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the markets
i’ve been cooking much more lately, and touring some of the super markets in houston, which offer a pretty stunning diversity of selections.
so far i haven’t found a good organic or local farmer’s market (the midtown market is very small and the emphasis is on prepared foods), but i have found
h-mart houston – (a giant wildly organized/extremely clean korean mega-grocery, where i was pretty overwhelmed, and which might take a few visits to completely comprehend. the best items i got were: organic tofu, korean cold noodles)
fiesta – very inexpensive mexican-oriented grocery, where the produce seems suspicious to me (rots quickly and harshly) yet is a must-visit place for spices, grains, vitamin water.
kroger – is kroger. cheap, dependable. the montrose location is supposedly called disco kroger, and is probably the only place in houston where i’ve seen multiple men wearing cut-off jean shorts.
central market – a fancier h-e-b (which is like our acme), where the produce is solid if commercial, prepared foods and bulk foods are terrific, and the store is organized like a maze (in other words it was made for me) right now i’m in love with the dollar bundle of fresh herbs.
on to the meals and what i’ve learned
i’m a peasant cook. in other words, my food kind of looks like shit. my presentation sucks, and part of the reason might be because my only pans are a giant saucepan, a wok, and a skillet. still, the blame doesn’t rest just on the equipment, the thought of throwing random shit in a pot and letting it cook for a long time is just somehow enticing to me, moreso than the color or design afterwards.
check out my table! it only took me a month and a half to acquire!
the “zilber in texas egg deluxx” – bacon, fried egg (in bacon fat), mexican hot sauce, habanero sauce, on enriched wheat bread, downed with lone star one weekday evening approximately 1 AM. lone star is like the yuengling of texas. well, maybe shiner is the yuengling of texas, but lonestar is cheaper, and once you get it cold enough works plenty good. as you can see from the constant presence at dinner.
4-note pasta - a blend of ricotta, fresh basil, lemon juice, and olive oil are used to sauce this, and then you throw in some nicely seasoned raw tomatoes. even better cold.
fried polenta and kale – polenta fried like an egg, kale boiled then sauteed like spinach, plus a few olives, garlic, and scallions. mmmmm. notice this is the one dish that might be considered presentable. took some major planning, though.
gross lookin’ chix thing – god, even when i go to the fridge this shit grosses me out. ok, it was meant to be brazilian chicken stew, but then my ginger and cilantro went bad, leaving me with coconut milk, tomatoes, jalapenos, lemon juice, chix stock, chicken, peanuts, coconut, and just for the hell of it, some asian chili-garlic sauce. = delish
