more colorful than I expected (particularly impressed with the Blaukraut)

 

I had intended to pick up seafood at the Greenmarket, Monday, but the fisher family was unable to make it that day. I didn’t have a backup entrée, at least nothing that wasn’t frozen, so I picked up a fresh boneless duck breast at Eataly on my way home.

The rest of the meal then just came together, some of it having shown up in earlier dinners.

• one 12-ounce Pat LaFrieda boneless duck breast from Eataly, its fatty side scored by a very sharp knife with cross-hatching, sprinkled with a mixture of salt, ‘India Special Extra Bold’ Tellicherry peppercorns, and a bit of turbinado sugar (which had been infused in over time with a vanilla bean), the breast left standing for about an hour before it was pan-fried over medium heat with a little of the strained lard (labelled ‘Morrell Snow Cap Manteca’, from Eataly) used in an earlier meal, and finished with a drizzle of organic lemon, sprinkled with chopped thyme from Hawthorne Valley Farm, and dressed with a bit of olive oil
• some very interesting arugula (including some purple elements) from Lani’s Farm, briefly stirred in a little warm olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of lemon
• a very small amount of red cabbage from Paffenroth Gardens Farm, which had remained unused in the meal with smoked trout, braised with warm olive oil, over a moderately high heat until it sizzled, covered and cooked over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until just tender, uncovered, a bit of lemon juice and crushed dry peperoncini added, seasoned with salt and pepper, and once it arrived on the plates, sprinkled with sautéed breadcrumbs left over from the orecchiette meal
• just under a pound of white sweet potatoes from John D. Madura Farm, scrubbed, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch slices, tossed in a bowl with olive oil, one large garlic clove from Northshire Farm, thickly-sliced, a medium-size branch of fresh rosemary from Hoeffner Farms, chopped, salt, and pepper, then spread in one layer on the surface of my faithful, well-seasoned Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic oven pan, the pieces of garlic placed on top of some of the potato to avoid burning, and roasted at 375º for about 40 minutes, or until cooked through and browned
• the wine was a California (Calaveras) red, F. Stephen Millier Angels Reserve Red Angel 2013, from Naked Wines
• the music was from an album, ‘Oyan‘, featuring the Azerbaijan composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, performed by Konstantin Manaev on cello, the composer on piano, and Alexander Matrosov on accordian