Having prepared flounder only 2 weeks earlier, last night I felt I had to try hard not to duplicate the same I had done then. The first step may have been a decision to foreswear my micro greens this time.

The result was every bit as delicious as what I somehow neglected at the time to describe as one of the very best flounders I had ever had.

Oh, and the eggplant, probably the last of a very long season, were equally delicious, and sweeter than they had been all summer and fall.

• 4 flounder fillets, for a total of 12 ounces, from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides, coated lightly with flour (I used North Country Farms Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour), then submerged in a shallow bowl containing a whipped mixture of 1/4 cup of milk, one large egg from Millport Dairy, and a pinch of salt, allowed to rest there until the vegetable had been grilled and set aside, removed from the bowl, the excess egg mixture allowed to drip off, fried in a pan with olive oil until golden, about two minutes for each side, transferred onto two warm plates, the pan returned to the heat, now turned lower, and 3 tablespoons of butter added, along with about a third of a cup of chopped Japanese scallions and one large habanada pepper, both from Norwich Meadows Farm, some salt and pepper, all allowed to cook together without browning for about one minute, stirring, then more than a tablespoon of lemon juice added, the sauce produced now poured over the plated fillets, which were sprinkled with chopped parsley from Norwich Meadows Farm and accompanied by organic lemon wedges from Whole Foods
• three small Japanese eggplant from Lani’s Farm and one from Norwich Meadows Farm, each cut into 1/2-inch slices lengthwise, brushed with a mixture of olive oil, finely-chopped garlic, chopped oregano from Stokes Farm, salt, and pepper, the slices pan-grilled, turning once or more, then arranged on an oval platter, sprinkled with whole oregano leaves, and drizzled with a little olive oil
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, JC van Staden Chardonnay Lodi 2015
• the music was a magnificent performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s 1733 opera, ‘Motezuma’, Alan Curtis conducting Il Complesso Barocco, with Vito Priante, Marijana Mijanovic, Inga Kalna, Roberta Invernizzi, Romina Basso, Maité Beaumont, et al. [the synopsis of this rendering of the historical Cortez-Montezuma encounter, includes a way surprising happy ending for the Aztec imperial couple, reminding me of the charming fantasies Melina Mercouri maintained, in ‘Never on Sunday‘, about the happy denouements of the Greek tragedies: “And then they all go together to the seashore!”