Sunday 30 January
Our neighborhood of Clifton is in a stew because our local IGA supermarket closed suddenly. At first it looked like a bureaucratic dispute with the Ohio tax department, but now we hear about employees' checks bouncing and other ill omens. We are deeply afraid that it is gone, and where will we go for superior beef, pork, and chicken not plumped full of chemicals and "broth" as in the Kroger supermarkets? (Hear that, Kroger?)
The answer for now seems to be Findlay Market, our usual Saturday mission; not as convenient for everyday, but good quality. We passed up the farmers' market guys, because their chickens are deep-frozen, and no matter how local or happy the hen, a frozen bird is not as good as fresh. Instead we went into the market shed and got a $1.39/lb. fresh fryer at Charles Bare meats. It was pretty well cleaned, and it came out nice and moist and tender when rubbed with oil, stuffed with thyme branches, and roasted in a 400 degree oven (on convection - we were hungry).
We also got a nice mess of mixed greens (mustard and turnip), and made braised turnip greens with turnips and apples. But as we had no ham hock as called for, we started by chopping up a quarter pound of scrappy bacon (which we buy in bulk and freeze in quarter pound packages for just such purposes). We browned it in a big pot, and then added the chopped greens gradually, stirring after each so that we could cram it all in. Then instead of the huge amount of water the recipe calls for, we could use less than a cup to simmer the greens, sliced turnips, and apples (though the latter broke up too much, so next time we'll add them later) under cover for maybe 20 minutes. The apples, sugar, and vinegar could go in together in the last 10 minutes.
Homey goodness.
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