Saturday, May 15, 2010

Food

      I totally want to do a whole post on food.  Foods that I've never heard of, until recently.  Why I'm afraid to try them?  But, I'm very, very tempted to start spreading my palate (or making my tongue fat).  I think I have a rather large taste-base.  But, I don't think it's very diverse or sophisticated.  Mostly, I stick to basic ingredients.  I'm not much of a gourmet cook.  It's fun to try new recipes, mostly the ones that have ingredients I'm familiar with.  I serve a lot of Russian and Latin foods at home and we have worked hard to make sure our children love veggies.  Asparagus, Broccoli, Leafy Greens, Zucchini, Cucumber, Bell Pepper and such like, you have 'em, they'll eat 'em. 
      My seasonings are basic: salt, pepper, basil, oregano, parsley, garlic, onion, cayenne pepper, chicken bullion, cumin, bay leaves, coriander...
See, all of those I'm sure you've heard of.  So, now, here I am surfing the net.  Submerging myself in the world of the blogging foodie moms and feeling a little stupid because I don't know WHAT in the world a cippolini onion is, or pecorino cheese, a meyer lemon, uhm, semolina flour, and frisée lardon is beyond me.  I feel so inadequate as a cook.  Is there hope for me?  I think I just made a pact with myself, while I was doing dishes, after torturing my mind with all the things I don't know about cooking.

"You need to expand your family's palate."  (I'm talking to myself at this point...more like inaudible mumblings)

"Get brave, go to the store and just do it!"
"But that's sooo scary!  Some of those things we might not like and then there goes a whole meal down the drain."
" Ok, fine, then don't do it.  Wait, ok, do it, but try it in small increments, first."

And so the convo went for a while until I settled on the recipe that I would make to introduce our family to new tastes, and stuff.  *gulp*

Anyone up for some Potato Gratin With Broccoli/Kale Pesto And Balsamic Shallots?
Yeah, I know, sounds kinda cool.  I've never made pesto before.  We shall see what we shall see.  Right?

4 comments:

Jean-Elle Designs said...

sounds yummy, when's dinner? jk..pesto is wonderful, I love it. I've never had this kind before but I'm sure it's good. Please post with the results. Pesto on gnocchi and baked with mozzarella cheese is my fav.

Kim said...

ummm...that last post was from me, Kim. It posted under my business name which is under construction. sorry :)

JanaFloyd said...

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm... pesto... shallots... I want to try kale too.

East Coast-er Momma said...

Kim: I promise. I'm going through a "I can't believe I know so little about cooking" stage. A little slap to my culinary ego. *hurrumph*