The Omnivorous Fish

I have been standing on the beach at Camp Pendleton Marine Base since we last talked. I am much like a Mercedes from the sixties: alternately brown, red, red or black.

I left you hanging with that last market report, sorry. The menu did evolve a little, here’s what really happened:

Mostarda of Celery (this is where celery [though usually fruit] is cooked in a syrup with spices to make a conserve) with fresh ricotta on crostini with my special olives: oil-cured sicilian olives macerated with blood orange juice and zest
Check.

Nettle and rice soup with bacon- a venetian style minestra-risotto
Well, the nettles didn’t survive my trip to Vegas, so they got bounced to compost duty, and I reached into the freezer for a little backup and came up with a last-minute risotto.

Panelle- Fried squares of chickpea flour polenta- palermo style- with a salad of favas, salame calabrese (spicy), ricotta salata and whole chopped (meaning pith and all) meyer lemons
Check, although I seasoned this with mint and oil, and it was great, but the lemons were a mistake. They didn’t become the bright counterpoint I thought they would be…they ended up being too strong for the delicate fava. The salame was enough of a contrast, and also went well with the cheese, which the lemon did not.

Pork Butt Roast (the top part of the foreleg that I sometimes call shoulder, but is not accurate in English) with braised leeks and Sicilian potato salad (cooked potatoes, extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh mint)
As planned, and it was SO good. I used those French chestnut potatoes, and though they fell apart a little, the flavor was superb. I burned the leeks, though they tasted good. My bad.

Strawberries alongside Lebanese rosewater-flavored baklava. Yes, Rose, Danny Thomas was one, too.
Yeah, I wasn’t feeling the baklava. I made a lemon mousse instead, with some lemon curd and whipped cream, which I set out in bowls around the table with a huge bowl of chopped strawberries in the center. Like a make-your-own-fool.
Good times.

Listening: NPR: Fair Game with Faith Salie