It was simply an assembled meal, and it would not have been remarkable, literally, except that it was so good and satisfying.

The antipasto was sourced entirely from things hanging around the apartment.

• two ounces of La Quercia’s Ridgetop Speck (applewood smoked prosciutto from pastured pigs) drizzled with a little olive oil (Badia a Coltibuono, from Gaiole in Chianti, Siena, Italy)
• fresh ricotta cheese from a local New Jersey farm (no other information available) from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, also drizzled with the olive oil
• Gaeta olives from Buon Italia, in Chelsea Market
• arugula from Phillips Farms, dressed with the same olive oil
• slices of a Balthazar Bread rye boule from Chelsea Whole Foods Market

The main course has been making regular stops on our table for days; this was its final appearance, at least in this production

• a rich whole grain pasta combined with cheeses and 2 kinds of cabbage, originally prepared for last Saturday’s dinner, heated in a 350º oven for 12 minutes, now both more chewy and more crispy – and more flavorful – than ever; perfect

• the wine throughout the meal was an Argentinian (Mendoza) red, Penedo Borges Expresión Varietal Malbec 2016, the gift of a great friend, a great artist, and a great writer, An Xiao Mina

• the music throughout the meal was the album, ‘Sephardic Journey: Wanderings of the Spanish Jews’, by an intense Cleveland ensemble with a brilliant portfolio, Apollo’s Fire

[the image of An Xiao at TEDGlobal 2013 in Edinburgh, by James Duncan Davidson, is from TEDBlog]; the image of Jeannette Sorrell, founder of Apollo’s Fire, directing this program of the group, is from Classical Voice North America]

While we really like the recipe I’ve been using for ocean perch fillets for several years, I wanted to try it without the anchovy. Last night I substituted sorrel, because at the moment, with what I had on hand at the moment, it seemed like the most promising alternative.

The result was good, but not exciting; I’m going to keep experimenting with the recipe, perhaps trying some kind of shellfish as the finish, but I also expect to also return to the anchovies, probably in smaller amounts.

I love what these red fillets look like, almost as much as I love their taste and texture.

• six red-skinned ocean perch fillets (18 ounces) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company, rinsed, and dried, both sides brushed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil mixed with a total of little more than a teaspoon of a combination of very small chopped rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm and a thinly-sliced bit from the white section of scallion from from Phillips Farms, the fish seasoned, also on both sides, with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed skin side up inside an enameled cast iron pan and broiled, 4 or 5 inches from the flames, for 4 or 5 minutes, or until the skin had become crisp and the fish was cooked through, finished on the plates by drizzling with a small amount of sauce prepared by gently heating a few leaves of baby sorrel from Two Guys from Woodbridge in a bit of olive oil over a very low flame, with fresh leaves added after the heat under the was turned off, Whole Foods Market organic lemon wedges served on the side
• slices of a buckwheat baguette from Runner & Stone Bakery, from their stand in Saturday’s Union Square Greenmarket

• a large bunch of red mustard from Lani’s Farm, wilted in a little olive oil in which several large halved cloves of John D. Madura Farms garlic had been allowed to sweat a bit, seasoned with salt and pepper and finished on the plates with a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a French (Loire/Touraine) white, Vouvray Sec, Brisebarre 2014, from Astor Wines
• the music was the 1934 verismo opera, ‘Juha’, by the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja, Jussi Jalas conducting the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Finnish Radio Youth Chorus 

This meal should have been especially easy: For the first course there was an entire, quite sturdy, previously-prepared baked pasta. That meant that the entrée could be smaller and lighter than usual. Also, the roasted pork chop process was so familiar to me I could almost have done it blindfolded, that is, if I hadn’t absentmindedly turned off the oven as I removed the baked pasta.

I only noticed my mistake halfway through the [should have been] 13 or 14-minute roasting time for the chops, but with no real harm done, I recovered and brought them safely to the table, with, in this case, the indispensable assistance in of an instant-read thermometer (my own timing having been totally corrupted by the blunder).

The greens, meanwhile, waited patiently while I fumbled around the range and the oven.

• some of the rich whole grain pasta combined with cheeses and 2 kinds of cabbage, remaining from Saturday’s dinner, heated in a 350º oven for 12 minutes
• the wine was a California red, Sin Fronteras El Mechon California Red Blend 2017, from Naked Wines

The oven incident, described above, delayed the main course only slightly beyond what I had expected.

• [this is a description of how it should have been] two thick 11-ounce blade pork chops from Flying Pigs Farm, rinsed, thoroughly dried, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, seared quickly in a heavy oval enameled cast-iron pan, half of a large organic Whole Foods Market lemon squeezed over the top (after which the lemon was left in the pan between them, cut side down), the chops placed in a 400º oven for about 13 minutes altogether (flipped halfway through, the lemon squeezed over them once again and, after a bit of crushed dried habanada pepper had been sprinkled on top of the pork, placed again on the bottom of the pan), removed from the oven and arranged on 2 plates, the few juices that remained, with the addition of a bit of vermouth and briefly heated, poured over the top, the plate garnished with micro red mustard from Two guys from Woodbridge
• some of the contents of a bag of mixed baby greens from Lani’s Farm, wilted inside an antique medium-size high-sided copper pot in a little olive oil in which two halved garlic cloves from from John D. Madura Farms had been heated until softened, seasoned with salt and pepper [because of the delay in cooking the pork, they had reduced their volume somewhat, but they were still delicious]
• the wine was a Portuguese (Beira) white, Quinta do Cardo White ‘Companhia das Quintas’ 2016, from Astor Wines

• the music throughout the meal was a magnificent performance and recording of Tchaikovsky’s 1879 opera/’lyrical scenes’, ‘Eugen Onegin’, with a libretto largely worked by the composer, that follows Pushkin’s novel in verse, James Levine conducting the Staatskapelle Dresden and Rundfunkchor Leipzig

Because I felt there was nothing the least bit extraordinary about it, I wasn’t going to post about yesterday’s [very late] breakfast, until I saw the photo tonight, when I realized I was ready to serve it again, for dinner.

• other than the fact that there were 3 fresh green herbs, or micro greens, no tomatoes, and almost no spices, it was a pretty familiar Sunday spread: very fresh eggs from pastured chickens and bacon from pastured pigs, both from Millport Dairy Farm; local, or regional, Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’, from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, on the side, for the toast; chopped fresh purple[ish] thyme from Phillips Farms, sprinkled on the eggs; Maldon salt; freshly-ground black pepper; a few Two Guys from Woodbridge baby sorrel leaves heated in a little Portuguese house olive oil from Chelsea While Foods Market (with more leaves tossed on top, for the color); lightly-toasted slices of Runner & Stone Bakery wheat and potato bread; the plates garnished with micro red Russian kale from Windfall Farms
• the music was the 1994 recording of the beautiful 1605 ‘Officium defunctorum: Misa de Requiem a 6’, by the Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria, performed by the Gabrieli Consort inside a Northumbrian priory

I’ve been talking about cold weather food for days, and while this meal continues the theme, the appearance of tomato, and sorrel this time (although both were grown inside), suggests relief might be on the way.

It was still an oven-baked dish, and the bok choy was a local January/February phenomenon discovered in the Union Square Greenmarket after weeks without any real green vegetables, or at least none on my visits afternoons, and it was the last bundle on the table when I arrived at the farm stand.

• two 8-ounce kennebec potatoes from Rick Bishop’s Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, washed, but not peeled, sliced thinly with a sharp knife, tossed in a ceramic oven pan with two tablespoons of butter which had already been allowed to melt inside the pan over a very low flame (I stepped away for a minute, and when I looked back, I saw, scarily, that the butter had begun to brown a bit in the center of the clay casserole; I stopped it before any harm was done and I think the slight browning actually added more flavor to the dish), some sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper added, the potatoes then spread evenly, roasted at 425º, sprinkled after 12 minutes with one large sliced scallion from Philipps Farms, and, at roughly 20 minutes, a few Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market, each sliced horizontally into 3 sections and lightly seasoned, the pan remaining in the oven a few minutes longer, for what would be a total of about 25-30 minutes, when they had begun to brown, when one 17-ounce haddock fillet from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, cut crosswise into two pieces of equal weight, ws placed on top of the vegetables, the fish spread with softened knobs from a little more than one tablespoon of butter, some sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, the pan returned to the oven for 10, maybe 13, minutes, or until the fish was just done, or cooked through, its contents arranged on the plates, the fillets topped with fresh baby sorrel from Two Guys from Woodbridge that had been just slightly heated in a little butter
• several small heads of bok choy from Philipps Farms, the last in their stand when I arrived, the leaves separated from the base, very thoroughly washed and drained, halved crosswise, the stems stirred into a large antique large copper pot inside of which 2 bruised and halved garlic cloves from John D. Madura Farms had been heated until beginning to brown, the thinner, leaf ends added a few seconds later, occasionally introducing some of the water which they had shed after being washed, the greens cooked until barely tender, their stems still a little crunchy, seasoned with salt and pepper, arranged on the plates, and drizzled with a little more olive oil
• the wine was a really awesome Australian (VictoriaAppellation/Goulburn Valley) white, Ben Haines B Minor Rousanne Marsanne 2016, from Copake Wine Works
• the music was Bellini’s opera semiseria, ‘La Sonnambula’, Evelino Pidò conducting the Lyon Opera Orchestra and the Lyon Opera Chorus