Pan-Seared Chicken With Harissa, Dates and Citrus

Good morning. An hour before noon in the Hudson Valley, fog burning off the river in the sun, and it seemed entirely appropriate to tack east from the Catskill foothills toward Poughkeepsie and an early lunch from Rossi & Sons, where the muffuletta sub is beyond compare.

This was a good call. To eat that monster in the riverbank park at the foot of Main Street, watching the Clearwater prepare for an afternoon’s sailing as turkey vultures soared and children gamboled, was as complete an explication of the Hudson River School as you’re likely to get from a sub shop. It offered the sublimity of those paintings, their sense of the divine.

Of course, you can make that sandwich at home. You can make all measure of Italian heroes at home, including the traditional grinder and torpedo-like numbers with sausage and peppers or meatballs. They’re all fantastic. But there’s something about eating a store-bought sandwich the size of a house cat off wax paper in your car that helps define weekend deliciousness for me. Patronize your local hero shop, please.

But do so early in the day! A size-large hoagie will lay out even the hardiest of trenchermen. If you don’t plan accordingly, such a sandwich can interfere with the consumption of a proper Sunday supper, not to mention its preparation. And, as I’ve argued for years, that meal is an important one — perhaps the most important of the week.

This week’s repast: Yewande Komolafe’s excellent recipe for chicken with harissa and citrus, sweet and sour with a peppery kick you can mellow out with dollops of yogurt, to serve over steamed rice. Heroic!