In late 2019, I created perhaps the most lofty New Year’s resolution I could think of: I was going to cook with a new, scary food every month. I was sick of skipping over so many recipes in cookbooks that I have, simply because certain ingredients, cooking techniques, or flavors scared me a little. The goal was not to master cooking with these ingredients, but to become at least a little more comfortable with them. Well, the pandemic hit before I was able to complete even two items off my list. I’ve been thinking about this list a lot lately, and how far I’ve come since late 2019 without even trying. I’m writing this newsletter in the hopes that maybe someone reading might have tips, go-to recipes, or condolences as I (more casually this time) embark on this journey to conquer my fears.
Beets
Rarely have I had a beet I loved. It’s not that I’m scared to cook or prepare them, I’m scared to eat them. I can think of only one instance that I had an overwhelmingly positive experience with a beet; it was at Sweedeedee in Portland and I had this fantastic BLT with thin slabs of pickled beets on this insane molasses cornmeal bread. I know that I can tolerate pickled beets, so I’m thinking I’ll start there and work my way toward more complex beet treats (I want to make beet-cured smoked salmon!).
Steak
I never ate a ton of steak growing up, and I never really gravitate toward it at restaurants either. I actually have improved my steak cooking skills in the last year (aka I cooked steak for the very first time by myself), but it still isn’t my favorite food ever, which is fine. I still feel like I never know what type of steak I’m looking for when I go to the store (NY strip? Flank? Ribeye? I just want the normal kind!) so there is some room for improvement there.
Artichokes
I love artichokes! Artichoke dip, artichokes on pizza, in pasta, grilled, you name it. But literally how do you cut and prepare an artichoke? I know that a quick YouTube search would probably alleviate a lot of fear, but I’m also stubborn, so consider that.
Bread
The way that I predicted that y’all would be baking bread during this whole pandemic back in 2019… I will say, the fact that so many people I know mastered homemade bread last year comforts me. I think what scares me about bread is that I’m a lazy baker with no regard for measurements and that seems like the type of attitude that absolutely would not fly while baking bread. To be honest, yeast in general scares me because every time I try to make anything with yeast, it never rises properly. Can you tell that I’m impatient?
Pastries
Croissants and danishes come to mind, also kouign-amann. If you remember this newsletter, you’ll know that it is one of my current New Year’s resolutions to make croissants this year. So it will happen, because I don’t back down from a challenge. But I’ve never made laminated dough before and feel like I’m going to cry every time I make a simple pie crust, so this could easily go poorly for me.
Anything fermented
I’d really love to learn how to make kombucha because it’s one of my favorite drinks, but all the equipment and attention to detail that you need to make it kind of turns me off. Fermentation as a fear is both related to the daunting process to make fermented foods and also the fact that I don’t super love how they taste. My most embarrassing confession is that I don’t like kimchi and I can barely tolerate sauerkraut. Everyone loves kimchi and I want to be one of those people so badly.
Chicories, endives, and radicchio
These greens are in every salad in every cookbook that I want to cook from and I got so sick of it that I got endives from the store once and tried to make an endive, apple, celery salad with a shallot dressing. It was disgusting. They’re so bitter! Is it even worth learning to love these veggies?
Miso
I love anything miso: miso soup, miso chocolate chip cookies, miso pasta… but there are so many different types of miso and I felt so intimidated in that aisle of the store every time I went. But I’m happy to announce that I am the proud owner of a tub of white miso, that I have used one (1) time to make a salmon glaze. A small win, in my book.
Clams or mussels
I loooooove seafood. Absolutely love it. Clams and mussels, especially in pasta (perhaps with some sort of white wine sauce), have always seemed so glamorous to me. Picture this: I’m on the frigid Oregon coast at my cedar A-frame cabin, wrapped up in a white sweater, sipping wine, eating clam pasta that I cooked, while the tiramisu chills in the fridge… Cioppino also always sounds good, but I never have easy access to a fresh fish counter, so making dishes with shellfish is typically pretty out of reach.
Halloumi
I have never had halloumi before! Not once, in my whole life! I wouldn’t know the first thing about where to buy it, what it looks like, what it tastes like, how to prepare it, what it goes well with. But it’s always in my favorite cookbooks, so I think as long as I can find it, I’ll have the cookbook there to guide me every step of the way.
Any fish that’s not salmon
Honestly, I don’t even think I’m really that stellar at cooking salmon either. I feel like cod and halibut are so under appreciated, and I personally would really like to get familiar with cod. I’ve had this recipe for coconut cod chowder with turmeric saved in my notes app for years.
Tikka Masala
What makes me shy away from Indian recipes typically, is the fact that they often require an array of spices that I don’t have and would need to seek out at a specialty spice store. I know that once I just commit to buying the spices, I’ll have a blast cooking all my favorite Indian foods.
Does anyone else have foods they’re a little spooked to cook? I think we can work through this together, I really do. Maybe by 2022 I’ll be a beet-loving, clam-cooking, halloumi-eating son of a gun.
I've been meaning to give you suggestions for some of these for too long, so maybe you've already conquered some of your fears! In any case, here are more ideas than you asked for!
For beets, I'm obsessed with this recipe: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/beet-tostadas-with-fried-eggs (BA, I know. But it's Rick Martinez.) Also, salad with roasted beets (or buy pre-cooked ones in the refrigerator section of a mediumly fancy grocery store), avocado, citrus supremes, and a vinaigrette with honey, lime, and Aleppo-style or similar chili. (Was editing a cookbook you-know-where and it was 50% too long so what I think was it's best recipe got cut.)
Artichokes are the most romantic food and you should buy them every time they're on sale at the grocery store. Youtube is probably your friend, but I honestly hate how-to videos. Here's a good description with photos: https://www.loveandlemons.com/how-to-cook-artichokes/. I recently tried frozen artichokes for the first time and for a situation where you want to put them in a dish, they work pretty well.
Pastries...Maybe try Bake Like a French Pastry Chef from Countryman, but also, I am afraid of them because I know my standards exceed my skill level.
Radicchio was born for pizza and pasta. The tricolore pizza at Ovest on W27 after a few hours of gallery hopping is perfection (I assume their aperitivo hour has gone the way of COVID, but that is the other reason to go there). At home, I loosely follow this recipe: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pasta-guanciale-radicchio-and-ricotta. You can also quarter and grill it with sausage. Suburban French ladies of a certain age serve endive leaves with blue cheese mixed with margarine. Do what you will with that information.
For miso, my philosophy is that they are reasonably interchangeable. Will it be authentic? No. Am I likely to keep multiple kinds of miso in my fridge? Also no. White miso is probably a good choice for baked goods.
Clams and mussels: You can do it! I have only been brave enough for this for approximately 18 months, but I'm a strong supporter. Every time I make mussels there is a weird one, and that's a lot to live with, but I get over it eventually. For clams, speaking of Substack: https://anewsletter.alisoneroman.com/p/clam-pasta-video. She also has a fun clams-and-cod-in-cream with potatoes and celery recipe that I like. 100% biased (but also Naomi Tomky was an award-winning writer before I knew her), but you might need this book: https://bookshop.org/books/the-pacific-northwest-seafood-cookbook-salmon-crab-oysters-and-more/9781682683668. I also feel you on the fish counter thing. In my Brooklyn/Queens days I felt weird about the Food Bazaar options and also weird about carting seafood in from Manhattan.
Re: halloumi, just go for it! It's firm and super salty. This is delightful: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022039-escarole-salad-with-smoky-halloumi-croutons. Did I actually use escarole, probably not.
Re: other fish, definitely get Naomi Tomky's book. I am going to make her chreime tomorrow night with some frozen haddock that's a little too fishy for my taste, but the spices will hopefully hide that. This is a good, easy halibut recipe: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/butter-roasted-halibut-with-asparagus-and-olives. Can't remember if I've made this one, but I feel like yes: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020279-tomato-poached-fish-with-chile-oil-and-herbs.
Re: Indian food. Perhaps my one regret, re: leaving NYC, is that I never went to Kalustyan's.