On Monday we’re going to be leaving the state for 5 days, so I’ve been carefully addressing the current apartment food stocks, to avoid leaving anything in the refrigerator that wouldn’t survive well.

I worry about the success of meals working under those constrictions, but so far it seems that I needn’t have.

• one thick triangular 13 and a half-ounce swordfish steak from Pura Vida Seafood Company, halved horizontally (making them, separately somewhat thinner than would be my preference), marinated on an ironstone platter for more than half an hour, turning once, in a mixture of olive oil, a tablespoon of fresh oregano from Keith’s Farm, a small amount of finely-chopped small ahi rico peppers (medium spiciness) from Alewife Farm, and a chopped stem of a small scallion, also from Keith’s Farm, drained well, the steaks covered on both sides with a coating of homemade dried breadcrumbs then pan-grilled over medium-high heat for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until just barely fully cooked all of the way through, removed from the pan and arranged on the plates, sprinkled with a little Maldon sea salt, and a bit of juice from a Whole Foods Market organic lemon squeezed on top, garnished with micro chervil from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• just under a pound of quite small ‘blue eyes potatoes’ from Berried Treasures Farm (I haven’t been able to find the potatoes on line), boiled with a generous amount of salt until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried while still inside the large still-warm vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, tossed with some good Portuguese olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates, where they were garnished with flowering dill from Rise & Root Farm

• ten or more ounces of small pink and yellow cherry tomatoes, also from Berried Treasures Farm, punctured with a small fork to keep them from exploding when pierced on the plates, heated in  a little olive oil inside a 10″ copper skillet, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, tossed with torn leaves of a Full Bloom Market Garden basil plant from Whole Foods, both before and after they were arranged on the plates
• the wine was an Italian (Sicily) white, Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco 2017, from Garnet Wines
• the music was a magnificent piece, Henry Brant‘s huge ‘Autumn Hurricanes’, described as “A Spatial Cantata for Widely Separated Vocal and Instrumental Groups”, from the album, ‘Henry Brant Collection Vol. 5’