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  • penne rigate, spring onion, chili, red-vein sorrel, parmesan

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    I’m not sure I remember all of the details, but this excellent Setaro Penne Rigate from Buon Italia took very well to the minimal addition of a bit of spring garlic from Lani’s Farm, some crushed dried Calabresi peperoncino secchia, also from Buon Italia, a small handful of red-vein sorrel from Norwich Meadows Farm, and some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano Vacche…

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  • sea bass, mushrooms, aji dulce, basil sprouts; potato, chive

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    This entrée was very familiar, but also very special, the latter because of one ingredient, a garnish that didn’t want to be just pretty. It was also Good Friday, which still retains some specialness for this cultural Catholic atheist. two 8-ounce Black Sea Bass fillets from American Seafood Company, washed, dried, seasoned on both sides…

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  • reverse seared steak, rosemary, red amaranth; red chard

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    Yeah, it’s just a steak but, wow, what a steak! My favorite beef purveyor didn’t have my favorite culotte/picanya cut the other day.  After a short consultation at their Union Square Greenmarket stand with their guy Mike, I opted for a pair of very well marbled strip steaks (‘New York’ wasn’t anywhere in their description,…

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  • vertical bacon & eggs + toast/tomato/leek/aleppo/chives

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    Sunday, April 5, early afternoon. Okay, it wasn’t Eggs Benedict, but it was foolproof, even first thing in the morning, fun to assemble, and delicious. It was also efficient in its use of both kitchen materials and ingredients, in the way Ellen Swallow Richards, 19th-century chemist and the founder of Home Economics, might approve. The layers…

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  • fennel rubbed tuna, payqu; open brussels sprouts; tomato

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    This entrée would have been totally familiar on our table, and so also here on this blog, if it weren’t for two of its elements: the herb that garnished the tuna, and the unusual form of some otherwise common green vegetable. 15-ounces of yellowfin tuna steak from Pura Vida Seafood, rinsed, dried, halved, tops and…

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  • spaghetti, quail eggs: un po ‘come spaghetti alla carbonara

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    The eggs were beautiful, and they were much larger than quail eggs usually are (they were all double yolk, from young layers, considered good fortune in some cultures, including mine). I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but as soon as I spotted them I knew that I was ready…

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  • roasted cod, dried smoked pepper, potato, tomato; lacinato

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    I do this dish, or variation of it, more often than any other in my kitchen practice. There is good reason: It’s simple, always delicious and, for us at least, extremely good comfort food. I don’t know why I’m posting it now when I’m so far behind, and also otherwise distracted, except that this was one…

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  • rye pasta, radish/greens, spring garlic, chilis, breadcrumbs

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    The pasta was a local rye grain trumpets, (‘Campanelle (little bells) in Italian) made by Sfoglini, and were two kinds of radishes, plus the greens of one kind, also spring garlic, dried smoked serrano pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, chopped baby fennel fronds, and some breadcrumbs (taken from a very sturdy loaf of bread) toasted along…

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  • smoked scallops, sauced, wild dandelion; potatoes; tomato

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    I’m writing shorter posts here, at least for a while, since I had neglected publishing anything at all for weeks. I may later go back and resurrect a few of the more interesting meals that never made it in print here in February and March, but I’m making no promises to myself that I will…

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  • lemon-roasted pork chops; fennel/balsamic/olives; tomato

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    This was really superb pork, but then so was everything else on the plate. And yet this was still March, and we were in the midst of a pandemic. Barry and I live very well, with the help of others, and we will survive, with the help of others, even in the midst of our…

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