The Omnivorous Fish

I’ve been cooking a bunch lately. The Italians were here for a while, and we went to santa monica farmer’s market, and came back with the makings of a pretty wonderful vegetarian meal. We also hit the long beach marina farmers’ market, whih I have to admit wasn’t the greatest. I did meet this interesting Lithuanian guy who lived in Italy and learned olive curing. Now he has a farm not far from here and makes a ton of different cured products, including some wholly wonderful cold-cured manzanilla olives, and olive oil, all from a farm a half hour from my house. Talk about local.

I’m sure I’ll be going back to the Santa Monica market before long. It’s the only thing I’ve seen in Southern California that’s even in the same league as Ferry Plaza or Union Square. And they’re pushing to ban disposable plastic bags in the market, which I am all for. Sometimes it’s nice just to be surrounded my people that you know are of a like mind.

My parents arrived today. The Long Beach Mafia is coming for dinner monday, which is exciting, but I have no idea what I’ll cook. I was hoping to go back to Santa Monica this morning, but it didn’t work out. My mom wants to try a cherimoya, so maybe we’ll hit the LB market tomorrow.

So here’s what we made for the italians’ leaving:

Pinzimonio, that is to say crudite, with three vinaigrettes: orange and balsamic vinegar, meyer lemon, sherry vinegar with garlic; all with extra virgin olive oil. Alfredo made this, and it was fantastic. We had baby artichokes sliced up in a salad with arugula, then red and yellow carrots, green onions, red and yellow bell peppers, (gorgeous) fennel and some cucumbers, all with the sauces. It was great.

I then made pasta with potatoes, that is alla messinese, because as I discovered, pasta con patate is usually a casserole or a minestra. The way I learned to make it is entirely different. It’s basically a quick saute of oil, garlic, capers and anchovies. Add some diced boiled potatoes and long pasta and you’re all set. Maybe a little pasta water. It’s simple in the extreme, but wonderful if you start out with excellent ingredients, like the Russian Banana potatoes and Barilla pasta that we had.

For our main course we had gratineed asparagus, which apparently grows here in February. Although it wasn’t the greatest asparagus I’ve ever had, it was quite good baked with Argentinian knockoff Parmiggiano cheese and a squeeze of lemon.

All that led to the Sicilian tour de force, Crostata di Pignoli, or pine nut pie, with chocolate and blood orange. It’s a thick, sweet crust with a custard of eggs, pine nuts, chocolate, orange zest and grand marnier. It bakes in a bread oven (or on a pizza stone) which crisps the crust and aids in browning. When the center cracks, that puppy is done, and I assure you oohs and ahhs. Maybe I’ll create a recipe for that one…

Ok, off to do a bit of reading before bed.