I had thought about presenting a very different monkfish dish tonight, but it was one that would have required a bit of dexterity. For that same reason, as I was feeling a bit under the weather with a bad cold, I fell back onto an old standby that’s always pleased.

Monkfish is the delicacy the French know as Lotte, the Italians as Coda di rospo, the Spanish as Cola de Rape, and the Germans as Seeteufel. The English call it Anglerfish, which in fact, I would say, is pretty much what it is.

Probably our happiest experience with this great fish was in northern Spain, on a visit over a decade ago.

The species has only recently developed a following on this side of the Atlantic, due, I think, mostly on account of its repellent visage.

There was nothing frightening however about the potatoes or the vegetables.

• two monkfish tails (a total of 22 ounces) from Pura Vida Seafood, rinsed, and cut into four pieces, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, roasted at 400º for 12 minutes with three fourths of a cup of a mixture of Gaeta and black oil-cured olives from Buon Italia, pits removed, placed on top of a bed consisting of a full pound of very thinly-sliced unpeeled Nicola potatoes from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm that had been scrubbed, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and roasted beforehand for about 40 minutes in a very generous amount of olive oil (1/4 of a cup) with 13 dry Italian bay leaves from Buon Italia, and a pinch or so of crushed dried orange/gold habanada pepper inside a large enameled cast iron pan (the potatoes having been removed when they had softened and their edges had begun to crisp)
• one washed and trimmed bunch of a sweet baby bok choy from Tamarack Hollow Farm in the Union Square Greenmarket, added gradually to a tablespoon or more of warmed Portuguese olive oil inside a heavy vintage large high-sided tin-lined copper pot, the choy stirred until tender while introducing some of the water which they had shed that was left in the bowl after they had been washed, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates, scattered with one washed, dried, cut green garlic from John D. Madura Farm, finished on the plates drizzled with more olive oil
• the wine was a Portuguese (Alentejo) white, Esporão Reserva White 2016
• the music was Jean Philippe Rameau’s 1748 Paris one-act acte de ballet, ‘Pygmalion’, performed by James Richman and the Concert Royal Orchestra & Chorus

[the anglerfish image is from Wikipedia]

I’m regularly reminded of how delicious this fish is, and last night I also re-learned how easy it is to prepare well.

The vegetables were equally delicious, and just as easy to cook; I simply boiled 2 kinds of potatoes:

And wilted some tender cavolo nero, every leaf I found in the farmer’s wicker basket that afternoon:

• two 6-ounce John Dory Fillets from American Seafood Company, the last of them to be found inside the fisher’s bucket, earlier that afternoon in the Union Square Greenmarket, marinated inside the refrigerator for about 25 minutes in a mix of one clove of Rocambole crushed garlic from Keith’s Farm, more than a teaspoon of chopped fresh oregano from Stokes Farm, the juice and zest from roughly a quarter of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, more than half a teaspoon of good walnut oil, sea salt, and freshly-ground black pepper, removed from the refrigerator and allowed to come to room temperature for about 15 minutes or more, placed skin-side down inside a large antique, heavy, tin-lined oval copper skillet that had been heated over medium-high heat with enough olive oil to coat the surface, the heat immediately reduced slightly, flipped after 2 -3 minutes and cooked for just about 2 minutes more, removed and arranged on warm plates, whatever juices remained in the pan poured over the fillets, and sprinkled with a bit of micro bronze fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• two kinds of potatoes, 3 ‘Peter Wilcox’ cultivars (purple skin, golden flesh) from Tamarack Hollow Farm, and 2 ‘Ruby Cresent’ fingerlings (waxy) from Rick Bishop’s Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, scrubbed, boiled together, unpeeled, in generously-salted water until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried in the still-warm vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, tossed there with a bit of Portuguese olive oil from Whole Foods Market, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates, sprinkled with  scissored fresh chives from Phillips Farm
• tender small leaves of cavolo nero, lacinato, Tuscan kale, or black kale, their stems left intact because of their size and youth, from Tamarack Hollow Farm, sautéed until wilted inside a large high-sided antique tin-lined copper pot in which 2 halved Keith’s Farm Rocambole garlic cloves had first been heated in a tablespoon or so of Portuguese olive oil until beginning to color, the greens seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and drizzled with a little more olive oil
• slices of an organic multigrain baguette from Bread Alone
• the wine was a Spanish (Valencia) white, Celler del Roure ‘Cullerot’ Blanco 2016, amphora aged, from Astor Wines
• the music was an album of Leopold Koželuch symphonies from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Marek Štilec conducting the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, Pardubice  (more here)

It wasn’t a great meal, but it was pretty good, and it included 2 elements never before seen on these pages: Something called ‘duck rillettes sausage’ (the farm describes it as ‘shredded duck confit sausage’) and a balsamic dried cherry thyme compote.

Rather than pan-grilling the sausage, I should probably have fried the links in a heavy pan, at a lower flame. They were uncooked, but they weren’t pork, so I probably left them on the grill pan too long, compromising a full appreciation of the flavors, which included vegetables and spices.

• four duck rillettes sausages (17 ounces) from Hudson Valley Duck Farm, pan-grilled for a few minutes
• served with 2 condiments: a thick compote made by heating together an ounce of balsamic vinegar, and ounce of dried cherries, an ounce of turbinado sugar, and a sprig of thyme from Eataly, reduced until the cherries were plump and the liquid syrupy; and a Maille ‘Old Style’ whole-grain Dijon mustard, which arrived on the plate at the other end of the sausages in the image at the top, only after the photo was taken.
• wild cress from Lani’s Farm, dressed with Farnkies olive oil, a drizzle of Whoile Foods organic lemon, Maldon salt, and freshly-ground black pepper

There were also some over-wintered carrots, and it was now early spring. I had purchased them almost 2 weeks earlier, in fact; they had been waiting in the crisper. All of which meant that it was pretty remarkable that they were so tasty last night.

• Kyoto red carrots from Norwich Meadows Farm, well scrubbed and trimmed, dried, cut into bite-size pieces, tossed inside a bowl with a little Portuguese olive oil, sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, plus one and a half teaspoons of crushed Sicilian fennel seed, placed, not touching, on a large ceramic Pampered Chef oven pan, roasted at 425º for half an hour, or until tender, arranged on the plates and garnished with micro kohlrabi from scissored chives from Phillips Farms [now, after seeing their color after cooking, we can understand why I didn’t want to serve these carrots with the salmon the other night]
• the wine was an Italian (Puglia) red, Cantele Salice Salentino Riserva 2014, from Garnet Wines
• the music was the second act of Mozart’s 1791 Singspiel (a proto-musical), ‘Die Zauberflöte, a 1996 recording by  John Eliot Gardner leading the Monteverdi Choir, and the English Baroque Soloists, with Harry Peeters, Cyndia Sieden, Christiane Oelze, Michael Schade, Gerald Finley, Constanze Backes, Detlef Roth, Ewe Peper, Susan Roberts, Carola Guba, Maria Jonas, Andreas Dieterich, Jan Andreas

The entire meal was much more successful than I had expected while I was still putting it together in my head little than an hour earlier.

It all started with the salmon fillet, which I had bought that afternoon, and at a very good price. The mustard greens, picked up at the Greenmarket 3 days earlier, seemed a natural to go with the salmon.

I had several choices for a second vegetable, but I went with the celery root I’d been saving for a week or so, turning it into frites de céleri-rave (oven-roasted), whose sticks are shown below as they looked on the pan just before they went into the oven.

• *one 13-ounce previously-frozen wild Coho salmon fillet from Whole foods Market, cut into two pieces, placed skin side up inside an oval, tin-lined copper au gratin pan in which a little more than 2 tablespoons of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ (with 12 grams total fat, more than the 11 in almost all other butter available in the U.S.) had been allowed to heat until the foam began to recede, placed in a 425º oven for about 8 minutes, or until barely cooked, flipped a little more than half way through, removed, arranged on the plates, sprinkled with Maldon salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and chopped lovage, garnished with micro scallions, the herb and the micro green both from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• *one 15-ounce celery root (celeriac) from Norwich Meadows Farm, scrubbed, peeled, and cut into the size and shape of potato frites, this time only about 1/4″ in cross section, thinner than I have cut them in the past, tossed inside a bowl with olive oil, a half teaspoon of Safinter Pimenton de la Vera smoked picante paprika, sea salt, and a little freshly-ground black pepper, spread onto a large Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic pan, and roasted at 425º until brown and cooked through, or about 30-35 minutes, removed to the plates, and sprinkled with chopped parsley from Eataly [Note: they were pretty spicy]
• *a little more than 5 ounces of some very sweet (!) red mustard greens from Norwich Meadows Farm, wilted inside a large, high-sided tin-lined antique copper pot in a little olive oil in which 2 cloves of Keiths’ Farm Rocambole garlic had been allowed to sweat, then seasoned with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a California (Lodi) red, Jacqueline Bahue Cabernet Franc Lodi 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was Mozart’s 1791 Singspiel (a proto-musical), ‘Die Zauberflöte, a 1996 recording by  John Eliot Gardner leading the Monteverdi Choir, and the English Baroque Soloists, with Harry Peeters, Cyndia Sieden, Christiane Oelze, Michael Schade, Gerald Finley, Constanze Backes, Detlef Roth, Ewe Peper, Susan Roberts, Carola Guba, Maria Jonas, Andreas Dieterich, Jan Andreas

It was Easter.

• four thick 7-ounce lamb rib chips from Greg and Mike of Sun Fed Beef/Maple Avenue Farms in the Union Square Greenmarket, brought to room temperature, dried thoroughly, cooked on a very hot enameled cast iron grill pan for a total of 12 or 13 minutes, turning them over 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 some chopped thyme from Phillip’s Farm and some thinly-sliced green garlic from John D. Madura Farm, and drizzled with a little olive oil

• about 13 ounces of waxy ruby crescent potatoes from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, halved lengthwise, tossed with a bit of olive oil, sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, crumbled dried darker gold/orange habanada pepper, and rosemary leaves from Citarella, roasted at 450º for about 25 minutes, arranged on 2 plates and garnished with micro scallions from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• a few handfuls of fava greens from Campo Rosso Farm, washed in several changes of water, tossed into a large antique high-sided tin-lined copper pot over high heat in a tablespoon of hot olive oil, stirred until they had quickly wilted, arranged on the plates, sprinkled with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, mixed with some chopped peppermint from Phillips Farms, drizzled with a bit of organic lemon juice from Whole Foods Market and some olive oil
• the wine was a French (Rhône) red, Domaine Des Causses Syrah Reserve 2014, from Landmark Wines
• the music was the re-engineered recording of Hans Knappertsbusch’s 1951 Bayreuth ‘Parsifal’, which was the opera and the Wieland Wagner production that reopened the Festspielhaus that summer after the war

Easter eggs.

• for breakfast today, there were naturally-light blue-colored Americauna eggs from Millport Dairy Farm, topped with very-thinly-sliced green sections of green garlic from John D. Madura Farm, a piece of crushed dried darker gold/yellow habanada pepper, Maldon salt, and freshly-ground black pepper, and garnished with micro scallion from Two Guys from Woodbridge; some awesome smoked bacon from Flying Pigs Farm; 3 Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Eataly, topped with salt and pepper, and garnished with micro chervil from Two Guys from Woodbridge; fresh or toasted slices of 2 different breads, a French sourdough levain from Bread Alone in the Union Square Greenmarket and a Bien Cuit ‘Campagne’ traditional sour dough from Foragers Market
• the music was Heinrich Schütz, his ‘Matthäus Passion’ (St. Matthew Passion), a 1973 recording of Martin Flämig directing the Dresdner Kreuzchor, from this 10-CD set 

It was the Saturday before the feast of Easter, the middle of the Easter Triduum. Although we don’t observe the religious parts of any religious holidays, we usually enjoy the celebrations, and especially the feasting.

Last night, more or less unwittingly, we almost honored the Catholic tradition of a restrained ‘Paschal feast’: The main course was vegetarian, but the antipasto definitely was not.

• three ounces of fresh Salumeria Biellese finocchiona salame from Eataly, drizzled with some  Frankies 457 Sicilian olive oil, the gift of  a friend
• some wonderful ‘wild arugula’ from Lani’s Farm, dressed with more of the olive oil, Maldon salt, and freshly-ground black pepper
• slices of French sourdough levain from Bread Alone

• one 10-ounce package of Rana portobello-mushroom-and-ricotta-filled ravioli rounds from Eataly, boiled inside a large pot of well-salted water for 2 minutes and drained, slipped into a large vintage tin-lined copper pan in which two sliced Rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s farm, a sliced section of green garlic from John D. Madura Farm, one small sliced red shallot from Norwich Meadows Farm, some crushed dried orange/gold habanada, and a handful of pitted Kalamata olives from Whole Foods Market, otherwise left whole, had been briefly sautéed in olive oil, then a bit of reserved pasta water added and the liquids emulsified, the mix placed in shallow bowls, finished with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts, and garnished with micro scallions from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• the wine throughout the meal was an Italian (Umbria) red, Falesco Vitiano Rosso 2014, from Landmark Wines
• the music was Carl Heinrich Graun’s ‘Osteroratorium’ (Easter Oratorio) (composed late 1720s-early 1730s), performed by Michael Alexander Willens conducting the Cologne Academy