Because flounder, or any of several related species found within New York waters, is such a great dining fish, because it’s so freely available, extraordinarily fresh, from our local fishermen, but also because, for many months of the year, we’re also fortunate to live with a huge bounty of tomatoes, I end up rearranging this basic recipe over and over again. And it seems to get better each time. But, just as important as any of those considerations, there’s the fact that it’s a very simple and very quickly-prepared entrée.

• two 6 or 7-ounce Long Island waters flounder fillets from P.E.&D.D. Seafood, lightly seasoned, cooked in a pan over high heat for a few minutes, turning once, then placed on plates, a couple of spoons of ‘tomato butter’ [see below] placed on top
• tomato butter, made by cooking, until slightly soft and fragrant, a tiny amount of shallot from Norwich Meadows Farm in a generous amount of butter, then letting the flavored butter cool slightly before being poured over three different small, fresh, very ripe heirloom tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, chopped, then combined with a tablespoon of tarragon, chopped, from Stokes Farm, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and a few drops of red wine vinegar
• arugula, from Ryder Farm, dressed simply in some good olive oil, lemon, Maldon salt, and freshly-ground black pepper
• the wine was a California (Sonoma) white, Scott McLeod, Chardonnay Russian River Valley 2014 
• the music was the album, ‘Time Curve – Music for Piano By Philip Glass and William Duckworth‘, performed by Bruce Brubaker

Note to self:  This is a great dish, but the amount of cabbage suggested in the recipe which inspired it should be reduced dramatically, by half, or even more.

 

I had not been looking at the forecast at all, so I didn’t choose this entrée because we were expected to get the first real taste of colder weather the night I put this dish together, but obviously a meal which included cabbage and sausage was a welcome greeting for a new season.

The basic form of the recipe (which was in fact itself pretty basic, with few ingredients) comes from Martha Stewart. It was delicious, but, as I mentioned above, the amount of cabbage she prescribes is far more than needed.  There was enough left over to allow another visit with it, even as an entrée.

• eight ounces of Setaro spaghetto from Buon Italia, tossed with a sauce which included 14 ounces of ‘Jane’s So Sweet’ Italian pork sausages from Flying Pigs Farm (the minimal ingredients are: pork, water, salt, black pepper, fennel, and garlic, in natural hog casings) one 24-ounce savoy cabbage from Berried Treasures, one large red onion from John D. Madura Farm, and a bit of a good white wine vinegar
• the wine was a California (Central Valley) white, JC van Staden Pinot Grigio 2014
• the music was Mozart, the String Quartet No. 18

Note to self: The vegetable side dish may be difficult to recreate, since I’ve never before come across tromboncino (or zucchetta), but it was at least a terrific one-off, and a great companion to the excellent fresh scallops.  Keep a sharp eye out for this vegetable.

 

I really did splurge a bit, although unintentionally, in ordering twelve scallops for the two of us.  Eight would have been sufficient (a number which would have cost only about about $11.50 at today’s market price), but they made for a great meal, and I have to admit that there was very little else to accompany it, even if that very little else comprised a superb dish.

My preparation of the vegetables was an adaptation of this recipe, which I found on line while searching for information on the squash itself.  Tromboncino, or  zuchetta, goes by many names, but it is an heirloom form of zucchini, and it apparently originated in Liguria, making it, I thought, particularly suitable as an accompaniment to the seafood I had chosen for the meal.

• ten sea scallops from Pura Vida Fisheries, washed, rinsed and dried very thoroughly, pan grilled, finished with a squeeze of lemon juice and drizzled with olive oil [the recipe, one of my favorites there, or anywhere else, is included in Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers’ ‘Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe‘]
• some very small and tender tromboncino, or  zuchetta, from Berried Treasures Farm, washed, dried, cut into small portions, sautéed in butter and oil over medium heat until they began to brown, turning/stirring occasionally, seasoned with salt and pepper before slivers of one jalapeño pepper from Berried Treasures Farm and one small quartered heirloom tomato and a handful of halved ‘Mountain Magic’ red cherry tomatoes, all from Norwich Meadows Farm, were added, the heat turned low and the contents of the pan simmered for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the zucchini was cooked to taste and the tomatoes had begun to form a sauce, the dish finished with chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm.  Cooking hint: I left the jalapeño as slivers, so they would be easy to spot and remove, once on the plates, should they have turned out to be hotter than expected. 

• the wine was a California white, Miriam Alexander Chenin Blanc 2014
• the music was the Kreutcher quartet playing some of Anton Reicha’s quartets

a wonderful pairing, even before the wine was poured

 

The meal was a treat, and had I not purchased all the ingredients myself, I might have had a hard time believing that all ingredients together probably set me back only 11 or 12 dollars, and that’s for two people!  Even considering that it was a dinner prepared at home, the figure is pretty incredible, although absolutely verifiable.  The squid cost $6.50 (and had I wanted to clean them myself, it would have been only about $3.25), the treviso was less than half that, and the oil, lemon, balsamic vinegar, dried oregano, dried chile, salt, and pepper just might have brought the total up to the figure I mentioned above.

This is one of the reasons why we can afford to eat out in New York, at least once in a blue moon. Perhaps ironically, this time the seafood itself was actually from the ‘Blue Moon’, to be specific, Blue Moon Fish.  Exactly who’s irony was involved, I can’t say, since I don’t know the story behind the name Alex and Steph gave to their little blue-hulled fishing boat).

 

Ruby’s rendering, of the ‘Blue Moon’, spotted on the bulletin board of her family’s Greenmarket stall

 

• cleaned squid bodies and tentacles from Blue Moon Fish, in Union Square Greenmarket, rinsed, dried, placed in an enameled cast iron pan after its cooking surface had been brushed with olive oil and heated on top of the range until very hot, then sprinkled with some super-pungent dried Italian oregano from Buon Italia and one crushed dried pepperoncino, also from Buon Italia, with a good squeeze of lemon juice and some olive oil drizzled over the top, placed in a pre-heated 400º oven and roasted for five minutes
• one head of treviso, from Lucky Dog Organic, quartered lengthwise, drizzled with a little olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, turned several times to coat well, and placed, cut-side down on a baking sheet, roasted in the same 400º oven, turning once, for 12 minutes or so, or until the leaves are wilted and charred slightly, transferred to plates, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and a squeeze of lemon
• the wine was a Spanish (Valladolid) white, Blanco Nieva Verdejo 2013, from Manley’s Wine & Spirits
• the music was Sviatoslav Richter playing Beethoven piano sonatas

extravagantly simple, and also simply lavish

 

There could hardly be a simpler meal than this one.  In addition, few could be easier to make, if it weren’t for the amount of attention needed to see that a large number of simple eggplant ‘coins’ are properly  cooked before they’re tossed with an extraordinarily good artisanal pasta.

I found the very minimal recipe many years ago inside a magazine article describing half a dozen simple pasta dishes. It was described by Fred Plotkin as the inspiration of Signora Francesca Pantonocito, relayed to him by her daughter Laura.

I can’t find anything on line about either Pantonocito, so I have noting else to share, except one very useful tip, from the recipe’s author, that zucchini could well be substituted for the eggplant.  Normally I’d be tempted to suggest adding mint in either case, but this formula is absolutely perfect as it is, so long as a very good pasta is used.

• Setaro spaghetto from Buon Italia (about eight ounces), tossed in a large cast-iron pan in which thinly-sliced coins of Japanese eggplant from Lani’s Farm had been allowed to brown in a coating of olive oil over high (but not smoking) heat, then removed, the oil remaining, the pasta with melanzane then finished with freshly-ground black pepper and a generous sprinkling of very good Red Cow Parmesan cheese from Eataly
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) red, Corvo Nero d’Avola 2012
• the music was the Brooklyn Rider album, ‘Dominant Curve‘, which includes Debussy’s String Quartet