It was a meaty dinner.

The first course was a do-it-yourself project constructed around a wonderful pork mousse that had been made on a Columbia County farm, Raven & Boar, installed at the Union Square Greenmarket for the first time ever on Wednesday. where it was selling its very singular produce, farm-made pork charcuterie.

• a small 3-ounce jar of Hudson Vally Charcuterie Mousse de Foie/Pork Liver Mousse from pastured heritage, whey fed pigs
• a bit of fresh ‘red streak mustard’ from Alewife Farm
• horseradish pickles from Millport Dairy Farm
• a few tablespoons of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’
• thin toasts of 2 different breads, an elegant wheat baguette from Bread Alone, and a sturdy wheat and spelt loaf, Philadelphia’s Lost Bread Co. pane di tavalo (rustic Italian-style, charred crust with notes of coffee and cacao, baked with organic bread flour, spelt, malted barley, salt, water, yeast, which the bakers say they’ve modeled after a famous loaf from the town of Genzano, near Rome)
• the wine was a fruity California (Lodi) white, F. Stephen Millier Angels Reserve Lodi White 2017, from Naked Wines

The main course stayed with the theme, but with everything cooked this time.

• two 8-ounce local Dutchess County venison t-bone steaks from Quattro’s Game Farm, in the Union Square Greenmarket, defrosted overnight and brought to room temperature, rinsed, dried, rubbed with olive oil and a very generous coating of freshly-cracked black peppercorns, set aside on the counter covered with waxed paper for about an hour, then placed over moderately high heat in 1 to 2 tablespoons of a combination of butter and olive oil inside a heavy oval 11-inch enameled cast iron pan, cooked rare to medium rare, which meant little more than 2 minutes on each side, or until juices had begun accumulating on the top, transferred to warm plates to rest while the bottom of the pan was scraped with a wooden spatula to collect the juices and 2 tablespoons of a decent brandy (I used Courvoisier V.O. this time) added to the pan and briefly cooked over high heat, until it had almost become a syrup, the sauce poured over the meat, which was then garnished with micro red chard from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• just before the venison was being prepared, nine ounces of thickly sliced, meaty spring shiitake mushrooms from Joe Rizzo’s small farm near Ithaca, Blue Oyster Cultivation, purchased from his tables in the Union Square Greenmarket, were tossed into a large enameled cast iron pan in which 2 or 3 tablespoons  of butter had been melted over a high flame, the fungi seared until they had begun to brown, a little more butter and some sliced green, or spring, garlic from John D. Madura Farms added, the mushrooms salted now as they cooked a bit more, and when they were ready, some chopped parsley from Phillips Farms tossed in and combined with them, the mushrooms distributed between the 2 plates next to the chops, with a little more parsley tossed on top

• some loose tender, sweet collard green leaves from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, only the stems below the leaves removed first, washed 3 times, drained (some of the water retained and held aside to be added, as necessary, near the end of the time the greens were cooking), chopped just a bit, then braised gently until barely softened or wilted inside a large, antique copper pot in which 2 cloves of garlic from Foragers Market had first been heated until they had softened, seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, finished with a small drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a Portuguese (Douro) red, Xisto Ilimitado Tinto 2016, from Crush Wine

 

• the music throughout the meal was the album, ‘Laurence Crane: 6 Trios, 2 Solos and 1 Quintet’, performed by the Holt Quartet

There were flowers on the table (primrose this time), as there often are in the spring, because, well…

Meat and potatoes. And greens.

• two incredibly delicious sirloin cap steaks (otherwise called ‘culotte’ here, ‘coulotte’ in France, ‘picanha’ in Brazil, or “the part where the cow was poked by ranchers“), from Sun Fed Beef/Maple Avenue Farms in their stall at the Union Square Greenmarket, brought to room temperature, seasoned on all sides with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, seared over a medium-high flame for less than a minute on the fat-covered side [this time, inexplicably, each had 2 fat-covered sides] inside an oval enameled heavy cast iron pan, the open sides cooked for 3 or 4 minutes each, removed from the pan at the moment they had become perfectly medium-rare, arranged on 2 warm plates, drizzled with juice from a local lemon grown by Fantastic Gardens of New Jersey, sprinkled with chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge, a little olive oil poured over the top
• about a pound of red thumb fingerling potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, halved lengthwise, tossed with a little olive oil, sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a bit of crushed light-colored home-dried habanada pepper (originally purchased fresh from Norwich Meadows), 6 or 7 medium-size rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm (unpeeled, to keep them from burning), the potatoes roasted cut-side down inside a 375º oven on a large very well-seasoned Pampered Chef ceramic pan for about 20 or 25 minutes, arranged on the plates and garnished with red micro chard from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• one bunch of collard greens from Lani’s Farm, the stems removed, washed 3 times, drained (some of the water retained and held aside to be added, as necessary, while the greens cooked), chopped into smaller pieces, braised gently until softened/wilted inside a large, antique copper pot in which 2 halved cloves of ‘music’ garlic/aka ‘strong neck’ garlic from Windfall Farms had been heated until they had softened, seasoned with salt and black pepper, finished with a small drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a surprisingly light, but very sophisticated zinfandel, a California (Mendocino County) red, Les Lunes Venturi Vineyard Zinfandel 2015, from Copake Wine Works
• the music was a 2011 recording of Wagner’s 1862-1867 comic music drama, ‘Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg’, Marek Janowski conducting the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Radio Chorus 

Using what has long been my standard recipe, I can arrange pork chops with fixings appropriate for any season of the year, from farms and waters in the New York City area. On Sunday it was time for an autumn take.

I’m reading an unintended smiley face on the squash.

Also unintended, I ended up looking at a colorful golden chain after squeezing every wedge of a terrific heirloom winter squash onto a single oven pan (necessity here the mother of an accident, not invention).

• two 9-and-a-half-ounce blade pork chops from Flying Pigs Farm, rinsed, thoroughly dried, seasoned with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a part of one crushed dried red shishito pepper from Lani’s Farm before being seared quickly in a heavy enameled cast-iron pan, half of a large organic Whole Foods Market lemon squeezed over the top (the lemon then left in the pan between them, cut side down), the chops placed in a 400º oven for about 13 minutes altogether (flipped halfway through, the lemon squeezed over them once again and replaced on the bottom of the pan), removed from the oven and arranged on 2 plates, some of the juices that remained in the pan poured over them, the remainder transferred to a glass sauce boat and placed on the table

• one 5 or 6-inch black futsu squash, of the moschata family, from Alewife Farm, scrubbed, halved, the seeds and pith removed, cut into just under one-inch wedges and mixed by hand inside a large bowl with a relatively small amount of olive oil, sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and pieces of golden dried habanada pepper, arranged on a large, unglazed, well-seasoned ceramic pan and roasted in the 425º oven on one side for 15 minutes, turned onto the other side and allowed to roast for 10 more minutes, removed from the oven and transferred to a large heavy copper pot in which 3 crushed cloves of Keith’s Farm rocambole garlic and half a dozen large sage leaves, also from Keith’s Farm, had been gently heated  in a bit of olive oil

• one bunch of medium size collard greens from Lani’s Farm, all the larger stems removed, washed 3 times, drained (some of the water retained and held aside to be added, as necessary, while the greens cooked), the larger leaves torn into smaller pieces, braised gently until softened/wilted inside a large, heavy enameled cast iron pot in which 2 cloves of Keiths Farm rocambole garlic had been heated until they had softened, seasoned with salt and black pepper, finished with a small drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, Matt Iaconis Lodi Albariño 2017, from Naked Wines
• the music was an album of Telemann Konzerte für Streicher (string concertos) performed by Musica Antiqua Köln

How many names can one fish support?

Cynoscion regalis: I want to call it Squetauge, because I like the sound, because it’s what they call it in Rhode Island, and because it’s what it was called by Americans long before there were any Europeans, Africans, or Asians to name anything.

Weakfish is the name by which it is generally known, I think, but it there are many other ways to designate this excellent eating fish.

My fish monger calls it ‘sea trout’, although it’s no relation to the true trout.

I go through this exercise about fish names a lot, with all sorts of species that we consume at home or elsewhere, but the reason I’m making something of it this time is that while I’ve cooked cynoscion regalis at least 5 times before, ‘sea trout’ didn’t show up on this blog site when I was standing at the fish stand trying to remember what I usually call that fish in the plexiglas window.

• 7 and a half-ounce fillets of Squeteague (aka ‘Weakfish’, Sea Trout, or Ocean Trout) from Pura Vida Seafood Company, marinated for more than half an hour, first in the refrigerator and then on the kitchen counter, in a mix of a fourth of a cup of olive oil, 2 minced cloves of Keith’s Farm rocambole garlic, and 7 different chopped or torn herbs (1 crushed fresh bay leaf from West Side Market, parsley and spearmint from Phillips Farms, rosemary from Willow Wisp Farm, lovage from Quarton Farm, and marjoram buds from Stokes Farm), drained, reserving some of the marinade, then sautéed, or fried, for about 2 minutes inside an antique lightly-oiled (one tablespoon), heavy tin-lined oval copper pan which had been pre-heated to medium-hot, skin-slide down first, then turned and cooked for another minute, arranged on the plates, brushed lightly with a bit of reserved marinade, garnished with micro red chard from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• five really special very ripe Mountain Magic tomatoes, halved, heated inside a small vintage Pyrex blue glass pan in a little olive oil, turning once, seasoned with sea salt, and freshly-ground black pepper,, arranged on the plate garnished with a bit of basil, the gift of Franca Tantillo of Berried Treasures Farm
• one bunch of collard greens from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, stemmed, washed 3 times, drained (some of the water retained and held aside to be added, as necessary, while the greens cooked), cut roughly and braised gently until softened/wilted inside a large, heavy enameled cast iron pot in which 2 cloves of Keiths Farm rocambole garlic had been heated until they had softened, seasoned with salt and black pepper, finished with a small drizzle of olive oil
• slices of a She Wolf Bakery polenta sourdough boule
• the wine was a California (Napa) red, La Tapatia Chardonnay Carneros 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was Handel’s 1726 opera seria, ‘Scipione’, in a performance by Les Talens Lyriques conducted by Christophe Rousset

The meal represented a pretty interesting mix of cultures, beginning with the exotic history of the sausage, which is described in this post.

• four fresh links of Louisiana German Coast-style spicy Andouille sausage from Schaller & Weber’s store, pan grilled for a few minutes, turning often until well scored on all sides, served with a bit of ‘Tanzeya‘, a Moroccan-inspired chutney from Ron & Leetal Arazi’s New York Shuk
• a few a few ‘Picasso potatoes‘ from Berried Treasures Farm, boiled with a generous amount of salt until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried while still inside the medium still-warm vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, tossed with a littleboiled 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 some rich Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ and sprinkled with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, garnished with dill flowers from Windfall Farms

• one bunch of collard greens from Lani’s Farm, stemmed, washed 3 times, drained, some of the water retained and held aside to be added, if necessary, as the greens cooked, cut roughly and braised gently until softened/wilted inside a large, heavy vintage, high-sided copper pot in which one sliced stem of spring garlic from Berried Treasures Farm had been heated until it also had softened, finished with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a small drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a California (Sonoma) red, Tom Shula California Red Blend 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was the album, ‘Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach: Sei concerti per il cembalo concertato‘, with Andreas Staier conducting the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra