I was nattering with the mongers and wasn’t thinking much about the quantity of fish being drawn from the low tub nestled in the ice. I ended up with a pound of fish, a little more than I would normally buy, but the flounder was so terrific that both of us were very happy the number was a little generous.

The vegetable was equally delicious, an especially sweet and tender batch of young collards from some of my favorite farmers.

 

• six flounder fillets (exactly one pound) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides, coated lightly with well-seasoned flour (I used North Country Farms Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour), then submerged in a shallow bowl containing a mixture of one egg from Millport Dairy, a little whole milk, and a pinch of salt, allowed to stay submerged until the vegetable had been cooked and the remaining ingredients for the fish prepared, then removed from the bowl, placed inside a heavy enameled cast iron pan with 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil, on top of some chopped fresh oregano from Stokes Farm, a small amount of crushed, dark, dried heatless Habanada pepper acquired fresh from Norwich Meadows Farm, and some chopped scallions (with their green sections), fried over a brisk flame until golden, barely two minutes for each side, removed and arranged on the plates, 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of organic lemon juice added to the pan, along with a little salt and pepper, cooked over low heat for less than a minute, stirring, before being poured over the fillets, and a small amount of ‘Bull’s Blood micro beet’ from Windfall Farms scattered over the top
• three quarters of a pound of loose young collard greens from Race Farm, stemmed, cut in a very rough chiffonade, then braised in a heavy pot in which crushed garlic from S. & S.O. Produce Farms had been allowed to sweat with some olive oil, the dish finished with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a California (Napa Valley) white, Matt Iaconis Chardonnay Napa Valley 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was the album, ‘An Enchanted Being – Music Of Ileana Pérez Velazquez‘, the choice being a response to our having just finished watching Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Argentine’, the very topical first half (the second being, ‘Guerrilla’), of the political epic duology, ‘Che’, and it had moved us profoundly; we did not want to leave yet

I fiddled with this recipe a little each time I’ve brought it out. It was originally the late Kyle Phillips‘s terrific approach to cod, although it looks like I’ve only used it with hake until last night. I’ve finished it with with various toppings; this time I used fresh fennel flowers, and before that I played around a little more, adding a very special, incredibly delicious, not-really-hot-at-all new orange pepper variety to the pan before introducing the fish.

This one was better than ever, and for most of that I may be able to thank the heatless pepper.

The cod looked like this just before it was removed from the pan.

And these are some very special peppers. Haifa, of Norwich Meadows Farm, told me that she dries them to enjoy all year round; after my experience with this meal, I have to go back to get a stash to do the same.

• one 15-ounce cod fillet from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, handed off to me at noon that day at their Union Square stand by the owner and fisherman, Phil Karlin himself, which I divided expertly into 2 equal portions before they were dredged in seasoned coarse stone-ground flour and dipped in a beaten egg from Millport Dairy, sautéed briefly (about 3 minutes on each side) in butter along with a few sage leaves from Stokes Farm that I had dried over the last weeks, and one finely-chopped small orange (heatless) Habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm, drizzled with about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, tranferred onto the plates, the juices remaining in the pan distributed over them, followed by a sprinkling fennel flowers from Rise & Root Farm
• yellow zucchini (‘Goldbar zucchini’) from Sycamore Farms and dark green zucchini from Norwich Meadows Farm, sliced thickly, brushed (actually, massaged) with a combination of olive oil, finely-chopped German Hardneck garlic from Race Farm, salt, and pepper, pan grilled, turning once, until cooked though, then arranged on a platter, sprinkled with some chopped ‘Julip mint’ from Keith’s Farm and peppermint from Stokes Farm, drizzled with a little olive oil
• the wine was a California (Santa Ynez) white, Literally Chardonnay California 2013
• the music was an album of music by Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, ‘Mobile for Shakespeare’

The picture looks great, but it doesn’t tell everything.

The ingredients, and the recipes too, were excellent, but I’ll be honest: I made two blunders in the cooking process, although neither was much of a disaster, even a culinary disaster.

The hake fillet was pretty thick, thicker than those I normally have, and I underestimated the time it would require to cook. I had separated it into 2 pieces after I thought it was done, and they were already on the plates before I realized I was premature, so I quickly flipped off the garnish and returned them to the pan for another minute or so, replacing the micro scallions when they were returned.

The vegetables were also less than perfectly cooked, since I had let the chopped turnip, sautéed ahead of the others, get too carbonized, somewhat compromising enjoyment of the larger mix. The solution would be to simply pick out the more charred pieces, and it almost worked.

• one 13-ounce hake fillet from Pura Vida Fisheries, dredged in seasoned flour and dipped in a beaten egg from Millport Dairy, sautéed in butter along with a handful of marjoram leaves from Stokes Farm, drizzled with lemon juice and the pan juices that remained, sprinkled with some beautiful micro scallion from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• ten or so small purple Hinona Kabu turnips from Tamarack Hollow Farm, scrubbed, cut into small pieces, sautéed in olive oil inside a large enameled cast iron pan, followed by segments of a small fennel bulb, and cut some stems, from Stokes Farm, segments of a Chinese cucumber from Norwich Meadows Farm, and part of a small red Calabrian pepper, finely chopped, from Campo Rosso Farm, all cooked until beginning to caramelize, then seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled with chopped parsley from Keith’s Farm and chopped fennel frond, arranged on plates and drizzled with olive oil
• the wine was a Spanish (Rueda) white, Naia D.O. Rueda 2014, from Verdejo old vines
• the music was Q2 Music, streaming

I love being able to use a word like ‘vetch’ in the list of a meal’s ingredients, although until I came upon some in the Greenmarket on Monday, if I had been asked, I would have probably have thought the word described one of the ingredients of some medieval magic potion. It tuns out that it’s certainly ancient, and an ancient friend to human civilization.

• two hake fillets from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, dredged in seasoned flour and dipped in a beaten egg from Millport Dairy, sautéed in butter along with a few sage leaves from Stokes Farm, drizzled with organic lemon juice, tranferred onto 2 plates, the juices remaining in the pan distributed over them, followed by a sprinkling of vetch shoots from Lani’s Farm
• seven halved Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods, combined in a small ceramic baking dish with one sliced fresh green spring shallot from John D. Madura Farm, a little olive oil, half of a teaspoon of chopped thyme from Stokes Farm, salt, and freshly-ground black pepper, placed in a 400º oven for about 20 minutes, removed, sprinkled with the green ends of the same fresh shallot, chopped small
• fiddlehead ferns from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, washed, cleaned, blanched, sautéed in olive oil with some sliced fresh Sierra peppers, seasoned with salt and pepper, finished with a dollop of ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘
• slices of a sourdough baguette from She Wolf Bakery
• the wine was a Spanish (Uclés) white, Fontana Mesta Verdejo Uclés 2014, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was Mozart, Piano Concertos Nos. 17 & 20, and Haydn, Symphony No. 51

 

This is another meal which might have looked more at home last fall, rather than a mild day like this one, but because of the miracles of local suppliers, along with one beautiful thick section of hake, I happened to have some winter squash and Brussels sprouts which I had also picked up at the Greenmarket very recently, and I was anxious to use it before the evenings became really warm.

I think it’s amazing that, for the first time ever, we will probably be able to make it all the way through a New York City winter without ever having had an interruption in the supply of fresh local green vegetables of one kind or another.  As an example of what’s going on, today at the market, noting that the date was March 11, I picked up some collard greens, some more large leeks, and a bag of Long Island citrus fruit.  Yup, local citrus,to be specific, it was oranges and lemons, and there were two other possibilities available.

• one beautiful, thick 12-ounce hake fillet from American Seafood Company, dredged in seasoned flour and dipped in a beaten egg from Millport Dairy, sautéed in olive oil along with a handful of sage leaves from Eataly, sprinkled with local lemon juice from Dave Tifford’s Fantastic Gardens of Long Island along with the pan juices that remained, then divided and plated, and finally garnished with parsley from Rogowski Farm and served with lemon wedges on the side
• tiny Brussels sprouts from Phillips Farm and cubed ‘Sweet Dumpling’ winter squash from Samascott Orchards, tossed together with oil, salt, pepper, and two unpeeled garlic cloves, also from Samascott Orchards, then spread onto a ceramic oven pan and roasted for about half an  hour at 400º until tender and caramelized, removed from the oven and drizzled with  a bit of white balsamic vinegar, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and thyme from Keith’s farm (as well as a little bit of sage from Eataly), and served
• the wine was a Spanish white, Shaya old vines, verdejo Rueda 2013
• the music was works of Ignaz Pleyel and Joseph Joachim