Taking a break from what has almost become a regular diet of fish, and mindful of how much we appreciate goat cheese (which we know doesn’t come from the boys), we decided to enjoy some chevon last night.  The chops, appropriately enough, were from one our favorite goat and cow milk cheese makers, who also occasionally offers both kid and veal at its Union Square stand, for the obvious reason to which I just alluded.

These chops were as delicious as their cheese.

• kid goat chops from Consider Bardwell Farm in the Greenmarket, first marinated for about twenty minutes to half an hour in oil, Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm, bruised black pepper, 4 juniper berries, also bruised, chopped rosemary from from Hoeffner Farms, and organic lemon zest, then pan-grilled and finished with oil and lemon
• four different kinds and colors of small carrots from Alewife Farm, simply scrubbed, then rolled in olive oil, salt, and ground pepper on a small ceramic oven pan, roasted at 400º for about half an hour, or until tender
• one small shallot John D. Madura Farm, thinly-sliced, warmed in olive oil until pungent, some very healthy arugula from Lani’s Farm added to the pan, seasoned with salt and pepper and dressed further with a small drizzle of olive oil and a smaller one of Rioja wine vinegar
• the wine was a French (Cahors) red, Terreo Malbec Comté Tolosan 2014
• the music was Franz Xaver Mozart: Complete Piano Chamber Music, performed by the Ravinia Trio

a new approach to preparing a favorite fish

The fish was mackerel, Boston, or Atlantic mackerel, which happens to be a wonderful, extremely healthy, delicious, and, apparently, remarkably-sustainable species.  Most people either love it dearly or ignore it like the plague. It’s one of our favorite entrées, and I’ve prepared it often, but basically only in two ways. This time I didn’t summon a single tomato, and there wasn’t a lemon in sight.  It was at least as delicious as ever.  The recipe originated with Gordon Ramsey.

• among the ingredients I used for the fish and potato serving, mostly following Ramsey’s directions, were 5 small Boston mackerel from Pura Vida Fisheries in the Union Square Greenmarket, one Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm, 12 ounces of ‘red thumb’ potatoes from Berried Treasures,  a teaspoon of Pimentón de la Vera dulce, one small leek (instead of the scallion specified in the recipe) from Lucky Dog Organic Farm
• a large handful of  some very healthy arugula from Lani’s Farm, warmed in olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper, a small drizzle of olive oil and a smaller one of white balsamic vinegar, some chopped thyme from Hawthorne Valley Farm and chopped parsley from Paffenroth Farms scattered on top
• the wine was a French (Burgundy) white, La Maison Aegerter AA Chardonnay 2013
• the music was the album by the pianist Pedja Muzijevic, ‘Sonatas and Other Interludes‘, in which John Cage’s ‘Sonatas and Interludes‘, for prepared piano, is laced with short pieces by Domenico Scarlatti, Franz Liszt, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Robert Schumann, Richard Strauss, and Aleksander Michalowski

probably needs no argument

The recipe came from Saveur, which I find never seems to come up with a dud, but it was @onekade who clued me into it, with this tweet from a few weeks back.

It sounded terrific, it looked terrific, and it was terrific.  It was also very easy to put together.  If you have access to some good mushrooms, there is absolutely no reason not to make this special dinner.

• this is the recipe, which I halved.  By the way, the honey was described as optional, but I would seriously recommend using it.  My ingredients included a rich (12% fat) unsalted butter, Kerrygold Pure Irish, from Westside Market; a mix of shiitake and cremini mushrooms from Bulich Mushroom Farm; thyme from Hawthorne Valley Farm; Rocambole Calabria garlic from Keith’s Farm;   9 ounces of a L’antica Madia pappardelle from Eataly; a local artisanal ricotta, Liuzzi Angelini, also from Eataly; shelled walnuts from I no longer remember where; and some extraordinarily rich Apple State Hilltop Family Farm pure buckwheat honey (a perfect cooking honey), which I believe I had purchased some time back in the Greenmarket
• the wine was an Italian (Langhe) red, a very special Langhe Nebbiolo, Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo 2013
• the music was Sibelius Symphony No. 5, performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic

flounder may be delicate, but it doesn’t have to be shy

There were plenty of choices available when I arrived at the fish stall on Wednesday (much earlier than usual). Since most had been on our table pretty recently, it was more a matter of what would best work with my meal plans otherwise.

I decided to pick something that would go with the clean sweet taste of the flowering bok choy  I had bought on Monday. Since I was thinking of using more ingredients than I normally would with greens, ideally it would be a fairly uncomplicated fish, but one which could still stand up to strong flavors.

I chose a flounder fillet, and decided to intensify its delicate taste with scallions, lemon, and a bit of parsley.  The vegetables I served were some simple boiled potatoes finished with an herb, and a ‘bouquet’ of yu choy sum (the flowering bok choy), to which I gave a bit of an exotic twist.

• one 13-ounce flounder fillet from Blue Moon Fish Company, divided into 2 pieces, seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides, coated lightly with flour (I used North Country Farms Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour), then submerged in a shallow bowl containing a whipped mixture of 1/3 cup of milk, one large egg from Millport Dairy, and a pinch of salt, removed from the bowl, fried in a pan with olive oil until golden, about two minutes for each side, transferred onto two warm plates, most of the remaining oil poured off, the pan returned to the heat, now turned lower, three tablespoons of butter added along with about a third of a cup of finely-chopped scallions from John D. Madura Farm, chopped thinly, some salt and pepper, all allowed to cook together without browning for about one minute, stirring, more than a tablespoon of lemon juice then added, the sauce now poured over the plated fillets, which were served with pieces of lemon (wedges would be far more convenient than the slices pictured here) and sprinkled with chopped parsley from Paffenroth Farms
• four La Ratte potatoes (fingerlings, buttery and nutty) from Berried Treasures Farm, boiled in well-salted water, drained and dried in the warm pot, rolled in butter, salt, and pepper, and a sprinkling of cut chives from Phillips Farms
• a bunch of yu choy sum (flowering bok choy) from Lani’s Farm, added to a heavy enameled cast iron pan where some bruised and halved Rocambole (Calabrian) garlic from Keith’s Farm and a small handful of pine nuts had been heated until beginning to brown, stirred until tender, occasionally introducing some of the water which the greens had shed after being washed, a dash of  balsamic vinegar added at the end, then put onto the plates, where they were drizzled with olive oil and drops of lemon juice, and sprinkled with chopped thyme from Hawthorne Valley Farm
• the wine was a South African (Western Cape) white, Beyond Sauvignon Blanc 2015, from the Buitenvervachting wine farm (the vintage is ‘2015’, because in the southern hemisphere, at least in South Africa, the 2015 harvest occurs in February and March)
• the music was an album of Ruth Crawford Seeger compositions, ‘Portrait’, performed by Olivier Knussen

more colorful than I expected (particularly impressed with the Blaukraut)

I had intended to pick up seafood at the Greenmarket, Monday, but the fisher family was unable to make it that day. I didn’t have a backup entrée, at least nothing that wasn’t frozen, so I picked up a fresh boneless duck breast at Eataly on my way home.

The rest of the meal then just came together, some of it having shown up in earlier dinners.

• one 12-ounce Pat LaFrieda boneless duck breast from Eataly, its fatty side scored by a very sharp knife with cross-hatching, sprinkled with a mixture of salt, ‘India Special Extra Bold’ Tellicherry peppercorns, and a bit of turbinado sugar (which had been infused in over time with a vanilla bean), the breast left standing for about an hour before it was pan-fried over medium heat with a little of the strained lard (labelled ‘Morrell Snow Cap Manteca’, from Eataly) used in an earlier meal, and finished with a drizzle of organic lemon, sprinkled with chopped thyme from Hawthorne Valley Farm, and dressed with a bit of olive oil
• some very interesting arugula (including some purple elements) from Lani’s Farm, briefly stirred in a little warm olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of lemon
• a very small amount of red cabbage from Paffenroth Gardens Farm, which had remained unused in the meal with smoked trout, braised with warm olive oil, over a moderately high heat until it sizzled, covered and cooked over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until just tender, uncovered, a bit of lemon juice and crushed dry peperoncini added, seasoned with salt and pepper, and once it arrived on the plates, sprinkled with sautéed breadcrumbs left over from the orecchiette meal
• just under a pound of white sweet potatoes from John D. Madura Farm, scrubbed, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch slices, tossed in a bowl with olive oil, one large garlic clove from Northshire Farm, thickly-sliced, a medium-size branch of fresh rosemary from Hoeffner Farms, chopped, salt, and pepper, then spread in one layer on the surface of my faithful, well-seasoned Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic oven pan, the pieces of garlic placed on top of some of the potato to avoid burning, and roasted at 375º for about 40 minutes, or until cooked through and browned
• the wine was a California (Calaveras) red, F. Stephen Millier Angels Reserve Red Angel 2013, from Naked Wines
• the music was from an album, ‘Oyan‘, featuring the Azerbaijan composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, performed by Konstantin Manaev on cello, the composer on piano, and Alexander Matrosov on accordian