Central Market Purchase of the Week

Besides the $9 a pound fresh Gulf shrimp I grabbed up, I like this living basil.  Questions:  Will it last long?  Will I be able to plant it outside when it’s for sure warm enough?  Will I just eat it all instead?!

Central Market’s Artisan Mini Loaves

Another great idea from Central Market.  The CM located on Lover’s is surrounded by apartments and very close to SMU.  That means small groups of people.  Roomates, lovers, married couples, singles, throw in a few dogs and cats and you’ve got the basic idea.  Hubbard and I don’t live around the CM.  But, we are a two person group.  We fall into the married couples catagory.  And as much as I love good bread, we have a very hard time finishing a full loaf of bread from CM before it goes south.  Not being chock full of preservatives, CM loaves don’t have a long shelf life.  These mini-loaves are perfect!  I think you have six or seven choices on what type of bread you want.  Mine is Roasted Garlic Cheese Bread.  Good stuff.

Nada

You know, when you first start a blog, you can write about practically every dish you cook or restaurant you visit.  Everything is a first for the blog.  After a couple of years…  the new stuff comes a little less often.  We’ve been going out.  But, I’ve written about all the restaurants before.  We almost went to Si Tapas the other night.  A 40 minute wait put a big nix on that.  We cooked a little bit.  I will recommend the “Cowboy” burger patties from Central Market.  They have ground up bacon in them.  Yum!  I even cooked them inside instead of on the grill and they were delicious.  Othere than that, not a whole lot going on last week.

Are any of you going to any of the restaurants on the Yelp Eats! list?  $25 fixed price is a pretty good deal.  I’m just not really sure why they’re doing it…  I don’t see any mention of charity or anything.  Gotta wonder.

Two Great Things…

…That Go Great Together.

Warm steamed Snow Crab with drawn butter

Grilled New York Strip Steak  (Great grill marks, Hub!)

Those twice-baked potatoes were good, too!

Crab and Steak, both on sale at Central Market last weekend.

CM Cooking Classes are a Deal Really

If you haven’t been to a cooking class at Central Market, you should go.  $60 may seem like a lot of money to sit and watch someone cook.  But, you get so much food and wine you end up leaving perfectly satisfied.  Look at this one…

David Uygur, Executive Chef, Lola, the Restaurant & Jennifer Uygur, CM Beer & Wine Manager

David, an accomplished chef who leads the kitchen at one of Dallas’ most recognized restaurants, and Jennifer, a Central Market veteran, will discuss how two elements combine to create an inspired meal. Each of the following dishes will be perfectly paired with wine:

• Marinated Oysters with Cucumber & Black Pepper
• Grilled Scallops with a Cauliflower Panna Cotta
• Ricotta Gnocchi al Ragu
• Roasted Veal with Hazelnuts
• Autumn Fruit Gratin with Amaretti

All this and for two and a half hours you get to listen to him talk about this philosophies, techniques, etc.  The classes are so much fun and I bet this one will be great.  I wish I was going.  The prices vary by class.  Check out Central Market’s reservation system for the classes.  It’s a cool new system that they’re using.  Instead of calling to make reservations, you just go online and do it yourself.  The reservation calendar also tells you how many seats are left in the class.  Treat yourself.  Think of it this way, if you went to Lola and had all that food with wine, you’d spend more than $60, right?   

No More Coupons from Central Market

Do you believe it?!  They’re going to stop mailing us coupons.  Instead, you’ll get the sale flyer.  I do agree that they’ve been running some much more serious specials and freebies with a purchase.  These could potentially save you much more than the coupons.  But, I don’t know.  I just kind of liked getting them.  Oh well.  I’m sure I’ll adjust!

Bacon Menu at Central Market

Last weekend I was looking for the applewood-smoked bacon at Central Market and was pleasantly surprised to find the once lonely bacon surrounded by interesting sounding bacons of all shapes and sizes.  This immediately threw me into a tailspin.  Lordy, I was intending to throw my apple bacon into a brisket braising liquid.  What a waste.  I need to buy Oscar Meyer for that.  I should eat the apple stuff straight, like we always do.  Only this time, I need to buy some kind of interesting bacon, too.  And it’s a $1.00 off per pound.  And I can get a free t-shirt! 

I decided on my traditional and much loved apple smoked.  My second choice was one called Ten Garlic Clove bacon.  Whoa.  There are actually garlic cloves imbedded in the bacon slices.  I gotta have that.  There were tons of others.  But, I didn’t have the time to stand there and examine the name and shape of each one.  What I needed was a little menu I could take with me or study before I got the man engaged in waiting on me.  So, where’s that?  I couldn’t tell you the name of one other bacon type, though there were about 12 or more.  I think a sampling party might be in order.  Different bacon appetizers?  Wouldn’t that be a tasty little heart attack of an evening?

I took my dollar off coupon.  But, you know, who needs another white t-shirt?  I’m 46 years old for crying out loud.  It did have a picture of a piece of bacon on the shirt.  I resisted.  I’ll leave the bacon t-shirt for the younger, more t-shirt oriented crowd. 

That bacon was damn good, though.

Central Market Sushi Bar

I succumbed.  I stopped and shopped and ate fast food sushi.  That’s the way I think of it.  It doesn’t touch really good sushi.  But, it ain’t really bad either.  And if it’s a choice between that and any other fast food…  I’m thinking the sushi wins.  OK.  It’s a bit over-priced.  But, it’s pretty and it makes me feel good.  That counts for a lot with me.

I Love Jacques Pepin

My friend Lori A. and I went to go see Jacques Pepin’s cooking class at Central Market Wednesday night and I totally fell in love with him.  I’ve always liked him.  Now it’s the real deal. 

Remember that show he had with Julia Child?  I loved that show.  I thought the way he used to try to correct her and how he tolerated her stubborness was really cute.  Well, Jacques was just as charming in person as I’ve ever seen him on TV.  It’s amazing that he has kept his career going for so many years and still seems to truly enjoy his work.  I’ve never been to a class that I enjoyed more.  Jacques Pepin is like a cooking superhero to me.  I felt really lucky to be there. 

We ate while he cooked.  The class was only an hour long.  Well, maybe he went a little over an hour.  We all got his new book “More Fast Food My Way”.  He signed mine, “Margie, Thank you for coming. Jacques Pepin”.  Beautiful handwriting, I might add.  He talked of how his cooking philosophy had changed over the years.  He prepared very simple fare.  Roasted chicken.  Mashed potatoes. Individual savory cheesecakes.  Chocolates with grapefruit and candied rind.  He would often finish a dish and give it a restaurant price tag.  I think he decided the dessert would be $8.95.  $15.00 for the roasted chicken.  I’d pay that in a heartbeat.  Just listening to him talk about his life and his thoughts on food…  simply charming.  He has a sparkle in his eye that makes me want to cry.  He’s just adorable.

If you ever have a chance to see him, go.  No matter how much it cost, it’ll be worth it.  Because, remember, he won’t be around forever.  And I never did get to see Julia Child.  That is something I deeply regret because now it’s too late.  But, I got to see Jacques Pepin, even talk to him, and that’s something that I’m very, very happy about.

Meadow Creek Dairy Grayson Cheese

My husband was looking for a snack we could have before our dinner at Fearing’s.  He came home with a bottle of Chardonnay and a wedge of Meadow Creek Grayson cheese.  The cheese man, “Mr. Frommage”, at Central Market suggested it when Hub told him I like strong cheeses.  “Stinky cheese?” he asked.  Hub said that I would like that.  Hub was right.  Yes, it’s stinky - or should I say pungent?  Although, the taste isn’t as strong the aroma.  It has a bit of a bite.  Still, there is a sweetness present and the texture is creamy.  It pairs beautifully with the Chardonnay.  It is kind of nutty, ending with an almost oyster-like flavor.   I did a some research and found out that the Grayson won first place honors in the American Cheese Society’s Farmstead Catagory.  It’s made with the milk processed right there on the farm in Virginia.  I like that.  So much so, that I had to go back and get more a couple of days later.