It seemed like a great excuse to modify what has long been my routine preparation of seared duck breast. I had some mushrooms left over from the night before, and combining them with the duck seemed like a fine idea.

The execution however wasn’t perfect for either duck or mushrooms, nor for one of the 2 vegetables that accompanied them. I’m blaming it on my haste in working at placing dinner on the table earlier than I have been lately, and strain of working on all 4 elements of the meal at just about the same time.

The flame under the duck was probably too hot, which left the skin and fat more charred than I would prefer (although, because of the fat and the sugar, without compromising the flavor), and it probably explains why it was necessary to keep the breast in the pan longer than normally in order to arrive at the same stage of doneness I as always.

I also went just a little too far in cooking the mushrooms and largely neglected the ‘crispy-ing’ and the seasoning of the cabbage. The potatoes were perfect however, but then the recipe is also.

• one 14-ounce duck breast from Hudson River Duck Farm (the tenderloin removed, but seasoned like the rest of it, then fried very briefly near the end of the time the larger section was cooking, then halved), the fatty side scored in tight cross hatching with a very sharp knife and the entire breast rubbed, top and bottom, with a mixture of sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a little turbinado sugar, left standing on the counter for about 45 minutes to an hour before being pan-fried, fatty side down first, inside a small oval enameled cast iron pan over medium heat [see above discussion] for a total of about 9 minutes, turning once, draining the oil after the first few minutes (the fat strained can be used in cooking at another time, if desired), the breast removed when medium rare, cut crosswise into 2 portions and checked for the right doneness in the center, which means definitely no more than medium rare, and maybe even a bit less, drizzled with a little juice from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon and some olive oil, the halves transferred to very warm plates sitting on top of the oven a mushroom dish was prepared inside the pan where they had cooked
• the heat below the pan set to medium-high, all but 1 tablespoon of drippings removed and a little olive oil added before tossing in 4 or 5 ounces of sliced blue oyster mushrooms from Blue Oyster Cultivation and two sliced shallots from Phillips Farms, the two sautéed, stirring, until the mushrooms were tender, or for about 6 minutes, then seasoned with salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons of marsala (Pellegrino Superiore S.O.M. Dry) added, and stirred with the mushrooms until the juices had thickened, scraping up the browned bits, or about 1 minute, divided and arranged on the plates around the duck, mushrooms and duck sprinkled with parsley
• part of a cored Savoy cabbage (7 ounces?) from Tamarack Hollow Farm, sliced into one-half-inch ribbons, sautéed in a scant tablespoon of olive oil inside a heavy medium-size tin-lined copper pot until wilted but still a little crunchy, stirring occasionally, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, 5 or 6 slightly smashed juniper berries mixed in, a few tiny drops of balsamic vinegar added and the mix stirred over the heat for only a moment, arranged on the plates and finished with a drizzle of olive oil

• six or seven ounces of small La Ratte potatoes from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, halved lengthwise, tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, a pinch or two of crushed dried habanada pepper, arranged on a small seasoned unglazed ceramic Pampered Chef oven pan [see picture above], roasted in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 400º
• the wine was a Spanish (Rioja) red, Hermanos Pecina Rioja Joven 2017, from Crush Wine
• the music was the album of works by the contemporary Spanish composer Alberto Posadas, ‘Erinnerungsspuren’ [memory traces], performed by pianist Florian Hoelscher

 

Crumply, curly things.

It would be something light, to follow a rich dinner the night before. But I didn’t know what I was going to cook until a few minutes before I started, except that it would include one of the interesting dried artisanal pastas we have in our larder (actually, it’s a former closet in our second bedroom). Then I talked to Barry about the relative merits of the other things we we might include in the dish. I soon had a plan, and he saw to an appropriate wine.

• eight ounces of Sfoglini ‘Whole Grain Reginetti’, cooked only barely al dente, added to a large vintage high-sided copper pot in which the sliced white of one early green garlic stem from Phillips Farms had been heated in a little olive oil over a medium flame until it had softened and become fragrant, and, following the pasta, a dozen or more pitted Gaeta olives from Buon Italia in Chelsea Market were tossed in, and a couple handfuls of ‘ruby streak’ mustard from Alewife Farm, a pinch of a crushed (dried) hickory-smoked Jamaican Scotch bonnet pepper from Eckerton Hill Farm, and a bit of freshly-ground black pepper, then almost 3 quarters of a cup of reserved pasta water was added and the mix stirred over high heat for a minute or two, or until the liquid had emulsified, to make a proper sauce, some chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge mixed in and the pasta arranged inside 2 shallow bowls, sprinkled with some pine nuts that had been browned only a little inside a small seasoned cast Iron pan, and garnished with more kale, plus more chopped lovage, finished with a little olive oil drizzled around the edges
• the wine was an Italian (Tuscany/Chianti) red, Castello di Farnetella Chianti Colli Senesi 2016, from Philippe Wines

• the music was a marathon broadcast of an incredibly rich sequence of recordings of Billie Holiday performing, on WKCR, streaming, on the occasion of her birthday

 

[the image at the bottom, ‘Blue Billie’ 2002, is from LyleAshtonHarris.com]

I wasn’t going to bother doing this post except that the music was so special. Also, the picture works.

• the stuff on the plate last Sunday [afternoon]: some very fresh eggs from pastured chickens and bacon from pastured pigs, both from Millport Dairy Farm, seasoned with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and crushed dried red espelette peppers from Alewife Farm, sprinkled with chopped green garlic from Phillips Farms; several sliced Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Chelsea Whole Foods Market warmed in a little house Whole Foods Portuguese olive oil, seasoned with salt and black pepper, and tossed with fresh oregano, also from Phillips Farms, placed on a bed of baby arugula from Alewife Farm; a garnish of micro red mustard from Two Guys from Woodbridge; some un-toasted slices of Pain d’Avignon seven grain bread (whole wheat and honey, plus sesame, sunflower and flax seeds, and oats) from Foragers Market, and some lightly toasted slices of a 2-day-old baguette from Bread Alone

• the music was an album of monophonic songs attributed to the 13th-century Castilian king, Alfonso X El Sabio (the Wise), ‘Cantigas de Santa Maria (Canticles of Holy Mary), performed by Jordi Saval and Hespèrion XX

It was a meaty dinner.

The first course was a do-it-yourself project constructed around a wonderful pork mousse that had been made on a Columbia County farm, Raven & Boar, installed at the Union Square Greenmarket for the first time ever on Wednesday. where it was selling its very singular produce, farm-made pork charcuterie.

• a small 3-ounce jar of Hudson Vally Charcuterie Mousse de Foie/Pork Liver Mousse from pastured heritage, whey fed pigs
• a bit of fresh ‘red streak mustard’ from Alewife Farm
• horseradish pickles from Millport Dairy Farm
• a few tablespoons of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’
• thin toasts of 2 different breads, an elegant wheat baguette from Bread Alone, and a sturdy wheat and spelt loaf, Philadelphia’s Lost Bread Co. pane di tavalo (rustic Italian-style, charred crust with notes of coffee and cacao, baked with organic bread flour, spelt, malted barley, salt, water, yeast, which the bakers say they’ve modeled after a famous loaf from the town of Genzano, near Rome)
• the wine was a fruity California (Lodi) white, F. Stephen Millier Angels Reserve Lodi White 2017, from Naked Wines

The main course stayed with the theme, but with everything cooked this time.

• two 8-ounce local Dutchess County venison t-bone steaks from Quattro’s Game Farm, in the Union Square Greenmarket, defrosted overnight and brought to room temperature, rinsed, dried, rubbed with olive oil and a very generous coating of freshly-cracked black peppercorns, set aside on the counter covered with waxed paper for about an hour, then placed over moderately high heat in 1 to 2 tablespoons of a combination of butter and olive oil inside a heavy oval 11-inch enameled cast iron pan, cooked rare to medium rare, which meant little more than 2 minutes on each side, or until juices had begun accumulating on the top, transferred to warm plates to rest while the bottom of the pan was scraped with a wooden spatula to collect the juices and 2 tablespoons of a decent brandy (I used Courvoisier V.O. this time) added to the pan and briefly cooked over high heat, until it had almost become a syrup, the sauce poured over the meat, which was then garnished with micro red chard from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• just before the venison was being prepared, nine ounces of thickly sliced, meaty spring shiitake mushrooms from Joe Rizzo’s small farm near Ithaca, Blue Oyster Cultivation, purchased from his tables in the Union Square Greenmarket, were tossed into a large enameled cast iron pan in which 2 or 3 tablespoons  of butter had been melted over a high flame, the fungi seared until they had begun to brown, a little more butter and some sliced green, or spring, garlic from John D. Madura Farms added, the mushrooms salted now as they cooked a bit more, and when they were ready, some chopped parsley from Phillips Farms tossed in and combined with them, the mushrooms distributed between the 2 plates next to the chops, with a little more parsley tossed on top

• some loose tender, sweet collard green leaves from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, only the stems below the leaves removed first, washed 3 times, drained (some of the water retained and held aside to be added, as necessary, near the end of the time the greens were cooking), chopped just a bit, then braised gently until barely softened or wilted inside a large, antique copper pot in which 2 cloves of garlic from Foragers Market had first been heated until they had softened, seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, finished with a small drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a Portuguese (Douro) red, Xisto Ilimitado Tinto 2016, from Crush Wine

 

• the music throughout the meal was the album, ‘Laurence Crane: 6 Trios, 2 Solos and 1 Quintet’, performed by the Holt Quartet

There were flowers on the table (primrose this time), as there often are in the spring, because, well…

The flounder fillets were beautiful; Warren had just fetched a fresh ‘bucket’ from the truck, and opened it in front of at least one very appreciative customer.

They were a little larger than I might have been able to handle in the kitchen before, but I had recently acquired a beautiful new pan that would help me to do them justice. I also had a generous amount of fresh mushrooms at home, and I knew I wouldn’t have trouble finding a wonderful green vegetable to accompany the entrée, before I left the market.

• two very fresh flounder fillets (a total of 19 ounces) from American Seafood Company, seasoned on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, sautéed fairly gently in a couple tablespoons of butter inside a large (13-inch), thick-walled antique tin-lined copper pan, flesh side first, turned after around 2 minutes, maybe slightly more, and the other side cooked for about the same length of time, removed and arranged on 2 plates, either covered, to keep warm, or, if it’s convenient to do so, placed inside a barely-warm oven, the heat under the pan kept low, another tablespoon – or better, 2, maybe 3 – of butter added, and when it had melted about 6 ounces of roughly-chopped yellow oyster mushrooms from Gail’s Farm in Vineland, New Jersey tossed into the pan and sautéed, stirring, until lightly cooked, the mushrooms seasoned with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a pinch or so of crushed dried Espelette pepper (only a medium heat) from Alewife Farm and 4 small thin ramps from Eataly Flatiron (I spotted them there and decided impulsively that I couldn’t wait for them to arrive in the Greenmarket), the bulbs chopped, the leaves sliced, plus a little more than a tablespoon of juice from a local Persian lime [yup, local], the gift of David Tifford of Fantastic Gardens of Long Island, added to the pan, everything briefly stirred with a wooden spatula, the mushrooms and their juices spooned on or around the flounder [the dish may need more butter along the way, so at least be aware]

There was also some brilliant rainbow chard,

from the folks upstate at Fledging Crow Farm:

• a modest-sized bouquet of rainbow chard from a farm new to the Union Square Greenmarket that very day, Fledging Crow Vegetables, (with a fascinating origin story), wilted inside a a large antique high-sided copper pot in a tablespoon or so of olive oil in which one garlic clove from Norwich Meadows Farm had first been heated and softened slightly, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, finished with a little lemon juice and a tiny drizzle of olive oil

• there were slices of possibly the best loaf of bread I’ve ever tasted, ‘Pane da Tavola’, from Lost Bread Co., which is described as rustic Italian-style, charred crust with notes of coffee and cacao (organic bread flour, spelt, malted barley, salt, water, yeast), modeled after the famous bread of Genzano, Roma
• the wine was a French (Burgundy/Mâconnais), Les Grands Crus Blancs Pouilly-Vinzelles 2017, from Bottlerocket
• the music was Salieri’s 1786 operatic tragédie lyrique, ‘Les Horaces’, whose text is by Nicolas-François Guillard after Pierre Corneille’s Horace (it was commissioned by the Paris Opera, but the Queen is reported to have rejected it for Fontainebleau), performed here by Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques

About the music, which we really enjoyed, I’ll wager that, in the end, it will be recorded that F. Murray Abraham and Milos Forman were the ones who totally made Antonio Salieri’s posthumous career.

 

[image of the people of Fledging Crow Vegetables from thegoodfoodcollective.com]