Swordfish.  Awesome.

Because of what goes on in my kitchen generally, I think of swordfish as very Italian, in fact perhaps Sicilian more than anything else, but this time I prepared it there was butter involved in two of the three elements of the meal, so it would be awkward to describe this as a southern Italian entrée.

The wine however really was Italian; actually it was Sicilian, and as such it was likely to be very familiar with swordfish.

 

• one 11-ounce swordfish steak from Pura Vida Fisheries, cut into two pieces, dried, sprinkled with salt and a mix of 6 different peppercorns, coarsely ground, browned in a little olive oil on one side (about 3 minutes) inside an enameled cast iron pan, then turned over and transferred to a 400º oven for about 7 or 8 minutes, or until barely cooked, placed on warm plates while a seasoned butter (composed of  2 tablespoons of softened butter, a quarter teaspoon or more of the same peppercorn mix, half of a teaspoon of lemon zest, a bit of salt, one minced rocambole garlic clove from Keith’s Farm, and chopped parsley from Phillips Farm) was added to the pan and scraped together over medium heat along with the cooking juices, to collect the brown bits from the bottom, before the sauce was poured over the steaks
• eight red potatoes from Stokes Farm, boiled in salted water, drained and dried in the still-warm glass pot, rolled in a little butter, and sprinkled with slices from 5 or so whole baby chive plants from Rogowski Farm, a little very beautiful and very luscious red watercress from Max Fish Hatchery, one thinly-sliced baby fennel and its fronds from Norwich Meadows Farm, dressed with a good Umbrian olive oil (Luciana Cerbini Casa Gola), a squeeze of organic lemon juice, freshly-ground telicherry pepper and Maldon salt
• a salad of a mixture of small ‘wild’ dandelion leaves (delicate looking, but spicy) from Lani’s Farm,
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) white, Colle del Mandorlo bianco Terre Siciliane 2013 from Feudo Montini, purchased from Appellation Wine and Spirits 
• the music was that of the early 20th-century South African composer, Gideon Fagan, from an album which includes three other South Africans,  Theo Wendt, Henry Lissant-Collins, and Michael Moerane

I try not to use the same recipe over and over again, even if my cooking style is to stay pretty minimal. But when we’re both hungry, I’m not really able to investigate a new approach, I end up repeating myself more often than I would want to.

On Wednesday I brought home 4 beautiful John Dory fillets from the Greenmarket, and, knowing I had a little more time than usual, I latched onto an entirely new recipe, or at least it was new to me. It tuned out absolutely delicious. but I’m not sure I will be using it any time soon, only because it was, well.., a little too ‘saucy”.

• four shiny 3-ounce John Dory fillets from Blue Moon FIsh Company, seared for about 4 minutes in a mixture of olive oil and butter, flipped, and cooked for about another minute, then spooned with a sauce which was a part of a recipe from David Pasternak’s ‘The Young Man and the Sea’.  It started with one smashed rocambole garlic head from Keith’s Farm and one bay leaf from Westside Market, which were cooked together until the garlic had softened, then some saffron threads from Spain [via I-have-no-idea-where, but purchased long ago] added and stirred in for a moment before the addition of some salt-packed capers from Buon Italia, previously rinsed and chopped, and the equivalent of one large leek from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, washed and sliced into 1/2-inch sections, the entire sauce mix cooked slowly for about 20 minutes while covered closely below a circle of parchment paper, after which a couple of tablespoons of chopped parsley from Phillips Farm were added
• collard greens from Tamarack Hollow Farm, cut as a rough chiffonade, then braised in a heavy pot in which one halved rocambole garlic head from Keith’s Farm had been allowed to sweat in some olive oil, the dish finished with salt, pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, and grated zest from an organic lemon
• the wine was a California (Napa) white, Matthew Iaconis Napa Valley Chardonnay 2014 (a Burgundy style, it’s Matt’s wine, and comes to us via Naked Wines
• the music was Hans Rott, his Symphony in E major, composed when he was 20, four years before his tragic death; we listened to a performance by Leif Segerstam and the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra;  may I go on?  Kyle Gann has written, about the relationship between Gustav Mahler and Hans Rott, “This is the great classical music movie waiting to be made.”

The immediate source of this recipe is Mark Bittman, but, like most good recipes, especially the simpler ones, it probably had a life of its own long before it was codified.

• three rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm, plus three salted anchovies, rinsed and filleted, from Buon Italia, one whole dried peperoncino, also from Buon Italia, and three fresh bay leaves from Union Market, cooked together over medium heat in 3 tablespoons of olive oil inside a deep enameled cast iron pan until the garlic began to color, after which about a pound of shredded Savoy cabbage (the inner, lighter-green layers) from Hoeffner Farm was added, the heat raised to high and the mix cooked, stirred occasionally, until the cabbage browned a bit, then three quarters of a cup of vegetable stock introduced and cooked with the cabbage for about 5 or 10 more minutes, until the cabbage was cooked but not mushy, finally combined and stirred with about 12 ounces of Setaro ‘spaghetti chitarra’ which had been cooked al dente, some of the pasta cooking liquid poured in to moisten the mixture, seasoned with salt and pepper, and garnished with chopped parsley from Phillps Farm

• the wine was an excellent Italian (Marche) white, Pievalta Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC Classico Superiore 2014

• the music was, initially, Einar Englund’s String Quartet, and then an incredibly adventurous 1975 piece which I had bought as an LP the year it was recorded (I believe it was released in 1977), Ilhan Mimaroğlu’s ‘Session’, composed for the remarkable pianist, Idil Biret

very simple, and very fast

 

The Long Island scallops available in the Union Square Greenmarket lately have been smaller than expected, or desired, and that probably explains why I decided to try embellishing the preparation of the mollusks with both a spice and an herb this time, although it’s not my usual style.

• sixteen smallish sea scallops from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, washed, rinsed and dried very thoroughly, pan grilled for about 90 seconds on each side, then finished with one small seeded and thinly-sliced orange-yellow cayenne pepper from Oak Grove Plantation, a squeeze of organic lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, and some chopped fresh oregano from Stokes Farm [the basic recipe, minus the pepper and the oregano, is included in Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers’, ‘Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe‘]
• baby cavolo nero, lacinato kale, or black kale, from from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, briefly wilted with olive oil and two halved Rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm (the garlic first heated in the oil until beginning to brown), finished with salt, freshly-ground tellicherry peppercorns, a squeeze of organic lemon juice, and a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a California (Clarksburg) white, Akiyoshi Reserve Chardonnay Clarksburg 2014
• the music was symphonies 4, 5, and 6 of Michael Haydn, performed by Bohdan Warchal and the Slovak Chamber Orchestra

“And part of it was luck in not knowing how pigs were raised in this country, so we just did what made sense.” – Mike Yezzi

 

Mike Yezzi & Jen Small raise gorgeous heritage pigs on their farm in the Battenkill River Valley, and they produce the most delicious pork around these parts, maybe around anywhere. I think I can describe its virtues with some confidence: My cooking style generally means using a minimum of additional flavorings and a minimum of process, so there’s nowhere for the goodness to hide.

I bought these particular chops, frozen, in the Union Square Greenmarket last week from Mike himself, who is often seen presiding over the stall there, almost as often greeting his many fans.

This is a beautiful video made by Handpicked Nation on a visit to the couple’s farm in Shushan.

Everything about this pretty straightforward meal was superb (including the company of course, but also the wine, the music, and the unseasonably-mild evening).  All of that’s a very good thing, for sure, but it’s also weirdly interesting, since I had actually prepared every element of it in the same way at least once before, sometimes more than once, and mostly using ingredients from the same sources each time.  Nevertheless we both thought that each of the elements of this meal tasted better than ever before.

Even if I were to try, I couldn’t really reproduce any meal, especially while using good fresh local ingredients.

 

• two 9-ounce loin pork chops from Flying Pigs Farm, thoroughly dried, seasoned with salt and pepper, seared quickly in a heavy enameled cast-iron pan before half of an organic lemon was squeezed over them, the lemon left in the pan, then roasted in a 400º oven for about 14-16 minutes (flipped halfway through and the lemon squeezed over them once again), removed from the oven, the pan juices spooned over the top
• several cloves of Keith’s Farm Rocambole garlic heated in olive oil until golden, then three quarters of a pound of finely-shredded leaves of a savoy cabbage from Hoeffner Farm added and tossed with salt, pepper, four flattened juniper berries, and a tablespoon or so of balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper, sautéed for a minute or two, stirring, until the cabbage was hot and tender
• four halved Maine cherry ‘cocktail’ tomatoes from Whole Foods, seasoned with salt and freshly-ground black pepper, heated in a small tin-lined copper pan, turning once, served sprinkled with fresh oregano leaves, chopped, from Stokes Farm
• the wine was an Austrian (Wagram, Oberstockstall) white, Fritsch Grünerveltliner Steinberg 2014
• the music was several by our latest obsession, Josef Haydn’s younger brother, Johann Michael, and specifically, his string quartets

‘midnight pasta’, but this time without the pasta

 

We had been to a holiday party, and although we had enjoyed some terrific hors d’oeuvres (Chinese-Portuguese tapas, actually), when we arrived back home we both felt we could use a little more substance. I had anticipated the probabliity by defrosting two crab cakes earlier in the day, the trusty central ingredient of one of my go-to, short-notice meals.  The whole deal probably took less time than boiling a pot of water, but it wasn’t a race, so who cares?

• two crab cakes from PE & DD Seafood (ingredients: crab, egg, flour, red & green peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, milk, celery, parsley), heated in a heavy cast iron pan, 3 to 4 minutes on each side, and served on a bed of 6 Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, which were chopped and combined with salt, black pepper, one finely-chopped fresh not-so-hot red cayenne pepper from Oak Grove Plantation, and some chopped fresh oregano leaves from Stokes Farm, and then some of the liquid from the salsa drizzled over the cakes
• red watercress from Max Fish Hatchery, washed, drained, dried, and dressed with good olive oil, organic lemon juice, salt, and freshly-ground black pepper
• the wine was a California (Central Valley) white, JC van Staden Pinot Grigio 2014
• the music was that of (Johann) Michael Haydn, who was no slouch, even compared with his brilliant older brother

both German, and not so German

 

The smoked pork chops were German, but the sauce was not so much; the red cabbage was German, but the simple recipe was less so (at least in my own experience); the plain cress could have been German, but then it would have been Salat, and probably accompanied by a little fresh tomato; the applesauce actually was pretty German, but if it really were German, there would have been much more of it.

 

• a small amount of real lard (which had earlier been used in cooking veal chops and duck breast, in succession, strained, then frozen) heated inside an oval, low-sided enameled cast iron pan, two sliced small, scallion-size leeks, white portions only, the green reserved, from Lucky Dog Organic Farm (they were still growing in the open air in December!) swirled around in it, two smoked loin pork chops from Millport Dairy added, the pan covered with tin foil and kept above a very low flame (just enough to warm the chops through, as they were already fully-cooked), turning the meat once, then, near the end of the cooking time, the leek green parts set aside earlier, now also sliced, added, the pork removed, plated, brushed with garlic oregano jelly from Berkshire Berries, then covered with both the leek sections
• a little more lard, using the same source as in the above description of cooking the smoked park chops, heated to medium-high heat in an enameled cast iron pan, two very small red cabbages from Tamarack Hollow Farm, finely-sliced, and one medium roughly-chopped shallot from John D. Madura Farm added and cooked, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage had softened slightly (about 10 minutes), water added throughout, as necessary, after which some salt was added and a little lemon juice, local apple cider vinegar from Face Farm, and a sprinkling of freshly-ground black pepper, the heat then reduced and the mixture cooked 5 or 10 minutes more, or until the cabbage was wilted and the shallots softened, and when done, a few tablespoons of raisins and some red current jelly added and stirred into the pan
• red watercress from Max Fish Hatchery, washed and drain-dried, but undressed
• a very small amount of applesauce left over from an earlier meal
• the wine was an Austrian (Wachau) white, Winzer Krems Grüner Veltliner Kremser Sandgrube 2014 [and this is Winzer Krems, in all of its miscellany*]
• the music was chamber music of Roberto Gerhard

 

* A video work, ‘Hands on Tables‘, by Brazilian artist Georgia Creimer is in permanent installation at the winery

I was already pretty aware of the impact of color in food presentation, and therefore in its enjoyment, but lately it seems to have assumed even more importance in my meal planning (no, my planning area does not look like this). The most important thing still is weighing which elements best compliment the others’ flavors, second only to deciding which ingredients should be used sooner than later for freshest effect, but a consciousness of color – and texture – have become very important in determining the final mix.

So here we have arrived at the composition of this particular dinner, and I see that even long after the end of summer, it’s still difficult for me to shake the seductive color of a red tomato; thank goodness for modern agronomy (and the high tunnel).

• three quarters of a pound of baby squid, bodies and tentacles, from Blue Moon Fish Company, rinsed, dried, very quickly arranged in an enameled cast iron pan after its cooking surface had been brushed with olive oil and heated on top of the range until very hot, sprinkled with some super-pungent dried Italian oregano from Buon Italia and one crushed dried pepperoncino, also from Buon Italia, then a good squeeze of lemon juice and some olive oil drizzled over the top, and placed in a pre-heated 400º oven, roasted for four or five minutes
• six Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, halved, combined in a small ceramic baking dish with one sliced fresh green garlic from Lani’s Farm, a little olive oil, half of a teaspoon of chopped thyme from Hawthorne Valley Farm, salt, and freshly-ground black pepper, placed in a 400º oven for about 20 minutes, removed, sprinkled with more thyme and some chopped parsley from Paffenroth Farm
• red mustard greens from Keith’s Farm, wilted with oil which had already warmed one large clove of bruised Rocambole garlic, also from Keith’s Farm, quartered, then seasoned with salt, and pepper, and finished with a drizzle of oil
• the wine was a Spanish (eastern Galicia) white, Pazzo de Monterrey Godello 2014
• the music was Carlos Chavez, his Symphony No.3

This is another example of the stock Italian guy’s ‘midnight pasta’, or spaghettata di mezzanotte, but I’m thinking more and more that it’s not just a dude thing, and not even just an Italian thing. Everyone needs a go-to, at-home dinner concept, and this is a pretty good one.

This is one version, published by the Times in its ‘NYT Cooking Recipe Box’.

My description is directly below; it’s what I served the two of us last night at my own dude’s suggestion.

• approximately 10 ounces of Setaro spaghetti chitarra from Buon Italia boiled, but only until pretty firmly al dente, then tossed with a sauce made of 4 plump rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm, roughly chopped, cooked in about a third of a cup of olive oil over low-medium heat until softened and beginning to brown, before adding to the pan 3 salted anchovies, well-rinsed, and mashing them with a wooden spoon, plus half of one dried Itria-Sirissi chili (peperoncino di Sardegna intero) from Buon Italia, several tablespoons of chopped parsley from Paffenroth Farms, and a little of the pasta water, all simmered for a few minutes while the sauce was slightly reduced, the entire mix distributed in bowls and sprinkled with another few tablespoons of parsley
• the wine was an Italian (Veneto) white, Boirá Veneto IGT Pinot Grigio 2014 from Flat Iron Wines & Spirits
• the music was several pieces by Bruno Maderna, beginning with the magnificent ‘Concerto per due pianoforti e strumenti‘ (1947–48)

looks like a holiday pastry

 

It may look a bit like a holiday treat, but it’s totally savory.  The tuna is ‘paved’ with crushed fennel seed and peperoncino, not colored sugar, and the red and green comes from the Chinese brassica and the most modern expression of the ancient Andean/Mexican cherry tomato.

• one 12-ounce tuna steak from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, halved, rubbed with a mixture of dry fennel seed and one dried Itria-Sirissi chili, peperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia, both ground together, additionally seasoned with salt and pepper, then pan-grilled for little a little more than a minute and a half on each side, finished with a good squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil
• one bunch of yu choy sum (‘flowering bok choy’) from Lani’s Farm (where it was probably grown in one of her magic high tunnels), roughly chopped, added to a heavy enameled cast iron pan where one very large bruised and quartered Rocambole (Calabrian) garlic clove from Keith’s Farm had been heated until beginning to brown, the greens stirred until tender along with a little of the water which the greens had shed after being washed, arranged on plates and drizzled with olive oil and drops of lemon juice
• two Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, halved, seasoned with salt and pepper, pan-grilled, then placed on the plates with a mixture of one very cosmopolitan green garlic from Lani’s Farm, sliced, one Mexican poblano pepper from Oak Grove Plantation, also sliced, both of which had been sautéed in olive oil and seasoned
• the wine was a Spanish (Rioja) rosé, Muga Rosado 2014 
• the music was entirely from Counterstream radio