If you have followed my ramblings for any length of time, you know I have talked endlessly about the quality of ingredients being a very important key to your cooking success. Sure, other factors make a difference as well, like your technical abilities, the kind and quality of the stove and cookware you use and, not surprisingly, how much you enjoy cooking. If you love to cook as much as I do, I would suspect that over time you would develop some significant culinary skills. But for those of you that cooking is a drudgery that you tackle only because of necessity, I dare say your friends are not lining up to come over for Sunday brunch.
For most proteins, you really have very limited choices, other than the neighborhood grocery store. There is only one butcher shop on the Coast, Johnny Pizmo’s Butchery and Market, and I hear good reviews about it, but it is a bit too far for me to visit on a regular basis. If money is not a problem, you can order some pretty spectacular meats on-line, like Japanese wagyu, or organic, free Range chicken. But it is seriously pricy.
If you are looking for quality, fresh veggies, the Ocean Springs Saturday Morning Fresh Market is a great place to visit, as is the Long Beach, Bixby Park Local Harvest Farmer’s Market. But no matter which market you shot, be wary of vegetables in the cardboard boxes that probably came from a produce house, not fresh from a famer’s field.
Remember, the big chain grocery stores generally want a two week shelf life on their produce, which means it is harvested before it is ripe. They also have a list of physical requirements for veggies, like tomatoes, which should be bright red, and without blemish, but, interestingly, there is no requirement for flavor.
No matter where you shop for produce, always ask yourself if those tomatoes you are lusting after are in season. Red ripe tomatoes in February should send up a red flag. Produce out of season was grown in a hot house, which often do not have ideal conditions (like bright, hot sunshine).
Perhaps the best of all choices is to have your own garden. Yes, it is labor intensive, and does require certain skill levels (which aren’t that hard to acquire), but will be sure to have ripe, seasonal produce, that has not been over medicated with chemicals and is healthy and delicious for your family and friends.