Salmon and favas

Eastside Road, Healdsburg, June 21, 2009—

WE CELEBRATE the first day of summer with a typically springtime dinner: salmon, bought at the Healdsburg farmers' market from The Fish Guy; favas, bought from Nancy Skall; a little bit of cucumber salad; the obligatory green salad.

The Fish Guy is in fact a fisherman, but there's no salmon to be caught locally this year: not enough rain; too poor management of the rivers. This salmon was caught in the Columbia River. I like ours better, but this is okay; in any case it's wild and doesn't taste like cat food. Lindsey "grilled" it on the stove in a black iron skillet and garnished it with Meyer lemon from the patio.
Two or three people, seeing the favas in our market basket, stopped us to ask where we'd got them — it's late in the season for them. Nancy Skall has one of the most discriminating stalls at the market; her market garden is legendary. It took Lindsey an hour, she said, to skin the beans: but she was watching the news while doing it, so why not.
The salad was romaine and leaf-lettuce from the garden, dressed with oil and our own vinegar. A very sustainable Father's Day Midsummer Night's feast.

Cheap Nero d'Avila ("Archeo", Ruggero di Tasso, 2006)