I was excited about the opportunity of chopping up what seemed a first to be a very large celery root to serve what I thought would be a very generous amount of pseudo–frites, so early in the evening I cancelled the idea of including roasted Brussels sprouts, however special the opportunity of enjoying them from a local farm in late January might be, thinking that incorporating another vegetable into the meal might be a little too much.  And then I added a handful of micro greens, both for their color and for the effect they might add of an imagined additional volume.

The Brussels sprouts could wait.

The celery fries turned out to not be smaller in number than I had expected, so the little greens ended up carrying more than their weight (or at least offering a fresh diversion from the browns in the meal).

• four small lamb loin chops from 3-Corner Field Farm, cooked on a very hot grill pan for about 5 or 6 minutes on each side, seasoned with salt and pepper after they were first turned over, finished with lemon, chopped winter savory form Stokes Farm, and olive oil
• one celery root (about 12-13 ounces) from Norwich Meadows Farm, scrubbed, peeled, and cut into the size and shape of potato frites, tossed in a bowl with olive oil, a half teaspoon of Spanish paprika picante, salt, and pepper, spread onto a medium-size Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic pan, and roasted at 400º until brown and cooked through, removed to two plates, and tossed with chopped parsley from Eataly
• micro arugula greens from Lucky Dog Organic, washed, dried, scattered on the plates and dressed with good olive oil, a squeeze of one small, local lemon/lime from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island, salt, and pepper
• the wine was a California (Lodi) red, JC van Staden Malbec Lodi 2014
• the music was Bruckner’s Symphony No 8, Jaap Van Zweden conducting the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic