It was still a simple meal, even though there were two courses. Also, each could be assembled surprisingly quickly.

• four ounces of Applegate ‘Naturels’ prosciutto from Whole Foods Market, drizzled with a very good Sicilian olive oil, from from Agricento, Azienda Agricola Mandranova (exclusively Nocellara olives)
• served with upland cress from Paffenroth Gardens, dressed with the same oil, Maldon Salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and juice from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon
• slices of a flax seed ‘Armadillo’ from Bobolink Dairy

The primi was as far as we got in courses, although a secondo had never even been contemplated. This pasta had a lot of presence however, and was a bit of an innovation, since it was a beet fusilli, which doesn’t normally appear on Italian menus.

• eight ounces of cooked Sfoglini beet fusilli heated and stirred in a butter sage sauce composed of 3 tablespoons of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ melted in a heavy, high-sided tin-lined copper sauté pan and heated with  a number of fresh sage leaves from from Phillips Farm and my penultimate habanada pepper of the year, from Norwich Meadows Farm, chopped, roughly half of a cup of the reserved pasta liquid added and stirred until the sauce had emulsified, 2 or 3 tablespoons of grated Parmigiano Reggiano Hombre from Whole Foods Market scattered on top once the pasta and sauce had been arranged in shallow bowls
• the wine was an Italian (Lazio) white, ‘Elephas’ Bianco, Castello di Torre 2016, from Astor Wines
• the music, in our continuing informal exploration of twentieth-century symphonies, was Bohuslav Martinu’s 1942 Symphony No. 1, Cornelius Meister conducting the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra

It was both breakfast and lunch, and as I’m writing this at nearly nine o’clock that same day, Sunday, I’m only beginning to feel hungry now, after enjoying it 6 or 7 hours ago, our only meal of the day so far.

It was also really, really tasty.

• * the ingredients included terrific rich eggs from Tamarack Hollow Farm; excellent bacon from Flying Pigs Farm; toast from 3 different interesting crusty breads, a whole wheat seeded from Runner & Stone Bakery, an organic multigrain baguette from Bread Alone, and a flax seed ‘Armadillo’ from Bobolink Dairy; spicy and crunchy upland cress from Paffenroth Gardens; the always excellent Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market; one of my favorite spices, habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm, dried at home; Japanese scallion leaves, also from Norwich meadows Farm; lovage, an herb that I love out of all proportion, from Two Guys from Woodbridge; micro scallion, also from Two Guys from Woodbridge; fresh oregano from Keith’s Farm, both in their heating and sprinkled on the tomatoes; a pinch of a mix of Nigerian cayenne and Spanish paprika, also sprinkled on the tomatoes; a bit of ‘Italy’ [marked ‘Product of Italy’] olive oil from Whole Foods Market; a dollop or 2 of rich Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ (12 grams of fat) from Whole Foods Market; sea salt, some of it Maldon salt; and very good freshly-ground black pepper, also a Whole Foods Market house brand
• the music was a number of early-eighteenth-century motets by Campra and Couperin, William Christie directing Les Arts Florissants

(the quince chutney hadn’t yet made it to the plate when I took this picture)

 

When was the last time anyone out there had mutton? Like most everyone in the English-speaking world, at least of my age or younger, I’ve only heard about mutton when it was being reviled as unfit for a proper meal.

I’ve been curious about the meat of mature sheep for decades, but i had never come across mutton until this past Friday when I saw a small sign on the Greenmarket table of a farmer with whose products I had only recently become acquainted (and with much satisfaction).

Over the years I had already learned something about what to expect. After a conversation at the stand, about the type of sheep the farm raises (‘hairy breeds‘), the differences between lamb and mutton generally (in this case it would not really be a very old sheep), and the description of good mutton as somewhat like game, I was really excited to try it for the first time. I bought 4 rib chops, which were roughly the size of most lamb chops, because the breed was smaller than sheep. It would be up to me to see that the experience was good.

It was very good, and I was able to bring it to the plate medium rare. Together with quince chutney, and some really good vegetables (all of which were also pretty much out of the ordinary), these mutton chops made a really excellent [*] meal. They were everything i expected, and more.

I’ll definitely be going back.

 

• * four 5-ounce mutton chops from Lowland Farm, in  Warwick, New York, dried thoroughly, grilled on a very hot enameled cast iron ribbed pan for a total of 10 or 12 minutes, turning twice, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper after the first time, finished with a squeeze of juice from an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, scattered with micro scallion from Two Guys from Woodbridge, and drizzled with a little olive oil
• * quince chutney remaining from an earlier meal, using this theKitchn.com recipe, incorporating a red shallot from Norwich Meadows Farm, a Rocambole garlic clove from Keith’s Farm, quince from Troncillito Farms, dried sweet cherries (don’t know whether they were local) from Whole Foods, fresh ginger from Lani’s Farm, and apple cider vinegar from Race Farm
• * two small heads of tardivo radicchio from Campo Rosso Farm, prepared pretty much according to this simple recipe, which is to say, washed under cold running water, the moisture shaken off, each head cut in half lengthwise, and a V-cut made inside the root end to allow it to cook more rapidly, the halves arranged inside a ceramic oven pan cut side up, covered with thyme sprigs from S. & S.O. Farm, seasoned generously with salt and pepper, drizzled with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, baked for about 12 minutes, turned over, baked for about 8 minutes more, turned so the cut side is up and once again returned to the oven, this time for only a couple minutes or so, or until the stems were tender [the tardivo can be served hot or warm]
• * less than a pound of small root parsley from Paffenroth Gardens, their beautiful greens cut off when they were first brought home (they can be enjoyed as a strong-flavored parsley, but I didn’t have occasion to do so this time), and 2 sunchokes from Max Creek Hatchery, all of the roots trimmed, scrubbed, and sliced into sections equivalent to small French fries (although their small size and their shapes made something of a mockery of my attempt this time), tossed inside a bowl with a little olive oil, a few pinches of sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, one small fresh habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm, chopped, and fresh whole rosemary leaves from S. & S.O. Farm, spread onto a large Pampered chef unglazed ceramic oven pan, roasted inside a 400º oven for 20 minutes, tossed, then returned to the oven for another 5 or 10 minutes until, ideally, golden on the edges, with crispy ends, but a tender center.
• * the wine was a California (Sonoma) red, ROX Scott Peterson Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma 2015, from Naked Wines
• * the music was a wonderful performance of Haydn’s 1783 opera, ‘Armida’, with  Jessye Norman, Claes H. Ahnsjö, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Robin Leggate, and others,
  Antal Doráti conducting the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra

I didn’t plan it that way, but last night’s dinner looks very much like a summer meal. All of its major elements however came fresh from local producers, and had been in the Union Square Greenmarket this week. Not quite making that cut were the tomatoes, which came from Maine, meaning that, while they weren’t quite local, they didn’t come from thousands of miles away. Otherwise, the real locavore exceptions were the olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, lemon, and vinegar.

The pole beans were a big December surprise, and they were delicious. I managed to gather up the last of them from inside the farmer’s bucket yesterday.

• two 8-ounce flounder fillets from Pura Vida Seafood, lightly seasoned, sautéed  with the flesh side down for about 3 minutes in a tablespoon each of olive oil and butter inside a heavy old, tin-lined copper pan over medium-high heat, turning once and cooking for another 2 minutes or so, placed on the plates, a couple of spoonfuls of ‘tomato butter’ [see the bullet below] arranged on each fillet
• tomato butter, begun by melting 3 tablespoons of melted butter inside a 19th-century enameled cast iron porringer, adding 2 finely-chopped small Japanese scallions from Norwich Meadows Farm until they were slightly soft and fragrant, letting the flavored butter cool slightly before being poured over 4 ounces of Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, cut into eighths, adding 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped tarragon from Willow Wisp Organic Farm, the mix seasoned with salt, and adding a few drops of good Spanish Rioja wine vinegar
• some leaves from a live mesclun plant from Two Guys from Woodbridge, dressed with a bit of a very good Sicilian olive oil, Maldon salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a small squeeze from an organic Whole Foods Market lemon
• yellow pole beans from Norwich Meadows Farm, blanched, reheated as later as the fish was finishing cooking in a bit of olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and finished with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of micro scallion from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the wine was an Argentinian (Cafayate/Salta) white, Amauta Torrontés 2016 from Phillipe Wines
• the music was Lully‘s 1674  tragédie en musique, ‘Alceste‘, Christophe Rousset directing Les Talens Lyriques, with Judith van Wanroij, Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Emiliano Gonzales Toro, Bre Williams, Etienne Bazola, Bénédicte Tauran, Lucía Martín-Cartón, Enguerrand de Hys, and the Chœur de chambre Namur

The tautog, or blackfish, is one of my favorites, and it has a close association with one of my favorite places in all the world, the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

This is the treatment I use most often for this noble fish.

Tonight it was also one of the most successful.

• * two 8-ounce filets of Blackfish/Tautog from Blue Moon Fish, prepared mostly as described in this recipe by Melissa Clark, laying the fish skin side down according to the instructions, and kept it there (although, perversely, the recipe’s image seems to suggest it should be cooked with the skin up); also, necessarily in these sad times; I had to substitute a mix of Nigerian cayenne pepper and Spanish paprika (picante) for the ‘Aleppo Syrian red pepper’ the recipe specified; and then to be specific about the other ingredients I used, the fresh sage was from Phillips Farm; the olives were a mix of black oil-cured ‘Moroccan’ and Gaeta, both from Buon Italia, and the lemon juice was squeezed from a Whole Foods Market organic fruit
• * a bit of sweet upland cress from Paffenroth Gardens, dressed with a drizzle of a good Puglian olive oil,  Alce Nero DOP ‘Terra di Bari Bitonto’ from Eataly, Maldon salt, and freshly-ground black pepper
• * twelve or so ounces of sun chokes from Max Creek Hatchery, trimmed, scrubbed, sliced very thinly (1/8-1/4 inch), tossed with barely a tablespoon of olive oil (I think the small amount is somewhat critical to ensuring maximum crispiness), sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, one fresh chopped habanada pepper, two halved bay leaves from Westside Market, then spread in one layer onto 2 large Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic pans (a single one wasn’t enough, since they had been cut so thinly and they really should show a lot of surrounding surface to become crisp), roasted at 425º for about 30 minutes, or until they were brown, tender, and crispy on the edges
• the wine was a California (Napa) white, Scott Peterson S.P. Drummer Napa Chardonnay 2016, from Naked Wines
• * the music was Luigi Rossi’s ‘Orfeo’, with the Choir and Orchestra of Les Arts Florissants, in a performance which, more than any I had ever before experienced, told me what a brilliant artist can do to raise a great work of art from the sleep to which it might otherwise might have remained condemned forever (the opera’s 1647 premier in Paris was a triumph, but the composer’s history in France was abbreviated by the full-scale rebellion of the Fronde; Rossi returned to Italy and never wrote another theater piece)

I had asked Barry to pick up some Sülze from the German market on Second Avenue while he was uptown in Yorkville, but last night that German head cheese became ‘coppa di testa‘, virtually indistinguishable from the  northern European versions, by the time I served it as the course precedding a fiore di zucca ravioli as a major element of what was very much a nothern Italian meal.

• a section of a German Sülze, on this night passing for a northern Italian coppa di testa, from Schaller & Weber, served with a few leaves of salanova lettuce from Neversink Organic Farm, dressed with Maldon salt, freshly-ground black pepper, juice from a Whole Foods Market organic lemon, a very good olive oil (Alce Nero DOP ‘Terra di Bari Bitonto’ from Eataly), and torn leaves of lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge; one pickled red egg from Millport Dairy Farm; some Sir Kensington’s Mustard; and a few slices of an organic multigrain baguette from Bread Alone

• twelve ounces of boiled fresh Fiore di Zucca crescent ravioli (with a filling of butternut squash, ricotta, grana padano, and breadcrumbs) from Luca Donofrio‘s fresh pasta shop inside Eataly’s Flatiron location, slipped into a large high-sided tin-lined copper pan in which a sauce had been made with 6 or 8 fresh sage leaves from Phillips Farm warmed in several tablespoons of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ (with 12 grams of fat), topped once inside shallow bowls with some grated ‘Organic Parmigiana Reggiani Hombre’ from Whole Foods Market
• the wine was an Italian (Tuscany/Maremma) white, Tenuta Sassoregale Vermentino Maremma Toscana 2015

We ended the meal, each with a Satsuma orange-mandarin from Whole Foods Market.

• the music throughout was Johann Adolf Hasse’s 1728 opera, ‘La contadina’,  Attilio Cremonesi conducting the Ensemble Arcadia

I’ve prepared essentially this same meal a number of times before. Although there are always small variations among the secondary ingredients, if not in both the fish and the greens, I have no idea how one of those meals can end up as exceptionally delicious as the one I put together tonight.

If I had to make a guess, I’d say it was because this time I had incorporated a fairly generous amount of fresh habanada pepper in the coating for the fish, and that these particular Chinese greens, which I had never used before, were pretty extraordinary.

In a related note to file, this cook asks, ‘whatever did cooks do before lemon?’

• * two 8-ounce hake fillets from P.E & D.D. Seafood, dredged in local North Country Farms Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour which had been seasoned with plenty of sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, then dipped into a shallow bowl in which one egg from Millport Dairy Farm, about a tablespoon of Trickling Springs Creamery milk, and one chopped fresh habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm had been beaten together with a fork, the filets sautéed in 2 tablespoons of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ along with 5 or 6 large sage leaves from Phillips Farm inside a heavy rectangular enameled cast iron pan for about 7 minutes, turning the hake half of the way through, sprinkled with organic lemon juice from Whole Foods Market and the small amount of pan juices that remained, arranged on 2 plates, garnished with chopped parsley parsley from Norwich Meadows Farm and chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge, served with lemon wedges on the side
• * purple yu choy sum from Lan’s Farm, washed several times and drained, roughly chopped, wilted inside a large enameled cast iron pot in a tablespoon or so of olive oil in which 2 bruised and halved cloves of Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm had first been allowed to sweat and begin to color, the greens seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates and finished with a squeeze of lemon juice and more olive oil drizzled on top
• * slices from an organic multigrain baguette from Bread Alone
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, Jacqueline Bahue Albarino California 2015, from Naked Wines
• * the music was a tour de farce, exciting virtuoso performances of an exciting series of baroque arias written by 1733 for Johann Adolf Hasse’s, ‘Siroe, Re di Persia, George Petrou conducting Armonia Atenea, with  Julia Lezhneva, Franco Fagioli, Mary-Ellen Nesi, Max Emanuel Cencic, and others 

It was Little Thanksgiving, as in Little Christmas?

Anyway it both looked and tasted like Thanksgiving, and it came with a lot less bother, and with almost no planning required.

• four partially-boned (a treat for both cook and diners) Plantation Quail, from Greensboro, Georgia, purchased at O. Ottomanelli & Sons Prime Meat Market on Bleecker Street, dried on paper towels and rubbed with sea salt and one crumbled dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia, placed breast-side-down over medium-high heat on a two-burner cast iron ribbed pan, a number of sprigs of fresh thyme from S. & S.O. Farm scattered over each, grilled for about 5 minutes, turned and, ensuring that they were now resting on top of the thyme, grilled for another 5 minutes, served with a squeeze of Whole Food Market organic lemon and a drizzle of olive oil
• quince and dried cherry chutney, made following this theKitchn.com recipe, using a shallot from Keith’s Farm, a garlic clove from Stokes Farm, quince from Red Jacket Orchards, dried sweet cherries from Whole Foods, fresh ginger from Lani’s Farm, and apple cider from Locust Grove Fruit Farm

• one 5-inch black futsu squash from Norwich Meadows Farm, scrubbed, halved, the seeds removed, divided into one-inch wedges, brushed lightly with olive oil and rubbed with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and one section of a golden dried habanada pepper, arranged on a large, unglazed, well-seasoned ceramic pan and roasted on one side at 450ª for 15 minutes, turned onto the other side and allowed to roast for 15 more minutes, removed from the oven and the pan and stirred inside a sauté pan in which 2 cloves of Keith’s Farm garlic had been gently heated in a bit of olive oil along with some roughly-chopped sage from Phillips Farm
• a small amount of red kale from Campo Rosso Farm, washed, drained, and wilted inside a large enameled cast iron pot in a tablespoon or so of olive oil in which one bruised and halved clove of Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm had first been allowed to sweat and begin to color, the greens seasoned with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and arranged on the plates and a little more olive oil drizzled on top
• the wine throughout was a California (Lodi) red, David Akiyoshi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, from Naked Wines

There was a simple fruit course.

• Niagara grapes from Locust Grove Fruit Farm

 

• the music, at least through the main course, was Mahler’s 1908-1909, ‘Das Lied Von Der Erde’, with Placido Domingo and Bo Skovhus, Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

We took a break from fried eggs at breakfast today. I baked eggs, and a few other odds and ends, inspired in part by the rare appearance in the refrigerator of both crème fraîche and heavy cream, not to mention some very ripe tomatoes and a wonderful sturdy and crusty bread.

It started with leeks.

• four or 5 chopped thin leeks from Willow Wisp Farm, cooked with 3 or 4 tablespoons of butter inside a tin-lined heavy copper sauté pan until they were tender, approximately a third of a cup of chopped herbs added and stirred in (thyme, rosemary, and parsley from S. & S.O. Farm; peppermint and sage from Phillips Farm; tarragon from Willow Wisp Organic Farm; oregano from Keith’s Farm; and lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge), plus 2 chopped fresh habanada peppers from Norwich Meadows Farm, after which leeks, herbs and peppers transferred to a buttered glazed ceramic oven dish, the mixture spread evenly on the bottom, 6 eggs from Millport Dairy Farm cracked on top, a couple handfuls of golden cherry tomatoes from Phillips Farm scattered about, and dollops of Ronnybrook Farms crème fraîche, which had been stirred with a little heavy cream from the same local maker, dropped on the surfaces around the eggs and the tomatoes, the dish seasoned with good sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a bit of crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino, a pinch of dried fenugreek fromBombay Emerald Chutney Company, the pan set on a rack in the middle of an oven that had been preheated to 400º, until the eggs had set and the cream almost entirely absorbed, served on 2 plates atop 4 thick slices of a whole wheat sourdough Miche  from Bread Alone bakery that had been toasted on my no-bread-too-thick ‘Camp-A-Toaster’ [see this post], and garnished with purple micro radish from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the music was the entire album of music by Johann Adolf Hasse, ‘Salve Regina’, with Barbara Bonney and Bernarda Fink, Reinhard Goebel conducting Musica Antiqua Cologne

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