This morning was harvest day at The Little Kitchen. First a 1/6 pan of blueberries followed by garlic scapes. The garlic topset flowers are ready for Scampi. Trying to separate the tiny cloves with your fingers is futile. Best to peel the outer cover that remains away and then place your palm on top of the bulb over a counter top and press down with a twist. These little cloves replace pre-chopped garlic for about a week. Combine in the pan with butter, opal and Genovese basil as the content begins to spit throw in 5 shrimp, a squeeze of lemon and pinch of salt. Raul’s serving them with a bed of Jasmine rice and yellow zucchini cut into bite size pieces sautéed with butter and young onions.At the Lodge it was Jansil Valley Brandywine tomato and Mozzarella salad. The tomato delivery arrived early, expensive tomatoes in an impressive box, very cold. When you go to the trouble of sourcing heirloom tomatoes expectations run high, these tomatoes were excellent yesterday. All the same we slice them and layered them with fresh mozzarella.
Layed out on the plate split in half along side a salad of Lemon cucumber sliced in half moons, tossed with garlic scape seeds and thinly sliced young onions in balsamic vinaigrette. The dish is finished with a squeeze of basil oil followed by balsamic reduction over the tomato and mozzarella.

It was Sophie Mangus’s birthday today. Her party was at the beach, in the wake of a rain storm that crossed Long Island with a fury. As I drove to the beach the swans on hook pond caught my eye. It was if the family was waiting for me. With only one signet left they were happy to greet me and pose for the camera.