learning to be human, since 1984
Fond du Lac “Fondy” Farmer’s Market
I just biked back from Milwaukee’s Fondy Market, on 22nd and Fond du Lac. I talked to some vendors, the manager (and her trainee), and bought a few things:
- green beans
- habenero peppers
- chiles
- mustard greens
One of the vendors was a wonderful older Hmong woman, with whom I spoke for awhile – mostly about cooking. I’ve never prepared mustard greens before, so I figured I’d give them a shot, per my previous post on Cooking by Feel. I know one method is to boil them for a long time, but she also suggested serving them with chicken or pork, and even sautéeing them in some oil.
After trying them raw, however, I am extremely tempted to just eat the whole bunch plain, or with a little olive oil, vinegar, and a light seasoning of salt and garlic. They are wonderfully peppery and mustardish (one would hope!), and entirely remind me of what those terrible Chinese mustard packets – the ones you get from take-out – should taste like. Their peppery-ness is a bit stronger than roquette but I love that quality in leafy greens. I’m still trying to figure out why one would boil them to oblivion though… Anyone?
I’ll update with the results of my explorations, and what I actually decide to do with the mustard greens!
Boiling helps to cut the bitterness of some greens, and especially if boiled in a pot of water previously used to boil meat in (ribs, for example), it gives the greens some more flavor and nutrition.
Makes sense! I’ll give it a shot, though I generally stick to chicken/fish. I’ll come up with something. I’d like to try them in as many different ways as possible.
[...] some chopped chiles from yesterday. [...]
[...] some chopped chiles from yesterday. Di-fucking-vine. It is beautifully creamy and has an amazing tang that I’ve [...]