I like the landscaping.

There were two courses. While the the image above is of the second one, I wanted to lead with it rather than with the mackerel toasts, because almost that same appetizer had shown up on this blog only recently.

In the interim I had located some fresh chives, which improves the flavor of the mix, and which I didn’t have when I first whipped up the spread on Saturday. On the other hand, by Monday, when I was ready to serve the rest of it, I had lost my supplies of small greens, so I used a few chive stems as a rudimentary bed.

• the remainder of a smoked mackerel spread that had been prepared and served two days before (one 8-ounce smoked whole mackerel from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, skinned, its flesh removed from the backbone and the larger ribs discarded as it was broken up and placed inside a bowl, where it was joined by about a third of a cup of Riverine Ranch water buffalo milk labneh, a tablespoon or more of chopped Japanese scallions, a teaspoon of zest and a tablespoon of juice from an organic Chelsea Whole Foods Market lemon, a little freshly ground black pepper, and a complex powdered Nigerian cayenne, now with the addition of a generous amount of sliced fresh chives from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, swiped onto toasted slices of a sourdough bâtard from She Wolf Bakery, and placed on a few lengths of the same chives, with lemon quarters served on the side

The fish in the main course was not smoked, and in fact it was so fresh that it had almost certainly still been swimming off Long Island when I was originally mixing the mackerel spread 2 days before.

But first a look at my shiny re-tinned au gratin pan, the midwife of the baked pollock entrée.

• two pollock fillets (a total of 20 ounces) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company, rinsed, dried, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper, placed skin side down inside a buttered oval newly-retinned copper au gratin pan, dabbed with a mixture of softened unsalted Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ combined with zest from most of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, a little chopped ‘music garlic’ from Windfall Farms, slices of a Norwich Meadows Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, and part of a piece of a crushed  orange/gold home-dried Habanada pepper, also from Norwich Meadows Farm, baked for about 16 or 17 minutes at 350º, removed to 2 plates and kept warm on top of the flat top of the 1936 Magic Chef oven, the little bit of cooking juices that had accumulated poured over the fillets, and a teaspoon or so of Sicilian salted capers, which had just been rinsed, drained, and dried, and heated briefly inside a small antique enameled cast iron porringer in a bit of olive oil, scattered on top of the fillets while the capers were still warm, along with the oil in which they had been heated, the pollock finished with a garnish of micro red mustard from Two guys from Woodbridge

• a handful of beautiful and absolutely delicious ‘frizzy mustard’ greens from Norwich Meadows Farm, barely heated in a little olive oil in which 2 halved cloves of garlic had been allowed to sweat a bit, seasoned with salt and pepper and finished on the plates with a drizzle of olive oil

 

• the wine throughout was a Spanish (Valencia) white, Celler del Roure ‘Cullerot’ Blanco 2017, from Astor Wines
• the music throughout the meal was a 2001 recording of Gluck’s 1779 ‘Iphigenie en Tauride’ (which fully embodies the composer’s operatic reforms), Marc Minkowski conducting Les Musiciens du Louvre and le Choeur des Musiciens du Louvre, with Laurent Alvaro, Mireille Delunsch, Simon Keenlyside, Yann Beuron, Laurent Naouri, Alexia Cousin, Michèle Norman-Webb, Claire Delgado-Boge, and Nicki Kennedy

We love pollock.

Once I’ve arrive at whatever fish stall is in the greenmarket on any given day, if I haven’t focused on my choice right away, I’ll sometimes consult with Barry, slacking, asking what his preference might be, giving him a short list, or sending him an image of the menu board (the example above, showing relatively few choices, was from that day, a Monday, which is always slow). He suggested Pollock this time, because we both like it, because it’s still a great bargain, and because it had been a while since we’d had it.

It was also a nice excuse for serving the delicious coppa that remained in a package opened for a meal 2 days earlier.

• two or three ounces of Giorgio’s coppa picante from Eataly Flatiron, drizzled with a little olive oil, Badia a Coltibuono (Chianti/Siena/Italy) from Chelsea Flatiron
• sunflower shoots, from Windfall Farms, drizzled with the same Tuscan oil, a bit of juice from a local lemon grown by Fantastic Gardens of New Jersey, sea salt, and freshly-ground black pepper  (pic)
• slices of Pain D’Avignon‘s ‘country sourdough bread’ from Foragers Market

While I was serving it, Barry called this entrée “classic James”, because something like it does manage to appear over and over again on this site: white fish/potato/something green.

• one 18-ounce white-fleshed pollock fillet from P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company, rinsed, dried, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper, placed skin side down inside a buttered oval tin-lined copper au gratin pan, dappled with a mixture of softened unsalted Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ mixed with zest from most of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, a little chopped rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm, slices of a scallion from Phillips Farms, and part of a piece of a  crushed orange/gold home-dried Habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm, baked for about 15 to 17 minutes at 350º, removed to 2 plates, the little bit of cooking juices that had accumulated poured over the top, and a teaspoon or so of Sicilian salted capers, which had first been rinsed, drained, and dried, then heated briefly inside a small antique enameled cast iron porringer in a bit of olive oil, scattered while still warm on top of the fillets, along with the oil in which they had been heated, the pollock finished with a garnish of micro red mustard from Two guys from Woodbridge
• a few ounces of ‘pinto’ potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, scrubbed, boiled unpeeled in generously-salted water until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried in the still-warm large vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, tossed with a little Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’, seasoned with salt and pepper, scattered with some chopped thyme (with some of the leaves purple) from Philipps Farms
• several handfuls of a curly winter kale from Philipps Farms [winter kales are sturdier than their older cousins, which have disappeared from the market by January; they tend to not wilt down as much when sautéed, an attractive quality for the frugal cook, during a season when the farmers have justly to ask higher prices for this wonderful green; also, light frosts only make the leaves of this hybrid taste even sweeter, a treat for the diner], sautéed, until mostly wilted, in olive oil in which 2 bruised and halved Keith’s Farm rocambole garlic cloves had first been allowed to sweat and begin to brown, then seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little more olive oil

 

• the wine through both courses was a Spanish (Penedès) white, Cellar Mas Candí Desig 2017, from Foragers Wines
• the music throughout the meal was the exciting DGG album, ‘Aeria: Anna Thorvaldsdottir’

We’ve been big fans of pimientos de padron for more than a decade, later including Shishito peppers, their east Asian cousins, in the same category.

The excellent Pollock is a very different thing, and in its case our modest fan club only goes back about 18 months, but we’re as fond of it as we are of the peppers. Curiously, the American general public’s awareness of the beauties of our genus pollachius is today roughly at the same level as the peppers were to us, and, I would say, to many others, when we first tried them in 2007: Most people are something of a state of ignorance about Pollock, mostly because they never hear about it.

I decided that was a respectable excuse for including the two in the same meal.

• a couple handful of Shishito peppers from Alewiife Farm, washed, drained, dried, then sautéed over medium high heat in a broad cast iron pan for a few minutes, stirring, then salted and served on plates, more, Maldon salt added
• slices of a sesame baguette from Bread Alone Bakery (they’ve decided to put the sesame inside, apparently to reduce defections of the seeds)

The pollock showed up for the main course.

• two 8-ounce white-fleshed pollock filets from American Seafood Company, rinsed, dried, halved, and seasoned on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed skin side down inside a buttered oval tin-lined copper gratin pan, spread with a mixture of softened unsalted Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ that had been mixed with zest from most of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, a little chopped, almost mature Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm, slices of a section of one young red onion (something like a red scallion) from Berried Treasures Farm, a bit of a finely-chopped aji dulce pepper (with a mild, smoky flavor, and sweet, not hot) from Eckerton Hill Farm, the fish baked for about 15-17 minutes at 350º, removed to 2 plates, the little bit of cooking juices that had accumulated poured over the top, and a teaspoon or so of Sicilian salted capers, which had first been rinsed, drained, dried and heated briefly inside a small antique enameled cast iron porringer in a bit of olive oil, scattered while still warm on top of the fillets, along with the oil in which they had been heated, the pollock finished with a garnish of what looks in the image like green fireworks ‘brocades’, but was actually only sprays of dill flower buds from Willow Wisp Farm

• something of a mélange of heirloom (and other?) tomatoes from Eckerton Hill Farm, some of them sliced, heated in a little olive oil inside a medium high-sided antique copper pot, seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled with some extremely pungent basil buds from Windfall Farms
• there were more slices of the same Bread Alone Bakery baguette, to help with enjoying the 2 sauces on the plates
• the wine was a California (Central Coast/Santé Ynez Valley) white, Rick Boyer Santa Ynez Valley Dry White Blend 2017, from Naked Wines
  by Rick Boyer
• the music was Christoph Willibald, Ritter von Gluck’s 1777 opera, ‘Armide’,  Marc Minkowski conducting Les Musiciens du Louvre 

This is an absolutely terrific fish, and I did particularly well by it on Monday night, thanks to a wonderful recipe I’ve used often, with some variations, but whose origin I no longer remember.

• *one 20-ounce fillet of pollock from P.E.&D.D. Seafood, rinsed, dried, halved, and seasoned on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed skin side down inside a buttered an oval tin-lined copper gratin pan, spread with a mixture of softened unsalted Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ mixed with zest from most of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, a very little chopped Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm, slices of part of one Japanese scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, and part of a piece of a  crushed orange/gold home-dried Habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm (harvested fresh last fall), the fish baked for about 15-17 minutes at 350º, removed to 2 plates, the cooking juices poured over the top, and a teaspoon or so of Sicilian salted capers, which had first been rinsed, drained, dried and heated briefly inside a small antique enameled cast iron porringer in a bit of olive oil, scattered over the fillets, with that oil, the pollock finished with a garnish of micro chervil from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• *Nicola potatoes from Tamarack Hollow Farm, 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 2 tablespoons of rich Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’, sprinkled with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and then some chopped winter savory from Stokes Farm

• *several stalks of celery (noting here that this is in late January) from from Phillips Farms, their leaves removed and and the best reserved for another day, trimmed, tossed with olive oil, sea salt, and freshly-ground pepper, pan-grilled until slightly carbonized but still pretty crunchy, finished with lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge.
• the wine was a New Zealand (North Coast) white, Shebang, North Coast White ‘Cuvee IV’, NV, from Flatiron Wines & Spirits
• *the music was an absolutely fantastic album, in both conception and execution, ‘Time Present and Time Past’, Mahan Esfahani performing, with Concerto Köln, music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Francesco Geminiani, Henryk Górecki, Steve Reich, Alessandro Scarlatti, and, on digital tracks, G.F. Handel, works which were either composed for or transcribed for his preferred instrument, the harpsichord

It is a fine fish, and this recipe is very fine; also, together, fish and recipe can offer some interesting variations, including many more than I have essayed, although I have to admit that this one has become almost a standard for me.

• one 15-ounce pollock fillet from Pura Vida Seafood, rinsed, dried, halved, and seasoned on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed skin side down inside a buttered an oval tin-lined copper gratin pan, spread with a mixture of softened unsalted Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ mixed with zest from most of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, slices of one tiny leek from Willow Wisp Farm, and part of a piece of crushed orange/gold home-dried Habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm (harvested fresh in the early fall of 2016), the fish baked for about 15 minutes at 350º, removed to 2 plates, the cooking juices poured over the top, and a teaspoon or so of Sicilian salted capers, which had first been rinsed, drained, dried and heated briefly inside a small pan in a bit of olive oil, scattered over the fillets, with the oil, the pollock finished with a garnish of micro kohlrabi from Windfall Farms
• four small Rose Valley potatoes from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, boiled with a generous amount of salt until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried while still inside the medium-size still-warm vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, tossed with a tablespoon or so of our rich ‘house butter‘, sprinkled with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a small amount of chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge, finished on the plates with sprinkled with ‘beet chips’ (thin slices, oven-dried) from Lani’s Farm
• one medium head of tardivo radicchio from Campo Rosso Farm, prepared pretty much according to this simple recipe, that is, washed under cold running water, the moisture shaken off, each head cut in half lengthwise, and a V-cut made most of the way through the root end to allow it to cook more rapidly, the halves arranged inside a small Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic oven pan cut side up, covered with thyme sprigs from Stokes Farm, seasoned generously with salt and pepper and drizzled with a tablespoon of olive oil, baked inside a 400º oven for about 12 minutes, turned over, baked for some 8 minutes more, turned a second time so the cut side is once again up, returned to the oven, this time for only a couple minutes or so, or until the stems were tender when pierced with a thin blunt metal pin (my all-purpose tester), removed from the oven, and in this case then kept somewhat warm until the pollock had been baked, since the temperature of the oven had to be reduced to 350º for its cooking [the tardivo can be served either hot or warm]
• the wine was a French (Loire) white, Pierre Riffault Le Bois Boutteux Sancerre 2016, the generous gift of some artist friends
• the music was the 1742 opera by Handel (and others), a pasticcio, ‘Catone’,  Carlo Ipata conducting the ensemble, Auser Musici