Houston Restaurant Week/Month/Something

My new neighbor friends were really into Houston Restaurant Weeks last month, and so we went to a few different restaurants showcased during the event. The basic premise is that during the event, participating restaurants will offer a special menu ($20 for 2- to 3-course brunch or lunch, $35 for 3-course dinner) to showcase their food and $3 of each meal sold goes to the Houston Food Bank.

Of course, I went to Sorrel. I've already talked about them a ton. I also went to Benjy's which offered a delightful brunch, as noted by the photos below:

Benjy's Famous Crunchy French Toast

 Steak and Eggs with Hash Browns and Grilled Tomato

And there was dessert too, but I ate that before I remembered to take a picture.

I've also hit a few other local restaurants worth mentioning. I've found a few yummy Mexican places, most notably Chuy's and Lupe Tortilla. Chuy's is sort of sketchy looking on the outside, but it's very eclectic and fun on the inside. I've gotten a burrito and quesadilla there, both were excellent. They also sell funny t-shirts and other paraphernalia such as CAPES! And yes, I bought one. No judgment. Lupe, on the other hand, looks like a pretty typical Mexican restaurant on the outside, but inside are the best freaking fajitas of all time. No lie, they are "world famous" and huge portions! I definitely need one or even two people to split it with me next time.

Last weekend, I also went to this fabulous Vietnamese restaurant (but I have no idea what the name of it was). I was at a concert with one of my classmates and afterward (at like, 2 AM), we were both a little hungry. She told me about this Vietnamese place that was open until 4 near her apartment, so we went over there. I was thinking this was going to be a little hole in the wall late night place, but it was a full-fledged, and dare I say mid- to upscale restaurant. I ordered some Vietnamese fajitas and once again, I was more than impressed. It was a large portion for about $11 dollars and I used my leftovers in my omelet the next day. I also seriously enjoyed the "tortillas" which, when they were delivered, were like giant see-through communion wafers. But then I got a bowl of water and when I dipped them in, they became pliable little spring roll papers.

I haven't been to too many other places yet, but I've got a couple on my to-do list and I'm sure I'll find more to go on and on about in the coming months. Meanwhile, I need to bulk up my menu at home with inspirations from these new delicious treats.

Okra and Eggplant

Hello, blogosphere. It's been a while. Here's a quick update on my non-foodie life: I've been working a lot. And I started school again in August. So I've had zero time for blogging. BUT! I have had time for cooking. And eating. Which we will discuss. Today.

So as I mentioned in my previous entry, I decided to experiment with the okra and eggplant that I bought at the farmer's market. I've eaten okra a few times prior to this, but I'd never cooked it on my own. Eggplant, on the other hand, was completely foreign to me. And so, my adventure began.

For my first cooking experience with okra, I decided to stick with something simple, so I pan-fried it. Basically I sliced it, covered it in olive oil, covered it in bread crumbs, and tossed the whole thing in the frying pan for a while.

Okay, so it wasn't exactly "covered" in bread crumbs, but you get the idea.

The final result was pretty good. Not amazing, but definitely edible. After I got tired of that, I still had quite a bit of okra left over, so I had to start getting creative. This is when I learned an incredibly important fact: You can put okra in just about anything. And so I did. Okra got put in salads. Okra got put in fajitas. Okra got put in chili. Okra has also made several appearances in my omelets. 

Okra, Tomato, and Feta Omelet. And also a bagel.

My adopted brother, Ben (who grew up in the South), told me the ONLY way to cook okra is to fry it in butter. I haven't yet tried this method, but it's on my list.

Perhaps the biggest complaint I hear about okra is how slimy it is, but there are ways to get around this. As noted in this blog, oil-based cooking works better than water-based cooking. I've also heard that cooking them whole works better than slicing them, but I haven't tried this technique yet. Overall, I would say my okra experience includes a mild slime, but it's not so bad. Probably my best results come from mixing it with a lot of other stuff, such as the omelets and fajitas. It blends pretty seamlessly, and therefore slime-lessly. Truth be told, I don't even notice it most of the time, and neither does my husband when I sneak it in his food.

 Eggplant has been more of a problem for me.

My first eggplant experiment was awesome. I made this eggplant burger and it was such an excellent meat substitute:

Mmm... cheesy.

Eggplant Burgers (from Simply in Season, p. 143)

2 tablespoons oil

2 teaspoons wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Whisk together in a small bowl. Cut 1 large eggplant into 1/4-inch thick slices to make 12-16 slices. Brush with oil mixture. Place on grill over medium-high heat. Close lid and cook, turning and brushing occasionally with remaining oil mixture, until tender, 5-10 minutes. Remove from grill. (Eggplant slices may be cooked under the broiler or sautéed in a fry pan until tender.

Simply in Season recommends adding cheese, tomatoes, red peppers, fresh basil leaves, etc. I just added the cheese, which was perfect.

After the excellent first attempt, I thought eggplant would be another successful venture. But I was wrong. Oh so wrong.

I tried a few other recipes and I just couldn't get them right. The eggplant always came out wet and chewy. It wasn't bad, but I just didn't like it very much, and it quickly became difficult finding ways to eat it. Here are some that I tried and maybe I'll try them again later and see if I have better luck.

Spicy Roasted Eggplant (from Simply in Season, p. 121)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro sprigs (chopped)

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

pinch of ground cinnamon

Stir together. Cut 1 large eggplant in 1/4-inch slices. Brush cilantro mixture on both sides of eggplant slices and transfer to greased baking pan. Broil eggplant 5-6 inches from heat until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Results:

Meh.

Broiled Eggplant with Crunchy Parmesan Crust (From Farmer John's Cookbook, p. 177. I used their recipe for making my own mayonnaise, but I did a pretty bad job. I think it's one of those things you have to follow the directions closely, or else. Maybe I'll make/buy better mayo and this will turn out better next time. Also, you can never have too much cheese.)

Oil for greasing the baking sheet

mayonnaise

eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch slices

freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup)

1. Preheat the broiler. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

2. Spread mayonnaise sparingly on both sides of each eggplant slice, then dip the slices in the grated Parmesan cheese, thoroughly coating both sides.

3. Arrange slices in a single layer on the oiled baking sheet and place under broiler until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip the slices and broil until golden brown and crunchy on top and the eggplant is soft, about 3 minutes more.

Result:

Served with pan-crusted tilapia, bread, and of course, fried okra

I really think the mayo was to blame for this one. I'm going to retry it later. And maybe make the mayo right this time.

Sorrel Urban Bistro

One of my friends is a pastry chef at Sorrel Urban Bistro, a new restaurant in Houston. I had the opportunity to check it out today and it was AMAZING!

Sorrel prides itself on being part of the farm-to-table movement. Much of their menu uses local, organic ingredients, in everything from the main courses to the desserts to even the wines (I had a sweet white wine on tap that was made from grapes grown in Texas). The atmosphere is light and casual and it's reasonably priced. They also offer a three-course lunch and a five-course dinner (with or without wine) so you can get a taste of everything.

This time I tried the green peppercorn crusted pork (I'm not gonna lie, the menu listed a bunch of other fancy ingredients and sides that I will not be able to recall from memory, but it was delicious). The meal looked like a piece of edible art; it was elegantly arranged into a neat little stack of tastiness--I almost felt bad cutting it apart...almost. The portion looks small compared to something at a chain restaurant like Outback or Texas Roadhouse (which are terribly over-portioned, mind you), but it was extremely filling and I normally would have skipped dessert had that not been the main reason I had come.

So next came dessert. And let me give you this advice: Make friends with the person in charge of desserts. We were treated to this little sampler plate, which was definitely not on the menu:

I am re-tasting the amazing-ness just looking at it.

Now all of these I can remember: On the left is a bread pudding. In the shot glasses are watermelon granite with cookie crisps. In the center is a lemon bar with raspberry sorbet. And on the right is a peach and blueberry crepe.

I am a huge fan of bread pudding, and this one was fabulous; and I love crepes, especially when they're made right; but I don't think anything can compare to the lemon bar/raspberry sorbet combination. It was the epitome of refreshment on a hot summer day. But who am I kidding? Everything was wonderful. I would eat it all again and then some.

So, long story short, Sorrel Urban Bistro is highly recommended. And I will be going back. Many times. Possibly with my mom when she visits next week...

UPDATE: Thought I would throw in another picture from a more recent visit. I think this one was when I went with my mom.

I can't remember what this was, but like everything else I've had at Sorrel, it's AMAZING!

The Move

Well readers, in case you were unaware, I have moved to Houston. Hence my extended absence...again. But fear not, I have been busy cooking and eating up a storm! But first, I went shopping.

In order to get out of my fast food rut (it's not easy to eat healthy when all your food is boxed up and you're on the road, so no judgment!), I made a trip to the farmers market at Rice University. The market is every Tuesday afternoon and, I believe (*insert middle school girl squeals here*), it's year round!

I was a little afraid of what I would find there since Texas is a little less *ahem* tree-hugger than my previous community. I thought it might be difficult to find organic growers or humanely raised animal products. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that over half of the farms at the market were either certified organic or followed organic principles but were not certified. Even better was that each farm had a large banner proudly proclaiming their status, making my shopping much more efficient and less awkward.

In all seriousness, I hate walking up to a stand and not buying anything. I feel like a bitch when I just look and decide there isn't anything I want or the next vendor over is selling it cheaper. I really don't have the guts to walk up and ask about a farmer's growing practices and walk away if I don't approve, so I'm glad I don't have to do that.

While at the market the first time, I picked up some old favorites like tomatoes, green peppers, and eggs (though the egg lady offered me duck eggs as well...I may have to take her up on that later!), but I also got some hummus, some AMAZING feta cheese and some new things to try, including okra and eggplant (which I will blog about later). I also got some spare ribs and some beef stew meat.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with my new farmers market, and I'm excited to visit a different one this or next weekend, but I do have a few grumblings/complaints:

1. The market is kind of small, but I may find the weekend market larger and with more selection, so we'll see.
2. It's kind of expensive, but most of the food seems more expensive here, so I may just have to get used to it. I'm trying to buy less junk, so that should help my food budget a bit.
3. There are hardly any fruits for sale. Seriously, one or two stands had watermelon and one conventional stand had peaches. That was it. I am going through fruit withdrawal. But perhaps the weekend market will suffice my need for fruit as well, so we'll see and I'll report back.

I went to the market this week as well, and I skipped the okra and eggplant because I still had some leftover, but I picked up some local honey. Interesting fact: Honey helps fight allergies because you get a mild exposure to the local pollen through the honey, so it is especially important to buy local! (Note: I looked into this and the New York Times wrote about a study that disproves this theory, so this may not be true. The NYT said most pollen allergens are wind borne rather than insect borne, so you would not be getting exposed to the same kinds of pollens. HOWEVER, I found another article that suggests some pollens are both wind and insect borne, and if those are the pollens you're allergic to, then you would see improvements when eating local honey, so it may be worth investigating further...)

For the rest of my shopping needs, I was excited to find out there was a Whole Foods near my new home! Whole Foods is very similar to the co-op I used to shop at, but bigger and better! The produce section was probably twice as big, and they had a separate fish counter from the meat counter. The fish are MSC-certified and Whole Foods has a lot of control over their supply and their sources, making sure they are properly maintained. They had an even bigger selection of bread made in-house, and a huge wine selection that I have yet to check out.

I was delighted to see they had local milk in quart containers (that's really all I can drink before it goes bad) and I got this Peaches and Cream milk that was also local (and fabulous) in a quart container. I got some yummy rosemary sourdough bread, some catfish, gulf shrimp, lemons, sour cream, butter, spaghetti sauce, and some seasonings. But of course, it wasn't perfect:

1. They only had one kind of butter in a tub, and it was the exact same brand and type as they had at the co-op (which I hated). But I remedied this by putting one of my butter sticks (which I had several options to choose from) in my butter dish and left it out on the counter.
2. The wait was terrible. I had to wait ten minutes before someone could help me at the fish counter and about 15 minutes to get cashed out. It seems like they need to build another location so that half of the people will go somewhere else!

One random perk is that the co-op used to charge extra if you didn't bring your own bags but Whole Foods gives you a ten cent discount for every bag you bring, so I can lightly pack several bags and save even more...win!

I've made a couple random trips to the regular grocery stores for odds and ends (like s'mores ingredients) as well. Mostly I've gone to Kroger because it's closest, but I don't really like it. My husband really likes Albertson's and so he usually shops there (I'm addicted to their Yahtzee scratch cards). I've seen a few Fiestas around and I'm kind of scared to go in because they seem kind of... too focused to price and not on quality. I like H-E-B, it's probably the closest thing to my old grocery store, so once I find one nearby, I'll probably use it to find all those random things Whole Foods doesn't have.

PS: I'm blogging via phone because I dont have my Internet hooked up yet, so please excuse any spelling errors. They are hard to find on here, but I will go through and edit this later!

Nudo Olive Oil

Waaay back in December, my husband adopted an olive tree for me from Nudo for Christmas. Nudo is an organic grove and they produce their oil in small batches at the nearby press to maintain their local, artisan flavor. They also send me monthly updates about the grove, along with recipes and other fun tidbits. The idea is that you adopt a specific tree in an Italian olive grove (They gave me a map of where my tree is located and if I so desire I can hug it and take my picture with it or whatever else) and come harvest time I get all the extra virgin olive oil from MY tree! Pretty cool, if I say so.

Well, harvest time came last month and I got four cute little tins of olive oil from my tree.

*Insert giddy noises here*

 

Unfortunately, I hadn't yet finished my bottles of olive oil I already had, so I had to wait until now to break one open.  I started my taste test with a little cracked pepper and dipped my pesto baguette from the farmers market in it.

Yum!

It was superb. The oil was so flavorful and lively, particularly because it was so fresh compared to what I buy at the store. The tins are supposed to help preserve the flavor and I could really taste the difference. Hopefully that will still be true three months from now when I get near the end. I'll also receive a package of flavored olive oils from their other groves in the fall, so I'll have about double what I got now altogether.

 

I was a little skeptical of the tins at first because I wasn't sure how they resealed once you opened them. But it turns out when you open it, a little spout pops up and the lid becomes a twist-on cap. It's perfect and incredibly cute. I will have to invite people over soon to try it out. Nudo recommends doing a side-by-side comparison of a store brand and I think that would be a lot of fun. Any takers?

Rhubarb

I have been having a hell of a time figuring out what to do with rhubarb. The first couple bundles I bought this season I ended up throwing away because they went bad before I figured out what to do with them. But I really wanted to do something with it, so I kept buying it. All of the recipes I came across called for unusual ingredients or complicated preparation and so I just wasn't interested. Finally, I pulled out my Simply in Season cookbook for some inspiration. I found the Roasted Rhubarb recipe (p. 74) and thought, Ahhhh perfect! Below is the recipe in the book:

4 cups rhubarb (chopped)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange or lemon juice
2 tablespoons candied ginger or fresh ginger root (minced)
1 teaspoon orange or lemon peel (grated)

Combine in baking pan. Spread evenly and bake in preheated over at 450F until rhubarb is soft but retains its shape, about 25 minutes. Stir, cool slightly, and serve with ice cream or yogurt.

Okay, so this was actually far from perfect because I didn't have any candied ginger or fresh ginger root or fresh orange or lemon peel (remember all those unusual ingredients?!). And I definitely didn't have 4 cups of rhubarb either. But this was doable. So I tweaked it a little and made it work. Here is my modified recipe:

1 1/2ish cups rhubarb (chopped)
honey (enough to lightly coat rhubarb)
big splash of lemon juice
healthy sprinklings of ground ginger and lemon peel

Cook as stated above.

This was definitely a much smaller batch, so I may have over cooked it just a little, but it was still very good paired with some local vanilla yogurt. With the yogurt, it was just enough for two small servings.

So my next visit to the market, I decided to get some more rhubarb and try it again. I was at the Monday market (which is a lot smaller than the Wednesday market) and I saw some rhubarb and asked for a bundle of it. The farmer smiled sheepishly and informed me that I was looking at chard, not rhubarb. Oh, how embarrassing. Nobody had any rhubarb that day. The chard farmer said he almost brought some but decided against it at the last minute. Oh well.

I went to the market again last night and bought some legit rhubarb (and I can plainly see the difference between it and chard now). I also bought some strawberries, so I decided to tweak the recipe even more today. Here is my final version:

2ish cups chopped strawberries and rhubarb (I probably had 1/3 strawberries and 2/3 rhubarb, but a 50/50 ratio would be ideal)
honey (enough to lightly coat)
big splash of lemon juice
healthy sprinklings of ground ginger and lemon peel

Combine in baking pan. Then add the Better Homes and Gardens streusel topping from page 126:

In a small bowl stir together 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs.

Sprinkle on top of strawberry rhubarb mixture (you could probably double the streusel recipe if desired) and bake at 450F for 18 minutes.

Pure Strawberry Rhubarb Heaven

Excellent on its own and probably even better with yogurt or ice cream, but I was out. I ate about half already, so I would say there are two servings without the dairy, three-to-four with it.

I'm pretty sure I have a new favorite summer dessert. Just saying...

Kohlrabi

On one of my recent market visits, one of the farmers was selling kohlrabi for $1, so I figured I'd try it out. I've never had kohlrabi before, let alone made it, so this was going to be a new adventure for me.

I recently acquired a copy of Simply in Season, which is an excellent resource for all those unfamiliar fruits and veggies at the market. I looked up kohlrabi and it said to boil it for 30-35 minutes, then chop it up and serve with the typical vegetable fare (seasoning, butter, cheese, etc). So I did.

Is it just me or is it a little warm in here?

 

I boiled that ugly sucker for a good half hour, flipping it over halfway through so the stuff sticking out could be submerged too. And I think for most of the time I kept the lid on to try and steam it, or something. Then I pulled it out, cut it up into bite-size pieces, and added some melted butter, salt, and pepper.

Tada!

I was a little wary of this stuff. I took a bite of it while it was still raw and it sort of reminded me of raw broccoli (not my favorite). I'd never had it before so I really had no idea what to expect of the final product, so I took my first cooked and seasoned bite and my initial reaction was "This tastes just like corn."

I figured it was just because I season corn the exact same way, but after my husband tried it, he said the same thing. So I think kohlrabi is the hybrid baby of corn and broccoli, and honestly, it's pretty delicious. I haven't been back to the market to pick up some more yet, but it's definitely on my list.

One bulb is just right for two regular-sized servings or one main course-ish sized serving. This is perfect for me because my husband still won't eat very much, if any, so when I get stuck eating a big portion, I'll at least be able to eat all of it. But if he does decide to eat a little bit, then there's enough to share too.

TV Cooking/Home Cooking

A while back I found this really great Michael Pollan essay about cooking shows. It's pretty long, but basically he makes a point about how incredibly odd it is that people are cooking less and less, yet they are watching more and more food and cooking shows. Pollan suggests that this infatuation stems from a conflict between a general fear of cooking (e.g., the unknown) and a general love of food. Cooking shows allow people to become familiar with cooking from a safe distance and zero chance of failure. A great analogy Pollan gave was that cooking shows are like sporting matches: A lot of people watch them, but few actually do it themselves.

I never really understood cooking shows. When I was little, before the Internet was as far-reaching as it is today, I didn't know how people could possibly keep up with the likes of Martha Stewart and Paula Deen. Why would people watch these cooking shows if they can't make the food? Now, with the Internet, they can preview the show and pick out their favorite recipes online, so it makes a little more sense.

But then we get to cooking competition shows. I can't taste the foods they're making, so how do I know if it's any good?! This was the question I always asked with these shows. Other competition shows, like American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, and Project Runway have results that I can see and hear, so I know if the winner is actually good or not. And yes, presentation is important (and so I can get down with cake decorating and other art-based food competitions), but bottom line is that it can look horrible and actually be pretty tasty, or it can look beautiful and taste like plastic.

Last summer, a couple of my friends were really into Top Chef, so we got together each week to watch it and have dinner. I didn't really care that much about the show (Most of the good parts were the bits of "drama" between the contestants), but I liked that we'd each take turns cooking dinner and eating together before the show. Since then, our group shifted and merged into another group and now we do Movie Night instead. Each week we watch two movies that are related somehow and make a dinner that fits with the week's theme (i.e., The Hunt for Red October, Red Dawn, and Russian cuisine). It's pretty fun and forces us to get creative sometimes and try making new things, like syrniki.

However, Pollan fears that actual, legitimate cooking may be lost forever. With the far-reaching availability of pre-packaged, processed, and fully-cooked "food," who needs to cook anymore? Further, who even knows how to cook? Does heating up a can of soup or making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich count? It shouldn't, but it does.

Young adults like me learned very little about cooking from their parents. I can work my way around the kitchen, but I can guarantee you that I was offered nowhere near the same expertise from my mother that she had from her mother. My mom gave me a few favorite family recipes and showed me the basics for cooking, but most of what I cook now I learned from the Internet, cookbooks, other cooks, or from having the courage to try something new.

My husband is the same way, though he doesn't have quite as much enthusiasm for trying new things as I do. His father doesn't know how to cook anything more than making a sandwich or heating up leftovers in the microwave. I've often wondered what he ate for the ten years that he lived alone before he met his wife, but I'm too shy to ask. Or I'm afraid to hear the answer. But anyway, as a result of my father-in-law's complete and utter lack of cooking knowledge, my mother-in-law forced my husband and his brother to learn how to cook, though I think his little brother may have gotten off a little easier because I'm not sure I've actually seen him cook real food on his own, but I could be wrong.

So I guess we're two people that give a sliver of hope to future cooks, but I know way too many people that rely heavily on pre-packaged, processed food that requires little more than water and heat. The sad thing is that their kids won't know the difference because no one's mom or dad will actually cook from scratch. Hell, they might even think boxed cake mix is cooking from scratch, rather than just buying a pre-made one from the store. What's even worse is the stigma associated with cooking from scratch. It seems to be fading somewhat, but there was definitely a time in my life where it was kind of uncool to have your parents cook from scratch. When you had a birthday, you wanted Pizza Hut and store-bought cake for your party, not a homemade three-course meal with Grandma's red velvet cake. You wanted to go to McDonald's for dinner, not Mom's goulash. Homemade food seemed so...simple. If you could afford the luxury of already prepared food, why should you bother cooking? You could have your food now, instead of having to go to the trouble of making it over the next hour.

Pollan's advice is simple: Cook more. Eat whatever you want, as long as you cook it yourself. When you do, it's fresher, healthier, and hopefully tastier (though who knows what your cooking capabilities are). It's also cheaper and, if you shop wisely, better for your local economy and the environment. So that's what I'm trying to do. I'm not perfect, but I'm getting better.

Farmers Market

Well, I’m back.

It’s been a busy couple of months, between making preparations for moving, my husband’s graduation, going on vacation, and working seemingly all the time. I lost some of my drive, but I’ve been kind of waiting for a few things to happen so I could write about them.

In particular, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Farmers Market, and it finally came at the beginning of the month. I’ve gone each week that I haven’t been working, doing graduation stuff, or out of town, which makes for three visits so far, and I’m planning for many more.

The city I live in is rather forward thinking when it comes to food, so the Farmers Market is a pretty big deal. There’s actually a market in different locations at least four days a week, possibly more. At the main one on Saturday mornings, there’s live music, demonstrations, and several stands along the perimeter selling food to eat while you shop. Last Saturday, I ate a fabulous omelet made with fresh, local ingredients sold at the market. It cost about as much as what we charge at the restaurant where I work (and, in my opinion, tastes about twice as delicious!). There are also several stands selling non-food items, such as pet treats, soaps, plants, and other crafty items. Overall, it’s a pretty fun event and quite crowded with fresh, local food lovers like me.

Yesterday, I took my husband with me to the market to pick up a few things. I usually don’t have a list in mind, I just look for new and interesting things and if I happen across some familiar favorites, I’ll grab those too. I knew I wanted some asparagus, but other than that, I had no idea what I was going to bring home.

When I go to the market, I usually like to make an initial loop around the stands to see what everyone is offering and for what price. Many of the stands also offer samples, so I’ll usually do my tasting during my first lap as well. After I’ve seen everything, I make one or two more laps to grab everything I want and usually find something else I didn’t see the first time.  Here are my finds for the week:

 Yum!

Starting at the top center and going clockwise I bought a bag of mixed spring greens ($3.00), a half loaf of bread ($3.50), strawberry peach jam ($6.00), asparagus ($1.75), a dozen eggs ($3.00), fancy bread [I can’t remember what kind, but the sample was delicious!] ($6.00), radishes ($1.00), and a quarter pound of smoked Gouda cheese ($5.00), for a grand total of $29.25.

I was ready to eat most of the food the second we left the market, but we’d already made dinner plans with my family so it had to wait until today. I started the morning off right with some delicious french toast using the half loaf of bread. I would have used the eggs but I had to finish off the eggs I’d bought at the co-op earlier this week. I ate it with butter and real maple syrup. 

 Below is my “recipe.”

½ loaf of bread (7-8 ½” slices)
4-6 eggs (depending on my mood)
milk (less than what I have in egg and in all likelihood inversely proportional to it)
vanilla (a few dabbles)

Mix the eggs, milk and vanilla. Soak the bread in the mixture and then grill on each side until it looks done.

Then for lunch, I decided to make the asparagus. I bought some the first time I visited the market this year because I wanted to try fresh asparagus (I’d only eaten it one other time and it was from the Cheesecake Factory). I had no idea how to prepare it—especially in a way my husband would eat it—so I asked the farmer if she had any suggestions. She said to sauté it with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning and top it with parmesan cheese after it’s cooked.

 Easy and Delicious

It was fabulous. I got my husband to eat it, but he wasn’t a fan (everyone else loved it though, so it’s just him). I got him to eat another piece or two today, but lucky me got to eat the rest. His loss, I say.

Peanut butter and strawberry peach jam sandwiches accompanied our asparagus. I also ate some Garden Salsa Sun Chips with avocado ranch dip—which I purchased at the market previously and is quite possibly the best tasting dip, ever.

Tonight we’ll be making a salad with the mixed greens and radishes (and possibly the avocado ranch dip) and probably eating the fancy bread with it. I’ll update more on that after dinner.

Yummy breakfast

Despite the fact that I've been seriously neglecting my blog recently, I have actually been keeping quite busy in the kitchen. Case in point:

Tell me how jealous you are of this beautiful creation.

Last week I made this amazing breakfast for myself. It consisted of a tomato, red pepper, and mozzarella omelet, whole grain sourdough bread with butter and strawberry rhubarb jam, and chocolate milk.

Now here is the (second) best part of this breakfast: The ingredients. (The best? The taste, of course!) In the omelet, I used eggs from a local farm, tomatoes from my home state, and organic peppers from Chile (the mozzarella was conventional, non-organic Kraft because that's all I had in the house at the time). The bread came from the co-op, the jam and milk both came from a neighboring state, and the chocolate sauce was organic and didn't have any really weird ingredients.

Overall, a great success and incredibly simple. I need to make more breakfasts like this. I think the main thing holding me back is having to get out of bed more than half an hour earlier than I need to be somewhere.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I finally finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle this morning. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it brought to my attention a lot of food issues that I hadn't thought of before, but there was one thing that just didn't rub me the right way.

The premise of the book is that Kingsolver and her family decide to eat nothing but local food for an entire year, but they seem to break the rules every chance they get! They start off immediately breaking the rules by allowing for several exceptions right off the bat. They are allowed to eat grains and olive oil based on the simple fact that those things just aren't available locally. Okay, I said to myself, those are kind of necessities and if there's no way to get those locally, it's at least a step in the right direction. Then, on top of that, each family member got one "freebie" food: coffee, dried fruit, hot chocolate, and spices. Alright, I'll let that slide too. In fairness, they were buying those things from farmers who got fair wages and practiced sustainable agriculture, which is also important, and everyone needs a treat now and then.

But then they went on not one, but two multi-week vacations over the course of the year. And yes, they ate local foods from their vacation sites, sometimes, but not always. And they ate at friends' houses who didn't follow their locavore lifestyle and even ate out at restaurants that didn't serve local food on occasion.

Now don't get me wrong. Kingsolver and her family did a much better job of eating local, sustainable, and organic food than I do and probably better than I ever will. They grew a huge garden and raised their own animals and bought plenty of food from local farmers. And the vast majority of their food was local. But the thing here is that this was hardly a change for them. They already ate out of their garden previously and bought lots of food from the farmer's market and made an effort to eat local whenever possible. My point is, how is this any different than what they already did? They stepped it up a notch, but they really didn't go all the way, as the book promised in the beginning.

That being said, Kingsolver did an excellent job of making me appreciate and understand the importance of purchasing local food. I already knew it was important because you put money back into your local economy and it's fresher and all that. But one thing I never really thought about was all of the fossil fuels it takes to get food from all over the world to the grocery store. If we ate locally grown food instead, the fuel cost would be practically non-existent. Even doing something as simple as buying fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market instead of the grocery store would make a huge difference.

One other thing I really liked about the book was the inclusion of so many recipes they used to make locally produced breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Once spring starts to roll around, I'll have to try to make some of these when the produce is in season.

I also appreciated the alternating format of the book. Most of the story is told through Kingsolver, but her older daughter, Camille, had an essay related to Kingsolver's story at the end of most chapters. And Kingsolver's husband, Steven Hopp, interjected with relevant facts and statistics throughout the narrative as well. The writing is charming, witty, and endearing. I could feel the happiness, worry, pride, and panic in Kingsolver's words, and her passion fueled my desire to eat better. I think the next book I'll work on is Marion Nestle's Food Politics. Michael Pollan referenced this one several times in his works, so it's likely awesome.

On that note, I went to the co-op grocery store today and picked up a few more local items than usual. After I went through nearly two dozen eggs last week, I snatched up a carton of my usual cage-free organic eggs. But just as I was about to walk away, I saw a row of plain egg cartons and all that was stamped on them was the name of the farm and the city where they farmed. My city. Without a second thought, I checked the local eggs for cracks and put back my usual eggs. I also found a brand of cottage cheese made on a farm only 20 miles from where I live, so I grabbed some to make lasagna this week. I also got another whole chicken from a local farm, and I bought bread baked at the co-op rather than baked elsewhere and then shipped to the co-op, so it saved a little gas there.

Also, one of my cooks at work read about my poached egg fiasco and gave me a little pep talk (re: made fun of me). So I watched him poach a couple eggs this weekend, and retried poaching eggs on Saturday afternoon. Here are my results:

Much better!

Basically, my problem was that I was trying to keep all the white intact, when really only the inner whites need to cook with the yolk and the rest just melt away. So pretty much all you have to do is drop the egg in the water and don't touch it til it's done. Sorry Julia, but you made that way more complicated than necessary.

Eggs Benedict with Paprika