Boosting Bland recipes

[BigDog]

Okay folks, I think I've made it fairly clear that Mirs. Big Dog is not fond of spice. Not even salt and pepper, let alone anything interesting. I, on the other hand, play with spice like a kid in a sand box (bad metaphore, but oh well). I'm trying to figure out how to add to the basic bland food we eat most of the time.

For example, breakfast this morning was home made homefries with eggs and cheese "scrambled" in just before they were done. For myself, I normally add Emeril's Southwest Essence while the potatoes cook. Otherwise, some garlic powder, onion salt, fresh ground black pepper, ground white pepper, parsley, and maybe some paprika, cayenne, or crushed red pepper (the southwest seasoning has all three, so I use that if I want to turn up the heat), Today I used the first group of ingredients, quite reduced from how I would prefer, and it was met with a scrunched nose.

As I look at a lot of our normal dishes, the ingredients are pretty blah. Meat of some sort, often made in a cream type sauce (maybe with cheese too) and potatoes or bread. Chicken, with cream of chicken soup, cheese, maybe some milk and potatoes or bread (i.e. crescent rolls) can only be done so many ways, and they all taste about the same. Pork isn't commonly found on the menu, but what is either is bacon or a pork chop recipe that actually does involve some seasoning (worcestershire, ground mustard, and a couple other things). Beef usually consists of being ground, and the famous layers of beef, creamed veggies, and potatoes (including tater tots) gets kind of redundant. Pasta is usually spaghetti with traditional jar sauce, fettuccini alfredo (heavy cream, butter, white pepper, and parm cheese make the sauce), or a pasta bake with spirals (I forget the proper name), traditional jar sauce, and ground beef. Any time I try to add anything to the ground beef, it is not liked. Welcome to the Big Dog house menu (not by choice).

So, what's a guy to do to try to snaz it up, jazz it up, or otherwise prepare delicious dishes involving more then meat, dairy, and starch?

Any and all help and suggestions are appreciated. I've not experimented much with herbs, and I wonder if that may be a way to go. I've thought about having my own herb garden, but since we rent and have cats, I don't. Maybe during the warm weather I could, but if I brought 'em indoors, one cat would at least sample 'em all, and likely make a mess of the soil, etc.

 

[VeraBlue]

Oh you poor Big Dog! I wish I had the magic answer for you. Herbs are a wonderful touch, but are quite flavourful, as you know... But...fresh herbs are usually added at the end of cooking, so you can always remove Mrs. BD's portion and then herb the rest to your heart's content.

What about cooking with wine or other spirits? They will surely add some additional flavour and mayhaps they will be greeted with more open arms?

I recently had a wonderful piece of fish with a vanilla rum sauce.... While I'm sure it was more complicated than it sounds, you could do a simple white sauce (as it seems you have done) and then flavour the sauce with spirits.

I hope you give it a try...and are met with success.

 

[Andy M.]

Do some digging for new (and different) recipes using familiar ingredients and introduce them slowly, like once a week. Don't shoot for big changes. Think baby steps.

Herbs are a good way to go as they can add subtle flavors that Mrs. may enjoy, rather than a slap in the face from strong spices.

Keep trying.

How about making a chicken dish with a veloute instead of a white sauce. Just substitute chicken broth for the dairy. Add some thyme skip the pepper. Keep the other item on the menu familiar.

 

[BigDog]

What about cooking with wine or other spirits? They will surely add some additional flavour and mayhaps they will be greeted with more open arms?

I recently had a wonderful piece of fish with a vanilla rum sauce.... While I'm sure it was more complicated than it sounds, you could do a simple white sauce (as it seems you have done) and then flavour the sauce with spirits.

I hope you give it a try...and are met with success.

I've seen countless recipes with various spirits involved that look wonderful, but my problem there is Mrs. Big Dog is 100% anti alcohol. That's how she was brought up, as well as observing her oldest sister marry a guy that became an alcoholic. Simply put, she's a prohibitionist when it comes to any alcohol. I hate it, because not only do I see these recipes, but I enjoy drinking beer.

 

[college_cook]

A- Do you two ever go out to eat? After a meal that she particularly enjoys, you may want to rattle off to her the spices that are likely to be in the dish. It may help her realize that spices aren't all bad.

B- Could it be that when you cook with spices you go a little heavy on them? I like very bold flavors, so when I cook for myself, I often go very heavy a certain strong spices/flavors. I lay off quite a bit when cooking for others though. You may want to gradually introduce some new flavors.

C- As for cooking with wines and spirits, normally the beverage is reduced, and the actual alcohol it contains is cooked out of the dish, leaving the flavor of the alchol, but no actual alcohol.

 

[FryBoy]

Some people just never like anything that differs from what they're used to, and most of those folks never will. To me, and fortunately to my wife, it's a fundamental issue of compatibility.

Anyway, I agree with the "baby steps" advice. How about onion and garlic? Try sauteing some onions until they carmelize, then add your eggs. Oy, vey! Heaven! Onions make almost anything better, and I don't trust anyone who won't eat them. Try garlic bread and maybe a little red pepper in the spaghetti sauce -- if she eats such weird things.

It may also be helpful to tell her that you want her to expand her tastes, that it's important to you. Honest to god, it would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[AllenOK]

Big Dog, I feel your pain. My other half, and her mother, do not use any kind of seasoning whatsoever. That's how they were raised, and that's what they like. Now, they will usually eat what I cook, and they like it, but if they cook, it's the way they know how. They aren't interested in learning how to use stuff.

Someone mentioned wine and/or spirits, and you explained the your wife won't accept that. Have you tried adding a little lemon juice, or lime juice? Some things take to that very well, like the Supreme sauce that was already mentioned, as well as some Mexican dishes, and fish.

 

[kitchenelf]

I really wish I could offer some advice - but I don't think I can - other than cooking two different dishes with seasonings only in one. The only thing that comes to mind is when you can use a very nice extra virgin olive oil. I know it's expensive but I cook with mine almost every day. It imparts a lovely flavor too!

 

[Chopstix]

Okay folks, I think I've made it fairly clear that Mirs. Big Dog is not fond of spice. Not even salt and pepper, let alone anything interesting.

Not even S&P??? That's really tough! My sympathies are with you BD! I was going to suggest using oyster sauce to add oomph to your dishes but... this probably won't work with her huh?

Maybe you can try making home-made chicken/beef stock to add tastiness to your food without going against your wife's palate. Also, other subtle taste enhancers in cooking that she might like are butter, cream, milk, tomatoes, egg...

Good luck!

 

[Barb L.]

Does mrs. B D enjoy eating ? what are her favorites? Iam am 61 and still learning to like differant foods. You may have to fix two meals, hers very simple -- yours spiced up. People who can not have sodium can taste it so prominate in anything ! Not going to change her I think - cooking is a joy , cook for you too. Good Luck B.D. !!

 

[lulu]

Fresh herbs are a very good way to go. I think you are on the right track. My husband's german cousin, Lee, stayed with us for four months last year, she is 22 and had a very limited palate...but she did like salt and pepper. By the end of her stay she was ordering curry with the best of them and, joy, of joy, was learning to cook with me! Her mother loves me now!!

Flavour can be very gentle. Lee told me that the biggest culinary shock was her first meal with us, in fact in the salad that accompanied some very basic grilled (US broiled) chicken. It was a normal mixed salad, with a couple of nectarines chucked in, a huge bunch of flat leaf parsley and orange juice squeezed over it as dressing. She had never had fruit or big amounts of herb in a savary salad, and ate i only to be polite, but found herself loving it. I think if you serve one thing with a little more flavour than usual with something comfortingly bland, and separate...like meat with a sauce and mash, then the island of flavour might me dealt with more easily. And go for flavour rather than spice. Maybe pork stuffed with prunes and apples....no heat there but flavour, with a gentle flavoured meat. Does she have a sweet tooth? Maybe uop the flavour in puddings so that her "flavour" sense is woken ... so a very gently spiced apple pie rather than a plain one, or take the flavours in ways that she will like but not find frightening.

 

[jennyema]

C- As for cooking with wines and spirits, normally the beverage is reduced, and the actual alcohol it contains is cooked out of the dish, leaving the flavor of the alchol, but no actual alcohol.

Unfortunately, alcohol never cooks entirely out and a good deal of it remains in most cooked dishes. So if he is anti-alcohol, that may be a problem.

Here's a handy Alcohol Burn Off CHart

Brining chicken and pork will make it more savory, as well as jucier.

In addition to sweet, salty, sour and bitter, there is a fifth taste called "umami." It's our palate's detection of savory flavors. Umami is the sensation caused by the presence of free glutamate in food. By using ingredients that boost the "umami-factor," if you will, in your foods you can make them tastier and more interesting. Utilizing ingredients like soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, parmesan and other hard cheeses, mushrooms, tomatoes, scallops and cured ham will make your dishes more savory.

Add a few drops of soy sauce or worcestershire to sauces and dressings or your brine. Make a bechemel sauce with gruyere or other hard cheeses. Add tomato paste to a pan sauce. ETC ETC.

Also, adding a small amount of MSG to food achieves a similar result. IMO MSG gets an unecessarily bad rap. I use small amounts of it all the time, using Sazon Goya.

READ MORE ABOUT UMAMI HERE

 

[Robo410]

the flavors you are getting are salt and fat. What you are craving is aromatics (onion garlic celery various peppers) herbs (thyme, rosemary, taragon, sage, bay, parsley etc) spices (pepper, cumin, coriander, tumeric, curry of some type etc) and acids (citrus, wine, vinegars).

well, you can cook chicken in herbs and vinegar (balsamic) for yourself and in cream soup with mixed veggies over rice for the wife. share...see if little by little the menu can't be enlarged. Many dishes with flavor aren't hard to make: Pork chop rubbed with garlic and sage, broiled or sauteed. Lamb chop with rosemary and garlic. Also, chicken (for exmaple) cooked on the bone with skin is very moist and tasty, and no more fatty than in a sauce loaded with cream and starch maybe even less.

However, you may be "cursed" to making separate meals, or only getting satisfied when you eat out. So remember, the soy sauce, worcestershire sauce balsamic vinegar and hot sauce can be added to your own plate and help.

 

[GB]

IMO MSG gets an unecessarily bad rap.

I could not agree more with this statement. MSG is great stuff when used properly. It can really add that needed umami sometimes.

 

[Half Baked]

I understand completely, BD. Mr HB and his family are notorious for their bland and 'standard' food diet.

It used to be very difficult for me but gradually, I began to add marinades, fresh herbs and spices. I got so frustrated for awhile that I would just cook what I wanted and it he didn't want to eat it, he could make a pb&j. He started tasting more lol: ...lazy) and finding out that he actually enjoyed it.

He's still not a hot pepper person but I can deal with with that. I plate his food and add spices to mine.

I still do adjust some meals for him...because I'm sweet!

 

[ronjohn55]

I could not agree more with this statement. MSG is great stuff when used properly. It can really add that needed umami sometimes.

Like in your Vodka Martinis, GB?

And Big Dog, maybe try recipes that have more natural flavors? Things that are well seared or carmelized come to mind.

John

 

[GB]

Like in your Vodka Martinis, GB?

Who says alcohol kills brain cells? ronjohns memory is sharp as ever

 

[lulu]

I have never heard MSG promoted before...and you have intrigued me. How and when do you advocate its use? Don't you get the "dry horrors" after using it?

 

[GB]

I have found that most people have a psycosymatic response to MSG if they have one at all. I will group myself in with those people as well. For the longest time I only heard how MSG was bad for you and how it could cause all these symptoms. I was convinced that I was getting headaches from it anytime I ate Chinese food. I finally realized it was all in my head when I started finding out that most of the Chinese food I was eating was made without MSG.

I did some research at that point and found out that MSG really is safe and does not generally cause any of these negative things that the media has been telling us it does.

That is not to say that some people do not truely have an adverse reaction to it. Some people really are allergic to it, but the number of people who are is quite small compared to the number who think they do.

I buy it in the supermarket under the name "Accent". It is in the isle with the salt. I add it after cooking usually. For instance, last night I made chicken soup from a box (gasp). I was sick and couldnt think of eating anything else. I had a box (for occasions just like this) in the cupboard. I made the soup and poured myself a bowl. The soup tasted pretty flat so I sprinkled in so MSG. It gave it that lip smacking goodness that I was looking for.

 

[jennyema]

I agree with everything GB said.

I use Sazon Goya, a seasoning found in the Hispanic section of most large supermarkets. It comes in a number of varieties and has other things in it (achiote, saffron, cilantro, tomato, etc) but contains MSG. I use a very small pinch in a whole lot of things I cook and no one is the wiser for it and no one has reacted. To my palate there is a very definite flavor boost with even a very small amount of MSG. It has to do with the whole umami thing I posted about above.

I also mash up anchovies and add them to things in small quantities as well.

I am sure that if I didn't use Sazon Goya or anchovies in dishes that I ordinarily use them in, people would say that it's missing something.

But I also think that if I told them that I used MSG or anchovies that they might .

So shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. It's my secret.