The first course, of rillettes, with a condiment, was the fruit of an impulse purchase.

• pork rillette (pastured pork, quatre épices, bay, garlic, vinegar, and brandy) from Hudson & Charles,  served with a Bergamot marmalade from Westside Market, and slices of whole wheat bread (formerly labeled ‘Integrale’) from Eataly

The hake appeared on the table on Saturday because we hadn’t enjoyed that noble fish in three months, and because I had spotted some very fresh-looking fillets at the Greenmarket earlier in the day.  As I had once before, again trying to avoid turning on the oven on a summer evening, I used a recipe originally calling for cod, merluzzo dorato, I substituted hake (making it nasello dorato), as the two fish are very similar.  It’s the late Kyle Phillips‘s terrific recipe.

• hake fillets from Seatuck Fish Company, dredged in seasoned flour and dipped in a beaten egg from Millport Dairy, sautéed in butter, along with a handful of chopped fresh oregano from Lani’s Farm, then sprinkled with lemon juice and the pan juices that remained
• their outer petals peeled off and discarded, stems and tips trimmed, baby artichokes from S. & S.O. Produce Farms, quartered lengthwise (each placed in a bowl of water and lemon juice while being processed) and drained when all were ready to cook, added to a layer of olive oil over a medium flame in a large non-reactive pan (in this case, enameled cast iron), seasoned with salt and pepper, stirred 5 to 7 minutes until slightly browned, some red pepper flakes, two finely-chopped fresh garlic cloves from Lucky Dog Organic, and a couple tablespoons of chopped parsley from Keith’s Farm added to the pan, the vegetables finally transferred to plates and sprinkled with a few drops of a chianti wine vinegar

 

• the wine was a Spanish white, Naia D.O. Rueda 2014, from Verdejo old vines
• the music was Mozart’s ‘Così Fan Tutte‘ the Karl Böhm recording with Ludwig, Schwarzkopf, Kraus, and Schmidt,

I was so taken with the look of the hake fillet at PE & DD in the Greenmarket today that I didn’t think about what I would do with it when I got home.  Only when I had gotten there did I remember that all of the recipes I have used with hake involved a hot oven.  While the temperature outside was as remarkably moderate today, I had no interest in spoiling the coolness of the evening by stoking a 400º stove.    But hake is very similar to cod, and eventually I remembered a simple and delicious recipe which I’ve used with cod fillet:  merluzzo dorato.    I believe the hake version would be called nasello dorato in Italy, but, in any event, I can say for certain that it was a wonderful surprise:  It was the most delicious hake entrée I’ve ever had.

• hake fillets from PE & DD, dredged in seasoned flour and dipped in a beaten egg from 3-Corner Field Farm, sautéed in butter along with a handful of sage leaves from Keith’s Farm, then sprinkled with lemon juice and the pan juices that remained.
• small seasoned pan-grilled San Marzano tomatoes from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, finished with a dab of olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar
• flat yellow pole beans from Norwich Meadows Farm, blanched, then reheated later in a bit of olive oil, seasoned and finished with chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm
• the wine was one of our favorite Spanish whites, Naia 2013 D.O.C. Rueda, from Verdejo old vines.

It was an embarrassment of riches: I think there were 4 varieties of flat fish at the stand, and 3 other kinds of white fish. I love them all, but on Friday I chose the hake, because it was probably the least recent visitor to our kitchen.

That night I re-visited a familiar recipe, ‘nasello dorato‘.

And some vegetables.

• one thick 13-ounce hake fillet from Pura Vida Seafood Company, halved, dredged in well-seasoned flour (in this case, North Country Farms Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour) and dipped in one beaten egg from Millport Dairy Farm, sautéed in 2 tablespoons of Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter with a couple dozen tiny (which were all that remained from my  stems) sage leaves from Eataly and a pinch or so of crushed golden orange dried habanada pepper over a brisk flame for a little over 6 minutes, turned over after 3, then sprinkled with some juice of a sweet local lemon from Dave Tifford’s Fantastic Gardens of Long Island, transferred onto the 2 plates, the pan juices poured on top, garnished with micro bronze fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge, and served with lemon wedges on the side
• half a dozen small Yukon Gold potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, boiled in well-salted water, drained and dried in the still-warm glass pot, rolled in a little butter, seasoned with salt and freshly-ground Tellicherrry pepper, and sprinkled with chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• mizuna from Norwich Meadows Farm, wilted in a little olive oil in which one bruised and halved garlic clove from John D. Madura Farm had first been allowed to sweat and begin to color, the greens seasoned with sea salt, freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, a very small amount of crushed dried crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia, arranged on the plates and a little more olive oil drizzled on top
• the wine was an Australia (grapes from 10 regions within South Australia) white, Yalumba Y Series Sauvignon Blanc South Australia 2016, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was the excellent album, ‘Joseph Byrd: NYC 1960–1963‘