Day 114

Manpasand: After getting several recommendations lately for locations to buy Indian groceries, I finally ventured out today to scope out a few of them. I've recently been intrigued by Indian food after trying a few of Trader Joe's frozen Indian entrees, and I knew that the real thing would be different (and probably much tastier). My first stop was to a market called Taj Mahal Imports, located off Briarcliff Road. From what I read online, they featured a wide variety of Indian goods, including snacks, sweets, frozen foods, and housewares.

Once I found it, I was glad I did. It definitely wasn't like any other market I've been in, and there was a wide array of goods that I'd never seen before. I bought several items, but the GF directed me towards the sweets counter at the front, featuring several types of homemade pastries and candy. I wasn't familiar with any of them, so we picked out a few to take home.

I decided to try the manpasand tonight - from what I've been able to research, it's an Indian candy made from cashews, fig, almond and sugar. These were made locally by a company called Rajbhog (www.rajbhog.com), and Taj Mahal featured several of their products in the sweets counter. The Rajbhog site also mentioned that all their sweets are made with ghee (clarified butter) and fresh milk. Anyway, this treat was super tasty. I can't quite describe what the top and bottom layers tasted like, but it had a sweet, nougat-like consistency - almost like the center of a Baby Ruth. The center reminded me of the filling in a Fig Newton, but much richer. I only bought a couple of these, but I could have easily eaten more. Really good stuff.

I took home a few different varieties of candy and other goods from Taj Mahal, so I'll be blogging about those coming up. If you're interested in Indian goods or culture at all, it's a great market to check out.

Day 113

Caperberry: While I was out doing some errands today, I stopped back into Whole Foods on Ponce since I was already in the shopping center where it's located. I was just there a couple days ago, but I figured I'd check out the hot bar/salad bar again since they change out the items frequently. However, instead of looking at those, I perused the olive bar. I'm familiar with many varieties of olives, but I saw something on the bar that I'd never heard of: caperberry. Since WF is OK with giving out samples, I asked for a trial-size cup so I could try one of these.

The caperberry looked like an overgrown olive, with a long stem protruding from one end. I brought it home with me to try, and I was surprised at the results. It tasted like a hybrid of green olive and pepperoncini, with the center containing a seedy mixture much like a pepperoncini. It tasted like it had been brined (much like an olive), but the taste wasn't nearly as strong as an olive. Pretty tasty, and since I like olives, I could see snacking on these as an accompaniment to a cheese plate in place of olives.

I didn't even know what these were before today, but according to Wikipedia, caperberries are actually the fully grown bud of the caper plant. Capers are the immature buds from the plant, but those taste completely different. Interesting.

Day 112

Soon Doo Boo: Last night I had a gig to play right off of Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth, and on the way there I noticed several Asian eateries and markets near the club. I didn't have time to check any of them out, but I decided to go back today and see if I could find anything interesting to eat. I quickly stopped inside the Super H Mart on Pleasant Hill to see if they had some new eats in stock, but my stomach got the best of me. I can never resist their food court, and with the weather being colder today, a hearty Korean soup sounded awesome. The Korean stall had a lot of great options, but I went with this one after seeing someone else order it.

Soon Doo Boo was described as a "hot and spicy soft tofu stew." Several options were listed (kimchi, seafood, miso, mushroom, or beef), but I chose the "combination." I picked up my order a few minutes after placing it, and it was still boiling rapidly in the small stone pot. I had no choice but to stir and let it sit for awhile, since this insanely hot mixture would have likely destroyed my mouth and throat in this state. It was also served with sides of rice, kimchi and some sesame-tasting bean sprouts, so I snacked on those while waiting for the stew to cool.

Once it was safe to eat, I was really impressed with the flavors. The reddish miso-based broth was spicy and hearty - much better than the dishwater-y miso soup you're probaby used to eating at hibachi joints. The soft tofu melted in my mouth with each bite, and the combination of seafood (squid, mussels, shrimp) and mushroom/beef only added to the awesomeness. I ended up dunking some balls of rice into the mixture to soak up broth - not sure if that's standard eating procedure, but it was tasty regardless.I'll be back for this one (along with the dolsot bibimbap) again.

I might also add that this whole dish was only $6. Why can't this style of cooking be in every food court?

Day 111

Tabouli: I ventured out this afternoon to maybe find something for lunch, and I ended up at the Whole Foods on Ponce. I rarely shop there due to the high prices, but occasionally there's something on the hot bar or salad bar that catches my eye. Today I saw something that I'd heard about for years, but never actually tried: tabouli. I knew it was some sort of wheat-based vegetarian dish, but past that, I knew nothing. Luckily, WF will let you sample before you commit, so I asked for one of the little sample cups so I could taste.

WF listed the ingredients as "bulgur wheat, brown rice, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, couscous, lemon juice, wild rice." I suspected that it would be a lot like cooked couscous, but I was slightly wrong. The texture of the bulgur was almost like half-cooked couscous, with a chewy, nutty feel. Not bad, but not that great, either. It reminded me a lot of the wheatberry salad I tried a few weeks ago, and the remaining ingredients definitely added a lot more flavor to the bland-ish bulgur and rice. A little too much onion in this version for me, but I doubt I'd eat it again anyway.

For the record, I'm not sure what the correct spelling of this dish is. I've seen several different versions, and this is the one that WF used.

Day 110

Channa Masala: Even though I've made some new foods and dishes from scratch this week, it's difficult to do for every blog entry. I definitely plan on doing more cooking in the upcoming weeks, but today's post isn't in that category. I really enjoyed the last Indian-style frozen entree I picked up at Trader Joe's, so I snagged another one on my last trip there. This one was labeled as "channa masala," which I've never had. My experience with Indian cuisine is extremely limited, and I plan on checking out some of the Indian restaurants in ATL that have been recommended to me by my readers. But, for today, this frozen version will have to do.

 From what I could tell from the picture on the box, channa masala looked like a mixture of chickpeas and possibly a tomato-based sauce of other ingredients. After checking out the ingredients, I noticed I was right, but the dish had a few other components (ghee, garlic, salt, cilantro, mango powder, turmeric, bay leaf). After heating, I also prepared a piece of TJ's garlic naan to pair with the masala mix.

I really enjoyed this stuff - it was extremely hearty, and the mix of spices and tomato complemented the chickpeas well. Apparently "masala" means "a mixture of spices," and this chickpea version was really tasty. I know that I'd be better off trying this for the first time in a restaurant (or homemade), but I feel like this version gave me a good idea of what the dish is about. And, it was vegetarian, which is something I usually don't go for.

I need to find out more about Indian cuisine ASAP. I've been putting it off way too long.

Day 109

Spaghetti Squash: I'm proud to say that once again, today's post involved me actually cooking a new food instead of relying on something pre-packaged or ready to eat. A few days ago, the GF recommended that I try spaghetti squash - I'd never heard of it, but after hearing her description and doing a bit of research, it sounded interesting. Spaghetti squash looks like many others on the outside, but after cooking, the insides are scraped out, resulting in a fibrous flesh that's supposed to look just like cooked spaghetti. They're pretty easy to find, and I ended up buying one at YDFM on my last trip a couple days ago. The plan was to make a simple recipe including the squash, onion, feta, basil and tomato.

The recipe I found online instructed me to cut the squash in half lengthwise, pull out the seeds/pulp, then cook in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. After it cooled, I scraped out the insides with a spoon, and the end result really did looked like overcooked spaghetti. The football-sized squash yielded quite a bit of "spaghetti," and I tossed it with the sauteed onion/garlic, tomato, feta and basil. The squash actually tasted a lot like al dente spaghetti, but with a noticeable vegetable texture. I can't say it tasted like much on its own (much like pasta), but the additional ingredients really made it a tasty dish. I'd highly recommend it to anyone that likes pasta, but wants to cut back on the carbs. Good stuff.

Day 108

Pepino Melon: Today's post is another new fruit I found at YDFM during yesterday's shopping trip. Interestingly, I'd seen this unique variety of melon at Kroger a few weeks ago, but was shocked to learn that they were charging $5 apiece for them. That's way too expensive for me, but I managed to score this one for $1 at YDFM. Not quite sure how to explain that price difference, but anyway...on to the eating.

I wasn't at all sure what this melon would taste like, but the colors on its skin looked vibrant and appealing. The entire thing wasn't much smaller than my fist, and it had a firm texture that reminded me of an under-ripe tomato. I sliced it in half, and the interior color was almost the same as the exterior, almost like a mango. After peeling the skin off (which I read was slightly bitter), I cut a small piece and took a bite. Honestly, it tasted just like cantaloupe, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. I'm not a fan of cantaloupe or honeydew - in my opinion, they're tasteless "filler fruits" that I avoid when possible. I later read on Wikipedia that the pepino actually isn't a melon at all, but the fruit from the "pepino dulce" plant.

I really hoped this one would be tasty, but I was wrong. If you feel like you must try a pepino, stay away from the expensive ones and find a cheap one like I did.