Here's a bunch of odds and ends and even some recent surprises.
An impulse buy form North Park Produce:
I've kinda stopped doing posts on markets and grocers, though perhaps I should do a few more. Though I shop at North Park Produce biweekly, I've starting taking a bit more time to really check things out. I've noticed some very interesting items and the weekend we got back from our trip I saw something that surprised me. I just had to buy it……
Recognize it?
Yep…it's kuru patlican! Dried eggplant, one of items I mentioned in my last most recent post on Istanbul! I was quite surprised to see it, though I've been noticing more products from Turkey recently.
Now I've just got to figure out what to do with it.
North Park Produce
3551 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104
An impulse buy from Awash Market:
We recently walked into Awash Market on El Cajon Boulevard. Folks there we really nice. We ended up buying a selection of Ethiopian Beer and Honey wine.
The guy behind the counter was quick to tell us that "honey wine is what Jesus made from water!" I was also told that they make their own honey wine as well. I'm sure we'll be eating there in the future. I really enjoyed Meta Beer, it has a honey finish, might even go well with baklava…..
Awash Market
2884 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104
Molokhia from Nijiya? It's true:
One of the more interesting and delicious dishes we ate in Tunisia was served in a buffet. It was this black and somewhat viscous stew of beef. We were told it was made with dried molokhia. No one else was eating it….the Missus and I had seconds and then some. The Chef de Cuisine was so delighted he came to talk to us. It was made from dried molokhia, a type of corchorus and totally foreign to us. The chef told us that molokhia reflected the arab side of Tunisian cuisine.
So I was absolutely astounded when we dropped by Nijiya to grab some groceries and saw…….molokhia!
Not quite sure what I'm going to make….I'm open to suggestions! Man, Nijiya is full of surprises.
Last year it was the fresh chanterelles, this year molokhia! I can only imagine what's next.
Nijiya Market
3860 Convoy St Ste 109
San Diego, CA 92111
What we brought back from Rhodes:
You're going to laugh at this one……..
I think I covered the Missus' love affair with the very dry, twice baked bread called rusk, which She just couldn't get enough of during our visit to Crete. During our stay on Rhodes, we decided to have a light dinner. There's a pretty good market within the city walls of Rhodes, but they had no bread. When we returned to our room I set things out on the private, not so little patio, which we had all to ourselves.
The Missus came back and told me the mini-mart had also sold out of bread. She then held up a bag….of rusk, telling me, "but they had this!" How convenient. Funny thing was, I really liked it. And it was from Crete as well.
At first I thought that perhaps it was a combination of the bottle of wine and the beautiful Rodos sunset.
But we bought most of the package of rusk back with us….and you know what? I really do like it…what can I say?
Lychee from Costco:
We went to Costco for our quarterly toilet paper shopping trip and I was surprised to see Lychee.
There was an open container so I checked it out…weight was good, it felt tender but not mushy, there was no space between the peel and the flesh, so it didn't seem frozen. Yeah, I know, first I'm petting my uni, now I'm feeling my lychee…what's next "dogs and cats living together"?
This was better than the stuff we've recently had from various Asian markets around San Diego. The Missus has been enjoying it with……a homage to Her, ahem, delusional Greek roots….Greek yogurt. She says it's quite good. I'll just let it go at that……..
So, what interesting impulse buy have you made recently?