An International Food Adventure

The man and I went on a world-wide food shopping adventure today. A brief road trip to Bridgeport and we had arrived at the International Farmer's Market, an old-style grocery store that a colleague had mentioned I should check out. As soon as we walked in the doors I knew it wasn't our average grocery store. I felt like I had suddenly been transported to a different world.



We had fun exploring the aisles and discovering all kinds of unfamiliar (to us) brand name products, exotic South American produce (that I couldn't even figure out what they were), an endless array of different pepper sauces, beans, cans of food items that I couldn't identify, and an international mix of friendly store workers and customers.



The best part was the authentic fish market. I forgot to take my camera with me to document the experience, but whole fish red snapper, salmon heads, tuna, etc., were laid out on beds of crushed ice for customers to inspect and choose their favorites. The fact that you couldn't smell fish in the store was a clear sign of how fresh the options were. I picked out the fish that I wanted and paid for it. Seconds later, I asked my man "where's the fish?" He looked at me and asked the same question. The guy behind the counter could tell we were confused.

"We clean them for you," he said motioning to the group of workers behind him at the fish counter. "I just gave you a number. We'll call out your number when it's ready. It'll be about 10 minutes."

How cool is that?

We left the store with three bags of groceries and estimated the total cost was about 15% less than what we would've spent at Stop & Shop around the corner from us. We were thrilled by the new shopping experience.

Slow Food Sunday's meal this evening was a recipe for Mediterranean Salmon my man found online.


Sprinkle a pinch of kosher salt onto 6 cloves of garlic and smush with a sharp knife to create garlic paste. For the record, the recipe called for 4 cloves of garlic, but I married an Italian. Well, 1/2 Italian, but he cooks like a full-blooded Italian. In this household, you can't have too much garlic. Ever.



Meanwhile, whisk together about 1/4 cup quality balsamic vinegar and 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil.



Spread the garlic paste onto the fresh salmon fillet.



Pour the balsamic & olive oil mixture over the salmon. Make sure some of the liquid coats the bottom of a shallow baking dish so the fish doesn't stick.



Chop up some fresh cilantro, basil and sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of each plus 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of garlic salt over the top of the salmon.



Preheat your oven's broiler and place the salmon about 6 inches from the heat source. Broil for about 15 minutes, until it browns on both sides or easily flakes with a fork. You can brush the fish occasionally with the sauce from the pan as well.



The executive chef of the McCarthy household decided we're going on a diet yesterday, so we made a low-calorie salad to compliment our entree. Green leaf lettuce, he informed me, needs to be thoroughly washed. Ideally, we would've cleaned our sink, filled it with water and dunked the head of lettuce to get rid of any dirt and critters that may be trying to share the meal with us. But since our sink was full of dishes, I rinsed each leaf one by one.

Just add your favorite salad toppings. For Chef McCarthy: sliced mushrooms, cucumbers, two croutons and some balsamic vinegar dressing. For the not-so-disciplined one in the household: mushrooms, cucumbers, (many more than two) croutons, dried cranberries, pignoli nuts and a sweet poppyseed dressing from Trader Joe's.

It wasn't a fancy meal. It took all of 25 minutes to make. But what made all the difference was the fresh ingredients we used. It tasted fantastic. We will definitely be trekking to Bridgeport's International Farmer's Market more often.