Baby octopus always makes a good-looking plate, but it also makes a delicious dinner, and last night the vegetables were a particularly colorful, and tasty, supporting cast for one of our favorite leads.

• four Spanish baby octopuses (a total of 18 ounces, previously frozen) from The Lobster Place, from our neighborhood Lobster Place, marinated in the refrigerator for about 3 hours (although even a much shorter period really doesn’t hurt) in a mixture of 1/4 cup olive oil; one teaspoon of dried Italian oregano from the Madonie Mountains in Sicily; the zest and juice of half of an organic Whole Foods lemon; 1/4 teaspoon of crushed peperoncino Calabresi secchia from Buon Italia; 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt; and one finely-chopped medium clove of an immature head of Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm chopped thinly, the octopus removed from the mix and brought to room temperature (or the marinating octopus removed from the refrigeratorand brought to room temperature in its liquid), drained a bit and grilled over a high flame on top of a seasoned double-burner cast iron grill pan for 10 or 12 minutes mouth or beak side down first, then placed on 2 of its sides (optionally, with a piece of aluminum foil loosely covering the grill pan throughout, because of their moderate thickness in this case), served with a squeeze of the zested lemon and some olive oil, and garnished with spring shallot blossoms, also from Keith’s Farm

• two medium Japanese eggplants from Norwich meadows Farm, each cut in half, lengthwise, and brushed with a mixture of olive oil, a little finely-chopped immature Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm, chopped fresh oregano from Phillips Farm, sea salt, and freshly-ground black pepper, then grilled, on a second, smaller grill pan, turning once, and arranged on the plates, sprinkled with a little chopped peppermint from Keith’s Farm, and drizzled with a little olive oil

• more than a dozen golden grape tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm in the 23rd Street Saturday Market, tossed onto the grill pan just before or after the eggplant had been removed and heated, briefly, just enough to warm them through, after which they were strewn about on top and around their pan mates, accompanied on the side by a small collection of micro red amaranth from Windfall Farms, included mostly for the complexity of the color they would add to the plate [I was a bit rushed near the end of the cooking, normally I would have halved the tomatoes, or at least punctured them before throwing them on the grill, but leaving them whole this time meant that they, or their interior flesh, remained warm for a very long time once they were on the plate]
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) white, Vurria… Grillo DOC Sicilia, from Eataly Vino
• the music, in memory of Oliver Knussen, whose death was reported earlier in the day, was the album, ‘Knussen’, which includes his Symphonies No. 2 & 3; Trumpets; Ophelia Dances for orchestra, Book 1; Coursing for Chamber Orchestra; and Cantata for oboe & string trio

The pork chop was as superb as it looks, as was the vegetable, which was half root and half green, and both roasted and fresh.

The root, which lay on a few leaves of a purple lettuce, amounted to segments of a single beet, but it was a very special, new orange-yellow mild and sweet varietal, the ‘Badger Flame’, created by Irwin Goldman, a horticulture professor at the University of University of Wisconsin-Madison (hence the ‘Badger’ in the name). It’s broadcast and production was undertaken by Row 7 Seed Company, itself the creation of New York’s Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, the seedsman Matthew Goldfarb, and the plant breeder Michael Mazourek. I found it on Friday, at Zaid and Haifa Kurdieh‘s Norwich Meadows Farm stall in the Union Square Greenmarket.

The beet is described as being as delicious raw as it is cooked. Having tasted a slice before roasting one of the two that I had brought home with me, I can attest to that. On Tuesday I will be serving the second one as a part of what will probably be a room-temperature meal, mostly of salads.

• two thick, bone-in loin pork chops (approximately 12 ounces each) from Flying Pig Farms, dried thoroughly, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-rough-ground black pepper, seared on both sides inside a dry heavy enameled cast-iron pan, half of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon squeezed over each and left sliced side down in the pan between them while they roasted in a 400º oven for about 12 or 13 minutes altogether, but flipped halfway through and the lemon squeezed over their surfaces once again, arranged on 2 plates, the pan juices, to which had been added a couple tablespoons of sweet tomato juices from Saturday’s meal, first heated and partially-reduced, ladled over the top from a sauce boat, which was brought to the table for further service, the chops garnished with micro red amaranth from Windfall Farm

• one ‘Badger Flame’ beet from Norwich Meadows Farm, trimmed, washed and scrubbed, cut into 16 or so wedges, placed on a small unglazed Pampered Chef oven pan, tossed with a tablespoon or so of olive oil, one halved clove of an immature head of Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm, all of the leaves shredded from several branches of thyme from Stokes Farm, sea salt, and freshly-ground pepper to taste, covered loosely with foil and baked for 20 minutes or so inside the same 400º oven, after which the foil was taken off, the beets turned on another side and roasted for 25 or 30 minutes longer, or until they were tender, when they were removed from the oven and arranged on 2 plates on top of the well-washed outer leaves of a small head of purple romaine lettuce from from Echo Creek Farm of Salem, NY, in the Saturday Chelsea Farmers Market (on the north sidewalk of 23rd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues), a little olive oil and drops of a good Spanish Rioja vinegar drizzled on the beet segments and lettuce, but with the greens also sprinkled with salt and pepper, the beet salad finished with some horseradish root from Gorzynski Ornery Farm freshly grated on top [I added more horseradish after snapping the picture, and note that the recipe mostly follows one on page 36 inside the hard copy of the excellent book of simple kitchen formulae, ‘Italian Easy’; Recipes from the London River Cafe‘]
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, F. Stephen Millier Angels Reserve White Blend Lodi 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was the album, ‘Ludi Musici – The Spirit Of Dance 1450-1650‘

I intended it as something in honor of the full onset of summer, but I almost went overboard with the flowers and micro greens – and micro reds – in today’s breakfast.

• the ingredients were 2 slices of thick smoked bacon and 6 very fresh Americauna chicken eggs from Millport Dairy Farm, 4 Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market, Maldon salt and pungent freshly-ground Whole Foods Market black pepper, the last of a small bottle of a dry seasoning called L’ekama from Ron & Leetal Arazi’s New York Shuk, micro red amaranth and micro sorrel from Windfall Farms, shallot blossoms from Keith’s Farm, and lightly-toasted slices of Orwasher’s dark wheat-based wine bread, made with a Long Island vineyard Chardonnay starter
• the music was Morton Feldman’s 1981 piece, ‘Triadic Memories’, performed by John Snijders

Cauliflower’s back, and so is summer flounder.

And summer.

• two 8-ounce flounder filets from American Seafood Company placed inside an oval tin-lined copper au gratin pan, skinned side down, the top surface spread with a mixture of at least one tablespoon of zest from a Whole Foods organic lemon; one teaspoon of pungent dried Sicilian oregano from Buon Italia, where it’s sold dried and still attached to the stem; one teaspoon or more of balsamic vinegar; 3/4 of a tablespoon of olive oil; almost a teaspoon of lightly-crushed black peppercorns; a quarter to a half of a teaspoon of sea salt; and most of one fresh garlic head from Berried treasures Farm, chopped finely, baked for about 15 minutes in a 350º oven, removed and arranged on two plates, drizzled with some juice from the lemon which supplied the zest earlier, micro sorrel from Two Guys from Woodbridge sprinkled on top

• florets of a medium orange cauliflower from Norwich Meadows Farm sautéed in a pan in which 3 roughly-sliced cloves of an immature, not-yet-dried head of garlic from Lani’s Farm, some crushed dried peperoncino Calabresi secchia from Buon Italia, and more than a teaspoon of Italian fennel seeds had first been heated, the cauliflower sautéed for a few minutes until beginning to soften, at which time it was joined by 5 or 6 ounces of halved and seeded orange and red grape tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm, and some sea salt, the pan covered and the cooking continued, gently, until the tomatoes had been wilted a bit and become a part of the mix, the vegetables finished by stirring in some powerful chopped peppermint from Keith’s Farm
• the wine was a California (Carneros) white, La Tapatia Chardonnay Carneros 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was the Erkki-Sven Tüür album, ‘Illuminatio; Whistles and Whispers from Uluru; Symphony No. 8’

I love silver, and especially the silver skin of Spanish mackerel (also really like those yellow dots).

• four Spanish mackerel fillets (a total of about 15 ounces), washed, dried, brushed with olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan grilled on a seasoned cast iron double-burner grill pan over high heat for a total of about 6 or 7 minutes, skin side down first, then turned half way through, removed, arranged on the plates, and a salsa that had been assembled just before spooned on or between the filets, the salsa consisting of 7 ounces of 3 sliced Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market and a few ounces of halved red grape tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm in the 23rd Street Saturday Market, tossed in a small bowl with a teaspoon or more of rinsed and drained Sicilian salted capers, half a tablespoon of juice from a Whole Foods Market organic lemon, a pinch of sea salt, and a bit of freshly-ground black pepper, the mackerel finished and a drizzle of the juices that remained from some tomatoes heated for a meal 2 nights before, the salsa garnished with a bit of flowering spring shallot from Keith’s Farm
• the tender greens cut from 2 ‘Badger Flame’ beets from Norwich Meadows Farm (their beautiful roots remain in the vegetable bin for now), gently wilted inside a heavy tin-lined medium copper pot after 6 or 8
  young Rocambole garlic scapes from Keith’s Farm, cut into one-inch sections, had first been allowed to sweat in a bit of olive oil, softening, the greens, once softened themselves, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates, and drizzled with fresh olive oil
• the wine was a Portuguese (Lisbon) white, Dory Branco 2016, from Garnet Wines
• the music was the album, ‘Le Parnasse Français‘, featuring early-eightenth-century works by Jean-Féry Rebel, Jean-Marie Leclair,  François Couperin, Michel Blavet, Michel Corrette, and Marin Marais, with Reinhard Goebel conducting Musica Antiqua Cologne

I was prepared to make a frittata last night, because I already had so many good things I could put into one, but then I saw the sign in the iced fish case at the Chelsea Whole Foods Market, “Fresh & Wild Sockeye Fillet: $14.95 per pound”.

• *I decided the eggs could wait.one 16-ounce never-frozen wild Coho salmon filet from Whole foods Market, cut into two pieces, placed unseasoned, skin side up inside a heavy enameled cast iron pan in which a little more than 2 tablespoons of a rich Belgian butter, Beurre de Chimay, from Ardennes (like the other butters I use, has fully 12 grams total fat, more than the 11 in almost all other butters available in the U.S.) had been allowed to heat until the foam began to recede, the fish then placed inside a 425º oven until barely cooked, or about 8 minutes, flipped after 5 minutes, removed, arranged on the plates, sprinkled with Maldon salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and micro sorrel from Two Guys from Woodbridge, garnished with thin slices from the stem of a flowering spring shallot along along with most of the beautiful flowers scissored off of the blossoming ball at the top of that stem, drizzled with a Whole Foods Market house Portuguese olive oil and allowed to rest for about 4 minutes
• *red new potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm boiled with a generous amount of salt until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried while still in the still-warm vintage medium size Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, rolled around in a little more than a tablespoon or so of Cabot Butter from Westside Market, sprinkled with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, garnished with micro red amaranth from Windfall Farms
• *sugar snap peas from Windfall Farms in the Union Square Greenmarket, washed, their stems and strings trimmed, parboiled for just over a minute inside a large vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot, drained, dried in the same pot, shaking it over a low flame, then set aside, and just before serving, warmed inside a heavy, broad, tin-lined copper pot in which a small sliced stalk of spring garlic from Berried Treasures Farm had first been softened with a little olive oil over a moderate flame, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, tossed with chopped peppermint from Keith’s Farm
• the wine was a California (Clarksburg) red, Richard Bruno Clarksburg Pinot Noir 2017, from Naked Wines
• the music was Gluck’s 1777 opera, ‘Armide’,  Marc Minkowski conducting Les Musiciens du Louvre 

‘Heil sei dem Tag!’ 

It was the Fourth of July. We had a nonpareil steak, ripe tomatoes, the first okra of summer, and a sturdy and particularly American red wine. While the opera was German, the music sings of liberty and justice, and the plot is particularly apposite in jailhouse America. For what it’s worth, in Beethoven’s scenario the girl rescues the boy, and there’s a happy ending.

The meal was perfectly delicious and all else was perfect as well, except for the fact that we needed the air conditioner running, which meant that we didn’t even hear the fireworks on the East River.

Also, there were shallot blossoms! Spring really does belong to the alliums.  ‘

• one 14-ounce grass-fed, grain finished culotte steak (called ‘culotte’ here, ‘coulotte’ in France, ‘picanha’ in Brazil) from Greg and Mike of Sun Fed Beef/Maple Avenue Farms in the Union Square Greenmarket, brought to room temperature, halved crosswise (the cut is unevenly shaped, but I came out with two pieces weighing precisely 7 ounces each!) seasoned on all sides with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, seared briefly on the top, or thick, fat-covered side inside an oval enameled heavy cast iron pan, the 2 long sides cooked for 3 or 4 minutes each, then the ends and the narrow bottom side seared, each very briefly, the steaks removed from the pan, perfectly medium-rare this time, thin slices from the stem of a flowering spring shallot from Keith’s Farm, along with most of its beautiful scissored blossoms, sprinkled on top, then drizzled with a Whole Foods Market house Portuguese olive oil and allowed to rest for about 4 minutes

• a large handful of ripe red grape tomatoes from Alex’s New Jersey Tomato Farm, found at Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market on 23rd Street (see the image above), and 4 equally ripe Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market, washed, halved, the larger tomatoes cut into fourths, heated inside a medium Pyrex glass pan in a little olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, garnished with dill blossoms from Windfall Farms

• a few handfuls of okra from Kernan Farms, sautéed over a high flame inside a very large seasoned cast iron pan in only a little olive oil and a good part of one crushed dried dark habanada pepper, seasoned with sea salt
• the wine was a zinfandel a Califronia (Lodi) red, Karen Birmingham Reserve Zinfandel Lodi 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was Beethoven’s 1805-1814 opera, ‘Fidelio’, in a performance with Claudio Abbado leading the Mahler Chamber Orchestra/Lucerne Festival Orchestra and the Arnold Schoenberg Choir, with soloists Nina Stemme, Rachel Harnisch, Jonas Kaufmann, Christoph Strehl, Peter Mattei, Falk Struckmann, and Christof Fischesser

I was still working out what I wanted to do with this beautiful dish even after it had been arranged in the 2 bowls, but then the real surprise was that it turned out to be one my best pasta inventions.

It began with the half box of Sfolini Beet fusilli I knew was sitting in the pantry, but it really got going with some wonderful tender garlic scapes, and then it finished with a flourish of fresh dill blossoms.

• one bunch of thin, young garlic scapes from Windfall Farms, washed, dried, trimmed at either end, cut into one-inch lengths, and sautéed, with a pinch or two of peperoncino Calabresi secchia from Buon Italia over a low to moderate flame in a tablespoon or so of Whole Foods Market house Portuguese olive oil inside a large antique high-sided copper pan until softened, then 2 or three tablespoons of Cabot Creamery unsalted butter (12% fat) from Westside Market added along with the juice of half of an organic whole Foods market lemon, followed by 8 ounces of boiled Sfolini Beet fusilli pasta, some of the cooking water reserved (note: this pasta only takes about 5 or 6 minutes to cook, and it goes to al dente with virtually no warning), drained and stirred into the pot with the scapes over a moderate flame, along with some of the pasta water, until that liquid was emulsified, sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge added and stirred into the mix, the sauced pasta arranged in 2 low bowls, some olive oil drizzled around the edges, sprinkled with a generous amount of lemon zest and some toasted home-made breadcrumbs, garnished with dill blossoms from Windfall Farms
• the wine was an Italian (Umbria) white, Barberani Orvieto Classico ‘Castagnolo’ 2016, from Flatiron Wines
• the music was an album of Bach Harpsichord concertos performed by Andreas Staier and the Freiburger Barockorchester

There was dessert, and it was only an accident that, on that eve of the Fourth of July, it pretty much suggested the very American ‘strawberry shortcake’, only better.

• slices of a terrific ‘Sour Cream Coffee Cake’ from Bread Alone, in the Union Square Greenmarket, with some ripe chopped strawberries from Alex’s Tomato Farm in the 23rd Street sidewalk greenmarket distributed over the top, a portion macerated in a little Turbinato sugar, topped with a scoop of Talenti Vanilla Bean Gelato from Whole Foods Market

It was only the second meat entrée I’d prepared in the last 2 weeks, although that’s actually not unusual here. Neither is the quality of what I brought into the kitchen. Respecting the specialness of these occasions and honoring the excellence of the farmers’ livestock, I usually try to minimize the seasonings and condiments I use.

• *four lamb loin chops, weighing 18 ounces altogether, from Shannon Brook Farm, dried thoroughly, cooked on a very hot enameled cast iron grill pan for a total of about 10 minutes, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, but only after they were turned over (twice), finished with a squeeze of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, scattered with chopped rosemary from Phillips Farm, and drizzled with a little olive oil
• three Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, halved, seasoned with salt and pepper,  briefly grilled in the same pan just as the chops were finishing cooking, arranged near them on the plates and drizzled with a little olive oil

• one yellow summer squash from Lani’s Farm, plus 2 different kinds of green squash from Campo Rosso Farm, all sliced lengthwise approximately 1/4″, tossed with a little olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and placed in/on a well-seasoned 2-burner seasoned cast iron grill pan above medium-high flames, cooked until softened, and scorched by the pan ribs, having been turned at least once, arranged on a plate, scattered with chopped spearmint from Keith’s Farm and chopped parsley from John D. Madura Farms, half a dozen or so pitted and halved kalamata olives from Whole Foods Market, and drizzled with a little olive oil, served at room temperature [a warning: the grilling process definitely filled the kitchen area with smoke, so I should remember to go very easy on the oil next time, perhaps merely rubbing the ribs of the pan with a little oil on a paper towel]
• the wine was an Italian (Puglia) red, Aglianico Polvanera 2013, from Garnet Wines
• the music was Antonio Salieri’s 1784 tragédie lyrique‘, ‘Les Danaides’, Michael Hofstetter conducting the Ludwigsburger Festspiele Orchestra and the Ludwigsburger Festspiele Chorus

It was a very hot afternoon, and the bass lying on ice inside the fisher’s plexiglas-top display case at Saturday’s Down to Earth Farmers Market on 23rd Street caught my eye. Even though we’d enjoyed some only 2 weeks earlier, it’s a fine fish and I knew I’d be able to cook these filets on top of the gas range, so they came home with me.

We got along very well.

• the preparations began with a salsa, assembled about 30 minutes in advance inside a small bowl, which incorporated one cup of a mix of halved red and golden cherry tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm, about half a cup of pitted and halved kalamata olives from Whole Foods Market, a little crushed dried peperoncino Calabresi secchia from Buon Italia, sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a pinch of crushed dried golden/orange habanada pepper, and a little olive oil, the mix set aside while the fish was cooked: four 4.5-ounce black sea bass fillets from American Seafood Company, seasoned on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, sautéed over a fairly brisk flame in a little Mac Nut  macademia nut oil from Whole Foods Market inside a large enameled cast iron pan, skin side down, turned after about 2-3 minutes, the other side cooked for about the same length of time, removed to 2 plates when done, 2 tablespoons of butter added to the pan and allowed to melt, a couple tablespoons of chopped spearmint from Keith’s Farm and chopped parsley from John D. Madura Farms then tossed in, along with a tablespoon or more of Whole Foods Market organic lemon juice, and stirred into the butter for a few seconds, the sauce spooned on top of the bass, the salsa set aside earlier arranged in a cascade between the filets, and both fish and salsa garnished with some wonderful pungent dill flowers from Windfall Farms
• two whole, integral spring fennel bulbs from Alewife Farm, washed, the stems removed, trimmed of their fronds (the finest chopped and set aside) and cut into one-inch lengths, the bulbs themselves, cut into wedges, the stem sections sautéed for a few minutes over medium high heat with half a tablespoons of dry Sicilian fennel seeds, the bulb wedges following, along with a sliced young, or spring onion bulb from Berried Treasures Farm, until the pieces had all begun to color, the heat then lowered, the pan covered and the fennel cooked for another 10 minutes, maybe less, or until softened, the reserved fronds added at the end
• the wine was a California (Santa Lucia Highlands/Monterey County) rosé, 99 Barrels Derek Rohlffs Santa Lucia Highlands Rosé, from Naked Wines
• the music was an album we had first enjoyed almost 2 years ago, a superb performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s 1733 opera, ‘Motezuma’, Alan Curtis conducting Il Complesso Barocco, with Vito Priante, Marijana Mijanovic, Inga Kalna, Roberta Invernizzi, Romina Basso, Maité Beaumont, et al. [as I wrote then, the synopsis of this rendering of the historical Cortez-Montezuma encounter describes a totally unhistorical shappy ending for the Aztec imperial couple that reminded me of the charming fantasies Melina Mercouri maintained in the film, ‘Never on Sunday‘, about the happy denouements of all of the Greek tragedies: “And then they all go together to the seashore!”