These were crab cakes with trimmings. The pictures probably betray the fact that when I put this meal together color may not have been the least consideration.

 

The image below is of the grilled leeks after some heated Habanada pepper had been scattered on top, and before they were divided onto the plates.

I had picked out the salsa tomatoes from this group one week earlier; one had become almost red by last night, the other had totally retained its greenness.

• two crab cakes from PE & DD Seafood (the ingredients are crab, egg, flour, red & green peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, milk, celery, and parsley), seared/heated in a cast iron pan, 2 to 3 minutes for each side, served on 2 plates on a bed of a salsa composed of 2 roughly-chopped heirloom tomatoes (one green and one deep green with some reddening) from Tamarack Hollow Farm, a pinch of turbinado sugar (infused over time with a vanilla bean), the sugar only because these were mid-November tomatoes, sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a bit of finely chopped medium-hot chocolate cherry pepper from Oak Grove Plantation, a little olive oil, some sauce left from an earlier pollock dinner, and topped with a scattering of micro beets from Windfall Farms
• arugula from Keith’s Organic Farm, dressed with Maldon salt, freshly-ground black pepper, a very good olive oil, Campania D.O.P. Penisola Sorrentina ‘Syrenum’, and a drizzle of lemon juice
• three small leeks from Willow Wisp Farm, split lengthwise, rolled in olive oil, salt, and pepper, pan-grilled, combined with one chopped heatless Habanada pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm which had been warmed in olive oil inside a small pan, and arranged on the plates, a little bronze micro fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge scattered over the top
• the wine was a California (Central Coast) rosé, Keith Hock Central Coast Rosé 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was Haydn’s ‘La Vera Costanza’, Antal Doráti conducting the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, with Jessye Norman, Helen Donath, Claes H. Ahnsjö, Wladimiro Ganzarolli, and others

We hadn’t eaten meat in 9 days, although that was certainly no hardship for us.  After enjoying a small duck breast, from Long Island or Pennsylvania, on October 22, we had feasted, in succession on Long Island eel; ‘Hudson River prawns’; zucchini-filled pasta made 2 blocks away; penne with local Romanesco; and New York-local-waters-sourced mackerel, crab cakes, scallops and Grey Triggerfish.

We broke our inadvertent fast last night with some delicious pork chops from upstate NY.  The duck and pork recipes have been among my favorites for a long time, but I’ve added some new choice ones from among the meals which those two dinners bracketed.

• two 8-ounce bone-in loin pork chops from Flying Pig Farms, thoroughly dried, seasoned with salt and pepper, seared quickly in a heavy enameled cast-iron pan before half of an organic lemon was squeezed over them and left in the pan, which was then placed in a 400º oven for about 14 minutes (flipped halfway through and the lemon squeezed over them once again), removed from the oven, sprinkled with chopped tarragon from Stokes Farm, and the pan juices spooned over the top
• eight ‘Mountain Magic’ tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, added to the pan in which the chops had roasted after they had been removed, stirred in the juices until warm, seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled with Gotham Greens Rooftop packaged basil from Whole Foods
• Brussels sproutsfrom Van Houton Farms, tossed with salt, pepper, and some olive oil, and roasted in a 400º oven for about half an hour
• the wine was a California (Napa) white, Matthew Iaconis Napa Valley Chardonnay 2014 (in a Burgundy style, it’s Matt’s wine, and it comes from Naked Wines)
• the music was Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9, Claudio Abbado leading the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, only months before the conductor’s death