The  swordfish was on sale. I love swordfish. I love herbs. I always have a number of fresh ones on hand. I like trying out different treatments. I sometimes make the wrong call.  Now I know that fresh fennel seed just doesn’t have oregano’s ooomph.

But it was still all good.

• a one pound swordfish steak, more than an inch thick, from Blue Moon Fish Company in the Union Square Greenmarket, cut into two pieces, marinated briefly in a mixture of olive oil and fresh fennel seed from Lani’s Farm, then drained well and covered with a coating of dried homemade bread crumbs, fried in a hot cast iron pan for about 4-5 minutes on each side, removed, salted, sprinkled with a little lemon juice, and drizzled with olive oil before serving
• three heirloom tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, sliced in half, placed face-down on a plate scattered with salt and freshly ground pepper, pan-grilled above a medium-hot flame, removed, drizzled with olive oil
• kirby cucumbers from Stokes Farm, washed, halved lengthwise, then sliced into one-centimeter sections [hey, my inspiration was Jamie Oliver, and the British, like the rest of the world speak metric], mixed in a bowl with pitted Gaeta olives from Buon Italia in Chelsea Market, one very small young leek from Ryder Farm, sliced into very small sections, a bit of balsamic vinegar, some olive oil and lemon juice, a pinch of freshly-ground black pepper, and most of a fresh red Italian ‘roaster pepper’, chopped, from Oak Grove Plantation (for color and some fine-tuning), finished with torn leaves of peppermint from Phillips Farm
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) white, from Manley’s Wine & Spirits, L’Isola dei Profumi Catattatto – Grecanico 2014
• the music was several pieces by Johanna Magdalena Beyer