How many of us have memories of our childhood, throwing a fit over something on our plates because it is new, weird, or "icky"? I know I was a particularly shitty eater as a kid, having had a few memorable nights of bellowing while I stormed upstairs that baked ham was, " TOTALLY DISGUSTING!!!! " I didn't believe my mom when she assured me that my tastes would change. Of course, I also thought I'd grow up to be a teacher, or movie star. (I was banking on movie star, obviously)
To my own surprise, my mom happened to be right! I started discovering my culinary tastes changing when I started working for Richard's German Restaurant in Brunswick, ME. I had fallen in love with their desserts, and begged the owner, Richard, to teach me how to make them. That spun into my first real job in a kitchen, and it grossed. Me. Out.
German food, beyond being a lot of sausage and cabbage, has a myriad of other dishes and techniques many people aren't familiar with. As a 14-year-old girl, it was downright bizarre. Richard and his sons would try to get me to try things, and for the first few months, I absolutely refused. But after a few shifts working doubles and starving myself, I started to notice the sauerkraut smelling sort of... Well, not awful. I tried it. And the shock of sweet and sour vinegar goodness blew me away. I finally started to let the boys teach me how to eat.
Edible discoveries never stop. Food and beverages are always changing, for better or worse, and it creates mini-adventures for me. In a couple weeks, I'm going to forage for snails and try escargot for the first time. It's just so fascinating to me, to never know what I'll discover next. And knowing what I know now? I fully intend to raise my future kids in a kitchen. The number of opportunities I skipped because I was terrified to step out of my comfortable little box? My kids will never have that fear. I am so much happier now, ready to step out and really seize life by the balls, and that is entirely attributed to my taste buds and the boys at Richard's. I can't thank them enough.
Revelatory Rosemary Lemon Cream Sauce
*I usually can't stand cream sauces, as they usually are too heavy and burden my palate. Dicking around today, I actually found myself licking my plate after stumbling on this*
*1 tsp unsalted butter
*1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
*1 tbsp minced shallots (white onion would also work)
*2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, or 1/2 tsp dried
*1/2 tsp chopped green onion
*Juice of 1 Meyer lemon (or 1/2 regular lemon diluted with a tbsp of water)
*1/2 c heavy cream
*salt to taste
-Put the butter and olive oil in a sauté pan and get the pan nice and hot. If you're preparing the sauce to go on top of a protein (I recommend chicken or white seafood), sear your protein off in the pan first and finish it off in a 200°F oven while you make this sauce
-When your pan is hot, add your shallots and rosemary. Let the shallots get a nice brown without burning, then add the green onion, lemon juice, and cream.
-Let the cream reduce until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Salt it, then serve over whatever. Bread, noodles, protein, veggies- it's really freaking versatile!
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