Bacon Sushi

Today I took a trip to Catskill Native Nursery to scope it out and get some information to help me fill in the picture for what I want to plant this year in the way of fruit and nuts in the field. It’s a beautiful drive, and the day could not have been nicer. I came home with lingonberry plants, and some flowers for the bed next to the driveway that needs some work. I spent the afternoon doing that work, and I’ll be posting pictures next week.

Tonight, in keeping with the recent theme of lighter, warm-weather food, a quick improvised 3-course feast that turned out pretty well. I was tired, but so were the others, and we were all hungry. To get something on the table asap, I decided to do it in stages. First up, super-fast wilted spinach with garlic and a splash of white wine. I threw out the seed packet for this spinach, which is a pity because it’s both beautiful and tasty. Since it bolted, this was the last of it.

Next, cubes of sweet potato steamed and then dressed with our old standard tahini-miso sauce. Those two things mixed with lemon juice and not much else (sometimes a little water) make for a pretty great anointment of most steamed vegetables.

Last up, a happy confluence of freezer and pantry in the form of Berkshire pork belly sushi. There was some black rice in a jar, and I hadn’t made it in ages, so I pulled it out. And some thinly sliced belly, after a very prim kiss with a hot pan, draped ever so nicely over the sticky purple grain. I made a sort of insta-barbecue sauce by mixing hoisin, HP Sauce, and ketchup with soy sauce and rice vinegar, and dabbed a little on each piece, topping them with a claytonia leaf. It made kind of a mess in the kitchen; I spent more time cleaning up than I did cooking. But it was worth it.