I had bought two packages of smoked fish salad at the Union Square Greenmarket on Saturday, thinking we’d need that much for 4 people, but we only opened one of them that night. The 2 of us would share the contents of the other container on Monday and Tuesday.

• a composed smoked fish salad, or pâté, using local fish caught by Phil Karlin, whose wife, Dolores Karlin, made it, consisting of more than one white fish species, mayonnaise, red onion, and celery, from P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company (the salad was perfectly seasoned), served on slices of a loaf of ‘table bread’ from Philadelphia’s Lost Bread Co. that had just been toasted over an open gas flame on our ‘Camp-A-Toaster’
• leaves of loose small arugula from Norwich Meadows Farm, dressed with some very good unfiltered olive oil from the 6th Avenue Trader Joe’s, Maldon salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a drizzle of organic lemon juice from Chelsea Whole Foods Market

The main course, however, was all new. It was dominated by seafood as well, which, coincidentally, had come from the same fishers who had brought us both the fish in the pâté and the cod we had enjoyed on Saturday.

Also new – and quite old – was the very large tin-lined copper pan I used to cook the fish. Although they weighed barely a pound altogether, the area the fillets would occupy was larger than any pan surface I had (that is, other than a pretty enormous, beautifully-seasoned carbon steel long-handled fish skillet, which I could have used, since there would be no acid involved in the cooking).

The new pan was a triumph.

• eight small (2-ounce) Porgy fillets from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, rinsed, dried, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan-seared, along with 4 small thinly-sliced Japanese shallots from Norwich Meadows Farm, over medium heat inside a newly-acquired and newly-retinned 13″-round shallow antique copper pan in a bit of butter and a little olive oil, the fish basted with the contents of the pan more or less continually for about 2 minutes, using a small brush, then carefully turned over, and the heat reduced to low, a cover placed on the pan (I used a new, tempered-glass universal lid that almost fit snugly between the handles) and the filets cooked for about about another 2 minutes before the cover was removed and a mix of 2 or 3 tablespoons of 7 different fresh herbs thrown in (this time I used thyme and spearmint from Chelsea Whole Foods; parsley from Norwich Meadows Farm; lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge; oregano from Phillips Farms; tarragon from Flatiron Eataly; and basil from a friend’s indoor garden), after which the basting was continued for about minute, or until the fish was cooked through, the fillets then arranged on the 2 plates, the pan juices and scallion fragments, together with the juice of one organic Whole Foods Market lemon, poured over the top, and a few chopped green segments of scallion scattered over everything (the recipe has been slightly modified from one written by Melissa Clark)
• the greens from 2 bunches of French breakfast radishes purchased from Eckerton Hill Farm (most of the radishes themselves had been enjoyed at the beginning of the meal on Saturday)

 

• the wine through both courses was a Spanish (Galicia) white, Valdesil, Godello ‘Montenovo’ 2017, from Flatiron Wines [more about the area, ‘the golden valley’, including a picture of the vintner, Borja Prada, who is interviewed here (we love Galicia)]

 

There was a dessert this time, which is something of a rare occurrence at our table.

• small dishes of delicious La Loos goat milk ice cream, ‘Snowflake vanilla’, from Chelsea Whole Foods

• the music throughout was Rossini’s beautiful 1814 opera buffa, ‘Il Turco In Italia’, Riccardo Chailly conducting the Milan Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and the Milan Teatro alla Scala Chorus (the composer was 22 at the time it premiered; it was first staged in New York City in 1826

 

[the image above, a portrait of Gioacchino Rossini in a super dressing gown, or banyan, by an unidentified artist, is apparently from the Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung – Universität zu Köln, via Pinterest (which does not load)]

The meal was surf [but with a pork casing] & turf [otherwise only vegetables], even if it looks downright earthy.

It was.

• four sweet seafood sausages from The Lobster Place [salmon, shrimp cod, scallops, Italian seasonings, fennel seed, shallots, pepper, fresh parsley, pork casing] pan-grilled for about 10 minutes, turning regularly, accompanied by a brown butter sauce made by melting a third of a stick of rich (with a higher fat percentage than virtually any butter available in stores in the U.S.) ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘ in a skillet over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally, until the milk solids had turned brown, removed from the heat, the juice of about a third of an organic lemon whisked in, along with 4 or 5 teaspoons (yeah) of brined wild capers (rinsed, drained, and dried), seasoned to taste with salt and butter, the chopped bulb of one ramp from Lucky Dog Organic Farms stirred into the butter, which was poured over the sausages on the plates, followed by a few washed sprigs of vetch [see image below] from Lani’s Farm, with their purple flowers
• kale from Alewife Farm, wilted in warm olive oil along with a small amount of thin strips of part of a seeded Sierra pepper, seasoned with salt and pepper, drizzled with a little more oil
• thin artichoke shoots from Lani’s Farm [see image below], washed, the stems separated from the leaves at the top and cut into one-inch lengths, sautéed in a heavy copper pan over medium heat until beginning to soften, then 2 Italian bay leaves, 1 finely-sliced clove of garlic from Trader Joe’s, introduced into the pan, along with the reserved leaves, stirred for a minute or so, and a small splash of white wine vinegar, salt, and pepper mixed in and cooked for a couple more minutes, the bay removed, and strips of the ramp leaves added
• the wine was a French (Provence) rosé, Triennes Vin de Pays de Mediterranée Rosé 2015, than which, although it was very good, it turned out something sturdier would have been more appropriate for this meal (we can’t always call it, especially when the meal is at least partially improvised at the last minute)
• the music was several works, including Nicolas Bacri’s Symphony No. 4, from the album, ‘Sturm Und Drang‘, which includes works by Bacri, Batiashvili, Leleux, Bezaly, Kantorow, and others

vetch [vicia ervilia]

 

spring shoots of Jerusalem artichoke [helianthus tuberosus]

It was the eve of the New Year, and we were stay-at-homes again, at least in part because we love the opportunity the holiday offers for enjoying simple dining pleasures (after all, the star of the show is the midnight hour itself).  I continue to think of this evening as very grownup, and yet pretty magical. that’s in spite of the fact that, purely as an astronomical phenomenon, it’s an invention, albeit an old one.  I also think that the food to accompany it, and there must be food if it’s a feast, should be elegant, even aesthetic, minimal, and suitable for the best champagne the pocket can support.

The meal this year was simple, and definitely an event, thanks to Eataly’s Luca Donofrio, above all to the kitchen skills of a good friend, and to the generosity of two others, and, at the very end, to the good counsel of the gentleman at Heathrow’s World Duty Free scotch kiosk, who pointed us in the right direction.

I know ‘simple’ may not seem a proper adjective for a meal of 6 courses, but there wasn’t actually that much food, even adding them all up, and the descriptions should be able to defend their spareness themselves.

 

• Spanish (Valencia) ‘Marcona’ almonds, ‘fritas‘, the gift of a friend
• eight ounces of spinach tagliolini from Eataly, cooked al dente, tossed in a warm bowl with softened, unsalted rich ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘, seasoned with Maldon salt and freshly-ground tellicherry pepper
• the wine up to this point was an Italian (Sardinia) white, La Cala Vermentino di Sardegna 2014

• two seafood sausages, the gift of a friend who is a master in his wonderful kitchen, pan grilled for a few minutes, accompanied by a brown butter caper sauce made by melting a third of a stick of Kerrygold butter in a skillet over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally, until the milk solids had turned brown, removed from the heat, the juice of about a third of one sweet (unidentified name) lemon from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island whisked in, along with 4 or 5 teaspoons of salted capers (rinsed, drained, and dried), seasoned to taste with salt and butter, sprinkled at the last minute with 2 teaspoons of whole baby chive plants from Rogowski Farm, served with slices of a fairly robust bread, Balthazar’s ‘Potato Fendu’, from Whole Foods

 

• Shushan sheep milk cheese from 2-Corner Field Farm, served with thin toasts of the same Balthazar potato bread

 

• the wine with the seafood and cheese courses was a champagne, Ployez-Jacquemart Extra Quality Brut from Flatiron Wines & Spirits

 

• the sweet was a fantastic gingerbread pastry from Dominique Ansel Bakery, the gift of a friend

 

• mixed unshelled nuts from Whole Foods, cracked at the table
• the drink with the nuts was Talisker Dark Storm, from Heathrow duty free

 

• the music playlist for the entire evening is pretty extensive, beginning with Pier Francesco Cavalli’s ‘Calisto‘, extending through Caroline Shaw’s ‘Partita for 8 Voices’, and ending with John Luther Adams’ ‘Become Ocean’

August 7, 2021

Because I had brought some terrific Bulgarian-stye feta cheese home from the Union Square Greenmarket, and because the mix of small heirloom tomatoes I’d picked up a number of days earlier was now perfectly ripe.

• A basket of small heirloom tomatoes, about a pound, a mix of shapes, sizes, and colors, from Eckerton Hill Farm in the Union Square Greenmarket tossed with a little Cretan olive oil and red wine vinegar; a bit of a garlic clove, chopped; two forms of oregano, dried Sicilian, crumbled off the stem, and fresh, the latter from our home herb garden and chopped; a tiny, thinly sliced red onion, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• the wine was a Portuguese (Biera) sparkling, Beira Extra Brut Rosé ‘3B’ Filipa Pato.

The main course was determined partly by the serendipitous spotting of what turned out to be the last specimen (I was told local restaurant chefs had scooped up all the rest) of a delicious Italian summer squash I rarely encounter, even among the creative farmers in Union Square: I didn’t have much choice in the larder when it came to meat or seafood, but I decided the frozen chicken thighs would make a great pairing with the very special zucchini.

• two 8-ounce chicken thighs (with bone and skin), from Ramble Creek Farm pastured birds, purchased in the Union Square Greenmarket, defrosted, rinsed, and brought to room temperature, a paste of 3 minced garlic cloves, fresh chopped rosemary from our garden, lemon zest, and a small amount of olive oil slid under the loosened skin, the chicken seasoned on all sides with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, browned in butter, 2 lemon quarters added to the bottom of the pan, which was then covered loosely in foil (it needn’t/shouldn’t be a tight seal) cooked over medium-low heat, turning occasionally, until the internal temperature was 155-165 degrees, or until the juices ran clear when pricked with a fork, which turned out to be roughly 12 minutes this time, then whole rosemary leaves added to the juices at the end, the chicken arranged on two plates, the sauce stirred a moment and poured over the top, micro cressida from Rooted Family Farm added as a garnish
• one 18 inch long, one-pound Ligurian summer squash, ‘crookneck squash’, ‘zucchina trombetta’, or ‘trombetta di Albenga‘, from Campo Rosso Farm, cut into half inch slices or half-moons, heated inside a large antique copper pot in a tablespoon of olive oil in which 2 sliced garlic cloves been allowed to soften and become fragrant over medium heat, now adding just enough vegetable broth or water (I used water) to cover the bottom of the pan (about 1/4 inches deep), plus a quarter cup of torn basil from the garden, the pot covered and the trombetta cooked until fork tender but still maintaining some resistance (so, al dente?), about 5 minutes, removed from heat and served garnished with more basil and some chopped fresh epazote from Acevedo’s Farm
• the wine was a box wine, a French (Burgundy, Coteaux Bourguignons) red, Hérisson Vin Rouge (pinot noir, gamay) 3L box AOP Bourgogne Passetoutgrains 2019

 

• the music throughout the meal was a brilliant recording of Beethoven’s ‘Fidelio’, Marek Janowski conducting the Dresdner Philharmonie, the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor, and the Dresden MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig, with Marek Janowski, Lise Davidsen, Christian Elsner, Georg Zeppenfeld, Günther Groissböck, Cornel Frey, Christina Landshamer, Johannes-Martin Kränzle, Aaron Pegram, Chao Deng

The table was awaiting the guests, but I had forgotten the genial service plates (very large, very shallow, very plain, clear glass) that I had found at a thrift shop long ago.

Aside from the fact that this would be one of the first dinners we would be sharing with friends since the epidemic began, the dinner itself would be an anomaly: The featured star of both the first and the second courses came from places other than our local greenmarket.

Our guests couldn’t join us on a Union Square Greenmarket day (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, year round) and I wanted to serve seafood, so early yesterday afternoonI I walked a few blocks west and south of the apartment to F. Rozzo & Sons. Louis Rozzo is a fourth-generation fish broker, head of a family business with a 121-year history in Chelsea. It was started by Louis’ Neapolitan grandfather in 1900, who bought the building in 1905, and serviced New York restaurants, eventually hotels and clubs as well, from a horse-drawn cart. Until recently, when the epidemic closed down virtually every one of his customers, 9 refrigerated trucks were doing the same duty as Felix’s cart; sadly, the single box van I see parked in front whenever I arrive is probably more than enough for his delivery needs today.

Rozzo has a Twitter presence, handled by Louis’ son: F. Rozzo & Sons @FRozzoandSons.

The shop now announces its stock each day with sandwich boards:

And this  is the ice vitrine inside the 159 9th Avenue building (between West 18th and 19th).

When our two guests had arrived for dinner, we nibbled on breadsticks and such, and enjoyed a sparkling wine, Apollonis “Authentic Meunier” Blanc de Noirs Brut, Loriot NV .

 

The first course was assembled with slices of smoked American farmed sturgeon (9 ounces total) from Grace’s Marketplace, placed on a bed of 2 small almost impossibly-thin hand sliced (I have a great knife) golden beets from from Phillips Farms, the slices first sprinkled with small amounts of wild fennel pollen from Buon Italia, dribbled with a good Cretan olive oil, and a little white balsamic vinegar, Condimento Bianco Barricato, the sturgeon itself topped with dollops of crème fraîche from Vermont Creamery (via Foragers Market), the cream having been mixed with lemon zest and chopped fresh za’atar from Rise & Root at the Union Square Greenmarket, the dish garnished with micro celery from Two Guys from Woodbridge.

The wine with the sturgeon was Francois Dubois Champagne Brut Tradition NV (Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay grapes).

 

The main course was nine (traditional fishmongers’ eight?) 3 to 4-ounce Chesapeake Bay soft shell crabs from F. Rozzo, brought to room temperature while I  trimmed them; the fishmonger had offered to do the cleaning, but I wanted them to “save face” at least until shortly before they had to expire, I thanked Tom and told him I’d do it in the kitchen a few hours later.

The crabs were sautéed on both sides (bottom first, but in the end served with that side down) over a medium-high flame in a quarter inch of olive oil inside a beautiful large (18 inch) French seasoned oval steel pan, for about 3  or 4 minutes altogether, or until their texture went from soft to taut, removed and arranged on the 4 warm plates.

There they were sprinkled with local Long Island (P.E. & D. D. Seafood) sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper, drizzled with lemon juice and garnished with micro cressida (similar to but spicier than cress) from Rooted Family Farm.

 

Accompanying the crabs were sixteen ounces of haricots verts from Migliorelli Farm, stems removed, but otherwise left whole, blanched, drained and dried in the same pan over medium heat, shaking, then set aside in a bowl and refrigerated until the crabs were about to be sautéed, at which time the beans were reheated in a little oil inside a heavy medium size vintage well-seasoned cast iron pan, finished with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and mixed with chopped parsley from Echo Creek Farm (the West 23rd St market).

The wine was a 2017 Ponzi Vigneto Chardonnay.

 

There was a simple cheese course. There are no pictures of the plates, but they were definitly pretty: triangles cut from a small (7 oz.) wheel of a Camembert-type cheese, “G.O.A.T.”, from West Meadow Farm and Dairy, served with cubes of Marmelada quince paste, from Portugal, and a sprinkling of micro red amaranth from BK Micro.

The wine with the cheese was Patrice Grasset Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2020.

 

We had an unusual after dinner drink, but these are unusual times, an extraordinary Barbancourt 15 Yr. Rhum, from Haiti, to which we were introduced by a Haitian friend.  The image below is of one of the glasses (short, heavy, ca. 1840’s, pressed), but the picture is from an earlier meal, and the contents then were a Sardinian digestif.

If anyone is wondering, we also drank chilled New York City water last night.

 

The music throughout the evening was from a “box set” (the equivalent of 6 CDs) of Haydn, ‘Music for Prince Esterházy and the King of Naples’