DISPATCH no. 2: the month of may
on the road (again), from the freezer, other people's cooking, may = lilacs!
how to eat while traveling + moving (hint: barely cook)
eating out and using freezer food
After a very quiet and remote fall and winter, the last few weeks have been a (mostly welcome) blur involving two trips to the west coast, several different occasions in New York (the city and beyond), a bout of Covid (not so welcome), and moving from one end of the island of Martha’s Vineyard (Gay Head/Aquinnah) to the other (Chappaquiddick).
All of this commotion has forced me to rely a little bit more heavily on other people's cooking (yippeee! see further below for restaurant recos) as well as what i have “put by” as the old adage and the Little House books go. but first, you should know, i am ALL ABOUT and HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT freezing stuff. honestly you can freeze almost anything — while there is some trial and error, most food is fairly forgiving when it comes to freezing, within reason. my feeling is it’s always worth a try, if you have food left over. and, often, i will make a big (ger) batch of something so i can freeze some for later.
That said, i am not one for freezing certain fresh things — although i know people do — like raw tomatoes or peppers, anything remotely salad-y seems like a waste of time and valuable freezer space. i also, as a rule, do not BUY frozen food to freeze, unless it’s meat or poultry. but, case in point, i have freezer(s) full of every kind of stock, egg whites, leftover bread, chicken carcasses and meat bones and lobster shells, parsley stems, leek tops, and mushroom stems (to make said stocks), as well as (all homemade of course, and homegrown if possible ;-) cooked beans, crackers, beet and pumpkin and peach purees, roasted tomato sauce, so many kinds of soups and, until very recently, a whole plum torte from october of 2021.
Along with our on-island move came less freezer space and the necessity to use up some of our frozen stuff sooner than later. uncertain about the state of the torte, i left it fully wrapped in foil in the fridge overnight (before yet another departure the following day) and popped it in a 350 F oven the next morning — and, voila, the perfect breakfast-on-the-fly, accompanied by creme fraiche, and proof that the torte could survive however many months in the freezer, even after being transported from CT in the first place.
like so many other people, i swear by Marian Burros' Original Plum Torte Recipe first published in the New York Times in the 80s. i have found that it is very successfully adapted using gluten-free flour and it works really well with other fruit, too — but especially, as intended, with the perfect Italian prune plums that are in season in the fall.
back to the garden (in my mind) + let’s be real
fava beans -:> scafata
you might already know that one of my favorite spring things to grow (and eat!) are fava beans — my favorite variety, windsor broad, should have been direct-sown by now here on the east coast, unless you are up in the cooler north, and when i have a garden (which at the moment i do not) i usually source my fava bean seeds from high mowing organic seeds. in any case, i DID miraculously find a ziploc bag of fava beans i grew last season lurking around in my freezer (ta da! more freezer love) — and it (oh, and Spring!) was the inspiration for me to make my latest version of the italian spring vegetable stew scafata.
The first time i had scafata was a very long time ago at an excellent + supremely authentic Italian restaurant in south norwalk, connecticut, Pasta Nostra, which sadly no longer exists. all i remember was that it was this time of year, a primi course in a small bowl, broth-y, redolent with good olive oil and a little smoky pancetta, made up of mostly fava beans, peas and asparagus tips i think? a whiff of mint. in any case, i was instantly smitten and then, of course, i forgot what it was called. what was the name of that incredible dish??? all i could remember was that it was the essence of spring in a bowl, warm, italian style.
Years (truly, years) later i was at Buvette on grove street in the city and on the menu was SCAFATA !!!, consisting of spring vegetables like peas and asparagus and fava beans in broth and deliciously topped with a poached egg. so there it was again, and needless to say i haven’t forgotten the name since.
The first time i made my OWN scafata it was with fava beans + peas + garlic scapes (yum!) + herbs from my own garden (i think the asparagus was finished by then) and it just so happens that Martha Stewart (!) was coming to dinner in our barn with some local farmer and farmer’s market friends. and even though i’d never made scafata before, i was inspired by what was growing in my garden and i just let my senses (and sense memory) lead the way onto my menu, and you know what? Martha had never made scafata before either!
And not only did Martha, who is very curious and a very good sport, join me in the chaos of my kitchen, but she also wielded the pepper grinder over all the bowls of scafata just before we served them. AND, to my utter amazement, she even wrote about her visit (and my scafata!) in her blog, here: Martha Stewart/Dinner at Dirt Road Farm.
But do trust me, this is a very simple, satisfying and adaptable one-pot recipe which you can make with only one, or many, spring vegetables. this time, with spring produce i found here on the island (in addition to those frozen fava beans!) i plopped the concoction over polenta and bathed the whole thing in seasoned chicken broth, soooo delicious. and, sorry, but YOU will probably never forget the name scafata if you actually read this whole piece :-) grazie and buon appetito!!
Scafata, my way, with variations
phoebe cole-smith
scafata is an italian stew of spring vegetables, usually containing fava beans and often, artichokes. because of what we have available in our neck of the woods i alter the ingredients to achieve nearly the same delicious results.