Kitchen tricks your spouse is unaware of!

[boufa06]

It's one thing to have a spouse with a discerning taste but another when he has certain set notions about food ingredients and cooking methods. As you all know, some cuisine especially Asian have sugar added to lemon and tamarind dishes. This is one ingredient that DH abhors in cooking but the beauty of it is that he loves Asian cuisine and will eat heartily each time he is being served. So I have decided over the years not to let this sweet stuff affect his enjoyment by not mentioning what I did over at the dining table.

Another hurdle to cross is adding milk to cream based soups and dishes. Of course I can substitute with sour cream or yoghurt but for some dishes, they do not quite taste the same. So the times when milk is sorely needed in a particular recipe, I would proceed to add it without blinking an eyelid without his knowledge. Needless to say, he would usually eat what I serve him with gusto. That brings to mind the psychological aspect of it cos' the mere mention of milk and sugar will send him into convulsions.

Has anyone of you ever experienced anything along these lines?

 

[lulu]

DH and I often cook together, and he would soon pick up on any white lies, but he has got a good open mind and is a willing eater of, well, pretty much anything.

I had an ex who had a thing about flour and so any thing involving roux or thickening was done hurredly while he was out of the kitchen and then I had to make a loaf of bread to disguise the fact I had used flour at all (needless to say, that relationship was doomed!)

What DH does is not believe that cakes don't need yeast. Every now and then I here him clattering down in the kitchen "experimenting" with yeast. I just shrug and let him get on with it. Its only a couple of times a year!

 

[Gretchen]

DH has a pretty low tolerance for vinegar and acid in foods, but will eat just about anything, as long as it isn't all the time. Hence, I can fix and we will both enjoy a sauerbraten, once or so a year (I"m up for it, now that I think of it).
There are other things he might profess to not like but will eat--and sometimes without relish, but I think the secret is just not all the time a challenge to his senses.

 

[licia]

I've noticed that some people don't like some things visible in their food. A friend eats NO onions, but since I can't cook many main dishes without them, I grate them and she never sees them and enjoys the food. I'm fortunate in that DH doesn't complain about anything (if he does, he can start cooking ) I don't make my recipes different to suit anybody's quirks. I think if you start that you may compromise the entire meal. Allergies are different. I don't mess with that and never include anything someone is allergic to. If they don't eat one dish, there will be others they can eat. We were always told to taste everything but that isn't the case with many kids now so many of them don't develop a very grown up palate.

 

[FraidKnot]

I've noticed that some people don't like some things visible in their food. A friend eats NO onions, but since I can't cook many main dishes without them, I grate them and she never sees them and enjoys the food. I'm fortunate in that DH doesn't complain about anything (if he does, he can start cooking ) I don't make my recipes different to suit anybody's quirks. I think if you start that you may compromise the entire meal. We were always told to taste everything but that isn't the case with many kids now so many of them don't develop a very grown up palate.

I personally don't like the texture of onions so I mince them very finely because the taste is so essential in so many things. And you're absolutely right; there's no point in catering to individual whims every time you cook. If you do, you wind up cooking separate meals for each person. How exhausting! (not to mention expensive) And as you stated, in our house we had to at least taste an item. We couldn't just state "I don't like that" when we'd never even tasted it. If we didn't like it, we weren't forced to eat it. But we didn't get a separate meal out of the deal, either. And we weren't fed chicken McNuggets (not that they had those when I was a kid, but you get my drift) or other fast-food, either. There's nothing on those menus to create a very discerning palate.

Food allergies are, of course, an entirely different situation. I don't want to kill anyone with my cooking!

Fraidy

 

[hannaford]

what is the difference between heavy whipping cream and heavy cream.
making creme brule and dont know which cream to use.

 

[Andy M.]

Ther is a slight difference in fat content, with the heavy cream being a little higher in content. Either will work in you creme brule.

 

[Harborwitch]

Should I mention the time I subbed calamari for abalone for my ex's relatives. They loved it - thought the abalone balls were great. He, on the other hand was NOT impressed when I made the mistake of telling him.

Luckily I'm surrounded by people who will eat anything I put on the plate. My poor late mother in law loved my cooking - and would eat anything (gawd she was fun!!!!) She was trying to make a comment one night to the effect that I could make anything taste good. It just didn't translate well from brain to mouth - "Bob, Sharon could put a t#rd on your plate and you'd say it was good." I really miss her. She loved her food!

 

[jabbur]

My DH doesn't like peppers and mushrooms in most things. I sneak them in some dishes and he usually can't tell. The mushrooms need to be chopped verrrry small but I can get away with bigger pieces of peppers. He didn't like much seasoning either at first but has fotten used to my heavier seasonings. His mother,(bless her heart) won't eat ground black pepper on anything and hardly ever uses salt (heart attack prevention). Thus her food is very bland. The one holiday I helped with the turkey stuffing and added my usual amount of poultry seasoning. She thought it would be too much but everyone raved at the flavor so now i season it every year!

 

[mudbug]

HH hates celery, so I have to mince it into minuscule pieces in soups, rouxs, casseroles, etc. He hasn't caught on yet.

I also sneak wheat germ into things such as pancakes and waffles.

 

[Alix]

HH hates celery, so I have to mince it into minuscule pieces in soups, rouxs, casseroles, etc. He hasn't caught on yet.

Wow. Are you sure his name isn't Ken? Yet another freaky little coincidence.

 

[mudbug]

How is he on green peppers?

 

[Alix]

Not great.

 

[mudbug]

Twilight Zone music playing now.........

Alix, you and the gang simply must come to VA so we can compare notes in person!

 

[Alix]

Twilight Zone music playing now.........

LMAO! I shouldn't be surprised by now.

Oh, and to get back to the original topic, my thing is to mince onions so fine they're practically mush. Thats because of my kids not my DH though.

 

[Hungry]

Hidden Goodies

My XLY doesn't like any extra fat in dishes I make.
I will sneak in a TBSP of Mayo in my mashed potatoes and Tuna Cakes (I use Tuna instead of Salmon cheaper!)I think it adds some smoothness to the potatoes and a little flavor to the Tuna.

Charlie

 

[buckytom]

i add far more butter than dw knows about.
also, i often forget to mention that i added wine to some things because for some wEird reason she thinks she doesn't like the flavor. then she wonders how i'm able to develop certain flavors that her dishes don't have.
same goes for pork or veal fat, bacon, pancetta, and chorizo.

 

[Jikoni]

I'll tell on all you guys! Can't think of anything really as DH rarely cooks or knows what ingredients are in the dishes I prepare.He just enjoys them.

 

[Jikoni]

I am kidding. Honest. someone post something so I don't look like the bad guy!

 

[goboenomo]

DFutureW knows nothing about food and cooking.
Hehe, it's gonna be quite difficult to eat properly when we're both working.