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