pork chops, roots, cavalo nero

dinner, 11/29/10

I was in such a rush to get to the Greenmarket Wednesday before Thanksgiving that I forgot to bring my camera.  That means that I don’t have any notes for the vegetable’s farm sources (I normally take pictures of a stall’s sign to remember, once I get home, where things came from).  I can only say that I’m grateful for our area’s delayed full frost, since there was still a wonderful bounty of just about everything late harvest-y.

The roots gathered for this meal were terrific, the Sekt a delight, and the beautifully-cut (a rich layer of fat), very juicy Flying Pigs Farm pork chops were phenomenal!

  • grissini (Roberto)
  • wine:  German sparkling, from the Mosel (Ruwer), Eleonora Riesling Halbtrocken 2002 Kaseler Dominikanerberg (Kasel im Ruwertal) produced by Christoph von Nell, from a private tasting of wines distributed by Mosel Wine Merchant
  • pork chops from from the Flying Pigs people at the Greenmarket, seared, then oven-roasted with lemon;  accompanied by slices of roasted parsnips and celery root roasted in a hot oven and finished with chopped parsley;  and cavalo nero sauteed in oil in which whole bruised garlic had first been cooked lightly, finished with salt and pepper and a drizzle of oil
  • wine:  Spanish white, a Rueda, Shaya 2008 Verdejo old vines from 67 Wine

balsamic veal chops, pumpkin, greens

dinner, 11/3/10

  • raw wedges of Keith’s Farm classic Japanese Hakurei turnip greens from the Union Square Greenmarket
  • Veal Loin Chops with Balsamico, meaning two small seasoned natural veal rib chops from our local D’Agostino market, browned 3-4 minutes each side (once the pan and the bit of oil coating it has gotten pretty hot), over medium-high heat, the chops removed and allowed to rest five minutes, then each drizzled with a teaspoon of good Balsamic vinegar; accompanied by a savory sugar pumpkin casserole which included, in addition to the two-pound squash/fruit from the Greenmarket’s Paffenroth Gardens, one large yellow onion from Pennsylvania’s Berks County Eckerton Hill Farm, also in the Greenmarket, two eggs from Knoll Krest Farm, and 6 ounces of Patches of Star goat cheese ricotta (both ingredients from the Greenmarket); and a small serving of sauteed turnip greens (the tops of Keith’s turnip roots as well as some of their red radish tops, wilted in a bit of oil along with two small bruised and heated garlic cloves
  • wine:  Italian, Valpolicella, D.O.C. 2008 Brigaldara from Pasanella and Son

Calabrese salame, cauliflower frittata

dinner, 10/18/10

(color it purple, gold or green – or just leave it white, like ours this time)

I love cauliflower in every form, and I’m equally fond of eggs.  I’d been looking for the flowered cabbage in the Greenmarket all summer, but hadn’t found a small, good-looking head, in any color, until this past weekend.  As I had on hand some very fresh Greenmarket eggs from Knoll Krest Farm which I didn’t want to hold onto long, I thought of one of my favorite recipes.

  • slices of Calabrese salame (Columbus Salumeria, from Trader Joe’s), served with Greenmarket red dandelion greens dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette along with slices of “Wheat Italian Bread” from Wild Hive Bakery in the Greenmarket
  • cauliflower frittata, made in a 12-inch pan and not flipped (very, very easy:  see recipe), including in the saute mix some thinly-sliced stem as well as the torn green pointed leaves tightly enclosing the head, the eggs beaten with a bit of grated Parmigiano from Eataly and added when the vegetable had begun to color, the thin “omelet” finished with a sprinkling of anise hyssop blossoms and torn leaves, from Keith’s Farm in the Greenmarket
  • a nibble of Cave-Aged Cheddar from New Jersey’s Bobolink Dairy (Greenmarket), served with thin toasts of the same wheat bread
  • wine:  Spanish, Naia 2008 Rueda (Verdejo) by Jorge Ordonez, from 67 Wine

[image from clipart ETC (unfortunately I forgot to record the supplier, and snap an image, while  I was at the Union Square Greenmarket)]

lardo toasts, roast lamb, coriander turnips

dinner, 10/15/10

The lardo in the first full course was awesome, but the little roast was the probably the featured attraction in this dinner.

I knew that using a slow oven for the second would mean a chance to relax and enjoy some cooking smells for a longer period of time than usual, but while the entree was finishing up in the oven I began to think that it might have slipped out of my control (I was afraid that I had overcooked the lamb – and even the turnips).   I was working with a really very small piece of meat, but I suspected that this shoulder cut could not be cooked as rare as I would normally.

It turned out perfectly in the end.  We were able to enjoy the most luscious and juicy roast lamb – and cracklings – I know I’ve ever had (it also had an excellent gamey taste, more than that to which I’m accustomed in lamb).  There were also some excellent caramelized turnips, with almost-crunchy edges and seasonings which gave them a distinctive but subtle Mediterranean piquancy.

Welcome to fall.

  • quartered “Easter Egg radishes” (parti-colored) from the Union Square Greenmarket, served with our favorite salt, Maldon
  • warm toasts of a terrific, and very sturdy, “Wheat Italian Bread” (locally-grown organic grains, including whole spring wheat flour and organic whole winter wheat flour, sea salt, yeast, sesame seeds, egg wash) from Wild Hive Bakery covered with very thin slices of Mangalitsa heritage pork lardo from Mosefund, whose stall is in the Sunday New Amsterdam Market Downtown, sprinkled with a bit of freshly-ground black pepper and served with red dandelion leaves from the Greenmarket which had been tossed with a light lemon vinaigrette
  • wine:  Italian, from the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Trentino Intaglio 2008, from Eataly Wines
  • a small (13 oz)  rolled boneless lamb shoulder from Arcadian Pastures, first slit all over to accommodate slices of Rocambole garlic (Keith’s Farm, in the Greenmarket) and rosemary leaves, rubbed with oil and lemon juice (ideally, it should then sit in the refrigerator for hours, but not this time), seared and first slow-roasted (270 degrees F) covered, to a juicy medium or slightly more, then with the cover removed and the oven turned up to 425 degrees, browned on top, sliced and served with lemon wedges;  accompanied by chunks of turnips from Bodhitree Farm, tossed in oil, Alderwood salt (from The Filling Station) and pepper, spread onto a large ceramic pan and roasted at 425 degrees, removed from the oven and tossed in a bowl with oil, minced garlic, chopped Titan parsley from the Greenmarket’s Paffenroth Gardens, lemon juice, and ground coriander seeds
  • cheese and fruit:  small amounts of three cheeses, a mild blue ewe’s milk, Bonneyview Farms’ Mossend Blue, purchased from Saxelby’s Cheesemongers (whose shop is located in the Essex Street Market) at the New Amsterdam Market, Bonrus;  an Alta Langa Piedmontese, from Eataly, also of ewe’s milk;  and a cow’s milk cheese, the Cave-Aged Cheddar of New Jersey’s Bobolink Dairy, the three served with golden raspberries from Berried Treasures
  • wine:  French, Domaine Mas de Martin 2007 Coteaux du Languedoc from Pasanella and Sons Vintners

novel squash ravioli, again 10/10/10

Ground cherries aren’t just for salads, salsas and spreads.  The pasta recipe described below doesn’t conform with any known Italian tradition, but until about 300 years ago neither did the tomato, so maybe in another hundred or so  . . . .

I hadn’t yet published the post I had begun two weeks ago (describing a very good meal featuring squash-filled ravioli), when we enjoyed virtually the same entree again two nights ago.  It was a winner both times, so I’ve decided to use the second meal as an opportunity to post something which would include the binary date 10/10/10.   Of course the real reason for this blog is the deliciousness of the meal – and the fact that it was almost a complete, largely-serendipitous invention of my own.  It’s also incredibly simple, quick, very, very easy, and clearly healthy.  Also, if you’re as fond of squash- or pumpkin-stuffed pasta as I am, but slightly tired of sage and butter route and looking for new ways to enjoy it, read on.

  • sliced heirloom tomatoes (two small “peach” heirlooms and one small orange heirloom, all from the Berried Treasures Farm Greenmarket stand), served with drops of good oil and castings of shredded basil, the herb also from the Greenmarket;  accompanied by an awesome chevre from the Greenmarket’s Ardith Mae Goat Cheese and thin slices of Balthazar Bakery‘s multigrain crescent bread, from Citarella
  • squash-filled ravioli from Eataly (fresh egg pasta “stars” stuffed with pumpkin, amaretti, mustard, salt and nutmeg), sauced with oil and a bit of cooking water, a handful of halved ground cherries (a recent obsession of mine) from Pittstown’s Oak Grove Plantation in the Greenmarket, chopped cutting celery* from Brewster’s Ryder Farm stand, also in the Greenmarket, a generous crush of pink peppercorns (a secret passion) purchased, some time ago, from Dean & Deluca in Tribeca, oil, and grated Parmesan
  • wine:  Sicilian white, Corvo Fiore 2009, from Eataly Wines

* in September the ground cherries used were from Berried Treasures;  also, I had used lovage instead of cutting celery;  I’m not surprised that I preferred the lovage, but then on the second night I tried a few pieces of pasta with some torn anise hyssop leaves, from cuttings picked up at Keith’s Farm in the Greenmarket, suggesting it and any number of other herbal possibilities

Portuguese pork, wax beans 09/26/10

We may have thought a bit more than usual in choosing an appropriate wine for this meal.  An Alentejo would have been appropriate, and probably super, but we didn’t have a Portuguese red in our rack.  We ended up opening this Crianza from Bierzo, an area of Spain just 50 miles north and east of its Iberian neighbor, although I think we chose it mostly because, having had it before, we knew it was very good.

Also, the pairing of the rich, peppery pork and the faintly-crunchy wax beans, which were rendered even sweeter by my serendipitous addition of the ground cherries and lovage I had on hand, was a match made in heaven, if not actually in either Portugal or Spain.

  • Roberto grissini, spicy red radishes from the Greenmarket
  • Portuguese-style cheese-stuffed pork tenderloin, here meaning a tenderloin purchased from Eataly and prepared according to a recipe in David Leite’s beautiful and scrumptious “The New Portuguese Table“, where the small loin is stuffed with grated Parmesan cheese, coated in a classic “Amped-up Red Pepper Paste” (with a few substitutions), left to marinate in the refrigerator for six hours, browned in duck fat ten minutes or so, and roasted in the oven for ten more, finished with a sauce made by deglazing the browning pan with white wine and some good beef stock (as well as a dollop of duck demi-glaze, left over from the same recent meal from which the duck fat was salvaged) the liquid then reduced, and finished with a generous garnish of chopped Titan parsley (Italian-type, but dark-green and more bushy-looking, with leaves slightly curled on the edges), from the Greenmarket’s adventurous Paffenroth Gardens; accompanied by par-boiled wax beans briefly reheated in oil and then tossed with halved ground cherries and shredded lovage leaves (the beans and “cherries” from Berried Treasures Farm, the lovage from another farmer, both stalls in the Greenmarket);  and slices of a very sturdy ciabatta, made with unbleached whole-grain wheat flower, bread from Bobolink Dairy, also in the Greenmarket (the bread is from their brand-new oven)
  • wine:  Spanish, Leon, Flavium Crianza Bierzo 2006, from from Phillipe Wine
  • (because we had neither Aguardente nor Bagaço, yet some kind of “digestivo” seemed like a very appropriate followup to this course) grappa, here a golden form (aged 12 months in French oak), Grappa Velia, from Mastroberardino, a surprising survivor from a trip we made to Naples too many years ago

tuna, turkish eggplant, grilled 9/23/10

  • red radishes, grissini
  • tuna steak from Citarella, covered on both sides with a mixture of crushed fennel seed, garlic and oil, seasoned, then briefly pan-grilled, and finished with drops of oil and lemon juice; accompanied by colorful Turkish eggplants, from Keith’s Farm in the Greenmarket (note:  I haven’t been able to locate anything that looks like these beauties on line), which had been halved, scored and brushed with a mixture of oil, garlic, shiso, and lovage (the garlic, shiso and lovage used in this meal all came from the Greenmarket), seasoned, then also pan-grilled
  • wine:  California, Parducci Pinot Noir 2008, Mendocino
  • green figs from Eataly, served with a bit of balsamic vinegar

“ducketta”, tomato, herbed La Ratte 9/21/10

This duck breast was incredibly delicious, and unlike any domesticated bird I’d ever tasted.  It was closer in taste to the wild duck Barry and I had enjoyed in a small tavern below the Austrian inn in which we stayed overnight in Melk years ago.  On that occasion however the meat included a pellet from the hunter’s shotgun (discovered in time), evidence of its origins.
  • grissini (Roberto)
  • “ducketta“, using the two halves of a complete duck breast from the smallish Lola heritage breed produced by Hudson Valley Duck Farm and purchased at the New Amsterdam Market (although the farm can also be found in the Union Square Greenmarket on Mondays), stuffed with a paste of garlic, crushed fennel seeds, chopped rosemary, grated parmesan and oil, then seasoned and browned on top of the range, and finally turned over and roasted in the oven;  accompanied by a halved, seasoned, grilled orange heirloom tomato from Bodhitree Farm in the Greenmarket, finished with a light brushing of balsamic vinegar; and small La Ratte potatoes from Berried Treasures Farm (also in the Greenmarket) which had been halved lengthwise, tossed with oil, chopped rosemary and sage, seasoned, and roasted on a ceramic pan in the oven
  • wine:  Spanish red, Navarre, Inurrieta 2005 Sur (75% Garnacha, 25% Graciano) from 67 Wine
  • candied slices of ginger

mussels with tomatoes, lovage 8/30/10

Yes, it really was hot, both inside the apartment and out, but assembling this simple meal didn’t add anything to the temperature of the kitchen last night (the thermometer was already showing 86 degrees at 10 o’clock, but it didn’t register any higher after I was done cooking).

The flame under the covered pot was on for only about two or three minutes, so little of the heat it generated escaped into the room.   Also, we had two efficient fans in the dining area near the window, so within only a few minutes after I had thrown everything into a large enameled cast-iron pot we were able to enjoy a perfect late-summer supper.

When we had finished this course I realized we had still had some wine (we must have been really busy with the bivalves), so I brought out a sampling of some excellent light cheeses.  We followed that small course with some luscious plums.

By the way, while I’ve had a lot of shellfish casualties in the past, there were almost none this time:   Of the two pounds I started with, not one mussel was lost after making it into the pot (although three, which had already opened, had been rejected while I was cleaning them).   O Canada!

I want to say one more thing about this meal:  I’m crazy about lovage.   I have to restrain myself, or I’d probably try to introduce this herb into at least half of the things I put together.  This time however the recipe, by Jerry Traunfeld (which I found in a piece by Sara Dickerman in the Times Magazine four years ago), already called for it.

  • small mussels (farmed in Canada, somewhere in the Maritimes) from Citarella, steamed with a third of a cup of dry Vermouth, a little butter, 2 cups of diced “Black” (mahogany-brown) heirloom tomatoes from Bill Maxwell’s farm, ground pepper, chopped shallots, and generous amounts of lovage, also from Maxwell’s;  served with crusty long (Italian?) bread from Citarella
  • cheese:  from the Greenmarket, two wonderful soft-ripened goat types, “bigelo” and “doolan”, from Ardith Mae in Hallstead, Pennsylvania
  • wine:  Tuscan, San Quirico Venaccia di San Gimignano 2008, from Appellation Wines
  • three varieties of ripe plums from New Jersey’s  Tree-Licious orchards, picked up in the Greenmarket three days before

goat chops, tomato, grilled eggplant 8/11/10

goat chops, Kermit eggplants, plum tomato, everything ready for the grill pans

Kermit eggplants in grill pan, cut side down first (after a rinse, the tomato followed the Kermits)

goat chops, just after hitting the second grill pan

the finished plate on the table

Just after assembling the materials on the counter lat night I realized that  this meal would be very easy and stress-free to prepare, and that there were going to be almost no issues involving the coordination of different dishes or their separate timing, so for the first time ever I chanced taking a few pictures throughout the process.

They’re not much to get excited about, but the meal was terrific (I do the tomato thing regularly throughout the second half of the summer, and they’re always a treat; I loved the taste and texture of the little round green eggplants, my first exposure to this variety;  and the chops turned out better than ever before), and the pictures do give some idea of what we both enjoyed last night, before, during and after the process.