thyme-grilled quail, chutney; roasted squash, sage; kale

It was Little Thanksgiving, as in Little Christmas?

Anyway it both looked and tasted like Thanksgiving, and it came with a lot less bother, and with almost no planning required.

four partially-boned (a treat for both cook and diners) Plantation Quail, from Greensboro, Georgia, purchased at O. Ottomanelli & Sons Prime Meat Market on Bleecker Street, dried on paper towels and rubbed with sea salt and one crumbled dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia, placed breast-side-down over medium-high heat on a two-burner cast iron ribbed pan, a number of sprigs of fresh thyme from S. & S.O. Farm scattered over each, grilled for about 5 minutes, turned and, ensuring that they were now resting on top of the thyme, grilled for another 5 minutes, served with a squeeze of Whole Food Market organic lemon and a drizzle of olive oil
quince and dried cherry chutney, made following this theKitchn.com recipe, using a shallot from Keith’s Farm, a garlic clove from Stokes Farm, quince from Red Jacket Orchards, dried sweet cherries from Whole Foods, fresh ginger from Lani’s Farm, and apple cider from Locust Grove Fruit Farm

one 5-inch black futsu squash from Norwich Meadows Farm, scrubbed, halved, the seeds removed, divided into one-inch wedges, brushed lightly with olive oil and rubbed with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and one section of a golden dried habanada pepper, arranged on a large, unglazed, well-seasoned ceramic pan and roasted on one side at 450ª for 15 minutes, turned onto the other side and allowed to roast for 15 more minutes, removed from the oven and the pan and stirred inside a sauté pan in which 2 cloves of Keith’s Farm garlic had been gently heated in a bit of olive oil along with some roughly-chopped sage from Phillips Farm
a small amount of red kale from Campo Rosso Farm, washed, drained, and wilted inside a large enameled cast iron pot in a tablespoon or so of olive oil in which one bruised and halved clove of Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm had first been allowed to sweat and begin to color, the greens seasoned with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and arranged on the plates and a little more olive oil drizzled on top
the wine throughout was a California (Lodi) red, David Akiyoshi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, from Naked Wines

There was a simple fruit course.