It was a beautiful Sunday dinner, pretty minimal for all of its luxuriousness.
The first course began with a delicious fresh spreadable local chèvre.
- chèvre from Lynnhaven Farm mixed with a little chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge, drizzled with a bit of Greek olive oil, a terrific seasoning salt (the gift of a friend who had been given the recipe, whose ingredients included sea salt, 5 different seasoning peppers, plus dehydrated vanilla, lemon and lime, by a chef in Baden-Baden), and freshly ground black pepper, spread on toasts of slices from a Bread Alone San Francisco sourdough
- a spray on the side of what I was told by the guys at the Norwich Meadows Farm Union Square Greenmarket stand was “London kale” (I think I need some enlightenment here, since they were delicious, but I can’t find anything with that name on line) dressed, dressed with the Greek olive oil, plus some local P.E. & D.D. Seafood Long Island sea salt, pepper, and drops of Rioja vinegar
- a small cup of delicious Mama Lil’s Oregon peppers, on the side, the gift of a friend
The main course was both familiar and new. The recipe was very familiar, but the the breed of duck and its farm source were new, at least in my cooking history.
- two small (8-ounce Peking duck breasts from Quattro’s Game and Poultry Farm, the fatty, skin sides scored in tight cross hatching with a very sharp knife, the breasts both rubbed, top and bottom with a mixture of sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a little turbinado sugar, left standing on the counter for about 45 minutes to an hour, then pan-fried, fatty side down first, turning once, inside a small oval enameled cast iron pan over medium heat for a total of about 8 minutes, since they were small, or perhaps until an instant read thermometer (which I never use with duck breasts) shows 135º, draining the oil after the first few minutes (the fat, strained, can be used in cooking at another time, if desired), removed when medium rare, left to sit for several minutes, covered loosely with tin foil, before they were drizzled with a little juice from an organic California lemon and some house Portuguese olive oil, both from our Chelsea Whole Foods Market, garnished with micro ‘Hong Vit‘ Asian radish greens from Windfall Farms
- Brussels sprouts from Migliorelli Farm, washed, trimmed, dried, tossed with olive oil, sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, this time also with several whole unpeeled Rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm, roasted in a 425º oven in a large unglazed Pampered Chef oven pan until they were browned and crisp on the outside, or for a total of aabout 15 minutes
- the wine was a French (Bordeaux/Saint Emilion) red, from a maker described on the web site of our favorite so-much-more-than-just-a-distributor as “a Saint Emilion Garagiste”, Jonathan Maltus Garagiste Bordeaux Supérieur 2017, from Naked Wines
- he music throughout the meal continued as the 2019 WKCR-FM Bachfestival, streaming