Food Finds at the Market

Every third Saturday morning of the month is sacred on our calendar - it's when the North Sydney Produce Market is on. I have been known to organise our holidays to make sure we don't miss the market, or that we make sure we go to the market to stock up on quality produce before we head off.

Today was pretty special, as not only was it the first market of 2009, but I went earlier than I have ever been, as the Hubby was off to do an early run and I wanted to still be able to have brekkie with him afterwards. I arrived at 7:00 a.m., just when most of the stallholders had just finished seting up. The normally bustling lanes between the stalls were quiet still, and there was a really lovely camaraderie as the stallholders helped each other put up signs and exchange Christmas holiday stories over steaming cups of coffee. Naturally, the coffee stands were among the first to be set up.

So after getting my own cup of coffee from Whitham's, I proceeded to shop and chat with all the stallholders (good thing I didn't have the Hubby getting impatient by my side!) and found some real gems amongst the beautiful produce that was around.

First stop (as always to make sure the mesclun and choice herbs don't run out) was at the Darling Mills stall. Amongst my usual purchases, I found the most amazing bunch of Thai basil that I have seen. The bunch was big and lush, with every single leaf in pristine condition. Usually, bunches of this herb are pretty sparse and wilted, with lots of tell-tale black spots on the leaves that say this ain't a fresh bunch. I'm planning to try out David Thompson's mussels with Thai basil and possibly sneak in a few leaves in an orange curry with prawns.

These beautiful mixed berries were just too good to give a miss. It's the height of berry season at the moment, and I've lately been addicted to Whisk and Pin's Summer Muesli with cinnamon and honey yoghurt and strawberries. I can't wait to have breakfast with these berry gems sprinkled on top!

I then found a bunch of water spinach, also known as Siamese watercress in Thai cooking, and kangkong in Philippine cooking. I know, it's sad, but I got pretty excited as this veggie can be hard to find outside of say Chinatown and Asian fruit and veg shops. It also reminded me a lot of home, as I was quite fond of it when I was a kid - one of the few veggies that I actually ate and enjoyed. Mind you, I best enjoyed it with the leaves battered and deepfried - almost tempura-like in texture, so it's not a big surprise I loved it. I'm still deciding on what to do with it, but will quite likely keep it simple as a stir-fried side veggie to one of the Asian dishes on this week's menu.

The Hubby and I are tomato freaks, so I can't really go past punnets of really, tiny baby toms when I see them. I specially pounce on yellow tomatoes when I see them, as again they can be hard to find. They are a bit more common now than they used to be, but still a real taste and sight sensation when you've got them through a simple garden salad or through orechiette pasta with feta cheese, or even through couscous.

Finally, I found something I've never seen before: Spanish bulb spring onions! I'm a bit funny with onions - I only tend to cook and use red Spanish onions. I just prefer their flavour - they're sweeter and milder, and they're pretty versatile across cuisines. On the odd occasion I will buy brown or white onions, and of course, white bulb spring onions but only if the dish *really* needs them. So it was such a delight to see these gorgeous Spanish bulb spring onions. Problem is they're so gorgeous, I just want to look at them rather than cook them! I'm still looking for a way to use them, and will let you know how I go.

Of Cookbooks and Suckling Pig

Went cookbook shopping with the Hubby on the weekend and realised that we hadn't bought a new cookbook in *ages*! We often get given cookbooks as pressies, so really haven't had the opportunity to buy any in recent years. A book voucher as a Christmas present (thanks, Little Grannie) presented an opportunity to go shopping.

And go shopping we did - we ended up with not just one but two cookbooks out of the seeming millions of titles that were on offer. Quite overwhelming actually - the cooking section spanned half a dozen shelves that wrapped around a corner of the bookshop, not to mention the tables of cookbooks on discount or specially featured. I frankly found it a bit deflating rather than exciting, seeing so many titles and authors (many so-called "celebrity chefs"). Don't know really know why - maybe it was a classic kid in a lolly shop with indigestion syndrome.

In any case, we were mighty pleased with our selection - we got Michel Roux Jr's "The Marathon Chef" cookbook which will inspire me in feeding the Hubby good food while he trains for the Can Too half marathon in May. It was only when I read the book at home that I realised he is the Michel Roux of Le Gavroche in London so that was pretty cool, and his recipes are really interesting - can't wait to get cooking.

And I capitulated to finally getting Anthony Bourdain's "Les Halles" cookbook. I've kinda been resisting buying his cookbook, as we are quite avid readers of him since "Kitchen Confidential" and even went to see him speak at a previous Sydney Writers' Festival. I didn't want to come across as too much of an Anthony Bourdain tragic or food groupie. But his writing was too much to resist (the entry for making hollandaise sauce was hilarious), plus I can't wait to make his steak with bone marrow - mmmmm.... I hope Sarah my nutrionist isn't reading this! I am supposed to be aiming to lose 15 kilos in the next 6 months or so. I'll have to make more of Michel's recipes then and occasionally splash out with a classic French recipe from Anthony once a month!

Aside from cookbook shopping (and speaking of nutritionists - stop reading now, Sarah), another highlight of the weekend was cooking a shoulder of suckling pig. I just couldn't resist - I walked into my current favourite butcher Hudson Meats on Friday and saw the beautiful pre-marinated shoulder of suckling pig just crying out to be taken home and roasted for 2.5 hours in 150 degrees C. It was such a find, as normally Hudson requires a week's notice for the suckling pig as they source it from a specialty producer. How can any self-respecting foodie not pounce on such an opportunity? Unless you happen to not like pig, which would be such a shame.

And I have to say the pig was so beautiful and worth the wrath of Sarah - the marinade of rosemary, thyme, chili, garlic and olive oil just worked an absolute treat, with the skin crisping up deliciously and the flesh so tender and moist. We devoured it with baby potatoes pre-boiled and chucked into the roasting pan for the last hour of cooking, and with steamed baby green beans and sliced zucchini. The pork didn't really need the salsa verde that I whipped up, but it was nice to have it on the side anyway. I am a bit of a lily gilder after all!

Suckling pig prior to cooking

Slicing the piggy-poo

Pig, potatoes and greens plated - yum!

Rachey Cooks for Family, Friends and Charity

The Hubby says not to waste blog space talking about what a slack-arse blogger I am, so I won't. Suffice it to say that although the blog has been a bit idle, the cooking front certainly hasn't been!

Since being on holidays in August (such a long, long time ago!), I've cooked...

• for workmates (Melbourne Cup Lunch and a farewell, plus a bread and butter pudding)
• for charity raising money for cancer research through Can Too and for Cure Cancer Australia while the Hubby gets professional training to run around Sydney
• for friends at the M's House and Mr Testicles' and the Pie Lady's housewarming
• and for family over the Christmas and New Year hols, and had the pleasure to see my one-year old nephew eat cherries, basil pesto and barbecued pork ribs for the first time (and no, not all together!)

In the meantime, the Hubby survived almost a week without me while I went interstate on our annual conference AND managed to make a very respectable dinner using the Cooking for Engineers tabular format for following recipes (that one of my workmates witheringly called a Gantt chart for cooking, much to the Hubby's ire).

And yes, there are photos of dishes I've cooked and just haven't had the chance to post, while friends and family clamour for the recipe of this and that, and for God's sake please update your blog! (yes, Mike, I hear you).

So in the spirit of new year's resolutions, I will work on being a better blogger - whatever that is! Quite likely updating blogs more than just once a few months would be a start. It's probably totally against blogging etiquette, but I will be posting some articles retrospectively as there's some stuff that I'd really like to share. But I'll try not to post them all at once. :)