Feed Me: Lazy gourmet

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

By Dina Mishev

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The life of a Jackson-based food writer can be difficult. I mean, I skied really hard for nine days straight and then I was supposed to have the energy to shower, step into something other than ski wear, go out to dinner, and pay attention to what I was shoveling down my pie hole?

Next to the old post office and offering free Wi-Fi, for those who do have the energy to clean themselves up, Pearl Street Market has tables you can sit at.
Assembling a to-go meal of Pearl Street Market’s prepared foods and soups isn’t cheap. My single Mongolian pork rib was $1.68 ($11.99/pound). The roasted acorn squash stuffed with candied pecans and yams was $3.77 ($5.99/pound). A few bites of Brussels sprouts with roasted hazelnuts were $1.54 ($10.99/pound). A smidge of Asian beef with broccoli was $1.53 ($8.99/pound). I think the biggest bang for the buck is the market’s soup. I went for the Southwestern tortilla with shrimp. It, as well as the other five flavors on offer, was $3.99 for 12 ounces.
The slab of chocolate mocha goodness was $4.99.

All total, my quiet meal of prepared foods at home came in at $17.74.
When you think about how much it would cost to buy the ingredients to make all of this stuff at home, $18 isn’t much. But when you consider you could plop yourself down at the Brew Pub and get a giant bowl of spicy peanut chicken pasta for about the same price, it seems expensive. But then you have to be social and you only get spicy peanut chicken and not five different things and 1,000 calories of rich chocolate cake.

All of this considered, I’ve decided it’s a bargain. Especially when it’s all tasty.
 I started with the soup: Southwestern tortilla with shrimp. The shrimp were plentiful but, as all other shrimp I’ve ever had in soup have been, overcooked. But not to the point of being rubber.

The Southwestern flavors were subdued but definitely there. Usually I prefer spicier, but with my body so beaten up, I didn’t need my taste buds assaulted as well. Instead of an assault, the soup was more of an embrace: soft and silky.
I moved on to the Brussels sprouts. They weren’t the Snake River Grill’s Brussels sprouts, but they were far better than anything I could have whipped up. Roasted hazelnuts were a nice touch.

Then came the acorn squash stuffed with baked yams and candied pecans. I appreciated the pecans weren’t just sprinkled on top of the squash, but fully mixed in with the yams.

I always forget how awesome acorn squash is. I had never thought to stuff it with wedges of yams and sweet bits of pecan. When I recover from these days of skiing and once again have the energy to cook I’m certainly going to try making the market’s version.

The Mongolian pork rib was my favorite. One wasn’t enough though. I kept sucking on the bone for many minutes after tearing the last bit of meat off it. The sweetly marinated pork melted in my mouth and the toasted sesame seeds resulted in a playful pop whenever I bit into one.

As playful as the pork rib was, it did nothing to enliven my legs, which were so flipping happy to be stretched out on my very own couch rather than primly crossed beneath a restaurant table.

photo by DINA MISHEV
Pearl Street Market has a couple dozen choices of prepared foods, including Mongolian pork ribs, roasted beets, and grilled vegetables.

PERMALINK:
Feed Me: Lazy gourmet | Planet JH News Article: Restaurants And Dining

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