AUTUMN EATS

Squash.  Persimmon.  Figs. Concord grapes.  Kale. Walnuts. Cauliflower. Fennel.  Keith's Rocambole Garlic. Turnips. Pears.

The list goes on.  Most of these foods I source from the Union Square Farmers Market, some are not native to the East Coast, but so evocative of this time of year, that I know adding things like figs and persimmon to some meals is as good for the soul as choosing my greens from the market is for the local farmers. And anyway, Keith, of the eponymous, Keith's Farm, did grow some miniature persimmon last autumn.   The yield was so low he actually limited you to two or three on any given trip.  But the fruit was so distinctive of musk and that fifth flavor, umami-fleshy and ripe, you were happy to get the few mouthfuls available.

This Autumn I've been enjoying the fruit in a very different way at Il Buco, a place that has become a second home over the last 15 years.

Here is my riff on their Persimmon Salad

For Two
Choose one slightly under ripe Fuyu or Hiro persimmon, slice into 1/8" rounds.  Drizzle with cold pressed olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of Himalayan salt.  Next core and cut a bulb of fennel into 1/4-1/2" wedges. clean some mint and reserve some fennel fronds. Toast a small hand of hazelnuts or walnuts.  Finally toss the persimmon, fennel, walnuts or hazelnuts with a bit more olive oil and a dash of champagne vinegar.  Top with a few shavings of Parmesan cheese and  mint and fennel fronds.

AUTUMN WEEKEND

We were able to grab a rare weekend by ourselves in the Hamptons this past weekend.  The weather was glorious and we spent the days doing things that we wouldn't normally do in the summer months, when the crowds are fierce.  On Saturday we went to the North Fork to check out some Long Island wineries.  We drove into Sag Harbor and took the ferry to Shelter Island then hopped the North Ferry to Greenport. After orienting ourselves at the Southhold visitors center we promptly found The Northfork Table & Inn.  This lovely spot is owned and run by Claudia Flemming and Gerry Hayden.  While I worked at Gramercy Tavern, Claudia was the award-winning pastry chef there.  We were able to catch up with Claudia outside their newly launched Lunch Truck, her version of a roadside stand, tucked behind a lovely mural of the kind of old fashioned pickup truck she was looking for but could not find. Kirk  took a fabulous lobster roll for the road. There is no better treat when it is done right in the Hamptons, and this one was. He was in heaven. Claudia suggested we visit McCall Vineyards in Cutchogue. Although they have been growing and harvesting Pinot Noir and Merlot grapes for close to 15 years there, they just bottled their first eponymous wines in 2007.  Compared to some of the more established vineyards, they have just started tastings in their converted barn. The simplicity of the space was perfect. The wine was beautiful too. We tasted their 2007 Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Reserve and Merlot. We enjoyed a bottle of the 2007 Merlot that evening with Lava Lake lamb rib chops, grilled eggplant and spicy mustard greens. 

Sunday we drove out to the surfer's beach at Ditch Plains and soaked in the warmth and wind, the beauty of the changing light, waves and surfers.  Later we drove to Gosman's Dock had some steamers and went to the fish market there to pick up some local day boat scallops.  The scallops were destined to be grilled for dinner.  I served them with a beet and red cabbage salad loosely adapted from a recipe by Fergus Henderson. We finished the meal with a simple salad of green figs, fennel and parsley and a bit of Le Chevrot. McCall's 2007 Pinot Noir was a lovely accompaniment to this meal.

Beet & Red Cabbage Salad with Crème Fraîche
adapted from “Beyond Nose to Tail Cooking” by Fergus Henderson.
Serves 4-6

For The Salad
2 beets, peeled and shredded in food processor, or grated by hand
¼ small red cabbage with its core cut out, very finely sliced

1 small red onion, peeled, cut in half and thinly sliced

fresh thyme leaves
2T capers in salt

For The Dressing
Extra-virgin olive oil
A modest splash of sherry vinegar

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

For Plating
a few spoonfuls of crème fraîche

a handful of parsley leaves

Combine all the elements of the salad adding a generous sprinkling of thyme leaves.  Add a few splashes of olive oil and a modest splash of sherry vinegar.  Toss well and allow the flavors to mingle for a bit.  Taste and season with a few generous grinds of fresh pepper and a bit of sea salt, if needed.  I find that the salt from the capers adds enough on its own.

To Plate: place a pile of the salad on the plate with a healthy spoonful of crème fraîche and a sprinkling of parsley leaves.

HEIRLOOM INSPIRATION

One of the magical and vital movements occurring in our local farming has been the slow, sure and steady revival of reclaiming the planting of heirloom varieties of plants, grains and legumes.  What is magical about this practice is how it transforms and educates our palates and senses.  Tasting an heirloom tomato is an entirely different experience from eating a vine-ripened tomato from Holland.  It is also a visually expansive experience.  Take these beautiful flame colored eggplant I came across again (I worked with them last fall as well) at Stokes Farm stand in the Union Square Farmer's on Saturday.  Last year they referred to them as heirloom variety, this year they are calling them Moroccan eggplant.  Either way, visually you are feeding your senses and the taste is markedly different for more familiar varieties; a little more spicy and earthy.  I really wanted to work with them in a way that would preserve their natural beauty.  Here is the first variation.

Heirloom Eggplant with Walnuts, Thyme and Sumac

6-8 small heirloom eggplant, halved
2T walnuts, chopped
1T sesame seeds
2T currants, roughly chopped
1 hearty clove of garlic, minced
2T shallot, minced
a generous handful of parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1T salted caper berries, roughly chopped
1T fresh thyme leaves
1/2t sumac, optional
lemon, fresh pepper and olive oil to season

Preheat the oven to 350 degress

Scoop out the seeds and a bit of the flesh from the eggplant.  With small eggplant you should be mindful of not breaking the skin. In a medium bowl combine the "meat"and seeds of the eggplant with the remaining ingredients.  Season and moisten with a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and a touch of freshly ground black pepper.  Mound a spoonful of the filling into the cavity of each eggplant.  Place in a shallow baking dish, drizzle with a little more olive oil and bake for 20 minutes.  Serve with sauteed greens and a little crumbled goat's milk feta.

THIS IS NOURISHMENT

The angle of the sun changed suddenly.  It's cool and rainy after a summer of oppressive heat. Autumn is in the air and we are getting a taste of my favorite season.  My meal tonight is a single bowl containing the following:  mustard greens and black kale sauteed with garlic and cumin seed,  a garnet yam, steaming as I cut into it, its creamy texture is comforting.  After adding some raw, julienned beets, Seth's amazing sunflower sprouts, a sprinkling of spicy sunflower and pumpkin seeds, I drizzle some good olive oil and add a few pinches of Celtic sea salt.  At the last minute I put a forkful of Hawthorne Valley's lacto-fermented red cabbage into the bowl.  I sit alone, listening to some music and I am deeply satisfied.  

I am often asked about what I eat on a daily basis and also what I consider to be optimal nutrition, but I would rather ask:  What does it mean to be truly nourished? Yes, we are nourished or not nourished by the foods we eat, but nourishment is not confined to the foods we eat. The foods we eat, any physical or spiritual practice we engage in, the people we surround ourselves with and the overall climate of our environment all play a part in nourishment.  It does not matter if we are consuming the most pristine, organic food if we are rigid in our body, static in our mind and troubled in our heart when we eat.  So everything leading up to that moment, the very quality of your life affects your ability to receive nourishment. As we become more conscious about the foods we choose to eat and more sensitive to the effects those foods have on our body, we then begin to become more sensitive and refined in the choices we make about other things in our life. Our lives unfold from these choices.  So, curiosity, flexibility and responsiveness in the mind and the body are vital to true nourishment.

More important than labeling an approach to food, is the practice of being open and developing an intuitive sense of how your needs may change over the course of a week, a month and a lifetime. It is vital that we seek the resources to educate ourselves and continually cultivate the knowledge that we have the potential to be nourished by the choices we make and the life that ultimately unfolds from these choices. This is what I consider to be optimal nutrition.



LACIENTO KALE with CUMIN SEED & GARLIC
1 lg bunch Laciento Kale
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Himalayan salt, to taste
1 lemon
Oil cured black olives

Slice the kale in ribbons about 1/2" wide and chop the stems into 1"pieces if they are not too woody.   Rinse the kale in plenty of water. Drain well.

Heat a large sauté pan and add olive oil and cumin seeds. when the seeds become fragrant and "pop" add the garlic.  After about two minutes, when the aroma of the garlic merges with the fragrant cumin add the kale and saute for about 5 minuts until the greens are softened. sprinkle a few pinches of salt on the greens and a squeeze of fresh lemon; toss to combine and serve with olives and hummus.

BEACHES: SUMMER'S END

After being confined in the dense, unrelenting heat in NYC, for most of the summer, the last three weeks of August found us spending time at three distinct beach locations on the East Coast. Each experience was shared with different friends yet the theme that ran through was farmer's markets, what's for dinner, the beach, and shedding the accumulated stress from spending most of the summer in NYC.

First Stop: Martha's Vineyard- Chilmark

Up Island on Martha's Vineyard is one of the most magical places for me. Vast expanses of beach, rough-hewn terrain, the clay bluffs at Aquinnah and, of course, the produce grown and foraged here is vibrant. We drove up with a cooler stocked with certain things, but saved the best part for last: shopping at the West Tisbury farmer's market and Ally's Farm Stand just behind Ally's General Store. Highlights were rainbow chard, tender haricot verts, slender yellow wax beans, abundant fresh herbs, foraged rose hips and beach plums, raisins on the vine.  I turned the tiny sweet-tart beach plums and the raisins into an impromptu compote that we served with grilled duck breast and rainbow chard.  The meal was fitting for the rainy days we had and the almost autumnal feeling in the air.

BEACH PLUM and "RAISIN ON THE VINE" COMPOTE
This recipe would also work well with the beautiful plums available at farm stands this time of year

about 1 cup beach plums or black plums, pitted and chopped, if using larger plums

1/3 cup raisins, coarsely chopped

1/2c red wine

2T raw sugar

rind from 1 orange

a few spring of thyme

a pinch of sea salt-to taste

In a medium stainless-steel saucepan, combine the wine, sugar, and orange rind and bring to a simmer over moderately high heat. Add the plums and raisins and the thyme. Bring the poaching liquid back to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the plums are just tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Next- Rhodes Island, Matunuck Beach at the Willow Dell Beach Club

We traveled lightest to Rhodes Island to visit our dear friends, Thom and Catherine at her family home in Kingston, Rhodes Island. Rest assured though, our first stop was a fish market out on Point Judith. we gathered up scallops, lobster, and swordfish all fresh from the dock.  Lunch on Saturday consisted of simply grilled scallops and an impromptu yellow watermelon salad and red onion salad with a touch of cayenne for heat and some cilantro to balance.  Sunday lunch found me finally trying my hand at crab cakes.

CRAB CAKES

Finally- The Springs and Hither Hills State Park

We landed on Thursday to lovely day. After stocking up the fridge with fantastic local produce from my personal temple: the Green Thumb Farm in Watermill, we spent the day relaxing at the pool, reading, talking and of course sharing good food.  Hurricane Earl rolled in on Friday, to much fanfare, but really not much more than big wave and heavy, at times, rain. we ventured to Hither Hills to watch the waves and made our way back to a warm supper.  The next few days were glorious, pitch perfect unofficial end of summer days.  Grilling everything including mussels

GRILLED MUSSELS

CAULIFLOWER

CAULIFLOWER-Sicilian Style
1 medium head of cauliflower, trimmed, cut into small florets (about 3 cups)
2T olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2c thinly sliced celery
1/2c red onion, diced
about 2-3T raisins
2T salted capers
2-5 oil-packed anchovies, torn into pieces (optional)
2T olive oil
zest & juice from one organic, juicy lemon

1/2c flat leaf parsley, chopped
small handful of mint torn into pieces


Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss cauliflower florets with 2 tablespoons olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and roast until edges are dark and caramelized, about 20 to 25 minutes, stirring once or twice.
While cauliflower is roasting, combine the celery, onion, raisins, anchovies and capers in a medium bowl. Add the roasted cauliflower and dress with olive oil, lemon juice and zest and toss together with the herbs. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

RAW VARIATION
To revise for a raw variation. Siply cut the cauliflower into florets and roughly chop or pulse in a food process to desired consistency.  Season with a drizzle of olive oil and a few pinches of Himalayan salt and mix well.  Let stand for about 15-30 minutes, then combine with the remaining ingredients.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your palate.

Three Savory Condiments

When we have the chance to get out of NYC in the summer we often go to our friend Howard’s house in the Springs. The central theme of these weekends is relaxation, food and wine of course. Having spent many weekends over the years being excited by the process of creating meals either based around a particular ingredient or wine, there have also been a fair share of moments when I felt more tethered to the kitchen dreaming up and executing elaborate meals, rather than the relaxation of the sun and the pool. Last summer I finally embraced the essence of this place and the fact that, in this environment, simple is best. So whether our menus involve a vegetable salad of beets, carrots and radishes or tuna tartare or grilled lamb, these simply prepared meals are enhanced, sometimes even transformed by one of the basic condiments I have taken to preparing and having on hand:

Herb Pesto
Aioli
Romesco

Tuna Tartare with Anchovy Aioli

Anchovy Aioli
2 cloves of garlic
2 large egg yolk from cage free chickens
generous pinch of Celtic sea salt
1 fillet of oil packed anchovy
1T lemon juice
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Pound garlic and anchovy with the Celtic salt in a mortar. Place in a clean bowl and whisk in the egg yolk and lemon juice. Begin to add the oil, a few drops at a time, to yolk mixture, whisking constantly, until all oil is incorporated and mixture is emulsified. Chill, covered, until ready to use.



Tuna Tartare
Serves 4
3/4 lb sushi quality tuna or yellow tail
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
2 T salt packed capers
2 T finely minced shallot
2 T finely chopped chives
1 T coarse ground mustard
juice of one lemon
Celtic sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation:
Chop the tuna into very small dice, about 1/4 inch. Mix with the olive oil, capers, shallot, chives, and mustard. Squeeze lemon juice over the tuna and mix well to incorporate. Taste, then season with salt and pepper to your liking.