I love this fish, for both its flavor and its beauty.  When Barry messaged me a phone pic yesterday of the menu board at Blue Moon Fish which included ‘Sea Bass fillets’, I raced to the Greenmarket, hoping to get some of these guys before they were sold out (as they usually are if I set off at my usual time); I even postponed breakfast.

It was worth every bit of my exertions.  In this case the entrée as a whole was also a winner for its textures and contrasting temperatures – and for ease of preparation.

The basic recipe for this treatment I uncovered on line only minutes before beginning to put it together.  I was looking for something a bit elegant and minimal, and I wanted to avoid turning on the oven.  I also wanted something Italian-ish, to accompany some beautiful young rapini (broccoli rabe) I had picked up at the Greenmarket at the same time.

The clincher was that I had almost all of the ingredients for the recipe already on hand (I had been looking for a way to use some of the cherry tomatoes – in three colors or varieties – that I had sitting on the windowsill for a few days).  I was also interested in the fact that the fish and the salsa could both be more or less assembled ahead of time, like the rapini, and put together in five minutes before it was placed on the table.  Sophie Grigson, who contributed it to Food & Wine, called it  a “good date dinner”.

• small (2 ounces each) sea bass fillets from Blue Moon Fish, marinated in olive oil and lemon for 20 minutes, removed, wiped dry, then very briefly sautéed over high heat on both sides, the skin side down first; accompanied by a salsa, prepared 45 minutes in advance, of halved cherry tomatoes from Berried Treasures, chopped kalamata olives, dill from Lani’s Farm, basil from Gotham Greens at Whole Foods, and in this case, some dried chiles, salt and pepper and olive oil
• young and tender rapini from Hawthorne Valley Farm, cut a bit, then basically just wilted in a bit of olive oil which had already brought out the scent of a large split clove of garlic from Berried Treasures
• the wine was not Italian, but rather a super Spanish white, Vevi Rueda 2012, from Flatiron Wines.

As with many of the other meals described on this blog, this one didn’t begin and end with the course described and pictured.  For several days I had watched with both anticipation and concern as two beautiful heirloom tomatoes, one red, the other green, ripened on the breakfast room windowsill. With a Caprese salad in mind, I had picked up some fresh mozzarella Monday afternoon at Eataly on my way back from the Greenmarket.  It would become part of an antipasto before a bowl of pasta which I imagined would somehow involve some small summer squash I had gotten at the Greenmarket that same day.  I dressed the tomato and mozzarella with olive oil, salt, red pepper flakes, and torn basil, and served it with slices of sturdy ‘Rustico Classico’, also from Eataly.

The pasta fixings were almost entirely improvised, with a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, the idea being to enhance and not disguise the squash.  Later, while we were finishing the meal I realized that while the courses bracketing it included dairy products, the pasta dish itself was genuinely vegan. .  It was not a conscious plan, but it happens here sometimes.

The linguine course was followed by a generous compote of peaches (hey, peaches are Italian too!) which I had also been watching as they ripened (contrary to my expectations and intentions, all at the same time), mixed with drops of Orgeat sirup, and topped with a dollop of good vanilla gelato.

• Afeltra linguine with a sauce of slightly-caramelized zucchini and yellow summer squash from Berried Treasures and half a dozen different fresh herbs from various farmers in the Greenmarket, lemon zest, and lemon juice, tossed with some toasted pine nuts
• a delightful northern Italian white, a spritzy Piedmont from Cantina Elvio Tintero, Vino Bianca Secco Grangia, Kermit Lynch (50% Favorita, 25% Moscato, 20% Arneis, 5% Chardonnay)

The meal was delicious (also, no Porgy bones!), but this is is a pretty dull presentation. I could easily have addd a red tomato, at least, or any of the parti-colored cherry tomatoes sitting on the windowsill only a few feet away, but we can see that I didn’t.  Or would it have hurt to add some parsley for the bare spot on the plate (especially since I think of parsley as vegetable)?  Maybe next time.

• three-ounce Porgy fillets from PE & DD Fish, pan-seared in a bit of butter along with sliced scallions John D. Madura Farms, along with some salt, then basted several times with the the scallion butter, and, after turning the fish over, basted some more, now with the scallion butter to which a mix of chopped herbs [6 herbs in this case] had been added at the time the fish was flipped, continuing until the Porgy was cooked through (the recipe was slightly modified from one written by Melissa Clark)
• Japanese eggplant from Bodhitree Farm, first cut in half, then scored, the cut side spread with a mixture of olive oil, finely chopped garlic, and fresh oregano from Central Valley Farm, seasoned, then pan-grilled (the excellent recipe is pulled, unaltered, from Mario Batali)
• a Burgundy Sauvignon Blanc (yup), from Auxerre, Saint-Bris Sauvignon 2012. from Jean-Marc Brocard

• crab cakes from PE & DD Seafood, heated in a heavy iron pan, then topped with a bit of salsa verde assembled with lovage, capers, garlic, parsley stems, arugula and olive oil
• tiny red and orange bell peppers from Norwich Meadows Farm, caramelized, then mixed with sliced red onion which had been marinating in red wine vinegar for about twenty minutes, finished with sautéed homemade bread crumbs
• an Oregon Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley Montnore Estate 2013

We will call this meal our Labor Day weekend American red meat indulgence.  These were among the tastiest and best-butchered and trimmed lamb chops either of us can remember ever having.  The Ottomanelli brothers on Bleecker Street are a priceless treasure.  I bought four of them yesterday, and put two of them in the freezer for another day.

• extraordinarily tasty and juicy pan-grilled loin lamb chops (each one, and here each serving, 6 1/2 ounces)  from Ottomanelli & Sons, finished with a salsa verde of lovage, capers, garlic, parsley stems, arugula and olive oil
• pan-grilled Paulina plum tomatoes from Eckerton Hill Farm, brushed with olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar
• very tender haricots verts (they started out some green and some purple) from Berried Treasures, blanched and then reheated with oil and seasoned with salt and pepper
• a traditional northern Italian red, from Piedmont, Tenuta la Pergola Monferrato Rosso 2011, blended by Kermit Lynch

 

This mackerel fillet was marinated, flesh side down, for thirty minutes in a mixture of wine vinegar and water, parsley stalks, thinly-sliced red onion and lemon, and a tablespoon of sugar, heated and cooled (it was gorgeous; I wish it could have come to the table!).  The mackerel was then removed from the marinade, patted dry, brushed with olive oil then pan grilled over a high flame.  The flavor was great, but I still felt the fish was missing something in its taste (and appearance), even though the recipe asked for nothing more.  I’m thinking at least chopped parsley, or another herb, sprinkled on top, or maybe something tomato.  A spot of something red on that plate would certainly have made it more exciting.

While I’m critiquing the presentation, I should definitely have sliced those wonderful, sweet Désirée tomatoes into halves before bringing them to the table, sprinkling the lovage on then.

• fillets of Spanish mackerel from Blue Moon Fish Company, marinated as described above, then pan-grilled and finished with a drizzle of lemon, then oil
• boiled ‘new’ Désirée potatoes from Berried Treasures, rolled with butter and oil, finished with chopped lovage from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm
• baby Italian arugula from Hawthorne Valley Farm, simply dressed with oil, lemon, salt and pepper, in spite of its appearance here
• a Spanish rosé, Rioja Muga Rosato 2013

• herb-rubbed (that is, oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary, lemon zest and garlic, chopped with salt, pepper then added, along with a bit of olive oil) swordfish steaks from Blue Moon Fish, pan-grilled, then finished with a squeeze of lemon and olive oil
• radish greens from Phillips Farm, wilted in olive oil and some warmed garlic from Catskill Merino Sheep Farm, finished with salt & pepper and drops of additional olive oil
• wedges of a red heirloom tomato from Berried Treasures, dressed with oil, salt, and torn New York rooftop basil from Gotham Greens at Whole Foods
• a Sicilian white, Tenuta Rapitalà Terre Siciliane Piano Maltese 2012

It’s what we call a picnic;  it’s our at-home hot weather meal of last resort (although because they’re such a pleasure, it’s sometimes very much a first resort, independent of an evening’s temperature and humidity levels).  We sit at a wooden table next to an open window which looks out onto the roof garden, but there are no bugs.   It may take a while to set out the fixings, but there’s no heat involved (except in the unusual case of last night’s meal, which involved grilling tiny eggplants), and there’s very little washing up afterward.  There’s also no lugging of picnic hampers or insulated wine bags.

• slices of Alto Adige speck from Eataly (only 2 ounces on each plate); a few halved Fairy Eggplants brushed with garlic and fresh marjoram (from Central Valley Farm) then pan-grilled; 2 sliced heirloom tomatoes from Berried Treasures, covered with torn New York rooftop basil from Gotham Greens at Whole Foods, and some good olive oil; parsley from Paffenrath Farms; a handful of red radishes from Phillips Farm; three cheeses, including a soft sheep’s milk cheese, Kinderhook Creek Mini, by Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, from Whole Foods; ‘ Manchester’, a goat’s milk cheese from Consider Bardwell; and, seen on the plate here, Toma Point Reyes cow’s milk cheese from Eataly; finally, slices of a fresh Italian rye from Eataly
• a Swiss white wine, Domaine de Beudon, Fendant Valais 2005, from Appellation wine & Spirits

 

 

Hake with green sauce is apparently a Basque staple, by many accounts, but grilled corn is not a traditional accompaniment.  Maybe if Columbus had gotten to the new world a little sooner?

• hake fillet from PE &DD Seafood, sautéed with oil after a large clove of minced garlic, from Catskill Merino Sheep Farm, had been warmed in it, a good amount of chopped parsley from Paffenrath Gardens added when the hake was turned over to be cooked on the other side
• Bicolor corn from John D. Madura Farms, brushed with oil and seasoned, then pan-grilled, the kernels sliced from the cob, then warmed and finished with lovage from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm
• one small deep-red heirloom tomato from Berried Treasures, seasoned, quickly grilled, then finished with torn basil and oil
• a Sardinian white, La Cala Vermentino di Sardegna 2013

 

• wild Alaskan Sockeye salmon fillet from Whole Foods, seasoned, rubbed on one side with a mixture of ground coriander, seeds, cloves, cumin, and nutmeg, sautéed three minutes on one side, two on the other, skin side, then finished with drops of lemon and a bit of olive oil;  the very simple recipe is pretty much the same as one described by Mark Bittman in the New York Times a few years ago
• green and purple okra from Norwich Meadows Farm, sautéed along with dried chiles in an iron pan over a high flame, seasoned with salt and pepper
• a fresh Loire red, Complices de Loire Jus de Gamay Touraine 2012