Salam, Hello! We just landed our flying afghan after seeing “Aladdin” at the movie theater. We disneybounded as Aladdin and Jasmine for a trip to the farmer’s market in Saratoga.
We tasted the fruits of the people’s labor, a chocolatier with different bars full of nuts and salty caramel, 3 cheese makers with delicious combinations and rinds, a lady with protein-packed oatmeal, a mutton loving butcher and his wife who brought their haul in their own freezer and a Hispanic trio of women with an acre’s worth of fresh vegetables and gold-colored potatoes.
I see my little Asian monkey has stolen a small round of sheep cheese from our haul. I’ve told him many times the cost of stealing is greater than that of the trinket, but he refuses to listen!
How many animals other than a cow can you imagine giving milk that could be made into cheese? We have a Facebook post on our page where you can give your responses. We’ve already gotten 3 from our top followers. Besides cows, you can make cheese from the milk of sheep, goat and buffalo, but I’d wager there are more.
We also had a chat with the fish monger next to the guitarist who had pieces of shark, john dory (No, not the blue tang Dory, we mean the gold St.Pierre fish with the thumbprint mark.) It sounded tasty, but for $2 less we bought something novel, blowfish tails! The monger cleaned them out and advised us to cook them like shrimp.
We got some Middle Eastern seasoning from the first vendor on the block, Saratoga Spicery: she called it Za’atarr. It smelled like being smack in the middle of Cairo. White sesame seeds, marjoram, coriander, sumac, thyme and oregano with a pinch of sea salt. The Mrs was sweet and let us sample her dips with pretzel sticks.
This is what they look like after a dose of olive oil in the pan and a minute on each side with some baby garlic and chives. The monger may have called them the chicken NUGGETS of the sea, but with the bone in and a tail on the end, we had to eat them with our hands and pick around. We’re going with the trends and calling them the chicken WINGS of the sea. I tried mine with some BBQ sauce and found myself at the sports bar in 1 bite. These would be so hipster for a superbowl party.
To make this into a complete dinner we oven-roasted some potatoes and carrots, 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven with a heavy sprinkle of dill. Using olive oil added a little flavor as opposed to boring unappealing vegetable oil, or corn oil.
I guess we used a bit too much oil on the vegetables because they came out REALLY slippery. Good thing we tossed a salad on the side. That way we could use the excess oil as dressing with the Peter Rabbit secret ingredient, a cap-full of lemon juice. Ranch and thousand island dressing can have 58-73 calories per tablespoon. Do you really want that much to go to a topping alone? I didn’t think so.
As the night concludes, let’s raise a glass of strawberry kiwi infused water to another Arabian night of exploring new cheeses, innovating fishy ideas, and Disney-clad fun!
SALAM!
