Friday, April 03, 2009

I wanted...I bought...I made


Back in what seems like a very cold London after a lovely holiday in Mauritius I'm not entirely sure what it is I want to eat next week. I have a little paté and cheese and salad in the fridge for a light supper tonight and then it's back to Borough tomorrow. I am definitely taken with the idea of slow roasted ham hock so that may be Sunday's treat with some garlic potatoes and green salad just to lighten the load utterly fab but eaten with a poached egg to be utterly decadent. Saturday some Chinese I think along the lines of exotic noodles not as successful as I'd hoped but an okay soba noodles with mussels and clams but the flavour of the shellfish did not shine perhaps. Monday I think a thick bean soup actually had chargrilled vegetable pasta sans cheese as I have a load of Parmesan rinds in the fridge to use up. Tuesday we are out, Wednesday vegetable curry had to walk home from work due to a couple of accidents closing roads so by the time I got started on spiced cabbage it would take too long so the man went to the takeaway for peking duck! - roasted cauliflower perhaps with a chick pea masala, Thursday some pasta bean soup and Friday may well be omelette and salad now it will be tbone steaks as a new easter tradition.

Inspired by the pleasure of being back at Borough Market I had no trouble at all shopping! At Ginger Pig I bought some lamb mince and a pigs trotter for £4.50 - that's right I spent less than £5 at the Ginger Pig - possibly a miracle. They did have a spectacular piece of t-bone on the top of the counter which the man and I both looked longingly at, resisted the temptation to buy immediately only by deciding that we'd buy some Friday to start a new easter tradition.

Then to Silfield for ham hocks - for some reason I always buy them here and not at the Ginger Pig. They have really good fat meaty ones usually in a great mountain but they only had three on display first thing Saturday so lucky we got in early. Bought two thinking I'd like to slow roast them with onions and cider, the second for lunches. Then had a moment of doubt - never slow roasted a hock before and what if it's horrible? - so only cooked one and put one in the freezer - £5.90

At Booths we needed lots of veg - potatoes, carrots, parsley, bananas, cabbage, aubergine, tomatoes, courgettes, cucumber and fennel - £11.20

Needed clams and mussels from Shellseekers - £7.50

Still had eggs from the last shop so didn't go over to the other side. Instead bought parma ham and mozzarella from the parma stall - £9.70

To Neals Yard for milk, pasta and bread and also a couple of tubs of cream that were marked down and will be good for the freezer - £7.90

Hot cross buns and more bread from Flour Power - £3.10 - the little cottage loaf has gone up 10p

So a not too bad £49.80. Also bought soba noodles, holy basil, chinese cabbage, olive oil to make curry leaf oil, butter, chick peas and yoghurt.

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