Food Adventure-How to Try New Recipes Without Fear of Failure
Trying new recipes can be a daunting experience, but at some point one will never move beyond the routine menu if one does not become adventurous and give an eye catching recipe a try. With food prices steadily rising how can one experiment with a new flavor or main menu item without worry that the family will go hungry if it bombs?
Here are a few tips to follow:
1. If you want to introduce a new taste to your family experiment outside the home first. For example, a new ethnic flavor can become an adventure. Take your children to visit a restaurant of that country and share dishes that you plan to add to their diet. If your children are old enough you can help prepare them for the outing by encouraging them to do a little research on the internet to discover fun facts. Their reactions to new food at the restaurant will let you know how they enjoy it-or not.
2. For a less expensive excursion take in a lunch, rather than a dinner.
3. Know what your family enjoys and introduce a new way of preparing those foods. If they are beef eaters, for instance, and always have burgers turn it into a meatloaf, or a night of spaghetti and meatballs, or a…well, you get the picture.
4. Let them help you with the cooking. Most children who help prepare the evening meal will be more eager to consume the product of their hard work.
5. If the new meal is too sophisticated or complex ask them to be your wingman and place the spices and tools onto the counter pointing or asking for the next item in the recipe. Not only does this give you an opportunity to bond with your child, but it allows them to see that cooking is a manageable and natural part of a person’s daily routine. It will help prepare them for their future independence, and you will be at ease knowing they’ve been ‘cooking’ long before they left the nest.
6. If it is overwhelming to even consider a ‘helper’ being underfoot when dinner has to be promptly finished, then set aside a cooking night that everyone can look forward to.
7. For less enthusiastic little folks, start introducing new flavors in small quantities as a side dish and soon they will adapt to new dishes at dinner.
Recipe Sleuth
My mother was an avid cook and a diehard recipe collector. Not only did she collect cookbooks and recipes, she would actually try them out. We would be her guinea pigs when we were growing up, and later, as we left home, she would share her cooking with co-workers and neighbors.
How did she constantly come up with new ideas for the same old foods? Because cooking was one of her passions she was vigilant to what was available wherever she went. A wait in the doctor or dentist office was never an annoyance. She merely passed her time examining the latest magazines for recipes she found interesting and either jotted them down or asked for the magazine if it was an old copy.
Later, as she settled from Detroit, Michigan, to her new home in North Carolina, she watched the food network show wowing her new Southern friends with her culinary skills. Rachel Ray and Ina Garten became her constant companions in 2003 as she sat through her chemotherapy.
Good Recipe Hunting
Where do you go for your recipes? My advice is the same places mom went to-magazines, newspaper food sections, and friends’ food swap at parties and potlucks, cookbooks, online sources and for a visual, the food shows.
Don’t be bashful about trying a new recipe. Remember the old, Life cereal commercial with little Mikey and his big brothers? Well, that is a good philosophy to apply when you are expanding your taste for something different on your menu, “try it, you’ll like it.” And, if not, well there is always the next recipe, just turn the page!
Here are two of my new recipes. The first one: Pork Chops with sweet potatoes and pears came to me from an online source when I was hankerin’ for a different way to cook up those chops. I changed the recipe to incorporate more natural ingredients, bypassing the canned version of the fruit and vegetable it calls for.
I fell in love with it because of the curry that is in it and it is a repeater. What’s a repeater? A repeater is a recipe that passes the family’s taste test and you make more than once. Many a repeaters have become family favorites.
The second recipe came about because I goofed when I went shopping buying leeks instead of fennel and then getting ‘stuck’ with having to find a recipe to use them in that was simple and uncomplicated. That left out soup and other main dish fare. I was fortunate to be thumbing through an old magazine when I came across this marvelous and tasty recipe: Swiss Olive Galette. It was the answer to my prayers and was a hit tonight when I pulled it out of the oven.
Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes and Pears
1 T vegetable oil
1 T all-purpose flour
1 tsp curry powder
¾ tsp salt (optional)
1 # lean boneless pork chop-about four (4 oz) pieces
2 medium size sweet potatoes
2 pears
¼ C - ½ C pear juice (no pear juice? Use another juice such as apple, pineapple or orange)
½ tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp black pepper
In a large sealable plastic bag mix flour, curry powder, (and ¼ tsp of salt if using). Add pork chops and shake until well coated.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil. Transfer pork to skillet. Sauté until cooked through, about 3 minutes on each side.
In the meantime, place the sweet potatoes in the microwave for a quick cook-about 5 minutes, adding time as needed to cook through.
While potatoes are cooking wash and chop the pears in bite size chunks.
Remove skins from sweet potatoes and chop into chunks as well.
Place both pears and potatoes into the skillet with the pork chops. Add pear juice, thyme, pepper (and remaining ½ tsp of salt if using). Reduce heat and simmer until pork is cooked through, about 2 minutes longer.
Swiss Olive Galette
Preheat oven: 375 degrees.
½ of a 15 oz package (for one crust) of rolled refrigerated unbaked piecrust;
OR—
1 (8” or 9”) readymade pie crust, like PET or Pillsbury
1 T olive oil
1 C finely chopped leeks (white part only)
½ C finely chopped fennel
¾ C coarsely chopped Kalamata olives
1 T snipped fresh thyme
4 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded (1 C)
Snipped fresh fennel tops (optional)
1. Allow piecrust to stand at room temperature to thaw.
2. If using a rolled refrigerator dough line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Roll pastry into an 11” circle on prepared baking sheet. If, however, you are using the readymade pie crust shells, allow for one to thaw at room temperature as you prepare the filling.
3. In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook leeks and fennel in oil for 5 – 6 minutes or until tender but not brown. Remove from heat. Stir in olives and thyme. Cool slightly.
4. Spread mixture in center of the pastry, leaving a 1 ½ inch rim uncovered. Fold uncovered pastry up over filling to make the crust (if using the rolled dough, otherwise, skip this step-the readymade pie crust already has the edge made).
5. Cover the mixture with the shredded cheese.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until pastry is golden. If desired, sprinkle with snipped fennel tops. Cut into wedges and serve warm. Makes 6-8 servings.
This dish can be made up to 24 hrs in advance keeping in refrigerator until ready to bake.
Per serving: 296 calories, 20 g fat, (7 g sat. fat), 24 mg cholesterol, 404 mg sodium, 22 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 7 g protein.
Tonight was the first time I made this dish and it hit the spot-delicious. Hope you enjoy!
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Comments
What kind of sauce or gravy would go well with the pork chops given that it has curry powder in it? Thank you.
These are good suggestions to get the kids involved with the new recipes. I try at least one new recipe a week, and I would say half the time at least one of the family doesn't like it! Maybe if I had them all help, they would be more adventurous and not whine about whatever it is I'm putting on the table! Voted & rated!
They both sound good and I'll have to give them a try. I love sweet potatoes (NOT in the marshmallow topped casserole) and am always looking for ways to cook the vegetables I get from La Vista. Voted up and useful. Thanks for sharing.
Great suggestions, because kids when they are younger, won't try anything new. Now that mine are grown they try EVERYTHING...so I will pass this one on for the Grandchildren, who won't try anything New! Thanks for sharing this Hub with us, Denise.
Your hub gave some great advice and good recipes. I love to try new things and like most everything but my problem is my husband is very picky. I I try new things anyway but he doesn't always eat them. Thanks for the recipes.
Looks like Swiss Olive Galette will be added to the menu this week! I already have all of those ingredients in my fridge except the leeks. Luckily the fruit market is just minutes from my house. I'm not a curry fan but maybe I could try it with corriander or cumin instead. My kids love to cook and they are great eaters. We eat a wide variety of ethnic foods and my kids are never afraid to try them. Great hub, thanks for the recipes!
I love all different types of recipes. As long as you leave off the hot spices, I am allergic to them. Great hub.
Voted up and awesome.
Sweet wishes Rhonda
I love pork chops. I have never had sweet potatoes with them. I will try your receipt. I guess pork gravy will be good with it. I use the canned gravy, it is really good. Thank you.
Cheers
Yummy...that Swiss Olive is something I will definitely try. Voted up! :)
How did you know-this is just what I need, really! I get so sick of the same thing every night, this will inspire me to try something new! Great hub, very well done, thank you!
Denise - Thank you so much for this marvelous hub! Your tips are the best. I especially liked #4. I wish you were my next-door neighbor. With these recipies and your talent for cooking - well - I would be hanging around for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Rated up on this one!
Yum. Yum. My sister will love this. She collects recipies.
Love
I used to be hesitant to try new recipes but now, I love looking up great recipes in books and online. Nice hub !! :-)
Great recipes Denise. Looking forward to trying out the pears with the sweet potatoes, I never would have thought to cook them together.
Maria-I LOVE Thai food the best. I love the combination of flavors that it brings. I'm sure you were able to enjoy all of the wonderful ethnic cuisine offered in a place like N.Y. Thanks for reading anc commenting.
To all of you who have left comments earlier this week-my apologies for the delay in my reply. My computer crashed and needed to go to the 'doctor's'.
@SilentReed-I actually do not use this recipe with a sauce. I would eat it as is, to enjoy all of the wonderful flavors. The sweet pear flavor (I like the anjou when they are available) offsets the curry and the curry is not heavy or harsh, so don't be put off by that ingredient. You may want to try it with a side dish of apple or cranberry sauce or perhaps some fresh pineapple on the side. I hope you try it.
Hi Cheapsk8-I hope that you find peace at the dinner table, haha and perhaps they will enjoy taking turns as chef. Good luck.
Danette and Cara-let me know how the family liked the recipes. I brought a couple of pieces of the galette to work to share and they raved over it. I felt like Nona! haha.
b.malin and Pam- It's really difficult pleasing picky eaters. Good luck to you both and thank you for commenting.
@Rhonda-I don't care for hot spicy food. The chops do not have that bite to it. They are merely flavored and the pears and pear juice add a sweetness that counters any curry.
AlwaysExploring-try the chops with a side of apple or cranberry sauce but hold off the gravy, which will probably cover the flavors, until you know for sure that it is needing that extra heavy sauce. Good luck. Let me know if you do try them without the gravy, LOL
@Genna-I absolutely encourage the swiss olive galette. And, be sure to use the kalamata olives, not spanish olives. It really makes a difference. You'll love it and let me know how it works for you. I'll be making it again soon.
Hi ChatKath-oh, I hear you sister! I look at my refrigerator and freezer; walk around the grocery store and ask, "what now?" Food can be soooo boring if we allow it to be. My mother loved to try new recipes and now I understand why. Thanks for your comments.
@Audrey-I wish YOU were my next door neighbor as well. We'd have so much fun, wouldn't we: music, dance, food and writing...what more could a couple of gals ask for in life? Sounds like heaven on earth...
@LoraKayAlexander-Yes, I'm sure she will enjoy it. Be sure to share it with her, have her whip up a batch and share THAT with you, LOL Sounds like a good deal to me!
@Nina-yes, it is fun to be adventurous, in life and in the kitchen. My late husband would always order the tried and true at a restaurant. ANY restaurant. He would always marvel at how I would find an item on the menu "interesting" and give it a go with the risk of not liking it and being 'stuck' without a meal. That has never deterred me from trying new foods. Thanks for your comments.
@Karanda-it is amazing how we don't 'think outside of the box' sometimes when combining flavors. I remember once tasting a food I was cooking and it missing something. On a hunch I added cinnamon, b/c it was a spice that was associated with a particular country. It was just the right thing. The cinnamon enhanced the flavor of the dish and it was a melt in your mouth result. Sometimes our inner kitchen guru comes out in full force, LOL. Thanks for your comments.
What an awesome hub! I have bookmarked it so I can come back and try the recipes at a later date. They sound scrumptious. Thanks for sharing ideas about how to be innovative regarding trying routine foods in new contexts. I will be sharing your ideas with my sister who has two extremely picky sons. They are not huge risk-takers when it comes to trying different foods. Thank you!
Your recipe for pork chops w/sweet potato and pear sounds delicious! I can't wait to try that. I'm a foodie as well and the source of new recipe ideas is all around us, thanks for contributing to my source of inspiration.
GG-I'm confident you will love this recipe if/when you try it. Thank you for your comments.
Lamme-Thanks for visiting the hub. These are two meals that I've enjoyed both preparing and eating! Enjoy. :)
Thanks I love to try new recipes.
Hello SueJanet-nice to meet you. Thanks for reading this hub and commenting. I hope you do try the recipe. Let me know what you think...
your recipe seems delicious. i love cooking and experimenting with the new ingredients. i get my ideas on every cooking show i see on TV.
hello midnightbliss-nice to meet you. Please try the swiss olive galette and let me know if you enjoyed it. I also have watched the cooking shows. Thanks for commenting.
Great idea to take the family out to taste new flavors. That way, if they don't like it, you aren't the bad parent because you made them eat what you tried to cook. If they like the dish, then start making it at home. Nice post, thanks!
Cooking is one of my passions. I barely eat much, but i love cooking and just enjoy watching people eating (enjoying) my dish.
And i love to experiment and create new dishes.
I love the pork chops recipe already, and will definitely try it out. I'll have to make do with canned pears, but luckily we have sweet potatoes growing here in abundance.
With cooking, its always more exciting to sometimes deviate from the normal day to day boring recipes. Makes eating so much fun.
I love the idea of cooking with your kids. Its one of the best ways to get close, and bond with them. And because you chat (or even exchange ideas)together while the cooking's going on, it guarantees a good rapport with them that will grow deeper, as mother and child grow older.
Thanks Denise. Bookmarked for Sunday lunch.
GodBless
You remind me of my mother in that respect. Cooking was my mother's passion (one of them) as well. She was Italian and family and food went together like a hand and glove. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about cooking. I very much agree that cooking with kids will serve as an opportunity to bond. Wonderful advice.
Let me know how Sunday lunch fares for you and don't despair that the fruit is canned-the original recipe called for that and the pear juice as well. I improvised using the fresh pears.
Denise you always come up with some great tips recipes for me to try. Thank you.
Acaetnna-thanks for your comment. I am passionate about food the way you are passionate about your husband, LOL
I hope you enjoy the recipes. I know we find them delicious-both of these recipes.
great hub an great recepie ideas
Thanks Jamie-nice to meet you. Welcome to hubpages.
Your mom was a smart lady and evidently a talented cook. Thanks for sharing about her work, and for the tips. Recipes look yum!
Hi RT-thanks for reading and commenting. My mother was a young bride and yes, a smart lady...she learned and improved along the way. With six kids, she had lots of guinea pigs to try new recipes on, LOL
maquisberriesblog-thank you for reading and commenting on this hub. I didn't even consider the 'good parent-bad parent' angle, but yes, that may make a difference for some people. Glad you enjoyed it.
Denise, you have included some very intersting recipes. I definately will be trying them. Great tips and advice. Sometimes it is hard to introduce a new food or blends of foods to your family. I often don't let them know what's in the recipe. When they ask I just ask them if they like it. If they say yes, I tell them that's all they need to know.
Wonderful hub voted up, useful and bookmarked.
LOL YOu have a unique way of handling the questions...I suppose you know your family best. Thanks for reading and please, let me know if you do try them and if you enjoyed or not --Have a great w/e.
very good ideas here, denise! i am an avid cookbook collector, more specifically vintage & antique cookbooks...but i am a little shy of trying out some of the recipes yet. maybe i'll get up the courage to do so now! thanks for sharing! :)
Kitty-there are so many changes in our diets that I avoid the old recipes. They are usually filled with ingrediants that are not the healthiest. But, my mom loved to collect cookbooks, so I do understand the appeal. Thanks for reading the hub and commenting.
I do love to try new foods...be adventurous-eat differently, LOL
VioletSun 15 months ago
Being raised in New York, I enjoyed Thai food, Chinese, Italian, Brazilian, Indian, Latin, and Greek foods. Since my sister married an Arab, I also enjoyed her husband's dishes. My most favorite are sweet and sour dishes from the Far East, they are very satisfying to me. I like the pork chop recipe, thanks for the ideas!
Voted up!