straight out of the oven, above, ‘carved’ and plated, below

 

I’d cooked Guinea fowl only once before since starting this blog 8 years ago, although I think I may have prepared it at least once before then, in the darker ages.  In recent years I’ve rarely served any form of chicken at home, and when I do I’m pretty picky about it’s source.

And then, on Friday, while I was at the Lucky Dog Organic stand, I again spotted the dressed Guinea hens which are usually arranged on the table next to farmer Rich Giles’ own vegetables.  They’re raised by his farmer neighbor, Jennifer Grossman, and, for me, the fact that they were there had automatically given them an imprimatur way back in 2014.  On Friday they were being offered at half the regular price, apparently because the client of a restaurant customer had cancelled an event after Grossman’s farm had already processed a number of birds.  They were now looking for a new venue.

I could not pass up this opportunity, especially as I knew I’d have the time to prepare a roast of some kind on Sunday, two days later, and a warm oven seemed like it would be the right sort of thing for that day, since it was expected to be pretty cold.  I would have bought two, saving one for another chilly day, but my freezer was already pretty busy.

Because I had an entire evening to do it, I had a lot of fun washing, trimming, chopping, and filling up all the prep cups prior to actually placing the bird in the oven.  There were root-ish vegetables in the pan with the hen, and some tender collard greens (fittingly, also from Lucky Dog Organic) were easily cooked and set aside while everything else was in the oven, so I was able to concentrate entirely on basting and, eventually, checking for doneness (that last part was a little scary, but everything worked out fine.

The meal was a great success, largely because of the quality of the fixings, and because of the good recipe I came across on line, on epicurious.com (I roughly halved all of the ingredients for the single bird I cooked).

There were leftovers.  Yum.  Something like this warm salad may be their eventual disposition.

• one 3-and-a-half-pound French Guinea hen from Mauer’s Mountain Farms, via Lucky Dog Organic, washed, dried then brought to room temperature, and prepared according to this Daniel Boulud recipe (with one exception, the addition to the sauce of a concentrated portion of the sauce poivrade in this venison dish) using ingredients from the January Union Square Greenmarket wherever possible, including: 4 garlic cloves from Norwich Meadows Farm; 3 large German Butterball potatoes (halved) along with 2 smaller ‘red thumb’ potatoes, all from Berried Treasures Farm; 1 fresh bay leaf from Westside Market; 3 tablespoons of ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘ from Whole Foods; 1 1/2 tablespoons of German-style whole-grain mustard from Whole Foods; 2 teaspoons of scissor-cut chives from Eataly; 2 large sprigs of thyme from Stokes Farm; 2 large sprigs of tarragon, from Eataly; 2 sprigs of parsley from Whole Foods; 3 or 4 medium shallots from from Phillips Farm; 1/3 of a cup of chicken broth made with Better Than Bullion chicken base from Whole Foods
• tender collard greens from Lucky Dog Organic, washed, then braised in a heavy pot in which one halved garlic clove from Norwich Meadows Farm had been allowed to sweat in some olive oil, the dish finished with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a wonderful French (Beaujolais) red, Jean-Paul Brun Terres Dorées L’Ancien Beaujolais Vieilles Vignes 2013
• the music was a superb album of contemporary work, ‘Mavericks’, produced by the American Modern Ensemble, which included compositions by Michael Lowenstern, Pamela Z, Sean McClowry, Robert Dick, Robert Paterson, John Eaton, William O. Smith, and Stuart Dempster

like meat and potatoes, but I mean that in a good way

 

The previous night we had enjoyed beef, but no potatoes.  Last night it was potatoes, but no beef. There was fish, not beef, yet even if it hadn’t been accompanied by potatoes, this fish entrée would have seemed as substantial as the proverbial meal of meat and potatoes.

I think it was what happened to the leeks inside the oven that almost totally altered a dish which I had prepared and enjoyed once before, at that time with one additional ingredient (a bit of bacon, described as optional by Mark Bittman, the author of the recipe).  I had inadvertently caramelized the leeks by the time I added the fish fillets and returned the dish to the oven, and this seemed to change almost everything.

Until we sat down and tasted it I was more than a little worried, but it was a delicious surprise, and a very hearty January meal.  I’ve decided to keep both recipes:  I’ll call the original, ’tilefish fillets with leeks, version 1′, and this one, ’tilefish fillets with leeks, version 2′.

• two leeks from Whole Foods, sliced, tossed with olive oil, spread in a glazed ceramic oven pan, roasted at 425º for 10 minutes, after which a teaspoon of chopped thyme from Stokes Farm and 1/4 cup of white wine were added, the pan returned to the oven for 20 minutes more, during which time I added more wine as it became clear the leeks were caramelizing, after those 20 minutes, 4 Tilefish fillets from Pura Vida Fisheries, seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides, were placed on top of the leeks, brushed with a little olive oil, and the pan again placed in the oven until the fish was done, the pan removed the fish garnished with more thyme, and served with the leeks
• small red potatoes from Stokes Farm, boiled in well-salted water, drained, dried in the still-warm glass pot, halved, rolled in a little olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled with both chopped fresh winter savory and chopped fresh oregano, both from Stokes Farm
• the wine was a French (Loire) white, Domaine Bellevue Touraine Sauvignon 2014
• the music, suitable for a king’s supper, and our own, was Jean-Philippe Rameau’s ‘Orchestral Suites’, performed by Jordi Savall and Le Concert Des Nations

I came across this cut of beef late in 2009, when we were checking out The Meat Hook, in Brooklyn, not long after it had first opened.  The meat was beautiful, the deep red of the lean flesh contrasting with the almost pure white of the thick layer of fat, each piece curved into a loop and impaled on a wooded skewer.  The butcher explained its origin and its properties.  I was intrigued, at least as much by the aesthetic and perhaps by the relatively exotic story of its origins (Argentina, we were told), as by the promise of excellent flavor, but it was only months later that I actually got around to cooking a culotte steak.  I had purchased it then from Dickson Farm Stand Meats, our even more local butcher.

It’s been a favorite for both of us ever since.  Although I hadn’t brought one of these lean, very flavorful steaks home for a while, partly because we don’t really eat beef very often, yesterday we may have enjoyed the best one yet.

For the best experience with this cut it’s essential to know what kind of steak you’ve brought home before throwing it on the fire.  The culotte is very lean, and could turn out more chewy than expected – or desired – unless certain procedures are followed.  Because it is so lean, it should not be cooked medium-rare, which would normally be our preference with beef, but rather closer to a medium doneness.

In the past I would always sear it on one side for 2 minutes, turn it over and sear the second side for 45 seconds, then place it inside a moderately-hot oven (375º) for 7 or 8 minutes.  Last night I approached the process very differently.

Earlier in the day, when I was inside the Dickson Farm shop in Chelsea Market, I discussed the virtues of the cut with a young butcher named Philip.  Clearly as well-grounded in the mysteries of the Kitchen as he was in the details of meat cuts, he suggested briefly searing the side of the steak with the heavy layer of fat in a heavy pan (I used a well-seasoned cast iron skillet) just enough to release some of the fat onto the surface of the metal, then cooking each of the sides for about 4 minutes over medium heat, and finally briefly searing the fourth, or top side (the one opposite the side with the fat).

The result was perfect.  The flavor was superb, and because we were able to slice the still-square-section steaks very thinly, and also almost certainly because of the quality of the steak, the meat was quite tender.

• one 11-ounce sirloin culotte (Picanha), produced by Wrighteous Organics, in Schoharie, New York, purchased from Dickson Farm Stand Meats, cut into two pieces, brought to room temperature, seasoned with good sea salt and freshly-ground tellicherry pepper*, seared briefly on the top, the fat side, turned, and cooked for about 4 minutes on each side, then the bottom side seared briefly, removed from the pan, drizzled with juice from a local hothouse Lisbon lemon from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island, and some olive oil, allowed to rest about 4 minutes, then sprinkled with chopped winter savory from Stokes Farm
• very small parti-colored carrots from Rogowski Farm, tossed in olive oil with salt and pepper, and cooked in a Pampered Chef medium-sized pan at 400º until tender (the time will depend on size; these took about 15 minutes), finished with chopped parsley from Whole Foods
• mostly green kale, but also some purple leaves, from Tamarack Hollow Farm, wilted in olive oil in which one clove of garlic from Norwich Meadows Farm, halved, had been cooked until beginning to brown, finished with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a Spanish (Duero) red, Creta Noble, Ribera del Duero 2013
• the music was Carlos Chavez, Symphonies No.4 and 2, from the album, Chavez: The Complete Symphonies / Mata, London SO

 

* Note: I’m still unresolved on the subject of the moment when a steak should be seasoned with salt, or pepper; this time I actually forgot about seasoning until after I had already started to cook the second side, and then I sprinkled that side, and, when it was done, the first side; I’m going to have to do more research on the subject

on the counter, the three basic elements, before…

 

…and on the plate, as it was served

 

What fishermen in New York ocean waters call ‘sea perch’ bears no relationship to the fresh water perch I grew up with.  The brilliant color of its scales and its skin would be enough evidence, but, since its  pinkish flesh cooks up white, we could be fooled had it not been seen in its earlier state.

The French know it as Rascasse, but there’s some confusion with names on the other side of the Atlantic because it apparently belongs to the family, ‘scorpaenidae‘, which also includes the scorpionfish.

I think.

Anyway, it’s delicious.

• six fillets of red sea perch (a total of one pound) from American Seafood Company, brushed with olive oil and some chopped green garlic from Lani’s Farm, seasoned with salt and pepper, then broiled 4 inches from the flames for about 4 minutes until the skin was crisp and the fish cooked through, sauced with a bit of olive oil in which 3 rinsed, filleted salted anchovies from Buon Italia were heated until they had fallen apart, finished with chopped parsley from Whole Foods
• a small amount of ‘Evenstar Smooth’ kale from Alewife Farm, barely wilted in olive oil in which one clove of garlic from Norwich Meadows Farm, halved, had been cooked until beginning to brown, finished with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil
• five Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, halved, heated in olive oil with one chopped scallion from John D. Madura Farm, along with some chopped thyme from Stokes Farm and part of one red cayenne pepper from Oak Grove Plantation, finely chopped
• the wine was a Spanish (Rueda) white, Naia D.O. Rueda 2014, from Verdejo old vines
• the music was Carlos Chavez, Symphonies No.1 and 3, from the album, Chavez: The Complete Symphonies / Mata, London SO

‘Dinner in the din[ing room], nothing could be finer’. We had family, one of whom had never been to New York, so we decided not to stay in the breakfast room.  The red placemat should have been a dead giveaway, even if I hadn’t described the location, which involved a mahogany table.

We started out with a salume, continued with shellfish, followed that with a cheese course, and finished with a gingerbread pastry.

• thinly-sliced Alto Adige Speck from Eataly, each piece rolled around the tines of a fork and put on a plate, drizzled with some very good olive oil, accompanied by mixed baby greens from Norwich Meadows Farm, the greens seasoned and dressed with good oil and drops of local hot house Lisbon lemon
• the salume was accompanied by slices of a loaf of ‘rustic classic’ from Eataly
• the wine was an Australian (South Australia) sparkling, Taltarni 2011 from Chelsea Wine Vault

 

• sea scallops from Pura Vida Seafood, washed, rinsed and dried very thoroughly, seasoned with salt and pepper, pan grilled for about 90 seconds on each side, finished with a squeeze of Lisbon lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, and scissored little chive plants from Rogowski Farm, placed on a bed of pea shoots from Alewife Farm [the basic recipe, minus the chives and the shoots, is included in Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers’, ‘Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe‘]
• parsnips from Norwich Meadows Farm, scrubbed thoroughly, sliced, mostly into 1/4-to-1/2″ discs, tossed with olive oil, several garlic cloves from Norwich Meadows Farm, unpeeled, salt, and pepper, roasted in a 425º oven for about 30-40 minutes
• ‘Evenstar Smooth’ kale from Alewife Farm, barely wilted in some olive oil after one clove of peeled garlic from Norwich Meadows Farm, halved, had been cooked in the oil until it was beginning to brown, finished with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a California (Santa Barbara) white, Rasmussen Chardonnay 2014

 

• the music throughout was our happy conversation