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’

It may not have been a typical American Fourth of July breakfast, but what passes for ‘typical’ in America these days?

It was a holiday, and I had some excellent fresh eggs on hand, a small amount of puntarelle left over from an earlier meal (also a bit of the anchovy dressing I had used), half of a small shallot (also remaining from an earlier meal), and part of a loaf of excellent sourdough bread, now two-days old.  I didn’t want to spend too much time putting together the first meal on a day we had decided to revisit the Whitney Museum;  we were also getting pretty hungry, and this improvisation looked like it wouldn’t take much time.

It was very good, and it hadn’t really taken much time at all.

I think what I did may have been my own invention; if I can trust my invented Italian, it would be described as uova fritte con scalogni; puntarelle con acciughe [fried eggs topped with shallots cooked in butter until just tender, served with an Italian chicory dressed with anchovy, garlic, and vinegar].

• the eggs, fried sunny side up, were from Tamarack Hollow Farm, and the shallot, cooked until softened, was from John D. Madura Farm
• the puntarelle was from Paffenroth Gardens, prepared in the Roman manner
• the toast was from a loaf of a sourdough bâtard from She Wolf Bakery, at the Greenmarket
• the music was Joan Tower’s ‘Made in America’, a fantasy on the theme of  ‘America the Beautiful’

We like vegetables so much, that I’ll even load them up on dishes where they wouldn’t normally be much featured; many appear there as miniatures, or in dried form. This time, while it was only a late breakfast, on the plate were fresh tomatoes, a little bitter green, one small scallion, a tiny sweet pepper, a micro mustard, and 2 ‘budding herbs’.

Worth noting: All 6 yolks made it to the plates with their integrity uncompromised (the yolks remained whole), and I wish I knew what I did to get the feathered edges of the whites to caramelize, and be so delightfully crispy (I did add a little butter to the pan before breaking the eggs into it, since there was very little bacon fat left after the bacon was removed, but that’s pretty much what I usually do).

• the meal was an assemblage which included 4 thick strips of bacon and 6 eggs (3 Americauna* and 3 standard), all from Millport Dairy Farm, 2 heirloom tomatoes from Alewife Farm, a bit of puntarelle from Tamarack Hollow Farm, sliced red scallion from Berried Treasures Farm, budding marjoram from Stokes Farm, budding basil from Windfall Farms, one small sliced aji dulce pepper from Eckerton Hill Farm, micro red mustard from Two Guys from Woodbridge, and toast from a terrific She Wolf Bakery Miche
• the music was Bach’s Mass in B minor, performed by Philippe Herreweghe conducting the Collegium Vocale Gent 

 

* in the picture, the egg to the lower left is an Americauna

We were anxious to find a good day for enjoying the second of the 2 racks of lamb I had gotten from Walter Adam‘s farm stall in the Union Square Greenmarket 3 months ago, although I hadn’t expected it would happen during a New York August. What made it possible was a new split-system AC that turned out to be fully up to the challenge of an oven set at almost 500º. I didn’t even work up a sweat; it was an impressive performance (referring to the unit).

At least the vegetables observed both the look and the warmth of the season (the colors were right, and only one of the 2 asked to borrow any heat at all).

• one 18-ounce rack of baby lamb from Shannon Brook Farm, trimmed (removing the ‘bark’, or skin covering the fat; cutting off all excess fat; ‘Frenching’, conservatively, and cleaning the ribs of all meat and fat; removing the rubbery tendon that runs along the spine; cutting out the chine altogether), cut into two 4-rib sections, seasoned generously with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and the oven lit and set to 475º (reduced to 375º once the lamb was put into the oven), one tablespoon of olive oil heated inside a small heavy, enameled cast iron pan until hot but not smoking, the lamb placed inside to brown, the arced, bone side down first, followed by all the other surfaces in turn, for about one minute per side, removed and all sides but the ends rolled in a shallow bowl which held a mixture of one fourth of a cup of whole yellow mustard seeds [less than 2 tablespoons would actually be enough] and 2 teaspoons of Sicilian fennel seeds, both toasted together inside a large vintage seasoned cast iron skillet over medium heat until they had become fragrant, at which time they were immediately transferred to the bowl in which the lamb was to be rolled, in order to cool slightly, the meat now returned to the pan in which it had been seared, from which most of the fat had been poured out, transferred to the oven (now set at 375º), roasted until a thermometer inserted into the center of the lamb registered 135º, or medium-rare, or roughly 20 minutes [I left them in the oven a bit too long this time, although there was still some red when they were first set onto the cutting surface], removed from the oven and the pan, allowed to stand at least 10 minutes, each of the 2 sections cut into double chops, arranged on the plates and drizzled with Whole Foods Market house Portuguese olive oil, finished with a garnish of micro red mustard from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• two ‘Opalka‘ plum, or paste tomatoes from Eckerton Hill Farm, halved, dried thoroughly, placed cut side down on a plate sprinkled with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan-grilled and finished with a dab of olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar,
• more puntarelle, or cicoria di catalogna, from the tied bundle I’d purchased from Tamarack Hollow Farm, prepared as they had been the first time, meaning thoroughly washed, the leaves separated and placed inside a large bowl of ice water where they were allowed to sit outside the refrigerator for about an hour, or a little more, drained and dried (using a kitchen towel), placed inside the now emptied and dried bowl, and some of the vinegar mixture that was prepared but not used a few days earlier poured over it, the greens seasoned very lightly with sea salt, and a tablespoon or so of olive oil added, along with freshly-ground black pepper, the salad mixed or tossed at the last minute and arranged on the plates
• the wine was a California (El Dorado) red, Matt Parish Pilot Hill Gang El Dorado County Red Blend 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was Haydn’s ‘Die Jahreszeiten’ (The Seasons), Philippe Herreweghe conducting the Orchestre des Champs-Elysees and the Collegium Vocale Gent