I didn’t plan it that way, but last night’s dinner looks very much like a summer meal. All of its major elements however came fresh from local producers, and had been in the Union Square Greenmarket this week. Not quite making that cut were the tomatoes, which came from Maine, meaning that, while they weren’t quite local, they didn’t come from thousands of miles away. Otherwise, the real locavore exceptions were the olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, lemon, and vinegar.

The pole beans were a big December surprise, and they were delicious. I managed to gather up the last of them from inside the farmer’s bucket yesterday.

• two 8-ounce flounder fillets from Pura Vida Seafood, lightly seasoned, sautéed  with the flesh side down for about 3 minutes in a tablespoon each of olive oil and butter inside a heavy old, tin-lined copper pan over medium-high heat, turning once and cooking for another 2 minutes or so, placed on the plates, a couple of spoonfuls of ‘tomato butter’ [see the bullet below] arranged on each fillet
• tomato butter, begun by melting 3 tablespoons of melted butter inside a 19th-century enameled cast iron porringer, adding 2 finely-chopped small Japanese scallions from Norwich Meadows Farm until they were slightly soft and fragrant, letting the flavored butter cool slightly before being poured over 4 ounces of Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, cut into eighths, adding 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped tarragon from Willow Wisp Organic Farm, the mix seasoned with salt, and adding a few drops of good Spanish Rioja wine vinegar
• some leaves from a live mesclun plant from Two Guys from Woodbridge, dressed with a bit of a very good Sicilian olive oil, Maldon salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a small squeeze from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon
• yellow pole beans from Norwich Meadows Farm, blanched, reheated as later as the fish was finishing cooking in a bit of olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and finished with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of micro scallion from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the wine was an Argentinian (Cafayate/Salta) white, Amauta Torrontés 2016 from Phillipe Wines
• the music was Lully‘s 1674  tragédie en musique, ‘Alceste‘, Christophe Rousset directing Les Talens Lyriques, with Judith van Wanroij, Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Emiliano Gonzales Toro, Bre Williams, Etienne Bazola, Bénédicte Tauran, Lucía Martín-Cartón, Enguerrand de Hys, and the Chœur de chambre Namur

The tautog, or blackfish, is one of my favorites, and it has a close association with one of my favorite places in all the world, the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

This is the treatment I use most often for this noble fish.

Tonight it was also one of the most successful.

• * two 8-ounce filets of Blackfish/Tautog from Blue Moon Fish, prepared mostly as described in this recipe by Melissa Clark, laying the fish skin side down according to the instructions, and kept it there (although, perversely, the recipe’s image seems to suggest it should be cooked with the skin up); also, necessarily in these sad times; I had to substitute a mix of Nigerian cayenne pepper and Spanish paprika (picante) for the ‘Aleppo Syrian red pepper’ the recipe specified; and then to be specific about the other ingredients I used, the fresh sage was from Phillips Farm; the olives were a mix of black oil-cured ‘Moroccan’ and Gaeta, both from Buon Italia, and the lemon juice was squeezed from a Whole Foods Market organic fruit
• * a bit of sweet upland cress from Paffenroth Gardens, dressed with a drizzle of a good Puglian olive oil,  Alce Nero DOP ‘Terra di Bari Bitonto’ from Eataly, Maldon salt, and freshly-ground black pepper
• * twelve or so ounces of sun chokes from Max Creek Hatchery, trimmed, scrubbed, sliced very thinly (1/8-1/4 inch), tossed with barely a tablespoon of olive oil (I think the small amount is somewhat critical to ensuring maximum crispiness), sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, one fresh chopped habanada pepper, two halved bay leaves from Westside Market, then spread in one layer onto 2 large Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic pans (a single one wasn’t enough, since they had been cut so thinly and they really should show a lot of surrounding surface to become crisp), roasted at 425º for about 30 minutes, or until they were brown, tender, and crispy on the edges
• the wine was a California (Napa) white, Scott Peterson S.P. Drummer Napa Chardonnay 2016, from Naked Wines
• * the music was Luigi Rossi’s ‘Orfeo’, with the Choir and Orchestra of Les Arts Florissants, in a performance which, more than any I had ever before experienced, told me what a brilliant artist can do to raise a great work of art from the sleep to which it might otherwise might have remained condemned forever (the opera’s 1647 premier in Paris was a triumph, but the composer’s history in France was abbreviated by the full-scale rebellion of the Fronde; Rossi returned to Italy and never wrote another theater piece)

I had asked Barry to pick up some Sülze from the German market on Second Avenue while he was uptown in Yorkville, but last night that German head cheese became ‘coppa di testa‘, virtually indistinguishable from the  northern European versions, by the time I served it as the course precedding a fiore di zucca ravioli as a major element of what was very much a nothern Italian meal.

• a section of a German Sülze, on this night passing for a northern Italian coppa di testa, from Schaller & Weber, served with a few leaves of salanova lettuce from Neversink Organic Farm, dressed with Maldon salt, freshly-ground black pepper, juice from a Whole Foods Market organic lemon, a very good olive oil (Alce Nero DOP ‘Terra di Bari Bitonto’ from Eataly), and torn leaves of lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge; one pickled red egg from Millport Dairy Farm; some Sir Kensington’s Mustard; and a few slices of an organic multigrain baguette from Bread Alone

• twelve ounces of boiled fresh Fiore di Zucca crescent ravioli (with a filling of butternut squash, ricotta, grana padano, and breadcrumbs) from Luca Donofrio‘s fresh pasta shop inside Eataly’s Flatiron location, slipped into a large high-sided tin-lined copper pan in which a sauce had been made with 6 or 8 fresh sage leaves from Phillips Farm warmed in several tablespoons of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ (with 12 grams of fat), topped once inside shallow bowls with some grated ‘Organic Parmigiana Reggiani Hombre’ from Whole Foods Market
• the wine was an Italian (Tuscany/Maremma) white, Tenuta Sassoregale Vermentino Maremma Toscana 2015

We ended the meal, each with a Satsuma orange-mandarin from Whole Foods Market.

• the music throughout was Johann Adolf Hasse’s 1728 opera, ‘La contadina’,  Attilio Cremonesi conducting the Ensemble Arcadia

I’ve prepared essentially this same meal a number of times before. Although there are always small variations among the secondary ingredients, if not in both the fish and the greens, I have no idea how one of those meals can end up as exceptionally delicious as the one I put together tonight.

If I had to make a guess, I’d say it was because this time I had incorporated a fairly generous amount of fresh habanada pepper in the coating for the fish, and that these particular Chinese greens, which I had never used before, were pretty extraordinary.

In a related note to file, this cook asks, ‘whatever did cooks do before lemon?’

• * two 8-ounce hake fillets from P.E & D.D. Seafood, dredged in local North Country Farms Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour which had been seasoned with plenty of sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, then dipped into a shallow bowl in which one egg from Millport Dairy Farm, about a tablespoon of Trickling Springs Creamery milk, and one chopped fresh habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm had been beaten together with a fork, the filets sautéed in 2 tablespoons of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ along with 5 or 6 large sage leaves from Phillips Farm inside a heavy rectangular enameled cast iron pan for about 7 minutes, turning the hake half of the way through, sprinkled with organic lemon juice from Whole Foods Market and the small amount of pan juices that remained, arranged on 2 plates, garnished with chopped parsley parsley from Norwich Meadows Farm and chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge, served with lemon wedges on the side
• * purple yu choy sum from Lan’s Farm, washed several times and drained, roughly chopped, wilted inside a large enameled cast iron pot in a tablespoon or so of olive oil in which 2 bruised and halved cloves of Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm had first been allowed to sweat and begin to color, the greens seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates and finished with a squeeze of lemon juice and more olive oil drizzled on top
• * slices from an organic multigrain baguette from Bread Alone
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, Jacqueline Bahue Albarino California 2015, from Naked Wines
• * the music was a tour de farce, exciting virtuoso performances of an exciting series of baroque arias written by 1733 for Johann Adolf Hasse’s, ‘Siroe, Re di Persia, George Petrou conducting Armonia Atenea, with  Julia Lezhneva, Franco Fagioli, Mary-Ellen Nesi, Max Emanuel Cencic, and others 

It was Little Thanksgiving, as in Little Christmas?

Anyway it both looked and tasted like Thanksgiving, and it came with a lot less bother, and with almost no planning required.

• four partially-boned (a treat for both cook and diners) Plantation Quail, from Greensboro, Georgia, purchased at O. Ottomanelli & Sons Prime Meat Market on Bleecker Street, dried on paper towels and rubbed with sea salt and one crumbled dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia, placed breast-side-down over medium-high heat on a two-burner cast iron ribbed pan, a number of sprigs of fresh thyme from S. & S.O. Farm scattered over each, grilled for about 5 minutes, turned and, ensuring that they were now resting on top of the thyme, grilled for another 5 minutes, served with a squeeze of Whole Food Market organic lemon and a drizzle of olive oil
• quince and dried cherry chutney, made following this theKitchn.com recipe, using a shallot from Keith’s Farm, a garlic clove from Stokes Farm, quince from Red Jacket Orchards, dried sweet cherries from Whole Foods, fresh ginger from Lani’s Farm, and apple cider from Locust Grove Fruit Farm

• one 5-inch black futsu squash from Norwich Meadows Farm, scrubbed, halved, the seeds removed, divided into one-inch wedges, brushed lightly with olive oil and rubbed with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and one section of a golden dried habanada pepper, arranged on a large, unglazed, well-seasoned ceramic pan and roasted on one side at 450ª for 15 minutes, turned onto the other side and allowed to roast for 15 more minutes, removed from the oven and the pan and stirred inside a sauté pan in which 2 cloves of Keith’s Farm garlic had been gently heated in a bit of olive oil along with some roughly-chopped sage from Phillips Farm
• a small amount of red kale from Campo Rosso Farm, washed, drained, and wilted inside a large enameled cast iron pot in a tablespoon or so of olive oil in which one bruised and halved clove of Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm had first been allowed to sweat and begin to color, the greens seasoned with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and arranged on the plates and a little more olive oil drizzled on top
• the wine throughout was a California (Lodi) red, David Akiyoshi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, from Naked Wines

There was a simple fruit course.

• Niagara grapes from Locust Grove Fruit Farm

 

• the music, at least through the main course, was Mahler’s 1908-1909, ‘Das Lied Von Der Erde’, with Placido Domingo and Bo Skovhus, Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

We took a break from fried eggs at breakfast today. I baked eggs, and a few other odds and ends, inspired in part by the rare appearance in the refrigerator of both crème fraîche and heavy cream, not to mention some very ripe tomatoes and a wonderful sturdy and crusty bread.

It started with leeks.

• four or 5 chopped thin leeks from Willow Wisp Farm, cooked with 3 or 4 tablespoons of butter inside a tin-lined heavy copper sauté pan until they were tender, approximately a third of a cup of chopped herbs added and stirred in (thyme, rosemary, and parsley from S. & S.O. Farm; peppermint and sage from Phillips Farm; tarragon from Willow Wisp Organic Farm; oregano from Keith’s Farm; and lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge), plus 2 chopped fresh habanada peppers from Norwich Meadows Farm, after which leeks, herbs and peppers transferred to a buttered glazed ceramic oven dish, the mixture spread evenly on the bottom, 6 eggs from Millport Dairy Farm cracked on top, a couple handfuls of golden cherry tomatoes from Phillips Farm scattered about, and dollops of Ronnybrook Farms crème fraîche, which had been stirred with a little heavy cream from the same local maker, dropped on the surfaces around the eggs and the tomatoes, the dish seasoned with good sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a bit of crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino, a pinch of dried fenugreek fromBombay Emerald Chutney Company, the pan set on a rack in the middle of an oven that had been preheated to 400º, until the eggs had set and the cream almost entirely absorbed, served on 2 plates atop 4 thick slices of a whole wheat sourdough Miche  from Bread Alone bakery that had been toasted on my no-bread-too-thick ‘Camp-A-Toaster’ [see this post], and garnished with purple micro radish from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the music was the entire album of music by Johann Adolf Hasse, ‘Salve Regina’, with Barbara Bonney and Bernarda Fink, Reinhard Goebel conducting Musica Antiqua Cologne

I was afraid I might have gone overboard in gilding a magnificent sea creature this time, reaching beyond the formula in the original River Café Cookbook recipe in order to add, not just habanada, but fresh habanada to the mix with which I would roast some squid, and then, as a final garnish, some micro radish. But, possibly because this time the cephalopods were on a much more generous scale than usual, the result was a very, very good dish.

• a large rectangular enameled cast iron pan heated on top of the stove until hot, its cooking surface brushed with olive oil, and once the oil was also quite hot, one pound of rinsed and carefully dried large squid from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, mostly bodies, which were cut into smaller pieces but a few tentacles as well, also cut into smaller pieces, quickly arranged inside and immediately sprinkled with a heaping teaspoon of super-pungent dried Sicilian oregano from Buon Italia, one dried Sicilian pepperoncino, also from Buon Italia, and one large chopped fresh habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm, sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, followed by a drizzle of 3 tablespoons of organic juice from a Whole Foods lemon, and some olive oil, the pan placed inside a pre-heated 400º oven and roasted for only 5 or 6 minutes, removed, the squid distributed onto 2 plates, ladled with a bit of their cooking juices, which had been transferred into a sauce pitcher, scattered with purple micro radish from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• one bunch of mizuna from Paffenroth Gardens, wilted inside a large enameled cast iron pan in a little olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and served drizzled with a bit more oil
• the wine was an Oregon (Willamette Valley) white, 99 West, Pinot Gris 2016, from Astor Wines
• the music was Carl Nielsen’s 1924-1925 Symphony no 6, ‘Sinfonia Semplice’, Neeme Järvi conducting the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

It was delicious, and it was whipped together in a few minutes, thanks to good store-bought ravioli and a few small treasures I was fortunate to find lying around the kitchen. It was the day after Thanksgiving, and something of a palate cleanser (as well as a cook cleanser).

It was also entirely local, with the normal exceptions of olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon (when used), and (sometimes) hot pepper.

I wasn’t going to bother posting this little meal, since it seemed pretty insignificant, and then I realized its convenience could be useful to people other than just myself.

• two sliced Rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm, heated in a little olive oil over medium heat, along with one dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia, inside a large tin-lined high-sided copper pot until the garlic was pungent, joined then by one large fresh chopped Habanada pepper and 3 thin red scallions, chopped , which were stirred for a minute inside the pot, before a dozen or so ripe golden cherry tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm were added and briefly warmed, some chopped fresh lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge, the mix stirred a little before 10 or 12 ounces of house-made Rana carciofi-filled ravioli (purchased at Eataly Flatiron), boiled for barely 3 minutes before being drained, were tossed into the pot with some reserved pasta cooking water, the pasta carefully stirred with the sauce over medium heat for a while to emulsify it, served inside 2 shallow bowls, a bit of olive oil drizzled around the edges, and sprinkled with toasted home-made breadcrumbs and a little more lovage [the pasta filling was composed of artichokes; olive oil; cacio de roma, a semi-soft sheep’s milk cheese made in the Roman countryside; parmigiano; anchovy; tomato; parsley; and basil]

There was a cheese course, mimicking the one we had the day before, but without apples, and with a smaller amount of pressed curd.

• three Consider Bardwell Farm cheeses: ‘Manchester’ goat milk cheese, and 2 cow cheeses, ‘Pawlet Reconsidered’, and ‘Bardem Blue’
• toasts from a whole wheat sourdough Miche, or Pain de campagne, from Bread Alone

 

• the wine throughout the meal was an Italian (Lazio) white, ‘Elephas’ Bianco, Castello di Torre 2016, from Astor Wines
• the music was Carl Nielsen’s 1921-1922 Symphony No. 5, Myung-Whun Chung conducting the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

It was a very long and leisurely Thanksgiving meal, shared with good friends. The star on the table was not a roast turkey, but a braised three-and-a-half-pound Scottish hare, which was, as the fish in the first course, quite wild (one of our guests found a buckshot in his serving). There were no cranberries, although there was chutney, sweet potatoes, and greens, the ingredients in these all totally local. There were also many hours of American music, although none of it could be described as remotely hummable.

The vegetables, herbs, fruit, and creme, like everything other than the hare, came from local farmers and fishers in the area, and were purchased in the Union Square Greenmarket.

We toasted the day and our friendship with an American sparkling.

• we nibbled on some rustic Italian breadsticks, Mario Fongo grissini integrali, from Buon Italia
• the wine was a California sparkling white, Eponina Brut California NV, from Naked Wines

The first course was basically assembled, with a little help from the Greenmarket.

• pieces of smoked monkfish from Blue Moon Fish, served with some Ronnybrook Farm Dairy crème fraîche mixed with Whole Foods Market lemon zest and juice, fresh lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge, grated horseradish root from from Gorzynski Ornery Farm, chopped small red scallion from Hawthorne Valley Farm, ground white pepper, and sea salt, arranged with some purple frizzy mustard greens from Lani’s Farm and salanova lettuce from Neversink Organic Farm, dressed with a very good Puglian olive oil, Alce Nero DOP ‘Terra di Bari Bitonto’ from Eataly, Maldon salt, and freshly-ground black pepper
• slices of a whole wheat sourdough Miche, or Pain de campagne, from Bread Alone
• the wine was a German (Rheingau) white, Robert Weil Riesling Estate Trocken 2016, the gift of a friend when we were in Berlin recently

The main course was Scottish wild mountain hare (the FDA does not allow us to buy any form of game bagged inside the US, but apparently trusts the Scots) purchased from brother Frank at Ottomanelli’s on Bleecker Street in the West Village, and supplied by Simpson Game, in the Scottish highlands.

(the chutney didn’t make it to the plate in time for the picture)

• one three and a quarter pound Scottish mountain hare (“may contain shot”) from Ottomanelli’s Market, prepared, with some alterations, along the lines of an ancient recipe. ‘Lepre alla Cacciatora‘, that I had found in Anna Teresa Callen‘s ‘Food and Memories of Abruzzo, Italy’s Pastoral Land‘: the hare, once separated into pieces whose size would depend on the cook’s preference, placed inside a large bowl under running water for half an hour, drained and the hare returned to the bowl along with 1/4 cup of a good Italian white wine vinegar (Aceto Cesare Bianco) and enough cold cover to cover, left standing 20 minutes or so, the hare removed and half of the pieces placed inside a heavy enameled cast iron pan, half a cup more of the vinegar poured in, plus 4 sliced cloves of Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm, 2 sprigs of rosemary (each broken into 2 sections), several myrtle berries and leaves, one good-size piece of a crushed dark dry habanada pepper, 2 whole dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia, sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, followed by the remaining pieces of hare, fresh water added more than half way up the level of the meat, followed by a fourth of a cup of olive oil, the pot brought to a boil, the heat reduced to low and the hare allowed to cook at a simmer, without stirring, but shaken a few times, for about an hour, maybe more, but in any event only until it was tender, at which time a sauce ahould have been produced at the bottom of the pan [NOTE: I found that it had not been reduced enough, so I removed the hare pieces, boiled the liquid down until it was the proper consistency, and then, when it had slightly cooled, I added a few tablespoons of cold butter, stirring it in], finishing the now-sauced hare on the plates with some chopped parsley.
• quince chutney, made 2 days earlier, in order to fully develop its flavors, using this theKitchn.com recipe, using a red shallot from Norwich Meadows Farm, a Rocambole garlic clove from Keith’s Farm, quince from Troncillito Farms, dried sweet cherries (don’t know whether they were local) from Whole Foods, and fresh ginger from Lani’s Farm, apple cider vinegar from Race Farm
• two pounds of Japanese sweet potatoes from Lani’s Farm, sliced thinly, seasoned with salt and pepper, arranged in 4 layers, each separated in succession by a portion of 2 cups of heavy cream that had been mixed in a blender with one chipotle pepper and a small amount of adobo sauce, inside a 8″x12″ glazed ceramic casserole dish, baked inside a 350º oven for about one hour, or until the cream had been absorbed and the potatoes browned (this gratin recipe, one I’ve used many times, is from ‘Bobby Flay’s Bold American Food‘, it appears as ‘Sweet Potato Gratin with Smoked Chiles’)
• collard greens from Keith’s Farm, the stems torn off and the leaves sliced thickly, washed several times and drained, transferred to a smaller bowl very quickly, in order to retain as much of the water clinging to them as possible, wilted inside a heavy oval enameled cast iron pot in which 3 halved Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm had first been allowed to sweat in a bit of olive oil, the greens finished with a little sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a California (Napa) red, Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, the very generous gift, earlier in the year, of 2 New York friends

There was a cheese course, which included local cheeses, also from the Union Square Greenmarket, a choice of local apples, and more of the local bread, this time in the form of very thinly sliced toasts.

• the cheeses were all from Consider Bardwell Farm: ‘Manchester’ goat milk cheese, and 2 cow cheeses, ‘Pawlet Reconsided’, and ‘Bardem Blue’
• the apples were all from Samscott Orchards: ‘Newtown Pippin’, ‘Ashmead’s Kernel’,and ‘Stayman Winesap’
• the toasts were from the loaf of whole wheat sourdough we had enjoyed with the first course
• the wine was an Italian (Campania) white, Falanghina “Sannio” Terra di Briganti 2015, from Astor Wines

Our guests had brought with them from Brooklyn a really fantastic pear cheesecake, from Choice Market, on Lafayette Avenue, which we enjoyed later in the evening.

 

• the music throughout the meal was a playlist of modern works by American composers that Barry had assembled early in the day, from Spotify

It was like the night before Christmas, or any number of other Catholic feast days, where there is fasting on the eve of the big event, and a big feast the next day: Tonight we enjoyed a little tuna, simply prepared, and a green which also could hardly have been more simple.

Tomorrow it will be Thanksgiving.

• one 12-ounce Yellowfin tuna steak from Blue Moon Seafood, cut into two sections, rubbed, tops and bottoms, with a mixture of a dry Sicilian fennel seed from Buon Italia that had been crushed in a mortar and pestle along with a little dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia, then seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan-grilled above a medium-high flame (for only a little more than a minute or so on each side), finished on the plates with a good squeeze of the juice of an organic lemon from Whole Food Market and some olive oil, served with micro chervilfrom Two Guys from Woodbridge
• red kale from Campo Rosso farm, washed, drained, wilted inside a large enameled cast iron pot in a tablespoon or so of olive oil in which 2 bruised and halved cloves of Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm had first been allowed to sweat and begin to color, the greens seasoned with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and arranged on the plates and a little more olive oil drizzled on top
• the wine was an Italian (Marche) white, Passerina, Tenuta Santori 2016, from Astor Wines
• the music was Carl Nielsen’s very moving 1914-1916 war symphony [my description), his No, 4, ‘Inextinguishable’, with Neeme Järvi conducing the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra