(don’t look: the parmesan cheese shavings aren’t yet on top of the radicchio)
I was in between greenmarket days, and so there would be no fish. I wanted to serve something sturdy to go with the vegetables that had been accumulating in the larder, which meant serving pasta was out, and I had forgotten to defrost any of the chops in the freezer the night before.
I decided that salmon was what I needed. Whole Foods, which is 200 feet east of our back door, and frequently offers good previously-frozen wild salmon on sale, was teeming with people at 6:30 pm, presumably most of them frantically stocking up for the blizzard they expected would shut down the city 2 days later, so I didn’t even try picking up anything there. Instead I moved 9 blocks south, to Chelsea Market, and The Lobster Place, which I expected would present less of a panic environment.
I was right; I was easily able to pick up an attractive section of a wild King Salmon fillet, proceed to a checkout with no line whatever, and still visit a few other shops while I was there. No gentry panic anywhere in sight (although there were still more than a few tourists littering the main passageway).
- one 10.5-ounce fillet of Alaska King salmon from The Lobster Place, cut into two servings, placed, skin side up, in an oval, enameled cast iron pan in which about two tablespoons of unsalted ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘ (note: with 12 g total fat; when every other one available here has 11) had been allowed to heat until the foam began to recede, then placed in a 425º oven for about 7 minutes, or until barely cooked, flipped a little more than half way through, removed, arranged on plates, sprinkled with Maldon salt, freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, and chopped tarragon from Eataly
- one medium radicchio from Eataly, quartered lengthwise, placed in a small unglazed ceramic oven pan (Pampered Chef, seasoned), drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, roasted at 400º for about 12 minutes, turning once, finished with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, and, once I had remembered to do so, scattered with shavings of Red Cow Parmesan cheese from Eataly
- a handful of German Butterball potatoes from Berried Treasures, scrubbed, halved, tossed with olive oil, rosemary from Stokes Farm, salt, pepper, and whole garlic cloves (with husks) from Norwich Meadows Farm, spread onto an enameled cast iron pan and cooked at 400º until tender and browned, removed from the oven and halved Maine Backyard Farms cherry ‘cocktail’ tomatoes from Whole Foods placed in the midst of the potatoes
- the wine was a great Oregon (Willamette) red, Benton Lane Estate Grown Pinot Noir 2012
The meal had also included a primi, two cazuelas of penne rigatoni, the leftovers from its earlier visitation as a main course.
- the wine with the pasta course was a California (grapes from the Sacramento River Delta with a small amount of Viognier from Lod) white, Miriam Alexander Chenin Blanc 2014
- the music though both courses was Vivaldi’s opera, ‘Bajazet’, with Fabio Bondi conducting the ensemble Europa Galante, with, among others, Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, Marijana Mijanovic, Vivica Genaux, and David Daniels