When it came time to make dinner with all the goodies I brought home from the greenmarket I stuck to the original plan.

Around 3 pm, before going out for a run, I remembered to soak the Cannellinis in about 3 inches of water, covered the pot with a lid, and let them be for the next 2-3 hours.

Today was the inaugural weekend of Smorgasburg, the Brooklyn Flea food extravaganza held at Kent Ave. and N. 6th St. in Williamsburg. The New York Times covered it in Wednesday’s dining section so I was prepared for a robust turnout. I decided to swing by there on my run just to check out the scene. As I turned the corner onto N. 6th I began to see the vast sea of hungry foodies, out to try a Salvadorian papusa, duck egg mayonnaise, or an Arnold Palmer slushie. The Mayo stand had displayed a small hand-written sign that read, “Happy Rapture! Eat All the Mayo You Want!” There were no signs of rapture, but plenty of stands to get your locavore on.

I forgot my money at home so it was on with the run, then back home to tend to the meal.

…

I discarded the bean’s soaking liquid, then refilled the pot (beans in) with fresh water, adding two carrots cut in half, an onion, also cut in half, about a tbsp of black peppercorns, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and kosher salt. I brought the water to a boil then cocked the lid partway and let it simmer for 45 minutes. While the beans softened to the tunes of a robust gurgle, giving off steam and the aromas of simmering spices, I grated about 1/2 cup of Parmesan, finely chopped a handful of oregano, and diced about 1 cup of spring garlic, 3 cloves of garlic-garlic, and 1 shallot.

I cleaned and dried the skate fillet, added salt, pepper, and ichimi, then dredged the fillet in flour, and set aside.

When the beans were soft I turned off the heat. In a large skillet I heated 2-3 tbsp of olive oil and added the garlics and shallot. After sautéeing for about 3 or 4 minutes I gradually added the cooked beans, with a slotted spoon, to the skillet, including somewhere around 1 cup of the cooking liquid. After the liquid in the skillet had come to a boil, I turned down the heat, added the Parmesan, oregano, some more salt and pepper, and a handful of chopped spinach. Ignore for 5 minutes.

At this point, in a smaller cast iron skillet, I heated 3 tbsp of walnut oil (good for cooking at high heat), then added the skate, which just fit in the pan. I fried on each side for 3-4 minutes, until it had a nice crispy crust from the flour on each side.

I had the remaining cooking liquid from the beans reheating on a nearby burner (with all the herbs and spices at the bottom, but carrots and onion discarded), about 2 inches of liquid, then threw in the asparagus to steam, 4-5 minutes, until tender.

Everything was ready at roughly the same time. I even managed to put out a little cheese board with the Bakeri baguette and a Gruyere from Fairway that needed to be eaten sooner rather than later. It turned out to be a lovely Saturday night supper.