The plated dish may not look quite as neat as it did the last time I prepared this dish, but it was almost as delicious.  Presentation counts, but it doesn’t really massage the flavor;  I think the difference lay in the fact that last November the squash I had was very special.

• one smallish Butternut squash from Keith’s Farm, peeled and cut into 1/4″ slices, roasted with butter in a large ceramic oven pan, removed from the oven, placed on serving plates and kept warm until finishing cooking the cod, for which it would be a base
• fillet of cod from American Fish Company, cut into four pieces, dredged in flour and seasoned, then quickly sautéed until slightly browned and just cooked through, removed and placed on top of the squash on serving plates, while additional butter was added to the pan and, after it had sizzled and browned, also some sherry vinegar, the sauce cooked for 10-20 seconds more before it was poured over the fish and the vegetable
• upland cress from Two Guys from Woodbridge, not dressed
• the wine was a new California white, Matthew Iaconis Napa Valley Chardonnay 2013 (it’s Matt’s, and it comes from Naked Wines; what’s not to love?)
• the music was Johann Friedrich Fasch and Ignaz Josef Pleyel (with no Furtwängler anywhere within hearing range this time)