"Je ne mange rien???"

A missive from the Picky Eater via the Chief Cook & Bottlewasher-

At the tender age of twenty, you wouldn't think that I could have racked up too many regrets in life, and until three days ago, my list was pretty short - refusing to start ballet lessons at age 7 when my mom tried to convince me to, not eating more French fries in France when I would eat something cooked in grease, letting Jaime cut my hair shoulder length when I was eight. That's about it.

But, Thursday was, for better and worse, a red letter day in my life. In the aftermath of some form of stomach virus, I was taken to the local Emergency Room by the able-bodied Carnegie Mellon Emergency Medical Service and hooked up to an iv for rehydration and anti-nausea medication, and missed the awarding (to me) of the Handlos Award for Sophomores from the CMU Chemistry Dept. With my discharge from the hospital a few hours later I received strict orders to confine my food intake to light fluids on Day One, and proceed to Wheat Thins, saltines, and bananas on Days Two & Three.
After twenty-four hours of un-ambitious eating, I am totally sick of bland food and can't believe that that was my cuisine of taste from 18 months to age eighteen! I never fully appreciated how frustrating it must have been for my patient parents to dish up those hundreds of bowls of Annie's box macaroni and cheese, plain pasta with butter, and frozen peas. My dad still shakes his head at the anomalies of my love for heavy duty garlic sauce and  saucy S&W piquinos red beans. Somehow I did manage to emerge from their household a self-proclaimed "foodie." (Well, maybe not their sort of foodie, given that my current diet consists largely of cruciferous vegetables, heirloom beans, and miso products.)

And, while my taste buds are now more tolerant, my Nani still makes me scope out at least two potential food sources for me in the immediate area whenever we venture out of the house, hotel, dorm room or apartment in whatever locale we are in. Said food sources can run the gamut from farmers markets to vegetarian and Japanese restaurants. Recently in NYC I took a bus across town for lunch to make sure that I could get something I would want to eat.

Since my mom likes to make lists, here are a couple that demonstrate where my tastes buds have been and are at the moment, including a couple of recipes-
Foods That I Eat Now That I Wouldn't Eat Before
Brussel sprouts
Tomato sauce
Salad (Asian dressing only)
Mushrooms
Tofu
Greek yogurt
Anything non-carnivorous at a fancy restaurant
Persimmon & Hazelnut Salad from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
Serves 4
1/4 cup hazelnuts,roasted
3 Fuyu persimmons, thinly sliced crosswise
3 handfuls of mixed lettuces
Picky Eater Mirin dressing- 3 Tb Mirin, 1 Tb olive oil, 2 Tb peach flavored white balsamic vinegar (can substitute another mild fruity balsamic)
Coarsely chop the hazelnuts. Put them in a bowl with the persimmons and salad greens and toss with enough dressing to coat lightly.

Foods That I Used to Eat That I Don't Eat Anymore

Most white foods- white pasta, potatoes, bread

Full fat Brown Cow chocolate yogurt

"Joy of Cooking Panies"

My dad used to make these for me almost every Sunday and they had to be eaten soaked with real maple syrup. When he really wanted to gild the lily and make me smile he added mini-chocolate chips to the batter.

Makes fourteen 4 " pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

3 Tb sugar 

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

2 eggs, beaten

3 Tb melted butter

1 - 1 1/4 cups milk

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl. Stir the eggs, milk, and melted butter together in a 2 cup measuring cup. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk mixture. Stir together quickly, only to barely moisten the dry ingredients and ignore the lumps.

Heat a flat bottomed non-stick fry pan or griddle over medium-low heat until it is hot enough that a few drops of water sputter across the surface. DO NOT GREASE THE PAN or the Picky Eater won't eat them! 

Drop generous tablespoons of batter to form the pancakes and flip when the top is bubbly. Serve immediately with maple syrup.

Foods That I Still Won't Eat
Meat
Eggs- except one at Terra in Napa. "If they bring me something at Redd or Terra or Sons & Daughters or Manresa, I'm pretty much going to try it."
Celery
Kale
Pickled thing-ies
Because, I may not be a bland eater anymore, but I'm still a picky one!

Our Favorites: Lists & More Lists

Family favorites make a meal. 

Back in 2005, the 12 year old Picky Eater & family made individual lists of our favorite films, which hung on the refrigerator for years and were consulted whenever we found ourselves at a loss for "what to watch" on a Saturday night. These lists were updated for 2012, and in a fit of Skype induced boredom, today we launched into making lists of other favorite things that are near and dear to our hearts- foods, artists, book characters, etc.

If you've never made lists of your personal favorites, it is well worth the effort and will prove quite revealing of your tastes, opinions, and style. And, if you do, send your list(s) to me and I will post them on the blog.

Now, without further ado, here are our picks in 3 categories, movies, tv & food-
Favorite Movies
The Picky Eater

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. Wall-E
3. Roman Holiday
4. Duck Soup
5. Out of Africa
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
7. A Single Man

The Chief Cook & Bottle Washer
1. Godfather (trilogy)
2. Dinner Rush
3. Vicky Christina Barcelona
4. The Departed
5. Love Actually
6. The Queen
7. Casablanca
8. The Social Network
9. Some Like It Hot
10. Ronin
11. Milk
12. Lost In Translation
13. Julie & Julia
14. La Vie en Rose
15. A Single Man
16. The Untouchables
17. Munich
18. Bourne Supremacy
19. Gosford Park
20. Midnight In Paris
21. Ratatouille
22. Casino Royale
23. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
24. Beyond the Sea
25. Hugo
(Don't ask me how this got so long!)

The Daddy
1. Das Boot
2. 42 Up
3. Seven Samurai
4. High Fidelity
5. Citizen Kane
6. Groundhog Day
7. Casablanca
8. Goodfellas
9. 2001: A Space Odyssey
10. Singin’ in the Rain
11. Matinee
12. Spellbound
13. Wag the Dog
14. The Right Stuff
15. Lawrence of Arabia
16. House of Games
17. Dinner Rush
18. The Commitments
19. Dr. Strangelove
20. Cool Hand Luke
21. Grosse Point Blank
22. Standing In the Shadows of Motown

Favorite Television

The Picky Eater

1. Firefly

2. The West Wing

3. Sherlock

4. The Vicar of Dibley

5. Dr. Who

6. Nova

7. The Big Bang Theory

8. Masterpiece Mysteries

9. Game of Thrones

10. Iron Chef

11. Pillars of the Earth

The Chief Cook & Bottle Washer

1. The Sopranos

2. Smiley's People & Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

3. The West Wing

4. Sex and the City

5. Sherlock

6. The French Chef

7. The Sandbaggers (BBC 1977-79)

8. Mission Impossible (1960's version)

The Daddy

1. Brideshead Revisited
2. Jeopardy
3. Antiques Roadshow (BBC version)
4. The Big Bang Theory
5. Danger UXB
6. Wall Street Week
7. Mission Impossible (1960's version)
8. Myth Busters
9. PBS News Hour

Favorite Foods

The Picky Eater

1. Pasta

2. Risotto

3. Udon

4. Carrot soup

5. Whole wheat toast with peanut butter & honey

6. Hot chocolate

7. Chocolate frozen yogurt from Fraiche

8. Croissants (good & plain)

9. Anything caramel-y, chocolaty and salty

The Chief Cook & Bottle Washer

1. Baguettes

2. Sweet butter

3. Shrimp

4. Smoked trout

5. Foie gras

6. Gelato, esp. chocolate, vanilla, caramel & fruit flavors

7. Steak

8. Caesar salad

9. Anything made with good chocolate

10. Salade nicoise

11. Crepes (plain)

12. Champagne

The Daddy

1. Red wine

2. Smoked salmon

3. Dark chocolate

4. Braised short ribs

5. Carnitas

6. Unagi

7. Roast turkey (dark meat only)

8. Turkey stuffing (Daddy version only!)

9. Blueberries

Given my compulsive nature, I have to include a couple of recipes. Add a vegetable to these dishes and you will have a Picky Eater family favorite meal.

A Picky Eater original:

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Honey and Sage

For the pasta:

¾ cup Semolina flour

1 ¼ cup All-purpose flour

3 eggs

½ Tb olive oil

Dash of salt

For the filling:

1 medium butternut squash

1 Tb oil

2 Tb butter

½ cup parmesan

½ cup bread crumbs

salt and pepper

For the sauce:

3 Tb butter

2 Tb honey

5 small sage leaves, cut into strips

1. Halve the squash and remove the seeds and the stringy stuff around them.

2. Rub the cut sides with oil and place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet.

3. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until soft.

4.  Scoop out 2 cups squash and beat with butter, parmesan and bread crumbs.  Flavor with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

5.  Make the pasta dough my combining all the ingredients and kneading until it is flexible but not sticky.  If you need to add more water or flour do so.  If you have another pasta recipe you use that is probably fine.  Let sit for 45 min at the minimum, but longer is better.  Place it under plastic wrap to keep from drying out.

6. Roll out by hand or using a pasta machine.  I used the 2nd thinnest setting on our machine.

7.  Lay out dough strip and place filling along half it’s length.  I used 1 teaspoon per ravioli, with a 2” ravioli stamp.

8.  Fold over the strip of dough and stamp out the ravioli.  Press the edges dough to ensure they are closed.

9.  If there’s a wait between making the ravioli and cooking them, flour a baking sheet and place them in the fridge.  Be sure you flour the sheet or the ravioli will stick.

10.  Start heating a pot of water for the ravioli.  Put the butter in a skillet over medium heat.

11.  Once the butter is hot and bubbling, add the sage.  Wait until the sage begins to give off a strong aroma and add the honey.  Cook over medium heat until the ravioli is done.  If the honey begins to smell burnt add a little pasta water.

12.  When the water comes to a boil add salt and the ravioli and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the pasta casing is tender.  Remove with a slotted spoon, toss with honey and serve.

A Daddy original recipe, which he happily knows, will be left for his solo consumption.

Marinated and Roasted Turkey Thighs

½ cup cheap red wine

½ cup orange juice

¼ cup soy sauce

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp dry thyme

½ tsp dry basil

½ tsp ground ginger

4-6  turkey thighs 

1. Bone the turkey thighs by making a cut along the bone and cutting the meat away from the bone.  Leave the skin intact.

2. Place the boned thighs in a zipper bag with the mixed marinade and refrigerate for about 4-6 hrs.

3. Take the thighs from the marinade and tie into a small cylinder with cotton string, with two loops around the circumference and one around its length.  The skin should nearly cover the outside surface.

4. Barbeque (or roast in the oven) for about 40 minutes, depending on the heat, until the internal temperature is about 160F, turning occasionally.

5. Cut off the string, and slice across the grain.

You can be good and eat just one of these little chocolaty gems, or go for the gluttony and eat your fill.

Chocolate Bouchons 

Yummy wine cork shaped confections from Thomas Keller. Buy the special timbale molds from Williams Sonoma, or use mini cupcake pans.

3/4 c. all-purpose flour


1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt


3 large eggs

1 1/2 c. plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar


1/2 tsp. vanilla extract


24 Tb. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and slightly warm

6 oz. quality semisweet chocolate, chopped into pieces the size of chocolate chips


Powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Butter and flour 12 timbale molds . (Bouchon Bakery uses 2-ounce Fleximolds and serves smaller bouchons. You can also use 3-ounce [2- to 2 1/2-inch diameter] timbale molds for larger cakes, or mini-cupcake pans.) Set aside.

3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until very pale in color. Mix in the vanilla. 

4. On low speed, add about one-third of the dry ingredients, then one-third of the butter, and continue alternating with the remaining flour and butter. Add the chocolate and mix to combine. (The batter can be refrigerated for up to a day.)

5. Put the timbale molds on a baking sheet. Place the batter in a pastry bag without a tip, and fill each mold about two-thirds full. 

6. Place in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. When the tops look shiny and set (like a brownie), test one cake with a toothpick: It should come out clean but not dry (there may be some melted chocolate from the chopped chocolate). 

7. Transfer the bouchons to a cooling rack. After a couple of minutes, invert the timbale molds and let the bouchons cool upside down in the molds; then lift off the molds.

8. To serve, invert the bouchons and dust them with confectioners’ sugar. Serve with ice cream if desired. Also very nice with one end dipped in melted chocolate – like wax on a wine cork. (The bouchons are best eaten the day they are baked.)

Makes at least 24 bouchons.