Summer perch.

Last night I decided it might actually be a thing. I think what did for me it were the luscious ripe heirloom tomatoes I chose as the only accompaniment for this wonderful fish.

• nine small (less than 2 ounces each) beautiful orange/red-skinned ocean perch fillets from Danielle Bickleman at American Seafood Company’s stand at Saturday’s Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market on 23rd Street, rinsed, and dried, both sides brushed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil mixed with a total of little more than one teaspoon, combined, of a chopped Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm and the white section of one thinly-sliced scallion from Lani’s Farm, the fish seasoned, also on both sides, with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed inside an enameled cast iron pan and broiled, skin side up, 4 or 5 inches from the flames, for 4 or 5 minutes, or until the skin had become crisp and the fish cooked through, finished on the plates with a sauce that had already been prepared by gently heating 2 salted anchovies from Buon Italia, rinsed and filleted, and part of one aji dulce pepper (NOTE: I don’t think the pepper, an innovation of mine this time around, really added anything) in a bit of olive oil inside a small antique enameled cast iron porringer over a very low flame for about 3 minutes, or until the anchovies had fallen apart, and then kept warm, the perch garnished with micro chervil from Two Guys from Woodbridge and organic lemon wedges from Whole Foods Market served on the side

• two large very ripe red heirloom tomatoes from Campo Rosso Farm (the ones on the right above), sliced 1/4″ thick, slid into a medium size copper skillet in which some olive oil had been heating and softening some thickly-sliced sections of a bulbous fresh shallot from Tamarack Hollow Farm, allowed to warm and also soften just a bit, seasoend with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, a number of leaves torn from an almost local  basil plant (Full Bloom Market Garden, Whatley, Massachusetts, from Whole Foods Market), still proudly flourishing in its rich Connecticut River valley soil, mixed in with the tomatoes, carefully arranged on the plates, some of the juices reserved for another day, and sprinkled with a pinch or so of dried fenugreek from Bombay Emerald Chutney Company (that had also been purchased at the Saturday Chelsea Farmers Market),
• slices of a very satisfying rich organic multigrain baguette from Bread Alone
• the wine was a California (Central Coast) rosé, Yian Lu Central Coast Rose 2017, from Naked Wines
• the music was Haydn’s 1777 opera, ‘Il mondo della Luna’, a wonderful opera which we’ve probably heard all the way through half a dozen times, in a great, classic performance with Antal Dorati directing the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the soloists Arleen Auger, Edith Mathis, Frederica von Stade, Lucia Valentini Terrani, Luigi Alva, et al.

There was neither a cheese course nor a sweet, but there was ein Schlückchen Schnaps. After the table had been cleared, we decided to remain sitting through the end of the opera. We each poured ourselves a little bit of a superb Oregon eau de vie.  It was Clear Creek Distillery’s Douglas Fir Brandy, inspired by the Alsatian, Eau de Vie de Bourgeons de Sapin [clear brandy of fir buds]. A 2009 New York Times piece, ‘The Pursuit and Pleasures of the Pure Spirit‘, provides the context for the inspiration and production of the distillery’s founder, Steve McCarthy.

Mmmmm.

We’re back from California, and I’m back happy to haul local seafood (caught by others) onto our dinner table.

• four red-skinned ocean perch fillets (18 ounces) from American Seafood Company, rinsed, and dried, both sides brushed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil mixed with a total of little more than one  teaspoon of a chopped spring garlic from Berried Treasures Farm, the fish seasoned, also on both sides, with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed inside an enameled cast iron pan and broiled, skin side up, 4 or 5 inches from the flames, for about 4 minutes, or until the skin had become crisp and the fish was cooked through, finished on the plates with a sauce that had already been prepared by gently heating 2 salted anchovies from Buon Italia, rinsed and filleted, in a bit of olive oil over a very low flame for 3 or 4 minutes until they had fallen apart, the sauce kept warm while the fillets were broiled, the perch arranged on the plates on a bed of wild dandelion from Berried Treasures Farm, garnished with chopped fresh summer savory from Stokes Farm, and with Whole Foods Market organic lemon wedges served on the side

• zucchini trifolati, prepared roughly along the lines of the recipe in “Italian Too Easy“, although the ingredients reduced in amounts, made with small yellow zucchini (the yellow variety in the image of summer squash above) from Eckerton Hill Farm, grape tomatoes from Kernan Farms, fresh spring garlic from Berried Treasures, and fresh spicy oregano from Windfall Farms, the preparation allowed to rest 15 minutes before serving
• the wine was an Italian (Piedmont) white, Banfi Gavi Principessa Gavia 2016, from Flatiron Wines
• the music was that of Mozart’s contemporary, Josef Myslivecek (1737 – 1781), the album ‘Il Divino Boemo‘ (love the cover image)

 

Ocean perch. It’s a beautiful fish, and always a treat, even when if one of the diners has to negotiate it while suffering the temporary loss of the use of one hand.

Dealing with the vegetable ended up the larger challenge.

• *four red-skinned ocean perch fillets (18 ounces) from American Seafood Company, rinsed, and dried, both sides brushed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil mixed with a total of little more than one  teaspoon of a chopped Rocambole garlic from Keith’s Farm and the white section of one thinly-sliced scallion from Phillips Farms, the fish seasoned, also on both sides, with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed inside an enameled cast iron pan and broiled, skin side up, 4 or 5 inches from the flames, for 4 or 5 minutes, or until the skin had become crisp and the fish was cooked through, finished on the plates with a sauce that had already been prepared by gently heating 2 salted anchovies from Buon Italia, rinsed and filleted, in a bit of olive oil over a very low flame for about 4 minutes until they had fallen apart, the sauce kept warm while the fillets were broiled, the perch garnished with micro buckwheat greens (with a mild sorrel, or lemon flavor), Whole Foods Market organic lemon wedges served on the side
• *one bunch of sweet baby bok choy from Northshire Farm in the Union Square Greenmarket (secretly paid for by an anonymous benefactor), added to a heavy vintage large tin-lined copper pot inside of which 2 bruised and halved Rocambole garlic cloves from Keith’s Farm had been heated until beginning to brown, the choy stirred until tender, occasionally introducing some of the water which they had shed after being washed, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates, scattered with some washed, dried, then very roughly cut garlic chives from Lani’s Farm,  drizzled with olive oil
• there was no wine, since it was temporarily forbidden each of us for a few days, for different reasons
• *the music was Vivaldi’s 1726 opera, ‘Il Farnace’, in an extraordinarily beautiful performance led by Jordi Savall; it was now at least our third hearing, not counting this one, from over 12 years ago, in which Vivaldi’s music accompanies Muntean/Rosenblum’s ‘It Is Never Facts That Tell’, the collaborative’s digital projection of a great world emptied and reduced to an enormous landfill, achingly beautiful, even without the music which accompanies its hooded figures

With its gorgeous pink/red skin, I find it difficult to avoid bringing Sea perch home whenever I see it at a fish seller’s stall in Union Square, especially since it has so many other virtues, beginning with excellent flavor and texture, and including ease of preparation, at least as I have come to know it.

The radishes had come from the Greenmarket a full 2 weeks before and still tasted great. They  are roots, and apparently, not knowing when I would remember they were there, I had wrapped them carefully enough to extend their freshness.

The green vegetable which we enjoyed, described by the people who raised and sold it in the Greenmarket on Monday as ‘overwintered broccoli rabe’, is actually, and very surprisingly, a seasonal vegetable, at least in this new age of high tunnels and artisanal farming to supply fussy city people.

• four 4-ounce sea perch fillets from American Seafood Company, brushed with olive oil and some chopped wild garlic from Lani’s Farm, a bit of crushed dried orange-golden habanada pepper, seasoned with salt and freshly-ground black pepper, then broiled 4 inches from the flames for about 4 minutes until the skin was crisp and the fish cooked through, sauced with a bit of olive oil in which one large rinsed, filleted salted anchovy from Buon Italia had been gently heated until it had fallen apart, the fish finished on the 2 plates with a drizzle of sweet local lemon from Fantastic Gardens of Long Island, and a small number of cut chives from Phillips Farm

here an image of the radishes about to go into the oven

 

• two bunches of breakfast radishes from Eckerton Hill Farm, scrubbed, trimmed, tossed with olive oil, salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and branches of thyme from Eckerton Hill Farm, roasted at 375º for about 20 minutes on a medium-size Pampered Chef pan with, garnished on the plates with a little red wasabi micro radish from two Guys from Woodbridge
• ‘overwintered broccoli rabe’ from Lani’s Farm, wilted with olive oil in which two lightly-crushed and halved garlic cloves John D. Madura Farm had been heated until beginning to color, finished with salt, freshly-ground pepper, a small amount of crushed dried chili (peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia), and drizzled with more olive oil
• the wine was a California (Napa) white, Scott Peterson S.P. Drummer Napa Chardonnay 2015
• the music was Erwin Schulhoff’s 1932 opera, ‘Flamen’, John Mauceri conducting the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Berlin RIAS Chamber Chorus

It’s a beautiful fish, with a delicate red skin, although the color mostly disappears with cooking.

New York venders (and restaurants?) sometimes call it ‘redfish’, but usually it’s ‘sea perch’ or ‘ocean perch’, even if it bears little resemblance to the fresh water perch I grew up with around the Great Lakes.  The brilliant color of its scales and its skin would be enough evidence of the distinction, but I have to admit, even at this gap in time and distance from 1940s-50s Michigan and Wisconsin, there may be something to be said about the similarities in taste.

The French know it as Rascasse, but there’s some confusion with names on the other side of the Atlantic because it apparently belongs to the family, ‘scorpaenidae‘, which also includes the scorpionfish.

This looks like the best answer to the question, ‘what is it?’

 

• four fillets of red sea perch (19 ounces) from Pura Vida Seafood, brushed with olive oil and one chopped garlic clove from Tamarack Hollow Farm, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper, then broiled, 4 inches from the flames, for about 4 minutes until the skin was crisp and the fish cooked through, sauced with a bit of olive oil in which 3 salted anchovies from Buon Italia, rinsed and filleted, had been heated over a very low flame for about 5 minutes until they had fallen apart (the sauce having been kept warm while waiting for the fish to cook), the fillets finished on the plates with chopped parsley from Eataly

I had collected two kinds of beautiful small carrots in recent visits to the Greenmarket, and last night I decided it was time to enjoy them both.

• ‘Purple Haze’ (the purple ones, a hybrid) and ‘Kyoto’ (the red-orange ones, an heirloom) carrots from Norwich Meadows Farm, washed, trimmed, scrubbed, and dried, tossed in a very little olive oil with salt and pepper, spread inside a large seasoned Pampered Chef pan and baked at 400º until tender (the time would depend on size; these took little more than 15 minutes), finished with a combination of chopped thyme from Eataly and oregano from Stokes Farm
• the wine was a California (Napa) white, La Tapatia Chardonnay Carneros 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was the last parts of Handel’s 1730 comic opera seria [sic], ‘Partenope’, with Riccardo Minasi conducting Il Pomo d’Oro, which we had begun to listen to the night before