I had thought this meal would only be a ‘placeholder’, since I had come down with a cold the night before and on this night I was also going to have to prepare for the arrival of a new refrigerator the next morning, possibly as early as what we normally consider ‘dawn’. I had even contemplated ordering in, since the knock down operation connected to abandoning the old unit had at first looked somewhat daunting.

In the end I decided to cook a meal, knowing that in doing so I would have that much less to worry about keeping cold while switching refrigerators the next day.

Barry was happy we didn’t have to go the takeout route, especially once we had both realized what a great dinner we had on the table in front of us, and I was shocked at how good it turned out.

The sausage was superb, and, as we had learned earlier, far more spicy than anyone might expect from a Pennsylvania Amish family’s farm.  I had remembered that curiosity, and the memory was punctuated by the effect their hot pepper, even that contained in the sausage casings, had on my sinuses while they were being grilled.

I pulled out a small jar of an Italian quince confiture while the chorizo was cooking and added a dab of it to the edge of each plate.

The vegetables were also stars. They were pretty much the only ones I had on hand, but they were a perfect compliment to the sausage.

• Four 3-ounce links of a wonderful spicy chorizo sausage from Millport Dairy Farm, pan grilled for a few minutes over a medium flame until heated through, served with an Italian quince confiture from Westside Market, Lazzaris’ Salsa di Mele Cotogne
• one bunch of spring onions from Alewife Farm, trimmed, although with much of their green stems still attached, placed with a tablespoon of butter and a quarter cup of water inside a heavy tin-lined copper pan, brought to a boil, covered, the heat reduced and the onions simmered until the bulbs were almost tender, about 10 minutes, uncovered and cooked a few minutes longer, turning the onions occasionally, until bulbs are completely tender and the liquid mostly evaporated, removed from the heat and 2 tablespoons stirred in, tossed with a generous amount of chopped epazote from Windfall Farms
• two chopped red spring onions from Alewife Farm warmed with a little olive oil until softened inside a large, high-sided tin-lined copper pan, one head of radicchio from Campo Rosso Farm, roughly-chopped, added to the pan with some sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper and stirred until the chicory had almost wilted, finished with barely a splash of balsamic vinegar and arranged on the plates
• the wine was a California (Lodi) red, Sharon Weeks Cattoo Lodi Malbec 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was  Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s 1810 opera, ‘Mathilde von Guise’, Didier Talpain conducting the Solamente Naturali

The first cauliflower of the season, and the 4th swordfish dinner of the year. Each was a treat, even before I started cooking!

I could see that the cauliflower was tinged with purple, even before I separated it into florets..

from an earlier encounter with them, I knew about the slightly curious orange-red hue of these tomatoes..

and this time the micro green was actually green.

• one halved 18 and a half ounce swordfish steak from Blue Moon Fish Company (more fish than I would prefer to take home, but it was the last steak and I didn’t want to ask the folks to cut off a piece from it), marinated for half an hour in a mixture of olive oil, part of a finely-chopped shallot from Berried Treasures, some super-pungent dried Sicilian oregano from Buon Italia, and a very small amount of crushed dried Sicilian pepperoncino from Buon Italia, the steaks then drained well, coated on both sides with some homemade dried breadcrumbs and pan-grilled over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, removed to 2 plates, seasoned with sea salt, drizzled with the juice of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, then with a little olive oil, served on 2 plates garnished with micro fennel from Windfall Farms
• florets of a cauliflower from Eckerton Hill Farm sautéed in a pan in which 3 roughly-sliced green garlic cloves from Lani’s Farm, some crushed dried Itria-Sirissi chili, and more than a teaspoon of Italian fennel seeds had first been heated, the cauliflower braised for a few minutes until beginning to soften, at which time it was joined by 5 ounces of halved and seeded orange-red cherry tomatoes from Neversink Organic Farm, the cooking continued, gently, until the tomatoes had been heated and had become a full partner in the mix, finished by stirring in some chopped peppermint from Lani’s Farm
• the wine was an Italian (Marche) white, Sant’ Isidoro Verdicchio Matelica Pié di Colle 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was Mendelssohn’s Symphonies No. 1 and 3, from a recording of Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Europe

While I was putting this dish together I imagined it as a simple pasta with a Mexican touch, or at least a West Coast touch, for the very specific herb, the hot pepper, and the two sweet vegetables.

• one whole dried Cayenne pepper from Oak Grove Plantation, stirred over low to medium heat for a minute or two in a tablespoon or so of olive oil inside a heavy enameled cast iron pot, followed by 2 fairly-thinly-sliced medium-size Walla Walla onions, including most of their stems, from Windfall Farms, which were sautéed until beginning to soften, after which 8 ounces of Afeltra linguine from Eataly, cooked in a large pot of salted water until barely al dente, then drained (reserving 1 cup of the cooking water), was added to the pot and mixed in, the reserved cooking water also added as needed to emulsify the liquid, a generous amount of chopped epazote from Windfall Farms tossed in, served in shallow bowls with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkled with homemade breadcrumbs which had first been browned in a little olive oil with a pinch of sea salt
• the wine was an excellent Italian (Campania) white, Fiano Kràtos “Paestum” Maffini 2016, from Astor Wines & Spirits
• the music was the album, ‘Le Journal Du Printemps’, music of Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer performed by the Freiburger Barockorchester [Fischer (c. 1656 – 27 August 1746) was a German (Bohemia) baroque composer, “responsible for bringing the French influence to German music”, although his work is little known today

 

I feel that I’ve already said almost all I can on these pages about Porgy, so I’ll only mention that last night I tried a new approach to cooking it, one which mostly followed a simple Gordon Ramsay recipe. It was very easy, pretty stress-free, really delicious, and the results were more photogenic than they had sometimes been in the past.

Green asparagus spears were even a more familiar sight on this blog, and in their case, so was the recipe I used.

• a salsa for the fish prepared by heating, inside a small lined copper pan over a gentle flame in 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 5 ounces of halved red cherry tomatoes from Stokes Farm and 2 ounces or so of pitted whole Kalamata olives from Whole Foods Market, seasoning the mix with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, stirring for 1 or 2 minutes, then setting the pan aside while chopping a certain amount of lovage from Keith’s Farm and an equal volume of leaves off of a basil plant from Stokes Farm, torn (together ending up as several tablespoons), adding the herbs to the salsa, but reserving some for garnish, stirring to combine, then introducing the juice of half of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market (Ramsey suggests rolling a whole lemon on  board “to soften and release the juices”, but individual circumstances may not always permit that step), once again stirring, the salsa once again set aside to allow the flavors to infuse while preparing the fish
• four 4-ounce porgy fillets from P.E & D.D. Seafood, their skin slashed with a very sharp knife in 2 or 3 places each, then a bit of olive oil added to a large enameled rectangular cast iron pan over high heat, the porgy added, skin side down, as soon as the oil had become very hot, the fish seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, cooked for 2 or 3 minutes “until the fish is dark golden and the skin is crisp” (mine did not get crisp, which may mean I was too timid about the intensity of the heat), the fillets turned over (always the risky part), cooked on the other side for 1 minute, basting with the oil in the pan, if any, until just cooked through, finally arranged on the plates in what seems at that moment to be the most natural and aesthetic manner [Ramsey suggests arranging the porgy on the plates on top of the salsa, but, this time at least, I didn’t want to hide its beauties]
• fourteen thick spears of asparagus from John D. Madura Farm, trimmed, the stems peeled, tossed in a couple of tablespoons of butter and about a tablespoon of olive oil, plus a few branches of thyme from Lani’s Farm, inside a second large enameled rectangular cast iron pan (I’m definitely ‘kitchen pan-rich’), then sautéed over medium high heat while frequently rolling or turning them until they were beginning to brown (about 15 minutes), finished with a sprinkling of Maldon salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry peppercorns
• the wine was a French (Chinon) rosé, Domaine Jean-Maurice Raffault Chinon Rosé 2016, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was the album, ‘Bernhard Henrik Crusell: Concertante Wind Works’, with Osmo Vänskä conducting the Tapiola Sinfonietta

The eggs were small; I presume they were pullet eggs, “..from chickens who are just getting the hang of laying eggs.”, but they were quite tasty, rich, sweet, and very fresh, as was everything else about this breakfast.

• its elements were: 6 small eggs from Alex’s Tomato Farm, Mullica Hill, NJ, scattered with tarragon and lovage, both chopped, from Keith’s Farm; Maldon salt flakes and Tellicherry peppercorns; thick-cut smoked bacon from Millport Dairy Farm; a few Ontario Province orange cherry tomatoes from Whole Foods Market, with torn leaves from a basil plant from Stokes Farm; part of a stem of green garlic from Lani’s Farm, chopped; purple micro radish from Windfall Farms; tarragon blossoms from Windfall Farms; and toast from a loaf of a Balthazar rye boule from Schaller & Weber Market
• the music was that of the Lisbon-born Portuguese/Brazilian composer, Marcos António da Fonseca Portugal, his 1811 ‘Matinos Do Natal’ (Christmas Eve prayers), performed by Ensemble Turicum

I managed to get the last piece of striped bass in the Greenmarket on Friday. Fortunately, because it’s probably the most expensive fish in any East Coast market these days, it was exactly the right, modest proportion for the two of us. I blame the high cost on demand, and a general lack of imagination on the part of my fellow consumers, but it really is a great fish, beginning with its appearance, seen here lying on our kitchen counter before I started dinner.

I can’t continue without mentioning the near death of the species, mostly because of over-fishing. By the 70s and 80s, ‘Stripers’ were considered endangered, but then there was a rescue, described by Paul Greenberg in a 2008 New York Times article, ‘Bass Market‘:

“In a major conservation act, a consortium of states halted striped-bass fishing in the ’80s, and a program was introduced to rebuild the breeding stock in the Chesapeake Bay. … Today striper populations are listed as ‘fully rebuilt,’…”

The vegetables, as special as the fish, were Castelfranco radicchio (cichorium intybus excultus?) and fava beans (vicia faba).

• one twelve-ounce striped bass fillet from Pura Vida Seafood, rinsed, drained, seasoned on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, placed, skin side down, in a little olive oil inside a pre-heated heavy tin-lined copper pan over a medium-high flame, a similar heavy pan, oiled on the bottom, pressed on top of the fillet for the first 2 minutes to flatten it and assist in rendering the skin crisp (actually, I’m not sure the process worked, but, hey..), the fish turned over after about 5 minutes in the pan and cooked for another 2 or 3 minutes, removed and arranged on the plates, brushed or spooned with a mixture of chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm. leaves torn off of a live basil plant from Stokes Farm, the zest from half of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, and enough olive oil to barely make a liquid sauce
• fava beans (I would have to say there are never enough of these emeralds, especially considering how little is left after laboriously shelling over a pound in the shell) from Alewife Farm, added to a vintage Pyrex transparent glass pan in which one thinly-sliced red onion from Norwich Meadows Farm had been heated in olive oil and softened, the vegetables seasoned with sea salt and frehsly-ground Tellicherry pepper, and tossed with chopped peppermint from Lani’s Farm
• one head of Castelfranco radicchio from Campo Rosso Farm, washed, quartered, tied with string to keep the leaves together, dipped in seasoned olive oil then pan grilled briefly (only 30 seconds on each of the 3 sides), arranged on the plates, the strings cut and removed, drizzled with a dressing composed of one salted anchovy, thoroughly rinsed and filleted, a teaspoon of white wine, 2 tablespoons of oil, one and a half tablespoons of juice of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, and a generous amount of chopped parsley from Phillips Farm
• the wine was a California (Andrus, in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta) white, Jacqueline Bahue Albarino Gomes Vineyard California 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was Claudio Monteverdi’s 1642 opera, ‘L’Incoronazione di Poppea’, René Jacobs conducting the Amsterdam ensemble, Concerto Vocale

I’ve lately been enjoying the challenge of picking out meats in the Union Square Greenmarket from one of my favorite cheese makers (cow and goat milk), beginning with the serendipity that goes with it: The exercise seems a bit like hunting, since they have a limited supply of animals, and at they are only occasional available, since the farm’s main occupation is making cheese.

But it’s always rewarding.

On Monday I picked out 2 small frozen veal chops; on Wednesday evening I took them out of the freezer; last night we enjoyed them, immensely.

I used a terrific, and very simple recipe that I cobbled together from several on-line sources.

The vegetables were also pretty special. Some beautiful red-orange cherry tomatoes from a new arrival at the Greenmarket, Neversink Organic Farm, and a handfull of tender garlic scapes from one of the oldest, Keith’s Organic Farm.

• a tablespoon of olive olive drizzled onto a small oval platter, then mixed with whole sage leaves from Keith’s Farm, whole rosemary leaves from Phillips Farm, and one chopped garlic clove from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, the platter set aside while 2 small but quite thick veal rib chops (8 ounces each) from Consider Bardwell Farm, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper and drizzled generously with olive oil, were placed on an enameled cast iron grill pan pre-heated above a moderately high flame and cooked, turning once, about 6 minutes per side for medium doneness (with a tent of aluminum foil for much of the time, because of their thickness), transferred to the platter with the garlic, oil, and herbs, and turned to coat, more olive oil added, the chops allowed to rest for about 3 minutes, again tented with foil, this time to keep them warm, while several thick slices of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, brushed with olive oil, were added to the grill pan, cooked until warm and beginning to char, turning once, the veal chops arranged on two plates, along with much of the sage/rosemary oil, and the lemon slices placed on top
• fourteen or so orange-red cherry tomatoes from Neversink Organic Farm, each punctured several times with a thin poultry lacing pin to help them cook evenly and to keep them from exploding when cut on the plate, rolled inside a high-sided tin-lined copper pan in which half a dozen sliced ramp bulbs from Berried Treasures had been allowed to soften and become fragrant, the pan removed from the heat as soon as the tomatoes had shown signs of softening themselves and sprinkled with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, tossed with chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm and torn basil from a plant purchased from Stokes Farm
• a few garlic scapes from Keith’s Farm, tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper, then pan grilled, arranged on the plates and garnished with tarragon blossoms from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the wine was a really wonderful California (Amador) red, made with the Portuguese Touriga grape, Ana Diogo-Draper Amador Touriga 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was the album, ‘Le Concert Spirituel’, Jordi Savall conducting Le Concert Des Nations [the album title is a homage to the 65 years (1725-1790) of eponymous Paris concerts which were the first public concert series in history (“..to provide entertainment on religious holidays when the other spectacles {the Paris Opera, Comédie-Francaise and Comédie-Italienne} were closed.”]

The return of Squeteague (aka ‘Weakfish’ or Sea/Ocean Trout) to our table.

The reappearance of some wonderful tomatoes.

The first pole beans of summer.

• one 15-ounce fillet of Squeteague (aka ‘Weakfish’ or Sea/Ocean Trout) from Blue Moon Seafood Company, cut in half, marinated for about half an hour on the kitchen counter in a mix of a little olive oil, 2 minced cloves of green garlic from Lani’s Farm, and 7 different herbs (1 crushed fresh bay leaf from West Side Market, parsley and rosemary from Phillips Farm, peppermint and thyme from Lani’s Farm, lovage and tarragon from Keith’s Farm, and epazote from Windfall Farm), drained, pan-grilled inside an enameled cast iron grill pan which had been pre-heated to medium-hot, skin-slide down first for 3 minutes, the fish then turned and cooked for another minute, until opaque and firm, drizzled with the juices and some of the marinade, served with a garnish of tarragon blossoms from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• halved sweet cherry tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm, in Mullica Hill, NJ, purchased Saturday at Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market, heated in warm olive oil with a little bit of chopped shallot from Berried Treasures inside a vintage small Pyrex glass skillet, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper and mixed with some chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm
• purple Romano beans from Lani’s Farm, parboiled for a few minutes, drained, dried, reheated in a heavy tin-lined copper pan with a bit of finely-chopped  in oil, the vegetable then finished with salt, pepper, chopped copper (or bronze) fennel fronds, and lovage, both also from Berried Treasures
• the wine was a French (Bordeaux) rosé, Château de Fontenille Rosé Bordeaux 2016, from Chelsea Wine Vault

And a very special dessert.

• tiny foraged ‘Alpine strawberries’ [fragaria vesca] from Windfall Farms, served simply on top of a scoop of Talenti Vanilla Bean Gelato (“hand-scraped [Madagascar] vanilla beans” ) from Whole Foods

Seen here as they appeared on the forager’s table in the Greenmarket. The small fruits barely visible just above the strawberries are ‘Nanking Cherries’ [prunus tomentosa].

 

• the music throughout the meal was the album, ‘Rameau: L’Orchestre de Louis XV’, Jordi Savall conducting Le Concert des Nations

Barry and I used to call meals like this ‘picnics’. More recently, in the case of particularly German versions, I’ve labelled them ‘Picknicks‘ on this blog. In fact, the appropriate German term would be ‘Brotzeit‘, and that’s how I’ve described this one.

The gorgeous lettuce included on the plate is a purple variety whose name was not indicated on the stand where I purchased it. The only lettuce image I snapped that afternoon was actually of a green version of the same breed, and at the time it just happened to be boasting a single purple leaf from its neighbor.

• with the exception of the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, butter, and confiture, the items included on the plate were essentially from local sources: Blutwurst or Zungenwurst, a variation of head cheese, from Schaller & Weber; a dollop of Italian (Asiago) Lingonberry Jam (a berry much like the German ‘Preiselbeeren‘) [not pictured]; purple lettuce from Norwich Meadows Farm, dressed with an Italian olive oil, Alce Nero DOP ‘Terra di Bari Bitonto’, from Eataly, an Italian white wine vinegar, Aceto Cesare Bianco, from Buon Italia, Maldon salt, and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper; orange cherry tomatoes grown in Ontario, from Whole Foods Market; large red cherry tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm; Isny Allgäu ‘Adel Egger’ raw milk cheese, from Schaller & Weber, and ‘Danby” goat cheese and ‘Rupert’ cow cheese, both from Consider Bardwell Farm; 2 Rot-gebeizt pickled eggs from Millport Dairy Farm; slices of a Balthazar rye boule from Schaller & Weber, and ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘ [not pictured]
• the wine was a German (Mosel) white, Weingut Axel Pauly Trinkfluss 2014
• the music was the album, ‘The Palais-Royal‘, compositions from the Paris palace and court of Phillip II, Duke of Orléans, Regent during the long minority of Louis XV, and a composer himself

Phillippe II, Duke of Orléans, detail of a 1706 portrait attributed to Jean-Baptiste Santerre [image from Online Galleries]

It was a bright, clean, vernal meal, even if the warm humid weather on that penultimate day of spring suggested July or August. Full disclosure: I had the air conditioner going inside the kitchen and breakfast room throughout both the preparation and enjoyment of this meal.

The colorful vegetables I had picked up at two greenmarkets over the previous 3 days set the tone.

• fourteen medium scallops (13 ounces) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, washed, drained and very thoroughly dried on paper towels (twice), generously seasoned with salt and pepper, pan grilled for about 90 seconds on each side, finished with a squeeze of organic lemon from Whole Foods Market and a scattering of purple micro radish from Windfall Farms, then drizzled with some good olive oil
• eight halved medium tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm, Mullica Hill, NJ, purchased Saturday at Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market, rolled inside a heavy, high-sided tin-lined copper pot with a little olive oil in which much of one head of green garlic from Lani’s Farm had been heated until it had become fragrant, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper and some chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm tossed in
• five baby zucchini from Lani’s Farm, separated from their blossoms (which were set aside), cut lengthwise and sautéed in a heavy, tin-lined copper skillet until beginning to brown, tossed with chopped peppermint from Lani’s Farm, removed to the plates while the blossoms reserved earlier, now halved, were sautéed in the same pan, for only a few seconds, then arranged on top of the zucchini pieces
• the wine was a California (Lake County) white, Dancing Crow Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Lake County 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was Georg Philipp Telemann’s 1726 opera, ‘Orpheus’, René Jacobs conducting the Academy for Ancient Music Berlin and the Berlin RIAS Chamber Chorus; the album liner notes describe the work as “..a successful synthesis of national operatic forms from Italy, France and Germany.”