I had no idea this meal would end up so well.

The whelks were a big surprise. They had been an impulse purchase the day before, when I had picked up some finned seafood for a dinner that night. They had already been cooked, making it easy for me, as long as I could come up with a way to serve them.  After looking at a number of sites on line, I ended up I pretty much winging it, with the help of a well-stocked larder.

Super, and the salad looked pretty nice too.

I had decided early on that the main course would be a pasta.  Remembering that I had a terrific local grain box of artisanal ‘trumpets’, it was easy to imagine them associating with some sautéed early season cucumbers (2 kinds) that I had also purchased on Monday. At that point my dinner had become a thing.

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And it was delicious.

• five ounces of cooked whelks from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, sliced thinly and mixed with some finely-sliced ramp bulbs from Berried Treasures Farm, minced garlic from Norwich Meadows Farm, crushed dried pepperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia, olive oil, juice from an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, a bit of Columela Rioja 30 Year Reserva sherry vinegar, chopped stems of baby fennel bulbs from Central Valley Farm, chopped lovage from Central Valley Farm, chopped parsley from Norwich Meadows Farm, all kinds of chopped herbs left over from the preparation of the Porgy the day before, sea salt, and Freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, served on flat plates on top of leaves of a purple frizzy oak leaf lettuce from Norwich Meadows Farm topped with a drizzle of olive oil
• five cucumbers, of 2 different kinds, from Norwich Meadows Farm (their names still undetermined when I left the farmers’ Union Square Market stand, but I may be able to fix that later, sliced about 1/2″ thick, dried, sautéed inside a large enameled cast iron pot in a little olive oil over a fairly high flame until they began to color, and then joined by one whole red Calabrian pepper from Campo Rosso Farm and several chopped red onion scallions from John D. Madura Farms, the vegetables then seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper before joined by half a pound of Sfoglini rye blend ‘trumpets’ (and some of the reserved pasta water) which had been cooked seriously al dente, the trumpets tossed with the cucumbers and onions and stirred over a low-to-moderate flame for a couple of minutes to blend the flavors and the ingredients, served finished with a drizzle of olive oil, some homemade breadcrumbs (dry crumbs of a homemade rye bread) which had been heated with a little olive oil and a pinch of sea salt, the pasta finished in shallow bowls sprinkled with chopped garlic flowers from Windfall Farms
• the wine was an Italian (Campania) white, Benito Ferrara Greco di Tufo 2014, from Garnet Wines
• the music was Haydn’s 1781 opera, ‘La fedeltà premiata’, a late 1970s recording, Antal Doráti conducting the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra in the first performance of the work in almost 200 years

It was almost a night off, since, although there were 2 courses, this meal was very easy to throw together.

• most of the bulb sections, including stems, of a bunch of ramps from Berried Treasures, heated with a little olive oil inside a heavy, high-sided, tin-lined copper pan with a bit of crushed dried dark habanada pepper and about the same amount of a crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia until the alliums had softened and begun to give pff an aroma, mixed with half a pound of Sfoglini rye blend ‘trumpets which had been cooked seriously al dente, the roughly chopped ramp leaves now added and everything (including some of the reserved pasta water) tossed and stirred over a low-to-moderate flame for a couple of minutes to blend the flavors and the ingredients, served with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano Vache Rosse from Eataly

There was a antipasto, served immediately before the trumpets.

• three ounces of an incredibly delicious salumi, La Quercia Ridgetop Prosciutto, from Whole Foods, drizzled with a very small amount of Alce Nero DOP ‘Terra di Bari Bitonto from Eataly
• baby arugula from Lani’s Farm, also drizzled with the oil
• slices of Bien Cuit rye and sunflower bread from Foragers Market

• the wine throughout was a lovely Italian (Marche) white, Cantina Sant’Isidoro – Pié di Colle 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was Bruckner’s 1888-1889 Symphony No. 3 (‘Wagner Symphony’), Andris Nelsons conducting the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig

I’ve written before about how much I like Sfoglini pasta (quality, variety of forms and content, seasonal specialties, local origin, striated surfaces). On Tuesday evening I finished the second half of my package of their ‘Rye Trumpets’ (the Italians call the shape, ‘campanelle’, or bells, suggesting these), this time adding an ingredient as rare as, or more rare than that pasta: sautéed cucumbers; more exotic still, they were a variety most people have never seen, Jamaica Burr.

• Jamaica Burr cucumbers from Norwich Meadows Farm, sliced about 1/4″ thick, dried, sautéed in a little olive oil over a fairly high flame until beginning to color, and then one very small, seeded, finely-chopped red Calabrian pepper from Campo Rosso Farm and several chopped scallions added, in that order, near the end, the vegetables seasoned with salt and pepper before they were mixed with half a pound of Sfoglini rye blend ‘trumpets which were cooked seriously al dente, everything (including some of the reserved pasta water) tossed and stirred over a low-to-moderate flame for a couple of minutes to blend the flavors and the ingredients, served sprinkled with fennel flowers from Ryder Farm
• the wine was an Italian (Alto Adige/Südtirol) white, from Chelsea Wine Vault, La Manina Manincor 2013
• the music was Mozart divertimentos/serenades, from the 3-disc album, ‘Mozart: Complete Wind Music‘, in performances by the London Wind Soloists , directed by Jack Brymer

I’ve become very fond of Sfoglini pasta, for the quality, the variety of its forms and ingredients, its seasonal products, their local origin, and of course the beautiful coarse (and functional) texture of the dry product’s surfaces, as seen above in the picture of their ‘Rye Trumpets’ (a shape the Italians called ‘campanelle’ [or bells, suggesting these], which I prepared on Tuesday evening).

The night was cool, and a little damp. I hadn’t planned anything in particular for dinner, but something earthy seemed it order. Also, we had just come from a visit to Collective Design, so naturally even before getting home I was already thinking of the several different Sfoglini pasta designs and ‘flavors’ sitting in the larder.

Note: The great Italian car designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro, is responsible for one of the most intriguing and aesthetically pleasing pasta designs of our time, his 1983 Voiello Marille.

While we didn’t have any marille on hand, we did have Sfoglini’s ‘organic rye blend trumpets’. I love anything rye, and while trying to come up with a sauce, the rye reference made me think of German-isch lands. I then remembered that I had a modest amount of something sympathetic to rye in our crisper, a kernel of a red cabbage, probably enough to make something to mix with the pasta. It was a remnant from the preparations for a meal almost 3 weeks back (I love that brassica for its toughness almost as much as for its taste).

Altogether it sounded like it was going to be a northern Italian treat, so we pulled out a familiar and very good Pinot Grigio from the wine rack and quickly chilled it.

• eight ounces of dry Sfoglini rye blend trumpet pasta, cooked al dente in a large pot of salted water, some of the water reserved near the end before it was drained, added to a large enameled cast iron pot in which earlier one thinly-sliced red onion from Norwich Meadows Farm had been softened in a couple tablespoons of ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘, to be followed by 3 small minced garlic cloves from Whole Foods, stirred until fragrant, 3 or 4 rosemary branches from Stokes Farm tossed in and heated for a minute or so, more butter added at that point, followed by about half a pound of cored and thinly-sliced red cabbage from Eataly, stirred well and cooked, covered, for about 15-20 minutes, or until tender, near the end of the cooking a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar poured in, followed by a handful of chopped green sections of fresh garlic from Bodhitree Farm, everything stirred again, the pasta now added to the cabbage, and some of the reserved water introduced to the mix in stages and stirred above a low flame to keep it moist, served with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese from Whole Foods sprinkled on top
• the wine was an excellent Italian (Alto Adige/Südtirol) white, St. Michael-Eppan Pinot Grigio 2014 [the link is to a 2013 vintage on a 67wine.com page, the people from whom we had bought this wine in years before], purchased from Philippe Liquors, making this super Germanic Pinot Gris almost ‘locavore’
• the music was Symphony No 8, Op. 81 “Autumnal Fragments”, by Aulis Sallinen

Friday night dinner.

Barry found the recipe. I do the cooking, but he’s very, very good at ordering. I don’t mean ordering me, but ordering food in restaurants or at take out, where I, on the other hand, usually freeze up. It turns out he’s also good at spotting recipes. This was a really good one.

I halved the recipe on the delish site, and I made a few changes, substituting mint for the dill I didn’t have; red onion for “onion”, because I love red onion; vesuvio pasta for spaghetti (same); smoked steelhead trout for salmon, because we’ve recently come to love our local steelhead, also because it’s what I had on hand that day; and finally, since I can’t usually leave good enough alone, and to enhance the visuals, I added a garnish, chervil here, one of my favorites.

• a tablespoon or so of olive oil heated inside a large antique copper pot over medium heat,
  one medium/large chopped shallot cooked until softened, one clove of chopped garlic added and heated until fragrant, 2 tablespoons of white wine [poured in and stirred until it had almost completely, 3 ounces of heavy cream and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice added and stirred until thickened, the sauce seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground  black pepper before 4 ounces of smoked local steelhead trout (farmed by Hudson Valley Fisheries, in Hudson, NY), a few tablespoons of rinsed large Sicilian salted capers and a generous amount of a mint hybrid (spearmint and Peppermint) mixed in and heated briefly, or just only until the salmon had warmed through, then 8 ounces of a Gragnano Campania pasta (Afeltra Vesuvio) cooked al dente added to the pot, along with almost a cup of the pasta cooking water, and tossed together with the sauce, adding more water if desired, before the dish was  arranged inside shallow bowls, scattered with a little more mint, and garnished with chervil from Eckerton Hill Farm

There was a first course.

• a few ounces of ‘Bulgarian feta” from Moxie Ridge Farm & Creamery sprinkled with a bit of crushed dried aji dulce pepper from Ekerton Hill Farm and some torn basil taken from a live plant purchased from Stokes Farm, drizzled with a bit of Palagio Tuscan olive oil
• slices of Runner & Stone ‘Bolzano’ whole wheat and rye sourdough miche

• the wine throughout the meal was an Italian (Sicily) white, Stefano di Blasi IGT Sicilia Zibibbo Catarratto 2019, from Naked Wines 
• the music (through some of the meal) was Paul Dessau’s 1978 opera, ‘Leonce und Lena’ (after Georg Büchner’s 1836 play of the same name), in a 1980 performance with Otmar Suitner conducting the Berlin Staatskapelle Orchestra and Berlin State Opera Chorus, with Peter Menzel, Reiner Süss, Carola Nossek, Edda Schaller, and others [noting here that the state at the time was the DDR, or Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic Republic)