removed [this dish can be served at room temperature, which can make it very convenient, particularly if the main actor requires a lot of attention]
• the wine was a California (Lodi) red, Karen Birmingham Zinfandel Lodi 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was Bohislav Martinü’s Symphony No. 3, Cornelius Meister conducting the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra

I managed to get the last piece of striped bass in the Greenmarket on Friday. Fortunately, because it’s probably the most expensive fish in any East Coast market these days, it was exactly the right, modest proportion for the two of us. I blame the high cost on demand, and a general lack of imagination on the part of my fellow consumers, but it really is a great fish, beginning with its appearance, seen here lying on our kitchen counter before I started dinner.

I can’t continue without mentioning the near death of the species, mostly because of over-fishing. By the 70s and 80s, ‘Stripers’ were considered endangered, but then there was a rescue, described by Paul Greenberg in a 2008 New York Times article, ‘Bass Market‘:

“In a major conservation act, a consortium of states halted striped-bass fishing in the ’80s, and a program was introduced to rebuild the breeding stock in the Chesapeake Bay. … Today striper populations are listed as ‘fully rebuilt,’…”

The vegetables, as special as the fish, were Castelfranco radicchio (cichorium intybus excultus?) and fava beans (vicia faba).

• one twelve-ounce striped bass fillet from Pura Vida Seafood, rinsed, drained, seasoned on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, placed, skin side down, in a little olive oil inside a pre-heated heavy tin-lined copper pan over a medium-high flame, a similar heavy pan, oiled on the bottom, pressed on top of the fillet for the first 2 minutes to flatten it and assist in rendering the skin crisp (actually, I’m not sure the process worked, but, hey..), the fish turned over after about 5 minutes in the pan and cooked for another 2 or 3 minutes, removed and arranged on the plates, brushed or spooned with a mixture of chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm. leaves torn off of a live basil plant from Stokes Farm, the zest from half of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, and enough olive oil to barely make a liquid sauce
• fava beans (I would have to say there are never enough of these emeralds, especially considering how little is left after laboriously shelling over a pound in the shell) from Alewife Farm, added to a vintage Pyrex transparent glass pan in which one thinly-sliced red onion from Norwich Meadows Farm had been heated in olive oil and softened, the vegetables seasoned with sea salt and frehsly-ground Tellicherry pepper, and tossed with chopped peppermint from Lani’s Farm
• one head of Castelfranco radicchio from Campo Rosso Farm, washed, quartered, tied with string to keep the leaves together, dipped in seasoned olive oil then pan grilled briefly (only 30 seconds on each of the 3 sides), arranged on the plates, the strings cut and removed, drizzled with a dressing composed of one salted anchovy, thoroughly rinsed and filleted, a teaspoon of white wine, 2 tablespoons of oil, one and a half tablespoons of juice of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, and a generous amount of chopped parsley from Phillips Farm
• the wine was a California (Andrus, in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta) white, Jacqueline Bahue Albarino Gomes Vineyard California 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was Claudio Monteverdi’s 1642 opera, ‘L’Incoronazione di Poppea’, René Jacobs conducting the Amsterdam ensemble, Concerto Vocale

I’ve lost my paper ‘skate file’, at least temporarily, but with the help of earlier entries on this food blog, last night I was able to reconstruct my favorite ray recipe pretty much in the form I had used several times in the past.  This is, after all, the original purpose of this site, and it probably shows that it really can be used as a recipe source, at least for anyone who has more than a passing acquaintance with a kitchen.

• four skate wing sections from Blue Moon Fish NYC, coated with a coarse polenta and seasoned with salt and pepper, then sautéed in olive oil for a few minutes, removed from the pan, and butter, chopped shallots from John D. Madura Farm, sliced fresh garlic from Lucky Dog Organic, and segments of garlic scapes from Lucky Dog Organic, previously softened in warm olive oil, introduced into the pan and stirred over a heat now lowered, followed by the addition of chopped parsley from Keith’s Farm and a little more butter
• boiled ‘Augusta’ new potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, drained, dried in the warm pot in which they had been cooked, halved, then rolled in olive oil, cut chives from Stokes Farm, salt, and pepper
• fava beans (about 1.4 lbs, in their pods, for these two servings) from Berried Treasures, removed from their pods and their skins removed, briefly cooked in olive oil, then tossed with spearmint from Phillips Farm, salt, and pepper
• the wine was a German white, a Pfalz, Friedrich Becker Family Pinot Blanc 2013, ordered fromAppellation Wines
• the music was the wind sextet in E flat major by Ignaz Josef Pleyel

I’m indebted to Rhode Island for this meal. Ever since I learned that ‘blackfish’ was the same species I knew as ‘tautog’ when I lived in Rhode Island, it’s become a New York favorite.

I had arrived a little late at the Union Square Greenmarket on Saturday, where both Eric and Paul, working the stall of Pura Vida Fisheries, suggested I choose the one remaining blackfish/tautog fillet.  It looked beautiful, and I wanted to take the suggestion, but the problem was that it barely weighed half a pound.   Some background:  Every time I visit, as Paul wraps up my fish choice he asks, “what else?”, and every time I have to respond that I can only handle one fish at a time.  Because I wanted to fill out my ration for the evening, this time I think I was able to make him happy.

They had Scallops which had been harvested that very morning, and scallops would be a natural choice to go with the tautog. I might have found a way to include both the shell- and fin-fish on the same plate had not Franca at Berried Treasures a few minutes later presented me with a small handful of fava beans (mixed inadvertently with a few peas).  My entrée had suddenly grown into two separate courses.

 

The berries which constituted the third course were something of a lagniappe, since I had spotted them a little later at Norwich Meadows Farm where I was only looking for a contorno for the fillet (I zoomed in on some very healthy looking lacinato, or cavalo nero).

The debt for this very pleasant meal had thus been extended to at least two other farmers.

The first course featured the scallops.

• scallops which had been harvested that same morning, from Pura Vida Fisheries, washed, drained, and dried very thoroughly, then pan grilled, finished with a squeeze of lemon juice, and drizzled with olive oil, accompanied on the plate with a small amount of fava beans and an even smaller number of peas, both from Berried treasures, briefly blanched in salted water

The tautog dominated the main course.

• tautog, or blackfish, from Pura Vida Fisheries [prepared following a recipe by Melissa Clark published in the Times four years ago, substituting a mix of excellent cayenne pepper and a dulce paprika for Aleppo pepper], seasoned, seared, cooked with halved Gaeta olives from Buon Italia, and drizzled with ‘tomato water’ prepared earlier, using heirloom tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm and rosemary from Stokes Farm, finished with torn basil from a live Full Bloom Market Garden plant from Whole Foods, and spearmint from Phillips Farm
• lacinato from Norwich Meadows Farm, braised with two small heads of fresh garlic form Lucky Dog Organic, salt, and pepper

The dessert was a small dish of berries.

• mixed raspberries (black, red, and golden) from Norwich Meadows Farm, with a dollop of Madagascar Vanilla Ciao Bello gelato, then garnished with torn spearmint – and sprigs of spearmint – from Phillips Farm

The accompaniments, as usual, were wine and music.

• the wine was a French (Bordeau) white, Château Perron Graves 2014
• the music was an album of early-seventeenth-century dances, ‘Terpsichore – Muse Of The Dance / Sempe, Capriccio Stravagante‘