It was simply an assembled meal, and it would not have been remarkable, literally, except that it was so good and satisfying.

The antipasto was sourced entirely from things hanging around the apartment.

• two ounces of La Quercia’s Ridgetop Speck (applewood smoked prosciutto from pastured pigs) drizzled with a little olive oil (Badia a Coltibuono, from Gaiole in Chianti, Siena, Italy)
• fresh ricotta cheese from a local New Jersey farm (no other information available) from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, also drizzled with the olive oil
• Gaeta olives from Buon Italia, in Chelsea Market
• arugula from Phillips Farms, dressed with the same olive oil
• slices of a Balthazar Bread rye boule from Chelsea Whole Foods Market

The main course has been making regular stops on our table for days; this was its final appearance, at least in this production

• a rich whole grain pasta combined with cheeses and 2 kinds of cabbage, originally prepared for last Saturday’s dinner, heated in a 350º oven for 12 minutes, now both more chewy and more crispy – and more flavorful – than ever; perfect

• the wine throughout the meal was an Argentinian (Mendoza) red, Penedo Borges Expresión Varietal Malbec 2016, the gift of a great friend, a great artist, and a great writer, An Xiao Mina

• the music throughout the meal was the album, ‘Sephardic Journey: Wanderings of the Spanish Jews’, by an intense Cleveland ensemble with a brilliant portfolio, Apollo’s Fire

[the image of An Xiao at TEDGlobal 2013 in Edinburgh, by James Duncan Davidson, is from TEDBlog]; the image of Jeannette Sorrell, founder of Apollo’s Fire, directing this program of the group, is from Classical Voice North America]

While we really like the recipe I’ve been using for ocean perch fillets for several years, I wanted to try it without the anchovy. Last night I substituted sorrel, because at the moment, with what I had on hand at the moment, it seemed like the most promising alternative.

The result was good, but not exciting; I’m going to keep experimenting with the recipe, perhaps trying some kind of shellfish as the finish, but I also expect to also return to the anchovies, probably in smaller amounts.

I love what these red fillets look like, almost as much as I love their taste and texture.

• six red-skinned ocean perch fillets (18 ounces) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company, rinsed, and dried, both sides brushed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil mixed with a total of little more than a teaspoon of a combination of very small chopped rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm and a thinly-sliced bit from the white section of scallion from from Phillips Farms, the fish seasoned, also on both sides, with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed skin side up inside an enameled cast iron pan and broiled, 4 or 5 inches from the flames, for 4 or 5 minutes, or until the skin had become crisp and the fish was cooked through, finished on the plates by drizzling with a small amount of sauce prepared by gently heating a few leaves of baby sorrel from Two Guys from Woodbridge in a bit of olive oil over a very low flame, with fresh leaves added after the heat under the was turned off, Whole Foods Market organic lemon wedges served on the side
• slices of a buckwheat baguette from Runner & Stone Bakery, from their stand in Saturday’s Union Square Greenmarket

• a large bunch of red mustard from Lani’s Farm, wilted in a little olive oil in which several large halved cloves of John D. Madura Farms garlic had been allowed to sweat a bit, seasoned with salt and pepper and finished on the plates with a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a French (Loire/Touraine) white, Vouvray Sec, Brisebarre 2014, from Astor Wines
• the music was the 1934 verismo opera, ‘Juha’, by the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja, Jussi Jalas conducting the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Finnish Radio Youth Chorus 

This meal should have been especially easy: For the first course there was an entire, quite sturdy, previously-prepared baked pasta. That meant that the entrée could be smaller and lighter than usual. Also, the roasted pork chop process was so familiar to me I could almost have done it blindfolded, that is, if I hadn’t absentmindedly turned off the oven as I removed the baked pasta.

I only noticed my mistake halfway through the [should have been] 13 or 14-minute roasting time for the chops, but with no real harm done, I recovered and brought them safely to the table, with, in this case, the indispensable assistance in of an instant-read thermometer (my own timing having been totally corrupted by the blunder).

The greens, meanwhile, waited patiently while I fumbled around the range and the oven.

• some of the rich whole grain pasta combined with cheeses and 2 kinds of cabbage, remaining from Saturday’s dinner, heated in a 350º oven for 12 minutes
• the wine was a California red, Sin Fronteras El Mechon California Red Blend 2017, from Naked Wines

The oven incident, described above, delayed the main course only slightly beyond what I had expected.

• [this is a description of how it should have been] two thick 11-ounce blade pork chops from Flying Pigs Farm, rinsed, thoroughly dried, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, seared quickly in a heavy oval enameled cast-iron pan, half of a large organic Whole Foods Market lemon squeezed over the top (after which the lemon was left in the pan between them, cut side down), the chops placed in a 400º oven for about 13 minutes altogether (flipped halfway through, the lemon squeezed over them once again and, after a bit of crushed dried habanada pepper had been sprinkled on top of the pork, placed again on the bottom of the pan), removed from the oven and arranged on 2 plates, the few juices that remained, with the addition of a bit of vermouth and briefly heated, poured over the top, the plate garnished with micro red mustard from Two guys from Woodbridge
• some of the contents of a bag of mixed baby greens from Lani’s Farm, wilted inside an antique medium-size high-sided copper pot in a little olive oil in which two halved garlic cloves from from John D. Madura Farms had been heated until softened, seasoned with salt and pepper [because of the delay in cooking the pork, they had reduced their volume somewhat, but they were still delicious]
• the wine was a Portuguese (Beira) white, Quinta do Cardo White ‘Companhia das Quintas’ 2016, from Astor Wines

• the music throughout the meal was a magnificent performance and recording of Tchaikovsky’s 1879 opera/’lyrical scenes’, ‘Eugen Onegin’, with a libretto largely worked by the composer, that follows Pushkin’s novel in verse, James Levine conducting the Staatskapelle Dresden and Rundfunkchor Leipzig

Because I felt there was nothing the least bit extraordinary about it, I wasn’t going to post about yesterday’s [very late] breakfast, until I saw the photo tonight, when I realized I was ready to serve it again, for dinner.

• other than the fact that there were 3 fresh green herbs, or micro greens, no tomatoes, and almost no spices, it was a pretty familiar Sunday spread: very fresh eggs from pastured chickens and bacon from pastured pigs, both from Millport Dairy Farm; local, or regional, Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’, from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, on the side, for the toast; chopped fresh purple[ish] thyme from Phillips Farms, sprinkled on the eggs; Maldon salt; freshly-ground black pepper; a few Two Guys from Woodbridge baby sorrel leaves heated in a little Portuguese house olive oil from Chelsea While Foods Market (with more leaves tossed on top, for the color); lightly-toasted slices of Runner & Stone Bakery wheat and potato bread; the plates garnished with micro red Russian kale from Windfall Farms
• the music was the 1994 recording of the beautiful 1605 ‘Officium defunctorum: Misa de Requiem a 6’, by the Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria, performed by the Gabrieli Consort inside a Northumbrian priory

I’ve been talking about cold weather food for days, and while this meal continues the theme, the appearance of tomato, and sorrel this time (although both were grown inside), suggests relief might be on the way.

It was still an oven-baked dish, and the bok choy was a local January/February phenomenon discovered in the Union Square Greenmarket after weeks without any real green vegetables, or at least none on my visits afternoons, and it was the last bundle on the table when I arrived at the farm stand.

• two 8-ounce kennebec potatoes from Rick Bishop’s Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, washed, but not peeled, sliced thinly with a sharp knife, tossed in a ceramic oven pan with two tablespoons of butter which had already been allowed to melt inside the pan over a very low flame (I stepped away for a minute, and when I looked back, I saw, scarily, that the butter had begun to brown a bit in the center of the clay casserole; I stopped it before any harm was done and I think the slight browning actually added more flavor to the dish), some sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper added, the potatoes then spread evenly, roasted at 425º, sprinkled after 12 minutes with one large sliced scallion from Philipps Farms, and, at roughly 20 minutes, a few Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market, each sliced horizontally into 3 sections and lightly seasoned, the pan remaining in the oven a few minutes longer, for what would be a total of about 25-30 minutes, when they had begun to brown, when one 17-ounce haddock fillet from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, cut crosswise into two pieces of equal weight, ws placed on top of the vegetables, the fish spread with softened knobs from a little more than one tablespoon of butter, some sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, the pan returned to the oven for 10, maybe 13, minutes, or until the fish was just done, or cooked through, its contents arranged on the plates, the fillets topped with fresh baby sorrel from Two Guys from Woodbridge that had been just slightly heated in a little butter
• several small heads of bok choy from Philipps Farms, the last in their stand when I arrived, the leaves separated from the base, very thoroughly washed and drained, halved crosswise, the stems stirred into a large antique large copper pot inside of which 2 bruised and halved garlic cloves from John D. Madura Farms had been heated until beginning to brown, the thinner, leaf ends added a few seconds later, occasionally introducing some of the water which they had shed after being washed, the greens cooked until barely tender, their stems still a little crunchy, seasoned with salt and pepper, arranged on the plates, and drizzled with a little more olive oil
• the wine was a really awesome Australian (VictoriaAppellation/Goulburn Valley) white, Ben Haines B Minor Rousanne Marsanne 2016, from Copake Wine Works
• the music was Bellini’s opera semiseria, ‘La Sonnambula’, Evelino Pidò conducting the Lyon Opera Orchestra and the Lyon Opera Chorus 

It was still bitterly cold out, but we’d enjoyed our home and body-warming meat ration the day before. Normally the alternative for a meal on a day when there was no market in Union Square would be a boiled pasta dish, but it seemed to both of us that a baked pasta would be much more satisfying, given the weather outside, and temperatures in the high 60s inside.

We had almost none of the ingredients I usually incorporate in these dishes, but I looked deeper in the file I keep for oven pastas and found one recipe that matched what we did have, and, except for 2 of the 3 cheeses, all of the ingredients would be local.

Even after I discovered that I didn’t have a large enough number of Brussels sprouts, I was able to recover, deciding that my large stock of winter kale, also local produce, could be substituted for the amount missing. I hope to make this dish again, but I’d try really hard to make it as it was deigned, using Brussels sprouts alone, because they have a sweetness other brassicas lack, regardless of their own virtues, and I also think I would want to roast them, for even greater flavor, rather than include them in the water with the pasta and the potatoes.

I didn’t have quite enough pasta, even putting 2 different hearty local artisanal varieties together, so I added a second potato, the same kind as the first. This may have produced an ambiguity in that part of the headline at the top of this post, which I had composed before I began cooking.

The recipe doesn’t mention salt, except for generously adding some to the pasta and potato cooking water, nor is pepper included, but both would be appropriate additions at the time the contents of the casserole are arranged; I also added a bit of dark dried habanada pepper at the same time.

We didn’t finish half of the dish on Thursday, but it’s likely to taste even better when we return to it.

• otherwise, the recipe is Nigella Lawson’s, and the ingredients I used were a mix of 2 locally-sourced Sfoglini pastas, Whole Grain Reginetti and Rye Trumpets; a small-ish stalk of Brussels sprouts from Race Farm, winter kale from Philipps Farms, 2 Kennebec potatoes from Rick Bishop’s Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, a “local ricotta” (although the actual source was not indicated), an imported Swiss gruyere, a 24 month-aged parmigiano reggiano, Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’, a house Portuguese olive oil, and fresh sage leaves, all from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, and one large minced garlic clove from John D. Madura Farms
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) red, Centopassi, Nero d’Avola ‘Argille di Tagghia Via’ 2016, from Astor Wines
• the music was Bellini’s 1830 two-act tragedia lirica, ‘I Capuleti e i Montecchi’, Fabio Luisi conducting the Wiener Symphoniker and the Vienna Singakademie, with  Robert Gleadow, Anna Netrebko, Tiziano Bracci, Elina Garanca, and Joseph Calleja 

It was winter, the temperature was going to go down into the single digits, and we still didn;t intend to turn on any of the apartment radiators. I took a small roast out of the freezer the night before, thinking we’d appreciate having the oven going Wednesday evening, but also fully aware that a rack of goat, some spicy crispy roast potatoes, and savory braised cabbage would be more than just protection from the cold.

• one goat loin rack (21 ounces) from Lynn Haven in the Union Square Greenmarket, dry-marinated for about an hour, or a little more, outside the refrigerator [I had forgotten that the recipe suggested marinating for a few hours, mostly inside the refrigerator] in a mixture of rosemary leaves from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, removed from their stems; 2 medium crushed bay leaves from Westside Market; a bit of zest from an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market; a small part of one crushed dried dark habanada pepper; sea salt, and freshly-ground black pepper, then dried with paper towels and coated lightly with olive oil, the oven preheated to 425º and a heavy oval enameled cast iron pan placed inside for 10 minutes, the goat arranged, flesh side down, inside the hot pan and roasted in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes (for rare to medium rare doneness), allowed to rest for 7 minutes or so, the ribs separated into 4 chops with a heavy knife and arranged on 2 plates, finished with a squeeze of the lemon from which the zest had been removed earlier, drizzled with a bit of olive oil, garnished with micro red mustard from Two guys from Woodbridge
• twelve ounces of ‘red thumb’ small-medium potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm (some of the potatoes were quite red inside as well as out; today I asked the farmers about it and was told it wasn’t a mixup of varieties, but a characteristic quirk of this one), halved lengthwise, tossed with a little olive oil, sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a pinch of smoked Scotch Bonnet pepper from Eckerton Hill Farm, 6 medium-size rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm (unpeeled, to keep them from burning), roasted cut-side down inside a 400º oven on a large very well-seasoned Pampered Chef ceramic pan for less about 20 minutes [the potatoes were prepared and kept warm before the goat was placed in its pan and roasted] arranged on the plates and sprinkled with chopped parsley from Philipps Farms
• an indeterminate number of chopped scallions (maybe 5 or 6), a mix of red-skinned Japanese from Norwich Meadows Farm and the more conventional from Philipps Farms, the green parts kept separate and put aside, cooked, along with 2 chopped Keith’s Farm rocambole garlic cloves, over medium-high heat inside a large antique high-sided copper pot until the garlic had begun to color, or about 3 minutes, the remaining portion of a head of Chinese cabbage (8 ounces) from Norwich Meadows Farm, thinly sliced, stirred into the pot along with salt and pepper to taste and sautéed for about a minute, a few tablespoons of fresh water added and the contents of the pot cooked, tightly covered, until the cabbage was wilted (only seconds, or maybe up to a minute), the reserved cut green scallion sections now added and cooked, uncovered, stirring until most of the water had evaporated, or about one minute [these times will vary with the type and amount of cabbage], finished by stirring on less than a tablespoon of Columela Rioja 30 Year Reserva sherry vinegar
• the wine was a terrific Portuguese (Douro) red, Quinta do Infantado, Douro Tinto 2015, from Flatiron Wines (and a really wonderful pairing with this entrée)
• the music was the 2015 ECM album, ‘Mieczysław Weinberg: Chamber Symphonies; Piano Quintet’, Gidon Kremer directing the Kremerata Baltica

It was a great meal, with a good balance of flavors, textures, shapes, and colors. It was far better than I had anticipated, since it was pretty much arranged at the last moment.

It was also pretty carefree, since I had purchased the centerpieces of both courses already assembled.

The seafood salad purchased from a fisher’s stand at the Greenmarket can be tweaked in many ways, although so far I’ve not been very imaginative in presenting it..

• eight ounces of a squid and conch salad, with olive oil, parsley, red pepper, and lemon juice, from P.E. & D.D. Seafood in the Union Square Greenmarket, made by Delores Karlin, the wife of Phil Karlin, the fisherman, drizzled with juice from an organic Chelsea Whole Foods Market lemon and a little sea salt, and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged in a bed of some very welcome local arugula (in January!) from Philipps Farms
• slices from a loaf of bread from a Philadelphia bakery new to the Union Square market, Lost Bread Company‘s ‘Seedy Grains’ (wheat, spelt, rye, and barley organic bread flours; buckwheat; oats; flax sesame, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds; water, and salt)
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) white, Centopassi ‘Terre Rosse di Giabbascio’ Catarratto 2017, from Astor Wines

..and this delicious mushroom-filled ravioli is one of the most useful bases for improvising a meal that’s both tasty and easily assembled with ingredients available in the middle of a particularly-greens-starved winter.

• ten ounces of Rana portobello mushroom-and-ricotta ravioli (filled rounds of thin pasta) from Eataly Flatiron, boiled al dente inside a large pot of well-salted water for 2 minutes, drained, slipped into a large high-sided vintage tin-lined copper pan in which one ‘yellow shallot’ from Norwich Meadows Farm, chopped sections of several small stalks of celery from Philipps Farms, and a pinch from a gorgeous dried hickory-smoked very hot Jamaican Scotch bonnet pepper from Eckerton Hill Farm had been briefly sautéed until the shallot and celery had softened a bit over a moderate flame in a tablespoon or so of olive oil, a bit of pasta water added along with the pasta and the mix stirred over a moderate to high flame until the liquid had emulsified, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, a dozen or so pitted kalamata olives from Buon Italia stirred in, a few chopped celery leaves and a bit of chopped parsley from Philipps Farm, tossed in, the contents of the pot then placed in shallow bowls and finished with a drizzle of olive oil around the edges, a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts, and a garnish of micro red mustard from Two guys from Woodbridge
• the wine was an Italian (Piedmont/Albi) red, Barbera d’Alba, Oddero 2015, also from Astor Wines

 

• the music throughout the meal was Christopher Tignor’s album, ‘Along a Vanishing Plane’, heard through the musicians’ online publishing platform, Bandcamp

We love pollock.

Once I’ve arrive at whatever fish stall is in the greenmarket on any given day, if I haven’t focused on my choice right away, I’ll sometimes consult with Barry, slacking, asking what his preference might be, giving him a short list, or sending him an image of the menu board (the example above, showing relatively few choices, was from that day, a Monday, which is always slow). He suggested Pollock this time, because we both like it, because it’s still a great bargain, and because it had been a while since we’d had it.

It was also a nice excuse for serving the delicious coppa that remained in a package opened for a meal 2 days earlier.

• two or three ounces of Giorgio’s coppa picante from Eataly Flatiron, drizzled with a little olive oil, Badia a Coltibuono (Chianti/Siena/Italy) from Chelsea Flatiron
• sunflower shoots, from Windfall Farms, drizzled with the same Tuscan oil, a bit of juice from a local lemon grown by Fantastic Gardens of New Jersey, sea salt, and freshly-ground black pepper  (pic)
• slices of Pain D’Avignon‘s ‘country sourdough bread’ from Foragers Market

While I was serving it, Barry called this entrée “classic James”, because something like it does manage to appear over and over again on this site: white fish/potato/something green.

• one 18-ounce white-fleshed pollock fillet from P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company, rinsed, dried, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper, placed skin side down inside a buttered oval tin-lined copper au gratin pan, dappled with a mixture of softened unsalted Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ mixed with zest from most of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, a little chopped rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm, slices of a scallion from Phillips Farms, and part of a piece of a  crushed orange/gold home-dried Habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm, baked for about 15 to 17 minutes at 350º, removed to 2 plates, the little bit of cooking juices that had accumulated poured over the top, and a teaspoon or so of Sicilian salted capers, which had first been rinsed, drained, and dried, then heated briefly inside a small antique enameled cast iron porringer in a bit of olive oil, scattered while still warm on top of the fillets, along with the oil in which they had been heated, the pollock finished with a garnish of micro red mustard from Two guys from Woodbridge
• a few ounces of ‘pinto’ potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, scrubbed, boiled unpeeled in generously-salted water until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried in the still-warm large vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, tossed with a little Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’, seasoned with salt and pepper, scattered with some chopped thyme (with some of the leaves purple) from Philipps Farms
• several handfuls of a curly winter kale from Philipps Farms [winter kales are sturdier than their older cousins, which have disappeared from the market by January; they tend to not wilt down as much when sautéed, an attractive quality for the frugal cook, during a season when the farmers have justly to ask higher prices for this wonderful green; also, light frosts only make the leaves of this hybrid taste even sweeter, a treat for the diner], sautéed, until mostly wilted, in olive oil in which 2 bruised and halved Keith’s Farm rocambole garlic cloves had first been allowed to sweat and begin to brown, then seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little more olive oil

 

• the wine through both courses was a Spanish (Penedès) white, Cellar Mas Candí Desig 2017, from Foragers Wines
• the music throughout the meal was the exciting DGG album, ‘Aeria: Anna Thorvaldsdottir’

I see a bay leaf in a food photograph, or I see a bay leaf mentioned in a recipe, and I think ‘savory’; it’s not actually the definition of savory, it just happens to be the ingredient I most associate with the word.

This pasta was savory.

It started with Mark Bittman’s recipe for ‘Pasta with Savoy Cabbage. I mostly halved the ingredients he specified, and I used a very different pasta from the one he mentions.

• in my version there were 8 ounces of Sfoglini rye trumpets (organic rye flour, organic durum semolina flour, water); 2 cloves of Keith’s Farm rocambole garlic, 2 bay leaves from Westside Market, 2 rinsed salted anchovies and half of a dried Calabrian peperoncino from Buon Italia; 8 ounces of shredded Chinese cabbage from Norwich Meadows Farm; a quarter cup of white wine; a bit of dried orange/golden habanada pepper; some chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge; and I added a bit of olive oil around the pasta once it had been arranged in 2 shallow bowls
• the wine was an Italian (Veneto) white, Pra, Soave Classico ‘OTTO’ 2017, from Flatiron Wines 

• the music was a recording of Wagner’s first great success, his 1846-1847 opera, ‘Lohengrin’, which premiered in Weimar in 1850, under the direction of Franz Liszt, a close friend and early supporter [the composer wasn’t able to attend the first performance because he had been exiled for taking part in the failed revolution in Dresden the year before – see his wanted poster above], with Semyon Bychkov conducting the Cologne West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Chamber Chorus, and the Cologne West German Radio Chorus

[the image of Wagner’s wanted poster is from Wikimedia Commons]