Sometimes it all comes together when you weren’t particularly expecting it. This meal was a perfect symphony of its fairly basic elements, none of which were extraordinary on their own except for their freshness and their quality.

• one gorgeous 17-ounce section from a fillet of wild caught sockeye salmon (previously frozen), from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, halved, placed unseasoned, skin sides up, inside a heavy medium size enameled cast iron pan in which a little more than 2 tablespoons of a rich local Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ had been allowed to melt over a low to medium flame until the foam began to recede, the salmon then placed inside a 425º oven until barely cooked, meaning about 8 minutes, flipped over after 5, removed, arranged on the plates, only now seasoned, with some local Long Island sea salt (P.E. & D.D. Seafood/Phil Karlin’s own) and freshly-ground black pepper, scattered with scissored chives from Phillips Farms, allowed to rest for a couple minutes before serving, arranged on the plates and garnished on the edges with micro purple radish from Windfall Farms
• thirteen ounces of ruby crescent fingerling potatoes (which are always really delicious roasted) from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, halved lengthwise, tossed with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, the leaves from some rosemary stems, also from Phillips Farms, and a small amount of crushed golden home-dried habanada pepper, arranged cut side down on a large Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic pan, roasted at 425º for about 20 minutes
• one bunch of beautiful fresh, almost glowing, dandelion greens from Norwich Meadows Farm, washed in several changes of water, drained, the last of the drained water set aside, cut into 2 or 3-inch pieces, barely wilted in a little olive oil, along with 3 small cloves of ‘Chesnok Red’ garlic from Alewife Farm which had been heated in the oil until fragrant, a bit of the reserved water then added to loosen the greens, seasoned with a little crushed dried dried Itria-Sirissi chili, pepperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia, salt and pepper, and drizzled with a little olive oil
• the wine was a super, medium bodied Austrian (Mittelburgenland) red, Hochäcker Blaufränkisch 2015 (ours was not a magnum), from Flatiron Wines, from a district that shares its longer history with Hungary; but the story involving a more recent event, just thirty years ago, involving the Austria-Hungary border of which it is a part, is described here
• the music was a gorgeous opera composed by Vivaldi for the 1724 carnival season in Rome, ‘Il Giustino’, Ottavio Dantone conducting the Accademia Bizantina

I had put them together in this meal for other reasons, but the smoked scallops and the roasted veal seemed to somehow share a real affinity, something that was barely apparent to me until I was sitting down to the second of those courses last night.

• six smoked scallops (a total of 8 ounces) from Pura Vida Seafood Company arranged on a shallow bed of greens (mesclun from Windfall Farms, along with red dandelion from Wilow Wisp Farm, and Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco from Campo Rosso Farm) dressed with a good olive oil, a bit of Columela Rioja 30 Year Reserva sherry vinegar, local P.E. & D.D. Seafood sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper
• slices of an enkir (aka einkorn, or farro piccolo) baguette from Eataly Flatiron (it’s an ancient grain that first appeared in the Middle East 12,000 years ago, here using Mulino Marino Organic Artisan Enkir Farro Flour)
• the wine was a California (Clarksburg) white, Miriam Alexandra California Chenin Blanc 2018, from Naked Wines

I wanted to keep the main course more abbreviated, but, mostly for aesthetic reasons, I couldn’t resist including the 2 remaining red potatoes potatoes I had in the larder

• two veal rib chops (12 ounces each) from Consider Bardwell Farm, seasoned with sea salt and black pepper, placed inside a ceramic oven pan to marinate for about a half hour in a mixture of one tablespoon of olive oil, the zest from more than one organic Whole Foods Market California lemon, one small chopped fresh habanada pepper from Alewife Farm, and one tablespoon of thyme leaves, removed from the oven pan then seared in a combination of 2 or 3 tablespoons of melted butter and one tablespoon of olive oil inside an oval enameled cast iron pan over a high flame until darkened, the chops removed, the fat discarded and the pan wiped with paper towels, the veal returned to the pan, another tablespoon, or a little  more, of butter over them, seasoned well, the pan placed inside a400º oven for 15 minutes or possibly a little more, until done, served with a salsa verde (whose assembly is described in the same volume, but I used parsley, winter savory, oregano, olive oil, garlic, capers, anchovy, Dijon mustard, and red wine vinegar)
• two medium red potatoes from Willow Wisp Farm scrubbed, boiled unpeeled in generously-salted water until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried in the still-warm small vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, halved, mixed with a little Trader Joe’s house Portuguese olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and tossed with scissored fresh chives from Phillips Farms
• some greens from an unidentified variety of turnip (they had been torn off and left on the farmers’ table by a customer) from Norwich Meadows Farm, washed in several changes of water, wilted in olive oil along with 4 small ‘Chesnok Red’ garlic from Alewife Farm which had been lightly-browned in the oil just before, seasoned, and drizzled with olive oil
• the wine was an Italian (Campania) red, Mastro Aglianico Campania IGT Mastroberardino 2017, from Philippe Wines

 

• the music throughout was Bedřich Smetana’s 1868 opera, ‘Dalibor’, with Jiří Bělohlávek
  conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers

Tautog is good.

It’s not Provençal.

And yet, except for the origin story of the fish (and the green vegetable too), this dinner could almost be Provençal, which is always good.

• two blackfish/Tautog fillets (one pound) from Pura Vida Seafood Company prepared following a recipe by Melissa Clark published in the New York Times 5 years ago, seasoned with salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a few pinches of Aleppo pepper (Morton & Bassett dried, from Westside Market), placed in a large heavy antique oval copper skillet over a medium-low flame, a quarter cup of Niçoise olives from Chelsea’s Fairway Market (pitted with great difficulty, over more than half an hour, because of their extremely small size), scattered around the fish, cooked for about 4 minutes, flipped and cooked for another 4 minutes, and near the end of that time, roughly 10 ounces of tiny ‘wild Mexican tomatoes’ (since they were cultivated, the ‘wild tomatoes’ were not, technically wild anymore) from Eckerton Hill Farm were tossed into the pan, moved around a bit and allowed to almost break down, the fish and the olives transferred to 2 plates when done, the tomatoes spooned around the fillets and everything sprinkled with chopped fresh oregano from Rise & Root Farm, topped with a drizzle of good olive oil

• a few handfuls of broccolini (a modern hybrid, a cross between broccoli and Gai Lan, aka Chinese broccoli)  from Willow Wisp Organic Farm in the Union Square Greenmarket, washed and drained in fresh cold water, chopped very roughly, sautéed/wilted over a low flame by being gradually added to a large antique copper pot in which 3 halved cloves of ‘Chesnok Red’ garlic from Alewife Farm had been heated in a little olive oil until softened and fragrant
• the wine was an Italian (Piedmont) white, Ferrando, Cariola’ Erbaluce di Caluso 2016, from Flatiron Wines
• the music was Monteverdi’s 1607 opera, ‘L’Orfeo’, performed by Jordi Savall directing Le Concert des Nations, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, and soloists

I always imagine I’m tasting the sea itself with a fresh seafood salad prepared by the wife of one of our local fishermen.

As for the main course Wednesday night, while ‘winter cod’ isn’t a real thing, cod on a wintery night is, and that night it looked like it there really was such a thing as a winter cod.

• eight ounces of a squid and conch salad (including olive oil, parsley, red pepper, lemon juice) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood in the Union Square Greenmarket, made by Dolores Karlin, the wife of Phil Karlin, the fisherman who was the source of the bounty, the seasoning of the salad adjusted only slightly, with a fresh drizzle of juice from an organic Chelsea Whole Foods Market California lemon, before it was arranged on leaves of escarole from Windfall Farms already dressed with a good olive oil (Renieris Estate ‘Divina’, a Koroneiki varietal), local P.E. & D.D. sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a drizzle of lemon juice as well, that had been arranged as a bed for the salad
• slices of Buck Honey Rye (rye, malted buckwheat groats,oney, water, salt) from Lost Bread Co.

The entrée was assembled more or less from the same simple Mark Bittman recipe I had first used 5 years ago, and then again last December, although this time I added a little dried habanada pepper to the squash. It was at least as good as ever, and, yes, it did feel wintery.

• I used two 9 or 10-ounce cod fillets from American Seafood Company, whole wheat flour from the Blew family of Oak Grove Mills, 2 quite small honeynut squash (9 ounces each) from Alewife Farm, home-dried habanada pepper from the fresh grown by Norwich Meadows Farm, Columela Rioja 30 Year Reserva sherry vinegar, and micro purple radish from Windfall Farms as a garnish

 

• the wine throughout the meal was an Oregon (Willamette Valley) white, Scott Kelley Oregon Pinot Gris 2018, from Naked Wines
• the music throughout was Beethoven’s 1805-1814 opera, ‘Fidelio’, in a performance with Claudio Abbado directing the Lucerne Festival orchestra, the Arnold Schoenberg Choir, and Nina Stemme, Jonas Kaufmann, Falk Struckmann, Rachel Harnisch, Christoph Strehl, Christof Fischesser, Juan Sebastian Acosta, Levente Pall, and others

They look like felafel, but they’re carrots, roasted carrots, more-or-less-round roasted carrots. They’re a 19th-century French heirloom variety, so not just a new fancy, not just cute, but really delicious.

The foods that share the plate are familiar enough on this blog, but were no less tasty Tuesday night.

• one 14-ounce duck breast from Hudson River Duck Farm, the fatty, skin side scored in tight cross hatching with a very sharp knife, the entire breast rubbed, top and bottom with a mixture of local sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a little turbinado sugar, left standing on the counter for about 45 minutes to an hour, then pan-fried, fatty side down first, inside a small oval enameled cast iron pan over medium heat for a total of about 10 minutes, draining the oil after the first few minutes (the fat strained can be used in cooking at another time, if desired), turned over once, 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, left to sit for several minutes before it was drizzled with a little juice from an organic California lemon and some house Portuguese olive oil, both from Whole Foods Market, garnished with scissored chives from Phillips Farms

• ten ounces of so of small round heirloom Atlas or Parisisan Market carrots from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, scrubbed, stem ends trimmed, dried, cut into discs 1/4 inch thick, tossed inside a bowl with a little olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, more than half a teaspoon of crushed Sicilian wild fennel seed (Semi di Finocchietto Ibleo from Eataly Flatiron), and a bit of crushed dried habanada pepper, placed, bot crowding, inside a large unglazed ceramic Pampered Chef oven pan, roasted at 400º for about 30 minutes, arranged on the plates and garnished with parsley from Phillips Farms

• one 8-ounce head of treviso from Campo Rosso Farm, rinsed, drained and wiped off, cut lengthwise into 6 sections, arranged one cut side up on a medium Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic oven pan after first securing the leaves of each with a toothpick, covered with thyme branches from Phillips Farms, seasoned generously with salt and black pepper, drizzled with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, baked in a 400º oven for 18 minutes or so, turned over more than halfway through onto another cut side, arranged on the plates and drizzled with a very small amount of balsamic vinegar
• the wine was a Portuguese (Douro) red, Mateus Nicolau de Almeida, Trans Douro Express ‘Baixo Corgo’ 2015, from Flatiron Wines   
• the music was an album of some amazing chamber works by the Swiss composer Jürg Frey (b. 1953), (some information on Frey and other composers of the so-called ‘Wandelweiser collective’, from Alex Ross in 2016)