I began writing this blog 10 years ago today. I’ve reproduced the first modest entry below.

It appears to have been before the era of photography.

So I’m just going to add some color here, before I do anything else.

[the image, of ‘Times Square 106 Primary Red Gel Filter Sheet 10″ x 10″, is from Amazon]

Steak and French fries, and catsup.

Actually, a grass-fed local steak, celery root frites, and roasted tomatoes.

The background story is that I had gone to our local While Foods at some time after 8 in the evening yesterday intending to pick a wild Northwest Coast wild salmon fillet, as I do occasionally (and in season, they aren’t even previously frozen).  For the first time ever, I think, they had none. No problem, I could go back home and cook up an interesting pasta. But then I looked at the butcher display on my way out. This was something I hadn’t done in a very long time, since I almost always buy both meat and seafood from our local farmers and fishers in the Union Square Greenmarket, and occasionally from Ottomanelli & Sons on Bleecker.

On one of the trays inside the display case there was a single thick, beautifully-cut strip steak remaining, with a citation of its local origin on the display case window above it, including a picture of the family owners. It may not be a tiny local family farm, but it seemed to have some decent credentials, and then I saw that it was also on sale. I texted Barry to see if he felt like having beef that night, but I had really already decided our names were on it.

I’m now apologizing to my usual farmer-venders, to the Greenmarket, and to the Ottomanelli brothers for my momentary truancy. And I cannot tell a lie: The steak was pretty awesome.

• one 13-ounce grass-fed organic New Jersey (Simply Grazin’) top loin boneless strip steak, rinsed, dried on both sides with paper towels and sprinkled with sea salt, allowed to rest on the kitchen counter on a paper plate, covered loosely with wax paper, for almost an hour, then dried once again and placed inside an enameled cast iron oval pan that had already been heated above a medium-hot flame, cooked for 3 or 4 minutes on each side, or until the meat was just under medium-rare, halved crosswise and removed to 2 plates sitting on the top of the warm ancient oven, a bit of organic Chelsea Whole Foods Market lemon squeezed on top, a good amount of scissored fresh chive from Whole Foods scattered on top, and some good Trader Joe’s Italian Reserve extra virgin olive oil drizzled on the herb, allowed to sit a few minutes before serving garnished with micro red mustard from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• eight Maine cherry ‘cocktail’ tomatoes from Whole Foods, slow-roasted inside a small antique rolled-edge tin oven pan with a heaping teaspoon of dried Italian oregano from Buon Italia, half a tablespoon or more of Trader Joe’s Reserve olive oil, and 2 or 3 halved cloves of ‘music garlic’ from Windfall Farms
• one 15-ounce celery root (or celeriac) from Norwich Meadows Farm, scrubbed, peeled, and cut into the size and shape of potato frites, each about 1/4″ in cross section, tossed inside a bowl with olive oil, a half teaspoon of Safinter Pimenton de la Vera smoked picante paprika, sea salt, and a little freshly-ground black pepper, spread onto a large seasoned  Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic pan, and roasted at 425º until brown and cooked through, or for about 30 to 35 minutes, removed to the plates, and sprinkled with chopped lovage from Two Guys from Qoodbridge [Note: they were pretty spicy, so some tastes may want to use less paprika, or a version that’s less hot]
• the wine was a Spanish (Rioja) red, Bodegas Hermanos de Pecina, Rioja Cosecha Tinto, 2017, from Flatiron Wines

We’ve been huge fans of his for years, but we met Thomas Adès for the first time at the Springbreak Art Show on Sunday (I’m afraid we might have come on like groupies), so we thought it would be appropriate to revisit one of his most amazing orchestral pieces while we enjoyed our next home-cooked dinner, on Tuesday.

• the music was Thomas Adès’ 1997 orchestral composition, ‘Asyla’, his Op. 17, with Adès himself conducting the London Symphony Orchestra

[image of Thomas Adès from Classic FM]

I like the landscaping.

There were two courses. While the the image above is of the second one, I wanted to lead with it rather than with the mackerel toasts, because almost that same appetizer had shown up on this blog only recently.

In the interim I had located some fresh chives, which improves the flavor of the mix, and which I didn’t have when I first whipped up the spread on Saturday. On the other hand, by Monday, when I was ready to serve the rest of it, I had lost my supplies of small greens, so I used a few chive stems as a rudimentary bed.

• the remainder of a smoked mackerel spread that had been prepared and served two days before (one 8-ounce smoked whole mackerel from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, skinned, its flesh removed from the backbone and the larger ribs discarded as it was broken up and placed inside a bowl, where it was joined by about a third of a cup of Riverine Ranch water buffalo milk labneh, a tablespoon or more of chopped Japanese scallions, a teaspoon of zest and a tablespoon of juice from an organic Chelsea Whole Foods Market lemon, a little freshly ground black pepper, and a complex powdered Nigerian cayenne, now with the addition of a generous amount of sliced fresh chives from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, swiped onto toasted slices of a sourdough bâtard from She Wolf Bakery, and placed on a few lengths of the same chives, with lemon quarters served on the side

The fish in the main course was not smoked, and in fact it was so fresh that it had almost certainly still been swimming off Long Island when I was originally mixing the mackerel spread 2 days before.

But first a look at my shiny re-tinned au gratin pan, the midwife of the baked pollock entrée.

• two pollock fillets (a total of 20 ounces) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company, rinsed, dried, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper, placed skin side down inside a buttered oval newly-retinned copper au gratin pan, dabbed with a mixture of softened unsalted Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ combined with zest from most of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, a little chopped ‘music garlic’ from Windfall Farms, slices of a Norwich Meadows Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, and part of a piece of a crushed  orange/gold home-dried Habanada pepper, also from Norwich Meadows Farm, baked for about 16 or 17 minutes at 350º, removed to 2 plates and kept warm on top of the flat top of the 1936 Magic Chef oven, the little bit of cooking juices that had accumulated poured over the fillets, and a teaspoon or so of Sicilian salted capers, which had just been rinsed, drained, and dried, and heated briefly inside a small antique enameled cast iron porringer in a bit of olive oil, scattered on top of the fillets while the capers were still warm, along with the oil in which they had been heated, the pollock finished with a garnish of micro red mustard from Two guys from Woodbridge

• a handful of beautiful and absolutely delicious ‘frizzy mustard’ greens from Norwich Meadows Farm, barely heated in a little olive oil in which 2 halved cloves of 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 throughout was a Spanish (Valencia) white, Celler del Roure ‘Cullerot’ Blanco 2017, from Astor Wines
• the music throughout the meal was a 2001 recording of Gluck’s 1779 ‘Iphigenie en Tauride’ (which fully embodies the composer’s operatic reforms), Marc Minkowski conducting Les Musiciens du Louvre and le Choeur des Musiciens du Louvre, with Laurent Alvaro, Mireille Delunsch, Simon Keenlyside, Yann Beuron, Laurent Naouri, Alexia Cousin, Michèle Norman-Webb, Claire Delgado-Boge, and Nicki Kennedy

Oh my.

Yes, once again we have access to some wonderful smoked local fish. After a hiatus which had saddened many of their customers, the Karlin family’s P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company, is again selling this very special fresh delicacy that originates in the hauls from its boats out of Long Island’s North Fork, .

I was worried that I might not get around to doing something with the gorgeous whole copper-colored mackerel I had picked up almost 2 weeks ago, but smoked fish has serious staying power (in fact, food preservation was its original raison d’etre).

On Saturday I skinned and deboned the fish and it with some ingredients I already lying around, and I managed to come up with some delicious toasts for assembling a small course to anticipate a good steak. There was enough for two nights, so we will probably be enjoying the remainder tonight, 2 days later, after I finish writing this.

Another thing special about the whole meal was the fact that both courses included unconventional treats from a local producer on shore, Riverine Ranch, which raises water buffalo in New Jersey, far from waters fished by the Karlin family.

• one 8-ounce smoked whole mackerel from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, skinned, its flesh removed from the backbone and the larger ribs discarded as it was broken up and placed inside a bowl, where it was joined by about a third of a cup of Riverine Ranch water buffalo milk labneh, a tablespoon or more of chopped Japanese scallions, a teaspoon of zest and a tablespoon of juice from an organic Chelsea Whole Foods Market lemon, a little freshly ground black pepper, and a complex powdered Nigerian cayenne, swiped onto toasted slices of a She Wolf Bakery miche, with lemon quarters served on the side
• delicious peppery arugula from Norwich Meadows Farm dressed with Trader Joe’s very good  Italian Reserve unfiltered olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and a drizzle of lemon juice
• the wine was a French (Gascogne) white, Mont Gravet – Côtes de Gascogne Blanc 2017, from Foragers Market Wine

The main course was a very different scheme from the first.

• one top sirloin buffalo steak (13 ounces) from Riverine Ranch, rinsed and patted dry, seasoned generously with salt and pepper, allowed to reach room temperature, seared over a medium flame, cooked 2 or 3 minutes on each side, to medium rare, the time always dependent on thickness [being careful not to overcook, or the steak would be tough, and noting that the color of this lean meat is a lot redder than beef, meaning a medium-rare buffalo steak would be the same shade of an almost rare beef steak], removed from the pan, cut in half crosswise, arranged on the plates, drizzled with a bit of lemon juice, sprinkled with chopped fresh thyme from Chelsea Whole Foods, drizzled with a little olive oil, covered loosely and allowed to rest for a couple minutes before serving

• more than a pound of red thumb potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, halved lengthwise, tossed with a little olive oil, salt, black pepper, a bit of crushed home-dried habanada pepper, and a pinch of crushed dried hickory smoked Jamaican Scotch bonnet pepper from Eckerton Hill Farm, arranged cut side down on a large Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic pan, roasted at about 375º for 20 minutes or so, tossed around on the pan, arranged on the plates and garnished with micro red mustard from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• fava greens, the last from the boxes at the Union Square Greenmarket stand of Alewife Farm (the restaurants got there before me), washed, drained, and gradually stirred into a medium size heavy, antique copper pot in less than a tablespoon of olive oil until they had only begun to wilt, seasoned salt and freshly-pepper, the vegetable arranged on the plates and drizzled with some more olive oil
• the wine with this course was a Portuguese (Dão) red, Casa de Mouraz Tinto, Dão 2014, from Astor Wines  

Its appearance is almost monochromatic in this photograph, but if I can use that adjective family to describe taste, our enjoyment of this entrée was polychromatic.

Also, while no sugar was added to either the fish or the vegetable, both were, oddly, and deliciously, incredibly sweet.

• one really fresh 14.5-ounce lemon sole fillet from Pura Vida Seafood, rinsed then dried thoroughly, salted on both sides (with a little freshly-ground black pepper as well), brushed with a little good Italian white wine vinegar (Aceto Cesare Bianco white wine vinegar from Buon Italia), coated with a thin layer of a local whole wheat flour from the Blew family of Oak Grove Mills in the Union Square Greenmarket, sautéed for a couple of minutes over a medium-high flame inside a very heavy vintage oval tin-lined copper pan in 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil, the fillet turned over and cooked for another minute or so (the exact time, or even an approximate time will always depend on the thickness of the fish and the heat of the pan), the sole removed and arranged on 2 warm plates, the pan wiped with a paper towel, then 2 tablespoons of rich Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’, 3 tablespoons of juice from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, and a handful of micro red mustard from Windfall Farms added, warmed for a minute or so, either over a low flame or, as the pan will still be hot, possibly none at all, the sauce poured onto the sole, and a very different micro red mustard, this one from Two Guys from Woodbridge, arranged on each plate as a garnish to one side

• a little over a pound of astoundingly good ‘red emma potatoes’ [I can’t find any information about this variety on line], from Tamarack Hollow Farm, scrubbed, boiled unpeeled in heavily-salted water until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried in the still-warm vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, each halved, tossed with a tablespoon or more of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’, sprinkled with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, tossed with a pinch or more of crushed dried ripe, red shishito pepper from Lani’s Farm (I usually add some mostly for the color, but this time I picked a pepper with a bit of heat!), sliced Japanese scallions from Norwich Meadows Farm and chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the wine, in a great pairing, was a French (Loire) white, Sancerre, Sommet Doré 2017, from Astor Wines
• the music was Schumann’s great [secular?] oratorio, ll ‘Szenen aus Goethes Faust’ (Scenes from Goethe’s Faust),  composed between 1844 and 1853, Claudio Abbado conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tölz Boys Choir, and the Swedish Radio Chorus, with soloists Bryn Terfel, Karita Mattila, Jan-HendrikRooope Rootering, Barbara Bonney, Endrik Wottrich, Brigitte Poschner-Klebel, Susan Graham, Harry Peeters, Iris Vermillion, and Hans-Peter Blochwitz [more about Schumann’s composition here]