Tag: Berried Treasures Farm

October 12, 2010

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

May 5, 2010

dinner, April 25, 2010

For some time I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to sample a very attractively-presented cut of steak I’d first heard of and seen at The Meat Hook in Williamsburg, and spotted several times after that at Dickson’s Farm Stand Meats in Chelsea Market. On April 25 I decided it was time. I was in the Dickson’s shop without a shopping list and saw two handsome, arched and skewered steaks pressed near the window of their display cooler. I pumped the very helpful guy behind the counter for information, including cooking tips, and then picked out the larger of the two pieces (it weighed in at about 12 ounces, including a beautiful layer of fat on one side).

Barry and I weren’t disappointed with the results. It was one of the finest steaks I’ve ever eaten.

culotte steak (a small, boneless steak cut from the sirloin, known as “coulotte” in France, “picanha” in Brazil), from Dickson’s Farm Stand Meats, seasoned and seared (I used my handy and much-treasured small red oval enameled iron pan throughout) for about two minutes on the fat side and for about 45 second on the other, then placed inside a 375 degree oven for about seven or eight minutes (I don’t remember now whether I afterward added oil, lemon and/or herbs, as I sometimes do when a steak has been taken out of the pan); accompanied by La Ratte potatoes purchased at the Union Square Greenmarket from Berried Treasures Farm (the picture shows they go pretty fast) which have been halved, tossed with oil and salt & pepper, roasted cut-side down on a ceramic oven tray, then mixed with sauteed ramps, also from Berried Treasures
wine: Rhone, Domaine Catherine le Goeuil Cotes du Rhone Villages Cairanne Cuvee Lea Felsch 2007, a gift of a friend

May 4, 2010

Atlantic Sea Bass 4/24/10

Atlantic sea bass fillet, oven-roasted after a marination of garlic and herbs (bay, rosemary, thyme, parsley), purchased from The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market; accompanied by boiled tiny Carola potatoes purchased three days earlier at the Union Square Greenmarket from Berried Treasures Farm [the name a nod to both of the farmer’s specialties: superb potatoes and awesome strawberries] in Delaware County, New York, (it was their welcome first day back in the City this season), finished with a mixture of oil, garlic, lemon (zest and juice), and parsley; and grilled ramps, also from the Greenmarket (I was so excited to find their were still ramps available by the time I was able to get to the market after the mid-day banner-drop that I forgot to record from whose stall I had gotten them)
wine: Vermentino di Sardegna, Argiolas Costamolino D.O.C. 2008 from Phillipe Wine
Bosc pears from Migliorelli Farm at the Union Square Greenmarket