I've been trying every week lately to hit the market when it is downtown, or the tiny local one three blocks from my house. My only complaint is that they are on the same day, so at least every other week I have to miss it and end up going to the large one downtown. I have been getting much much better about being regular, and it has resulted in some nice surprises.
The first is that M likes zucchini. My husband swore he hated the stuff until I
made it for him the first time I cooked for him. The key I guess is to not overcook. I marinate then grill. Last time I grilled I made some for M and he was upset that he wasn't going to get any, so M had to share. The grill ran out of gas this week, so I improvised with the beautiful baby ones I found today. Pan fried very lightly in a little salt, pepper and olive oil, then toss with fresh herbs and a very small amount of balsamic vinegar before chilling for tomorrow's dinner. M loved the few I let her taste tonight after she devoured the rest of her veggies.
The other is what to do with baby red potatoes other than boiled potatoes with butter and fresh herbs. That one never seems to be as popular with the rest of the house as me. Instead I made a baby red hash of sorts with quartered potatoes, onions, Spam (yes that spam), and fresh herbs. I only use a small amount of Spam, and M only gets the potatoes anyways. I don't add any extra salt since it adds enough. The nice part about this is the potatoes stay firm, but caramelize on the outside a bit. It used to be every time we had Spam (A loves it) I thought of
Monty Python. Now I think of Monty Python and
City Mama.
I'm waiting for the fall items to figure out what to do with them. (I may never like squash) I'd also like to try to cook the small Japanese eggplants like they do in restaurants, I just haven't been brave enough yet. While I wait for new challenges, I'm using the last of the good cucumbers to make what may be the last batch of refrigerator pickles.
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