I’ll be honest. I really stumbled in preparing this meal. It was basically pretty simple in conception, and it should have been simple to execute. It didn’t happen that way, but I managed to recover from several stupid slips, and while it looks a little messy in the picture, it tasted great, and the music was super!

I had all the time in the world to assemble things before actually starting, and that’s exactly what I did, or at least what I thought I had done. Maybe I was too relaxed, because when it came time to do the actual cooking it seemed like I had forgotten how to do anything. Just before preparing the porgy I made the mistake of putting the garlic scapes that were to precede it in its pan into the pot in which the broccolini was to be sautéed, so, having totally forgotten to prepare some garlic for the vegetable, there was now nothing for the fish. A minute later I realized I hadn’t seasoned the fillets, and moments after that I noticed that the hot plate on which I was going to heat up the small heirloom tomatoes hadn’t gotten, well, hot.

Suddenly I was really busy, in fact I almost panicked. I found myself almost simultaneously peeling and chopping some shallots, seasoning the fish – on both sides, and tracing the problem with the hot plate wiring. In the process I ended up losing more or less 2 minutes of the total of only 5 that should have been enough to cook the porgy, but by now I was guessing about when the fish would be ready (it ended done perfectly, although even with the cosmetic dill garnish, as I said, it looks pretty sloppy on the plate, which might at least be partly a function of the delicate size of the fillets).  All this while I also had to keep some focus, and my eye, on the 2 vegetables.

But I made it.

• [the description related here is more the ideal than the reality of the actual process last night] six small (2-ounces+) Porgy fillets from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, rinsed, dried, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan-seared, along with 3 small thinly-sliced Japanese shallots from Norwich Meadows Farm, over medium heat inside an ancient 13″-round shallow antique copper pan in a bit of butter and a little olive oil (a total amount of fat of barely 2 tablespoons), the fish basted with the contents of the pan more or less continually for about 2 minutes, using a small brush, then carefully turned over, and the heat reduced to low, a cover placed on the pan (I used a new, tempered-glass universal lid that almost fit snugly between its handles), the filets cooked for about about another 2 minutes before the cover was removed and a mix of 2 or 3 tablespoons of 3 fresh herbs thrown in (this time I used lovage from S. & S.O. Produce Farms, marjoram from Quarton Farm, and spearmint from Stokes Farm) after which the basting was continued for about minute, or until the fish was cooked through, and the fillets arranged on 2 plates with their pan juices and shallot fragments, finished with the juice of one small organic Whole Foods Market Mexican lemon poured over the top, and scissored dill flowers scattered over everything
• three halved small heirloom tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm warmed in a little olive oil inside a small copper skillet, seasoned with salt and pepper
• at least a couple handfuls of broccolini (a modern hybrid cross between broccoli and Gai Lan, aka Chinese broccoli) from Quarton Farm in the Union Square Greenmarket, washed and drained in fresh cold water, chopped very roughly, sautéed/wilted over a low flame by being gradually added to a large enameled cast iron pot in which cut pieces of 4 garlic scapes from Norwich Meadows Farm had first been softened in some olive oil over a moderate flame
• the wine, ordered directly from the winery, was an Oregon (Williamette Valley) white, Erath Oregon Pinot Gris 2016
• the music was a 1971 recording of Michael Gielen conducting the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra in an absolutely wonderful performance of Mahler’s 6th Symphony, and then we continued the evening listening to other Gielen/Mahler recordings

I had bought two packages of smoked fish salad at the Union Square Greenmarket on Saturday, thinking we’d need that much for 4 people, but we only opened one of them that night. The 2 of us would share the contents of the other container on Monday and Tuesday.

• a composed smoked fish salad, or pâté, using local fish caught by Phil Karlin, whose wife, Dolores Karlin, made it, consisting of more than one white fish species, mayonnaise, red onion, and celery, from P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company (the salad was perfectly seasoned), served on slices of a loaf of ‘table bread’ from Philadelphia’s Lost Bread Co. that had just been toasted over an open gas flame on our ‘Camp-A-Toaster’
• leaves of loose small arugula from Norwich Meadows Farm, dressed with some very good unfiltered olive oil from the 6th Avenue Trader Joe’s, Maldon salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a drizzle of organic lemon juice from Chelsea Whole Foods Market

The main course, however, was all new. It was dominated by seafood as well, which, coincidentally, had come from the same fishers who had brought us both the fish in the pâté and the cod we had enjoyed on Saturday.

Also new – and quite old – was the very large tin-lined copper pan I used to cook the fish. Although they weighed barely a pound altogether, the area the fillets would occupy was larger than any pan surface I had (that is, other than a pretty enormous, beautifully-seasoned carbon steel long-handled fish skillet, which I could have used, since there would be no acid involved in the cooking).

The new pan was a triumph.

• eight small (2-ounce) Porgy fillets from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, rinsed, dried, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan-seared, along with 4 small thinly-sliced Japanese shallots from Norwich Meadows Farm, over medium heat inside a newly-acquired and newly-retinned 13″-round shallow antique copper pan in a bit of butter and a little olive oil, the fish basted with the contents of the pan more or less continually for about 2 minutes, using a small brush, then carefully turned over, and the heat reduced to low, a cover placed on the pan (I used a new, tempered-glass universal lid that almost fit snugly between the handles) and the filets cooked for about about another 2 minutes before the cover was removed and a mix of 2 or 3 tablespoons of 7 different fresh herbs thrown in (this time I used thyme and spearmint from Chelsea Whole Foods; parsley from Norwich Meadows Farm; lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge; oregano from Phillips Farms; tarragon from Flatiron Eataly; and basil from a friend’s indoor garden), after which the basting was continued for about minute, or until the fish was cooked through, the fillets then arranged on the 2 plates, the pan juices and scallion fragments, together with the juice of one organic Whole Foods Market lemon, poured over the top, and a few chopped green segments of scallion scattered over everything (the recipe has been slightly modified from one written by Melissa Clark)
• the greens from 2 bunches of French breakfast radishes purchased from Eckerton Hill Farm (most of the radishes themselves had been enjoyed at the beginning of the meal on Saturday)

 

• the wine through both courses was a Spanish (Galicia) white, Valdesil, Godello ‘Montenovo’ 2017, from Flatiron Wines [more about the area, ‘the golden valley’, including a picture of the vintner, Borja Prada, who is interviewed here (we love Galicia)]

 

There was a dessert this time, which is something of a rare occurrence at our table.

• small dishes of delicious La Loos goat milk ice cream, ‘Snowflake vanilla’, from Chelsea Whole Foods

• the music throughout was Rossini’s beautiful 1814 opera buffa, ‘Il Turco In Italia’, Riccardo Chailly conducting the Milan Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and the Milan Teatro alla Scala Chorus (the composer was 22 at the time it premiered; it was first staged in New York City in 1826

 

[the image above, a portrait of Gioacchino Rossini in a super dressing gown, or banyan, by an unidentified artist, is apparently from the Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung – Universität zu Köln, via Pinterest (which does not load)]

Colorful goodness.

• the fish serving began with a salsa prepared by heating 3 tablespoons of a Portuguese house olive oil from Whole Foods Market inside a small vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot pot over a gentle flame, adding roughly 6 ounces of tomatoes (one sliced orange heirloom from Stokes Farm and a couple of sliced Mountain Magic tomatoes  (‘cocktail tomato’ in size, “..a cross between a large-fruited tomato and a very sweet grape tomato…” a hybrid released in North Carolina sometime within the current decade) from Norwich Meadows Farm, along with 2 ounces or so of pitted whole kalamata olives from Whole Foods Market, the mix seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and stirred for a minute or 2 before the pan was set aside to cool a little, after which some 2 or 3 tablespoons of herbs (chopped fresh lovage from Quarton Farm, a Sullivan County grower new to the Union Square Greenmarket this year; an equal amount of fresh oregano buds from Norwich Meadows Farm; and torn leaves of a basil plant from Two Guys from Woodbridge) were stirred into the salsa, reserving some of the herbs to garnish the fish and salsa once it was on the plate, followed by the juice of half of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, the mix now stirred once again, and set aside while the fish was prepared
• four 4-ounce porgy fillets from P.E & D.D. Seafood, the skin slashed with a very sharp knife in 2 or 3 places on each, placed skin side down inside a large rectangular enameled cast iron pan in a tablespoon or so of olive oil that had gotten very hot  sitting over a high flame, the top, or flesh side of the fish seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and cooked for 2 or 3 minutes until the flesh was dark golden and the skin crisp’, the fillets turned over, cooked on the other side for just about one minute, quickly basting with the oil in the pan during that time, or until the fillets were just cooked through, arranged on the plates, the salsa drizzled around the porgy and both sprinkled with some of the reserved herbs

• ten ounces or so of tiny purple okra from Lani’s Farm, sautéed over a high flame inside a large enameled cast iron pan in a little bit of olive oil [supposedly cast iron causes even green pods to blacken, but I’ve never really noticed that, at least not as a problem, these pods were already a dark purple going in, but I went with an enameled pan nevertheless], adding a good part of one crushed dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia half way through, seasoned with sea salt  
• the wine was an Oregon (Columbia Valley) white, Dave Harvey Columbia Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2017, from Naked Wines
• the music was Handel’s 1738 opera, ‘Faramondo’, a story of the eponymous late 4th, early 5th-century Frankish dux and goings on in the ancient geographical home of my own family (“All ends happily with general rejoicing…”), performed by I Barocchisti, conducted by Diego Fasolis [a 6-minute excerpt from that same performance here]

My recipe says ‘sea bream’ but my fish monger says ‘porgy’. They’re both right, as it turns out.

• their presentation began with a salsa prepared by heating 3 tablespoons of a Portuguese house olive oil from Whole Foods Market inside a vintage Corning  Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot pot over a gentle flame, adding 5 ounces of tomatoes, a mix of red grape tomatoes from Kernan Farms and golden cherry tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm, and 2 ounces or so of pitted whole kalamata olives from Whole Foods Market, seasoning the mix with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, stirring for a minute or 2, the pan set aside to cool, and some chopped fresh lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge and an equal amount of chopped fresh spicy oregano leaves from Windfall Farms (several tablespoons altogether) were, reserving some for garnish, stirred into the salsa, the juice of half of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market added and the salsa stirred once again before being set aside while the fish was prepared
• four 3 and a half-ounce porgy fillets from P.E & D.D. Seafood, their skin slashed with a very sharp knife in 2 or 3 places each, placed, skin side down, in a little very hot olive oil inside a large rectangular enameled cast iron pan sitting over a high flame, the flesh side of the fish seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, cooked for 2 or 3 minutes until the flesh was dark golden and the skin crisp’, the fillets turned over, cooked on the other side for 1 minute, basting with the oil in the pan, if any, until the fillets were just cooked through, arranged on the plates on top of the salsa described above, garnished with micro scallion from Two Guys from Woodbridge

I saw these bunches of celtuce (aka ‘stem lettuce’ or ‘asparagus lettuce’) in the market that same afternoon. In fact I had a choice of 2 inside Lani’s Farm tent. One was more green than the other, and looked like what I would expect to find. Its sign read, I think, only, ‘celtuce’. The other was labelled, ‘Purple Sword celtuce’. I asked the helper near the tables in that area of the stall which one I should pick. He gave it a thought for a couple seconds, then replied that I should probably go for the latter, adding, before I could ask why, that, because it was purple, it would be richer in antioxidants. I really have no idea what that means, but I generally trust the farmers.

• one bundle of some small-diameter ‘Purple Sword celtuce‘ from Lani’s Farm, the leaves, removed from the ‘stalks’, washed several times, wilted in a bit of olive oil and set aside, then the stalks, scrubbed, cut into one-inch sections, briefly par-boiled, drained and dried, sautéed in a little olive over a moderate flame for a minute or two, along with some chopped spring garlic from Berried Treasures Farm, the celtuce leaves reserved earlier now gently reheated and distributed onto the plates as a bed for the cooked stalks, some chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge sprinkled about on both, and some toasted pine nuts that had earlier been heated, stirring, inside a cast iron pan until they had begun to brown scattered on top
• the wine was a California (Santa Lucia Highlands/Monterey County) rosé, 99 Barrels Derek Rohlffs Santa Lucia Highlands Rosé, from Naked Wines
• the music was Rossini’s 1817 opera, ‘La Cenerentola’, Riccardo Chailly conducting the Bologna Teatro Comunale Orchestra and the Bologna Teatro Comunale Chorus

The fish was superb, delicious and perfectly cooked (yay, the skin was even crispy this time), as was the salsa, but while the vegetable was also delicious, one look at the rather stiff green stems in the picture above should be enough to show the choy sum wasn’t properly cooked. The next time I prepare it I’ll pull aside the larger stems and spend some time breaking down their fiber (slicing them smaller, par-boiling them, or cooking them a bit before the rest of the vegetable was added to the pan).

The fish were absolutely beautiful throughout. I mostly followed a simple Gordon Ramsay recipe in preparing it.

• a salsa prepared by heating 3 tablespoons of a Portuguese house olive oil from Whole Foods Market inside a small vintage Corning  Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot pot over a gentle flame, adding 5 ounces of sliced Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market and 2 ounces or so of pitted whole kalamata olives from Whole Foods Market, seasoning the mix with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, stirring for a minute or 2, the pan set aside to cool a little, and some fresh lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge and an equal amount of fresh oregano leaves from Stokes Farm (several tablespoons altogether) were chopped and, reserving some of the herbs for garnish, stirred into the salsa, the juice of half of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market added and the salsa stirred once again, and set aside while the fish was prepared
• four 4-ounce porgy fillets from P.E & D.D. Seafood, their skin slashed with a very sharp knife in 2 or 3 places each, placed, skin side down, in a little very hot olive oil inside a large rectangular enameled cast iron pan sitting over a high flame, the flesh side of the fish seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, cooked for 2 or 3 minutes until the flesh was dark golden and the skin crisp’, the fillets turned over, cooked on the other side for 1 minute, basting with the oil in the pan, if any, until the fillets were just cooked through, arranged on the plates, the salsa drizzled around them, sprinkled with some of the reserved herbs and garnished with bronze micro fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• Yu Choy Sum from Lani’s Farm in the Union Square Greenmarket, washed, trimmed and very roughly chopped, added gradually to a heavy, antique, large high-sided tin-lined copper pot, in which 2 Rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm had been heated in  a little Portuguese olive oil until they had begun to color, the greens stirred until tender [not tender enough this time, as some tough stems revealed later], seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates, scattered with scissored chives from Phillips Farms and chopped spring garlic from John D. Madura Farm, finished on the plates drizzled with a little more olive oil

• slices of a She Wolf Bakery sourdough bâtard, to enjoy the wonderful juices, picked out from their glass front wooden box in the Union Square Greenmarket
• the wine was a French (Touraine) white, Vignoble Gibault Touraine Sauvignon 2015, from Landmark Wines
• the music was the magnificent Gould Piano Trio album, ‘Macmillan, Maxwell Davies, Beamish’