parslied cod with dill; potato, allium, thyme; squash flowers

cod_new_potatoes_squash_blossoms

new_potatoes

spring_onions

It was so hot.

It was a delicious dinner, but I’ll never again do something that requires so much time and stove hovering on the kind of warm and sticky night we had yesterday. To properly account for my sanity, when I started out assembling and planning the meal I had a reasonable expectation that the air conditioning in our kitchen areas was going to work.

It didn’t, but I only learned that fact about an hour before I had to begin cooking.

I made it through to the end. It was very good, but I’m certain we would both have enjoyed it more had the climate in both the kitchen and the dining area been more reasonable: I read 90º on the thermometer hanging at the edge of the kitchen after I had turned off the flames on the top of the range; there was no air moving (the fan would have inhibited the open gas flame); and it definitely wasn’t a dry heat.

  • a 1-pound cod fillet from P.E. & D.D. Seafood , divided into 2 portions (to make the fish a little easier to turn over), dredged lightly in seasoned coarse stone-ground flour, then dipped into a mixture of one beaten egg from Millport Dairy and half of a cup of chopped parsley from Phillips Farm, sautéed in a long oval copper pan over medium-high heat in a mix of olive oil and ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘ (one tablespoon of each), turning once, for about 7 or 8 minutes, garnished with chopped dill from Bodhitree Farm, and drizzled with a little lemon juice, lemon wedges served on the side
  • ten small red new potatoes (the first of the year, for me), from Norwich Meadows Farm, boiled in well-salted water, drained, dried in the still-warm glass pot, rolled in a little olive oil and some chopped spring red onions (they look like scallions) from John D. Madura Farm, seasoned with good course sea salt, freshly-ground telicherry pepper, sprinkled with chopped flowering thyme from from Bodhitree Farm (I had intended to mix the potatoes with chopped summer savory from Stokes Farm, not thyme, but things were moving fast at this point, and I hadn’t yet washed and dried the savory, so, to save time (ha!), I reached for the small cup holding one of the herbs left from my preparation of the stuffed zucchini blossoms (for those, see below)]
  • twelve zucchini flowers from Bodhitree Farm, prepared mostly along the lines of this recipe by Mario Batali, each stuffed with a mixture of grated Parmigiano Reggiano Vacche Rosse from Buon Italia, chopped flowering thyme from Bodhitree Farm, chiffonade-cut basil from Tamarack Hollow Farm, freshly-grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper, sautéed in a little olive oil inside a large cast iron pan until golden brown on both sides, drained on paper towels, and served at room temperature (I wasn’t crazy enough to cook them at the same time I was preparing both the cod and the potatoes, and ‘room temperature’ is perfectly appropriate for most vegetables)
  • the wine was a California (Lodi) white, S & A Verdelho Calveras County 2015
  • the music was from Counterstream radio