Same salumi as yesterday, but different greens, bread.

• thin slices of the second half of a delicious, 4-ounce Jacöterie ‘Italian Style Salami’ soppressata crafted with pasture raised pork from Walnut Hill Farm in Ancramdale, NY
• arranged with well washed leaves of arugula from Norwich Meadows Farm dressed with a small amount of good Greek olive oil, Demi, from the Peloponnese (Laconia, Velles), a 23rd Street Greenmarket purchase late last summer, from John, a member of the family that grows the olives and makes the oil, also some local (Long Island waters) P.E. & D.D. Seafood sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a squeeze of organic California lemon from the Chelsea Whole Foods Market
• the bread was half of a rosemary ‘epi’ (pain d’epi, aka ‘wheat stalk bread’), remarkably evocative of good homemade bread, that I had bought from Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse on Friday

The simply grilled small mackerel fillets were terrific, especially with the salsa I could accompany it with, thanks to the some small grape tomatoes sitting on the windowsill that I had bought several days earlier.

• eight small Boston mackerel fillets (16 ounces) from Pura Vida Seafood, washed, dried, brushed with olive oil, seasoned with local sea salt from P.E. & D.D. Seafood and freshly-ground black pepper, pan grilled on a large, 2-burner cast iron grill pan over high heat for a total of about 5 minutes, skin side down first, turned over half way through, removed, arranged on the plates, where they were accompanied by/under a simple salsa, assembled just before grilling the mackerel, of 7 ounces of small halved heirloom golden cherry mid-December, mid-New Jersey farm tomatoes from Eckerton Hill Farm tossed into a small bowl with a teaspoon or more of rinsed and well drained Sicilian salted capers, half a tablespoon of juice from a Whole Foods Market organic California lemon, a pinch of sea salt, a bit of black pepper, the mackerel and the salsa garnished with micro scallion from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• twelve ounces or so of red thumb potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, scrubbed unpeeled, boiled, drained, dried inside the still-warm vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, halved, then rolled inside the pan with a little olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, tossed with lovage, again from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• the wine throughout the meal was an Italian (Marche) white, Tenuta Ugolino, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Piaole 2018, from Flatiron Wines
• the music throughout was Rameau’s 1749 pastorale héroique, ‘Naïs’,  György Vasheygi conducting the Orpheus Orchestra and the Purcell Choir

It’s a magnificent fish.

Oily or fatty fish is richer in flavor than other finned seafood, ‘fishy’, meaning it has a stronger flavor of the sea (I love the sea), an extremely healthy choice, usually sustainable, and often relatively inexpensive. Fresh is essential, and very fresh, as these 2 fillets were, can be awesome.

Mackerel needs almost nothing but seasoning to complete it, but introducing an acid can raise it to an ethereal level. I usually pick some kind of good tomato, usually along with some citrus, almost always the celestial lemon.

• two very fresh and very perfect 8-ounce Spanish (aka ‘Atlantic’) mackerel fillets from American Seafood Company, washed, dried, brushed with olive oil, seasoned with local sea salt from P.E. & D.D. Seafood and freshly-ground black pepper, pan grilled on a large, 2-burner cast iron grill pan over high heat for a total of about 6 minutes, skin side down first, then turned over half way through, then removed, arranged on the plates and dressed with a salsa assembled just before grilling the mackerel, consisting of 8 ounces of small halved ‘honeydrop’ heirloom cherry tomatoes from TransGenerational Farm tossed into a small bowl with a teaspoon or more of rinsed and well drained Sicilian salted capers (halved, since these were large), half a tablespoon of juice from a Whole Foods Market organic Mexican lemon, a pinch of sea salt, a bit of black pepper, and some pungent very fresh epazote leaves, also from TransGenerational Farm, finished with more epazote sprinkled on top

• roughly 12 ounces of pinto potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm in the Union Square Greenmarket, scrubbed, boiled whole and unpeeled in heavily-salted water until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried in the still-warm large vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, a tablespoon of Whole Foods Market house Portuguese olive oil added, seasoned with sea salt and black pepper, mixed with a little chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm, arranged on the plates and tossed with a little more of the herb
• the wine was an Oregon (Willamette Valley/Dundee Hills) white, Oregon Pinot Blanc 2016, ordered directly from Erath
• the music was Rameau’s 1748 opera, ‘Pygmalion’, performed by the Apotheosis Orchestra, conducted by Korneel Bernolet

There were two courses, and it was a two fish meal, maybe more than two.

The first course might have included more than one species of white fish..

• a composed smoked fish salad, or pâté, using local fish caught by Phil Karlin of P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company, whose wife, Dolores is the one who makes it, more than likely consisting of more than one kind of white fish that had been smoked by a colleague; mayonnaise; red onion; and celery (the salad was perfectly seasoned), served on slices of a rich, loaf of ‘Table Bread’ from Philadelphia’s Lost Bread Co. that had been toasted over an open gas flame on our ‘Camp-A-Toaster’ only seconds before it arrived on the table

• some watercress from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, dressed with Badia a Coltibuono, Monti del Chianti olive oil from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, juice from a Chelsea Whole Foods Market organic lemon, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper

..but the second clearly featured a single fish, Spanish mackerel.

• fourteen ounces of Spanish mackerel (2 long fillets) from Pura Vida Seafood, washed, dried, brushed lightly with olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan grilled over high heat for 7 or 8 minutes, the skin side down first, turned over half way through, removed and arranged on the plates with a salsa consisting of 8 ounces or so of delicious, perfectly ripe cherry tomatoes from Stokes Farm, “The Best Cherry Tomatoes” (they really are, and almost as good when they’ve been grown in the greenhouse as they well be in the summer), that were halved, tossed with a tablespoon of Whole Food Market’s Portuguese house olive oil, a little more than a teaspoon of Sicilian salted capers (first well rinsed and drained), half a tablespoon of lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and some chopped fresh oregano from Phillips Farms, garnished on the plates with a little more oregano

• sixteen ounces of delicious ‘new potatoes’ [immature potatoes, probably ‘red thumb’ in this case, harvested by pulling out the young tubers by hand, leaving the plant itself in place] from Norwich Meadows Farm, boiled with a generous amount of salt until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried while still in the still-warm vintage medium size Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, rolled around inside the pot in a little more than a tablespoon or so of Whole Foods Market house Portuguese olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, garnished with micro red ribbed dandelion from Windfall Farms
• a small handful of tiny first-of-the-season purple snow peas from Norwich Meadows Farm, sautéed inside a small blue Pyrex Flameware skillet in a little olive oil, sprinkled with a little lemon zest, tossed with spearmint from Phillips Farms and seasoned with salt and pepper

• the wine through both courses was a California (Suisun Valley and Sonoma) rosé, Evangelos Bagias Three Graces Rose of Pinot Noir 2018, from Naked Wines
• the music throughout the meal was the album, ‘Terpsichore, Apotheosis de la Danse baroque’, music by Jean-Féry Rebel and Georg Philipp Telemann, performed by Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations

I like the landscaping.

There were two courses. While the the image above is of the second one, I wanted to lead with it rather than with the mackerel toasts, because almost that same appetizer had shown up on this blog only recently.

In the interim I had located some fresh chives, which improves the flavor of the mix, and which I didn’t have when I first whipped up the spread on Saturday. On the other hand, by Monday, when I was ready to serve the rest of it, I had lost my supplies of small greens, so I used a few chive stems as a rudimentary bed.

• the remainder of a smoked mackerel spread that had been prepared and served two days before (one 8-ounce smoked whole mackerel from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, skinned, its flesh removed from the backbone and the larger ribs discarded as it was broken up and placed inside a bowl, where it was joined by about a third of a cup of Riverine Ranch water buffalo milk labneh, a tablespoon or more of chopped Japanese scallions, a teaspoon of zest and a tablespoon of juice from an organic Chelsea Whole Foods Market lemon, a little freshly ground black pepper, and a complex powdered Nigerian cayenne, now with the addition of a generous amount of sliced fresh chives from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, swiped onto toasted slices of a sourdough bâtard from She Wolf Bakery, and placed on a few lengths of the same chives, with lemon quarters served on the side

The fish in the main course was not smoked, and in fact it was so fresh that it had almost certainly still been swimming off Long Island when I was originally mixing the mackerel spread 2 days before.

But first a look at my shiny re-tinned au gratin pan, the midwife of the baked pollock entrée.

• two pollock fillets (a total of 20 ounces) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company, rinsed, dried, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper, placed skin side down inside a buttered oval newly-retinned copper au gratin pan, dabbed with a mixture of softened unsalted Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ combined with zest from most of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, a little chopped ‘music garlic’ from Windfall Farms, slices of a Norwich Meadows Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, and part of a piece of a crushed  orange/gold home-dried Habanada pepper, also from Norwich Meadows Farm, baked for about 16 or 17 minutes at 350º, removed to 2 plates and kept warm on top of the flat top of the 1936 Magic Chef oven, the little bit of cooking juices that had accumulated poured over the fillets, and a teaspoon or so of Sicilian salted capers, which had just been rinsed, drained, and dried, and heated briefly inside a small antique enameled cast iron porringer in a bit of olive oil, scattered on top of the fillets while the capers were still warm, along with the oil in which they had been heated, the pollock finished with a garnish of micro red mustard from Two guys from Woodbridge

• a handful of beautiful and absolutely delicious ‘frizzy mustard’ greens from Norwich Meadows Farm, barely heated in a little olive oil in which 2 halved cloves of garlic had been allowed to sweat a bit, seasoned with salt and pepper and finished on the plates with a drizzle of olive oil

• the wine throughout was a Spanish (Valencia) white, Celler del Roure ‘Cullerot’ Blanco 2017, from Astor Wines
• the music throughout the meal was a 2001 recording of Gluck’s 1779 ‘Iphigenie en Tauride’ (which fully embodies the composer’s operatic reforms), Marc Minkowski conducting Les Musiciens du Louvre and le Choeur des Musiciens du Louvre, with Laurent Alvaro, Mireille Delunsch, Simon Keenlyside, Yann Beuron, Laurent Naouri, Alexia Cousin, Michèle Norman-Webb, Claire Delgado-Boge, and Nicki Kennedy

Oh my.

Yes, once again we have access to some wonderful smoked local fish. After a hiatus which had saddened many of their customers, the Karlin family’s P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company, is again selling this very special fresh delicacy that originates in the hauls from its boats out of Long Island’s North Fork, .

I was worried that I might not get around to doing something with the gorgeous whole copper-colored mackerel I had picked up almost 2 weeks ago, but smoked fish has serious staying power (in fact, food preservation was its original raison d’etre).

On Saturday I skinned and deboned the fish and it with some ingredients I already lying around, and I managed to come up with some delicious toasts for assembling a small course to anticipate a good steak. There was enough for two nights, so we will probably be enjoying the remainder tonight, 2 days later, after I finish writing this.

Another thing special about the whole meal was the fact that both courses included unconventional treats from a local producer on shore, Riverine Ranch, which raises water buffalo in New Jersey, far from waters fished by the Karlin family.

• one 8-ounce smoked whole mackerel from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, skinned, its flesh removed from the backbone and the larger ribs discarded as it was broken up and placed inside a bowl, where it was joined by about a third of a cup of Riverine Ranch water buffalo milk labneh, a tablespoon or more of chopped Japanese scallions, a teaspoon of zest and a tablespoon of juice from an organic Chelsea Whole Foods Market lemon, a little freshly ground black pepper, and a complex powdered Nigerian cayenne, swiped onto toasted slices of a She Wolf Bakery miche, with lemon quarters served on the side
• delicious peppery arugula from Norwich Meadows Farm dressed with Trader Joe’s very good  Italian Reserve unfiltered olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and a drizzle of lemon juice
• the wine was a French (Gascogne) white, Mont Gravet – Côtes de Gascogne Blanc 2017, from Foragers Market Wine

The main course was a very different scheme from the first.

• one top sirloin buffalo steak (13 ounces) from Riverine Ranch, rinsed and patted dry, seasoned generously with salt and pepper, allowed to reach room temperature, seared over a medium flame, cooked 2 or 3 minutes on each side, to medium rare, the time always dependent on thickness [being careful not to overcook, or the steak would be tough, and noting that the color of this lean meat is a lot redder than beef, meaning a medium-rare buffalo steak would be the same shade of an almost rare beef steak], removed from the pan, cut in half crosswise, arranged on the plates, drizzled with a bit of lemon juice, sprinkled with chopped fresh thyme from Chelsea Whole Foods, drizzled with a little olive oil, covered loosely and allowed to rest for a couple minutes before serving

• more than a pound of red thumb potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, halved lengthwise, tossed with a little olive oil, salt, black pepper, a bit of crushed home-dried habanada pepper, and a pinch of crushed dried hickory smoked Jamaican Scotch bonnet pepper from Eckerton Hill Farm, arranged cut side down on a large Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic pan, roasted at about 375º for 20 minutes or so, tossed around on the pan, arranged on the plates and garnished with micro red mustard from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• fava greens, the last from the boxes at the Union Square Greenmarket stand of Alewife Farm (the restaurants got there before me), washed, drained, and gradually stirred into a medium size heavy, antique copper pot in less than a tablespoon of olive oil until they had only begun to wilt, seasoned salt and freshly-pepper, the vegetable arranged on the plates and drizzled with some more olive oil
• the wine with this course was a Portuguese (Dão) red, Casa de Mouraz Tinto, Dão 2014, from Astor Wines