Another Culinary Leap Forward...

I, and others, have been commenting recently on how great the collective produce is in this country. It is a little weird how every farmer at the bazaar has pretty much the same stuff. As in they all plant the same thing and the goods come into season at the same time for all of them. Every stand has tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, onions and peppers. Most have cabbage and potatoes. But every few booths you find something that no one else is offering. I like it all and try to hit the same stands every day for the same things. So now, I have a cabbage guy and a potato guy and a tomato guy. They see me coming and everyone smiles, it’s pretty cool. There’s also my tomato guy who works his stand with (presumably) his wife and when she tries to give me a bag he yells over that I don’t need bags and to just put the good direct into my canvas bag. I found one guy who sells dried beans and another who has the only hot peppers I have seen in this country. Buying it fresh every day, although a pain in the schedule, does have its benefits.
Today is Saturday and Lenara and her sister had to go to the bazaar in Kracnoperikopsk. Actually, her sister needed to go to the train station to buy a ticket and they decided to make a morning at the bazaar out of it. I was able to go with them to a) see where the train station is and b) see where the biggest bazaar in the area is. The bus ride was 50 minutes and the train station stop only took 10 minutes. This gave us around 2 hours to shop in the bazaar and meet up for the return trip. Lenara pointed me to the area where the spice merchants sell their goods. Then we split for the rest of our time there so they could go shopping and I could go exploring. I had made a list of things I want/need that I haven’t yet found in our local bazaar. Also, you are more likely to get a better price on stuff in the big market than our local one. I found balsamic vinegar at one stand and then I discovered a stand run by three Middle Eastern sisters that had the best selection of spices I have seen in this country yet. They also sold good olive oil, so I stocked up (buying enough that I saved more than my bus fare just on the oil!). Yep, just like every other farmers market I seem to go to, I had quickly dropped most of the $ I had taken from the ATM yesterday. I found one booth selling wax beans that I haven’t seen yet at the local stands and I also found a kitchen wares booth where I got a chef’s knife, a colander, and a vegetable steamer. I needed to pry myself away before I spent the money reserved for my bus ride home!

We were home around noon and I started to tackle my next culinary challenge, making chili using dried beans. At home I make chili frequently and always use canned beans (although I know that chili, by definition, has no beans in it). Without being able to afford meat these days, I went with the vegetarian version. Two nights ago I thought I would make the chili on the weekend so I attempted the rehydration process which did not go exactly as I had hoped, in that they were still a little too al dente. I tried to work them again, alas they have retained their dente-ness. It didn’t matter to me, and really that’s all that matters since I am the only one eating it. I made some white rice and after a few hours the chili was done, topped with raw onion and some cheese melting over the top. Along with a beer I bought on the way home, a damn fine dinner if I do say so myself. Just hoping for better results on the beans next time.

As a post script, I brought my chili to work for lunch and gave a taste to some of the people at work who are either curious about American food OR have basically forced me to something they brought from home- not always with good results. Regardless, everyone seemed to give me a thumbs-up on my chili creation. Just wait until I cook it properly, they’ll love it.