Wednesday, September 16

Finally, a food post!!

Ah my blog, how I've missed you. Let me break the chain of fawning Marty posts with a food post! Actually, not just one but three food posts all neatly wrapped into one like a blog-lasagna.

First off I have to thank Gourmet magazine, to which we subscribe, for our latest dinner fabulousa. I don't often cook by following recipes but this one grabbed me by name alone - Figgy piggy Cornish hen! I've been bursting to find an excuse to cook Cornish hen for a while - they're not really Cornish, just young chickens. I won't repeat the recipe in detail here since it isn't mine (although I'm hoping it'll appear on their website soon) but the best thing about it is that it is incredibly quick, simple and delicious! Basically I took a bird, halved it and seasoned it (salt/pepper). Meanwhile I crisped up some bacon (or what passes for bacon in the US), then some garlic slivers in the bacon fat, then the bird halves skin side down in the bacon fat until the skin browned. Then I simply roasted the bird (450F) with some halved black figs (delicious and in season here right now) and some thyme sprigs. Served it with mash and a sauce made from the bird/fig juices and the frypan residue, along with some white wine and lemon juice - brilliant!

Little miss figgy piggy in all her faux-Cornish glory

Secondly, this is a shout out to everyone who lives in San Antonio to get out of your HEB monopoly on the supermarket routine and get yourself down to Tim's Oriental and Seafood Market on Bandera Road just past the Huebner intersection. This place is a gem, I just love it. Not only is it a really extensive Asian grocer (and I really do mean extensive) it also sells fresh seafood (including live crabs) as well as whole Peking duck for only $15.99 each and the most delicious sticky BBQ pork and crispy roast pork belly. The other amazing thing is this place is recession heaven - no matter what I purchase my bill always seems to be about $25 (well, except when I buy a duck and a slab of roast pork on top of everything else and then the beloved opens the shopping bags before I've had a chance to warn her of said purchases...but that's another story.)

Here are a couple of examples of recent expeditions:
Clockwise from the top - bamboo shoots, enoki mushrooms, lap chong sausages, huge and delicious dried shiitake, flat rice noodles made in Houston and so good for chow fun, fresh shiitake, spring onion, bitter greens whose name I forget... All up ~$16

Again, clockwise from the top - frozen udon noodles of the highest caliber (meaning chewy and bouncy and perfect, not those crap ones that break when you even point a chopstick in their direction), baby bok choy, magically mysterious but delicious little bags of preserved vegetable that I love snacking on at work, more dried shiitake, tiny hot peppers, more rice noodles, gyoza, tofu balls (silken in the middle, fried on the outside), more lap chong and more enoki. Total bill - $23

There are so many reasons I love Tim's. The fresh vegies are wonderful and you never know what will be there. We've bought delicious fresh water chestnuts, sweet coconuts, all manner of greens, and the shiitake and enoki are just wonderful! And so cheap. I love bamboo and Tim's keeps me supplied with about 15 different kinds, from fresh frozen to brined to dried to hot-pickled. The ingredients cover Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Filipino and so much more. Not only that but you can also find tins of milo and Cafe Du Monde coffee with chicory from New Orleans amongst many other gems.

And finally (because no post can be completely Marty-free) I have to say well done to Mum for guessing the profession!

Master Chef Marty Roo mixing it up in the house!

As much as his Poggie might like to dream, I doubt I could ever really handle it as a profession, but who knows, he might! I'd be happy if he became a carpenter but he's going to have to do some pretty fast talking to convince me he wants to do a PhD!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh wow - your mum guessed it!
Ahhh, Chinese sausage : ) We used to have them sliced up in fried rice growing up, we used to count how many pieces we'd scored in our bowl and save them til the end, yum!
That shop sounds a bit like Wing&Co in Sandy Bay, but better!
Great to see you've still got time to cook new, creative recipes Jac : )
And Marty...still as cute as ever.
Love Britt. X

booradley said...

I still think he'll be an olympic swimmer on the side :p

Btw, I've had not one but TWO dreams about shopping for peking duck in recent weeks, and that was before reading your blog. Every time I come across a vast steamy window full of plump duckies, I wake up. It really sucks.

Fizzy xo

Anonymous said...

I am now very hungry, and it will be ages before I can cook the dinner....
Maybe next time you come to Bolton you can have a visit to either of both, the Indian supermarket, wonderful smells issue forth, or the chinese supermarkets in Manchester. Wonderful too.

GA Kate

Mothersupex said...

Wow, it is fantastic that I guessed Marty's profession. He will be helping you eat all these wonderful creations, all to soon. Just love the front of his little jump suit.

Wish we had somewhere like Tim's for all our goodies. Sounds wonderful, even better if you stay around the $25 dollar mark.

We enjoyed reading the blog, even though our tummies are rumbling but extra happy that it finished with a picture of our precious grandchild.

Much love to you all, and a special kiss to Marty.

Mum x

Adrienne said...

Tim's sounds great but does it have my parents working there on a Sunday? No. Didn't think so.

Figs! Yum. As soon as Al lets me pull down the garage I'm putting in a fig tree. Telling him you need them might give him the extra incentive!

Your post has made me hungry and I've only jsut arrived at work.

xA

Unknown said...

I have just finished cooking a curry starting with 10kg of beef, and 12 tins of coconut cream, and have chopped and cooked at least 20 onions, and make a mountain of spice paste to make a heap of Masaman beef so somehow the idea of cooking or eating is not as instantly as fascinating as usual - but those hens are going to happen with or without figs. I am helping a friend with some catering - there were supposed to be 130 but counting the RSVPs from people who were NOT invited, it is up to 180 so could be chaos.
Pity Marty isn't here to help either contribute to the chaos or distract people from it - the latter, certainly.
Good to hear you have time for cooking!

Cheers

Clare

Big A said...

Rumble, rumble, gurgle, rumble, rumble, rumble.....

What are you trying to do to me?

Two weeks, just two weeks.

Vikki said...

Hello there. here and just wanted to say, "hey". So...hey.

One question: what's served as the side to the cornish hen? Is that mashed potatoes? Just curious.

Jac said...

Hehe Hi Vikki, I feel like a celebrity just popped up on my blog, after my beloved and I lurking on yours for so long!

Yup, lots of mash to soak up all the sauce, although last time I made it we had roast beets, kipfler spuds and asparagus on the side.

And hey ;)

Adrienne said...

mmm... mash... Even on a re-read this post has me counting down the minutes till lunchtime (180 just in cae you're wondering).

xA

Vikki said...

Stop lurking and start commenting!

I'm not sure we are ever going to have mashed potato weather here which is so hilarious given that I live in MN. Fall weather? Yes, please.

Jac said...

Sheesh I've been slack about responding to comments (again)...

Britt: Love the sausage (that came out all wrong) but yeah. I just have to be careful to avoid the ones with liver in them! Josie is not a fan and the packets all look so similar to my uncultured white eyes >_<

Fizzy: I wish I could help you source some but I'm not sure where in Hobart. I will have to find out tho!

Kate: Supermarket tourism sounds fab to me :)

Mum: Next time you're in Hobart you should really drop into Wing and Co, you'd love it. Gosh, I suddenly miss the laksa from Vina next door so badly!!

Rennie: I often think I see your folks out of the corner of my eye at Tim's. Fig tree?? Do it!!

Whoa Clare, talk about an epic dinner! I have trouble scaling up to 10 people lol

Vikki: Ok ok I'll delurk, you've guilted me into it with all the commenting. Josie is the one who needs to be outed (as a lurker) since she found you and has been reading longer than me. I'll work on it!