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An Alice Waters-Inspired Sunday Supper

Posted by Ed Levine, October 8, 2007 at 5:58 AM

Last night I cooked a really tasty dinner with farmers' market–purchased ingredients without using a cookbook. It was a real Alice Waters moment, and I must admit I felt triumphant (and full) afterwards. I didn't really set out to channel Alice Waters this weekend. It just happened.

On Saturday I went to New York's biggest (and I would say best) farmers' market at Union Square with Serious Eats Washington, D.C., bureau chief Erin Zimmer. I bought a gorgeous boneless blade end pork roast from Flying Pigs Farm, and shallots, thyme, sage, and a box of stupendous cherry tomatoes from Tim Stark's Eckerton Hill Farms.

On Sunday I went to a smaller farmers' market near my house and got two pints of raspberries, two boxes of Sungold tomatoes, two pounds of Ratte potatoes, from Berried Treasure, and some pretty droopy arugula from another farmer.

I preheated the oven to 450°F. Then I put the thyme, sage, and shallots in slits I made in the roast and then browned the meat in a sauté pan. I halved the Ratte potatoes lengthwise, put them in a roasting pan with some Malden sea salt, and drizzled some olive oil on them. I then put the pork roast fat side up on a rack over the potatoes in the roasting pan.

After 20 minutes I turned the oven down to 300°F. The pork was already golden brown. I thought the pork would be ready in an hour. I was wrong. After an hour in the oven, a meat thermometer I stuck into it read 150°F. According to the thermometer itself, pork should be cooked until 170°F. An hour later, the pork was done. The potatoes were more than done. They were now crisp verging on tough.

I halved the cherry tomatoes, washed the arugula, and made a mustard-thyme vinaigrette with some sherry vinegar. We sat down to eat my Alice Waters-inspired feast. The pork was stupendous, moist, and succulent inside, and crisp and brown outside. Some of the potatoes were tough, but they were certainly crisp and golden brown, and crisp and golden brown are always good.

The Sungold tomatoes made the salad, and I was particularly proud I had even thought to make a salad. Usually I'm content to serve just pork and potatoes, particularly when the pork and potatoes are so good.

For dessert I made yogurt parfaits with the fabulous golden and red raspberries I had purchased from the market and some seedless blackberry preserves my niece Anna had made to give away to all the guests at her recent wedding. Actually, to call what I made a parfait might be a little bit of a stretch. I spooned some yogurt into cereal bowls, put a teaspoon of the preserves over the yogurt, and then threw some raspberries on top.

It would be great to cook, live, and eat this way all the time. But given the pace at which we live our lives, it's not practical. Eating this way is something we can all aspire to do as often as possible, and maybe ultimately that's Alice Waters's point. Her "Delicious Revolution" is both important and delicious, even if we can't live it every meal.

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Tags: Alice Waters, cooking, farmers' markets