Nothing of any importance has been happening around here of late. Everyone is well. More games, puzzles, and reading are getting done. I’ve been doing some cooking, but, really, with just my mom and I to feed, I haven’t been that enthused. We’ve been using up things I had frozen. Now that I can begin to see the bottom of the freezer drawers, I’m starting to think about cooking again.
This means I’ve been looking through cookbooks. I love, LOVE, buying cookbooks and reading each recipe. I have persuaded myself that buying yet another tome is not that much of an indulgence: even if I just get one new dish out of the book, it will have been worth it’s price.
Today I finished skimming a 500+ recipe book that focused on one-dish meals, whether that dish is a skillet, an instant pot, a sheet pan, or a slow-cooker. While a lot of the recipes were a bit repetitious, I know there are at least a few real gems.
One ingredient that crops up in a lot of recipes is cilantro. I am not a cilantro fan. I know it is big in many cuisines, but given that in some ethnicities up to 20% of people think it tastes like soap, its use in so many dishes surprises me. I get that if I’m cooking Mexican or Indian it has a long history, but really, Cilantro Chicken Burgers? Béchamel Ground Meat Cilantro Pasta? If Julia Child and Ina Garten can do without it, so can I.
But the one item that comes up in recipe after recipe that I just don’t get is: green peppers. I mean, come on! I get that green peppers are usually cheaper than yellow or, better yet, red. But it’s nothing but a bitter, unripe fruit. Shell out a little more money and get something that’s ripe and actually tastes pleasant.
Now I’m sure there are a few dishes that can actually benefit from a touch of bitterness. I can’t think of any right off hand, but I’m sure they’re out there.
For me, however, there is an issue besides the bitter taste: if I eat something with green peppers, I do not just taste them while eating the dish. I keep “tasting” them for the next 24 hours and it’s not pleasant!
And now you know why neither cilantro nor green peppers are going to be on my grocery list any time soon.
Tuples and Attributes 