Exploring old Tastes that are New Again
Photo courtesy of Brette Sember, No Pot Cooking
I wrote last week about getting my husband to try Beer Butt chicken, although I know he is not a roasted chicken fan.
This is actually the third thing in as many months Dale said he didn’t like that he ended up liking.
I think this is the beginning of a wave of things I might get him to try and I have the Cookbook Goddess Brette Sember to thank.
Her book, “The Parchment Paper Cookbook” (some recipes from the book are now available on Kindle for .99!) opened up this world of new tastes for Dale. Her recipe in the book on Brussels sprouts, which she blogged about on No Pot Cooking, was what got him hooked.
When I read the first line of her blog, “I’m married to a man who doesn’t much like Brussels sprouts…” and it ended up that her husband liked this recipe, I knew I had to give it a whirl.
I have no idea how Dale made it this far without liking any greens with the exception of green beans, as I do not believe his mother ever served anything healthy.
Since we married 26 years ago, I’ve had to treat him almost like a child, “sneaking” baby spinach into meatless lasagna and expanding his horizons from corn and green beans whenever I could.
It really wasn’t sneaking, he knew it was there, we just didn’t talk about it!
I’ve always loved Brussels sprouts, coming from a family in which my maternal relatives were German, cabbage was a regular vegetable served and Brussels Sprouts are nothing but miniature cabbages.
Anyway, what Dale claimed to not like about them is eating them whole and he didn’t like the hard texture.
So, when I saw Brette’s recipe of cutting them up and seasoning them, I thought, “How brilliant,” which is why I love all of Brette’s recipes and cookbooks. They are brilliant in their simplicity.
I don’t have time to look all over for weird spices no one has ever heard of and the thing with a lot of those recipes, is that those hard to find spices and foods cannot be found in small town rural Arkansas.
“The Parchment Paper Cookbook” is great for small house cooking as you don’t need a lot of pots and pans to make yummy meals, but I also love “The Organized Kitchen” and though haven’t tried it yet, “The Muffin Tin Cookbook” is exciting to me as well.
That Brussels sprouts recipe was such a hit with us that Dale asks me to cook it for him at least a couple of times a month.
I did modify it a bit, using butter instead of olive oil (more fat, I know) and lemon pepper spice from McCormick’s.
Last week, after learning he also likes roasted chicken if nice and tender and juicy, he also learned he likes croissants, something I love with chicken salad, which I made with the leftover Beer Butt Chicken.
This is great, considering Dale’s tastes are also changing to not liking things he once did such as fish and Chinese food. I can at least compensate for that by introducing him to things he said he didn’t once like.
Next up, asparagus!
Have you found that your tastes have changed as you aged to either like something you once did not or not liking something you once did? Would you be willing to give something another try?
Funny how so many folks abhor both Brussels sprouts and Lima beans. Must be something about how they were cooked in our youth.
I'm raising my hand about lima beans. Ugh.
Love every veggie now…many which I wouldn't touch as a child. LI,e Jane, I snuck Lima beans to my dog under the table when I was a kid ( guess I wasn't so original)
I think sneaking food under the table to the dogs is a kid olympic sport!
I like roasted Brussels sprouts, but steamed or anything else … they kind of skeeve me. I grew up with corn and beans and salad. I'm much more adventurous on the veggie front now.
That's good, Roxanne. Veggies are our friends.
Dishes that are re-imagined from long ago are such a welcome delight. The whole no-pot cooking is brilliant!
I agree, I love it!
I am so happy that he enjoyed it!
That makes two of us. Thanks for writing this cookbook!
I absolutely love Brussels sprouts now, and can't remember liking them as a kid. Now they're like adorable tiny cabbages that are healthy and fun. Also Lima beans. We had them all the time when I was a kid, and I used to try and feed them to the dog under the table. Now I love them.
I love them, but they do not love my stomach too much. I still eat them though!
My previous post refers to the Kindle version for $.99
Thanks, Anne, I appreciate that correction. I should have checked into that a little bit further.
".….the author/publisher of the cookbook has updated the preview, so it now shows the actual Thanksgiving mini-cook-book you will get, instead of the full-size one that was previously pictured. I think that makes a difference in people's expectations."
This book seems to be a kind of "sampler" version of the full-size cook by the same author. It includes 7 recipes in all.
Yes, my tastes have definitely changed over the years. I remember eating pickled pigs feet with my Scottish grandfather. What was I thinking?
I do love vegetables, though, and a good way to get loads of flavor out of them is to roast them.
I feel the same way about Braunschweiger (SP?), which we used to eat when I was a kid. Ick.
Brussels is one of my all time favorites! Here is a new favorite recipe that I make at least every other week.
Brussels Sprouts with Black Bean Garlic Sauce!
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/brussels_sprouts_with_black_bean_garlic_sauce/
Wow, Alfredo, this recipe does look awesome, we will have to try it!
My tastes have aged a lot since I was a child. Never once did I ever think I'd be cooking almost every night (I really don't like cooking that much), but I really enjoy doing it for my significant other so he has a meal ready when he comes home. Even though our tastes in food are a lot alike, I've discovered that I haven't liked many recipes that I've followed in cookbooks. We normally cook with no book or recipe infront of us and end up with something amazing every time. However, we don't have that many recipes so I think I'm going to give this recipe book a try. If it's as good as it seems then we'll be able to find something we both like.
Or we'll just alter it a bit like you did!
I find myself altering a lot of recipes too, Ember, either for taste or for what we cannot find here. I think you'll like this book, it's really varied.
I can understand not liking Brussels Sprouts, but asparagus??? I'm a fan of both. Love the little round ones, sauteed with garlic and olive oil.
Asparagus is green, which pretty much guaranteed Dale wouldn't like it!
I like them both as well, although I didn't like it until I tried it fresh and steamed as an adult. My mother used to serve us canned, which like, spinach, is just creepy and gross.