Last week I walked into the South Slope Union Market and was surprised to see fresh turmeric root (mislabeled as “tumeric root”), something I hadn’t seen before. I picked up a handful of the tiny roots, not sure what to do with them but excited anyway. Turmeric is said to have numerous health benefits — a natural detoxifier, etc. — and has a sweet, almost carrot-like smell. I’ve sliced in thin and added it to an Asian-inspired soup, and I’ve grated it and used it as a base for curry. I should warn you that if you do grate it your fingers will be bright yellow for a day, at least, despite any scrubbing.

How do you like a restaurant even before you ordered the food? For me, by playing Runaway by Bon Jovi then followed by Always and Wanted Dead or Alive. How frakkin’ cool is this place?

My family were having lunch before going to the Buddhist Temple for Chinese New Year. My sister, Bonnie, took us here because I had a craving for soupy noodles.

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I have seen tiny spots of blood in eggs before but this was TOO CRAZY!

I can hear you out there, reader, complaining. The first Market Watch column in over a month, and I give you eggs? Indeed I do. Two weeks ago I picked up a dozen eggs from Bradley Farm, and they were the best eggs I’ve ever had. Rich, vibrant yolks, and clear whites that whipped up into meringue in no time flat.

I saved the ribs that came with the 9lb pork belly I bought for our 2 year party so that I could use it later. This is probably not the way to cook ribs but I first boiled it then roasted it in the oven. The liquid that I used to boil the ribs in was tea! and star anise. Yes tea. Think it was 2 cups of tea and 8 star anise. Boiled it for about an hour. Then I took the ribs out placed it in the roasting tray, seasoned it and cooked it in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour then cranked it up to 500 degrees.

The end result was pretty good. A little on the dry side but I could really taste the tea and that extra salt I added before roasting was super nice!

Yes Jamie At Home is the name of Jamie Oliver’s cookbook and also one of this cooking show. But this is me cooking a Jamie Oliver recipe at my own home. I know this idea of cooking through a cookbook and blogging about isn’t new but in my attempt to cook more and actually use the cookbooks I need to document it. Sorta like homework. I’m less lazy if its homework. Also I’m not cooking through 1 book, I’m merely just cooking any of his recipes from books, magazines and website.

So here is my first attempt of this Jamie at Home weekly post (lets see how long this goes eh?) Pasta Peperonata, found here on his website. Oh man this one was so simple to make but I really hate cleaning and slicing bell peppers. In the recipe, creme fraiche or mascarpone cheese is optional but if you ask me it should be a must. I just love a good creamy pasta sauce. Basically you just slice everything, saute everything, stir in the creme fraiche and add pasta and parsley, done! This was really good! The bell peppers were sweet and tasty though my apartment smelled like peppers for few days.