Culinary Challenge 4 (Something you didn't like as a child).

Oh. my.. Time to get to the Swedish moose liver meatballs and jellied fish mousse balls...

Blood sausage I actually liked... Hmm. I don't think I want to ferment herring sous-vide.

@Johan, lol!!!

I don't think there was anything I didn't like as a child, once I moved out of my 'only eats macaroni' stage...

@Shannon I grew up in Stockholm but my grandparents on both sides were from rural areas, we had Elk, Deer, Reindeer, Rabbit, Hare, Salmon, Cod, Pike, Eel, Flounder, mussels, quite regularly. The offal wasn't something I was too keen on but we also had plenty of tounge, kidney and liver, my mum used to try and hide liver in ground meat.

It was pretty cool though, I've been fishing and done outdoorsy stuff with grandpa since I was 4, he tried to convince my mum I needed a shotgun when I was 5 and I got his old Husquarna's and a brass knuckle when he past away as his inheritance, my other grandpa was a pacifist so hilarity usually would ensue during family gatherings.

I grew up in Eastern Oregon, and my father was a hunter, so I ate rabbit, pheasant, deer, elk, and whatever else without a thought. Not much seafood, given that it was cattle country. I think you were exposed to much more interesting dishes. Swedish moose liver meatballs? You just can't beat that as a name of a dish!

Ah this is going to be a challenge....

@Shannon I think I hated liver because I associated it with the smell in the garage having game bleeding out, and yeah, that is a cool name

@Johan, I remember that smell every single time I bit my tongue and get that bright coppery taste... it brings back bad, bad memories... the smell of game hanging is disgusting!!

@Shannon it is, I guess I don't think it is as bad as I got older, I now kinda associate it with delicious foods

So I scoured the memory banks and most of the things I was picky about when I was young I have grown to love.... BUT, there was one that cropped up that I really haven't touched since I was I think 8 years old. Cabbage rolls. I remember fighting with my mom for hours and hours (I was stubborn and so was she) to choke the plate of three down. They smelled gross, the meat inside was overcooked and rubbery, the sauce was really acidic and reminded me of the taste after throwing up. All in all a very bad experience and in discussing it with my wife I don't think i've ever eaten one since.

Sounds like a good one for this challenge so here we go.

I took savoy cabbage leaves, took out the stems, cut them in half and bagged with bacon fat, compressed in the chamber vac and blanched in boiling water for 4 minutes. For the meat I debated going traditional with the ground meat but that's so easy to overcook and I didn't really want to double cook the cabbage so I took a well marbled strip steak seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika. Cooked it at 54C/50min for a nice rare texture. For the sauce I took hot house tomatoes, sliced and layered with thinly sliced white onion and compressed them with tomato puree, champagne vinegar, garlic, and a touch of honey. I let that sit for a while to mingle and then pan fried it like sofrito until soft, blended to a coarse consistency. I think the best part of this dish was the cabbage. Compressing with the bacon fat before blanching imparted a nice smokey nuance that lingers after you take a bite and the aroma is very pleasant. Overall, a dish I'd make again!

Looks good. I would definitely eat that.

Allen_Johnson_67197

Mine was Liver and Onions... I dont think I can force myself to eat it again

michaelnatkin

Hmm, I might have to do an updated eggplant parmigiana. Not that I didn't like that as a kid, I did, but I have a horrific memory of my aunt serving it to me with essentially raw eggplant. I'm interested to see what a vacuum will do to eggplant flesh.

Sadly I loved liver and onions... So I don't get to try that this week. I'm still having a hard time finding something I didn't really like....

I loved liver and onions, but never got it at home, so I ordered it at restaurants. Much to the horror of my friends.

Cabbage color is nice, that looks good.

The smokiness from the bacon fat was really nice. It would make for a nice slaw

@Brendan, that is a beautiful dish, I love the vibrant colors!

@shannon thanks! I would have broke out the real camera but I was too hungry so shaky cell phone pics will have to suffice.

prince_of_porcelain

I emailed my mom to get her input. I figure whatever she comes back with I'm stuck with. I hope it's Stroganoff. I hated stroganoff as a kid, but I've been wanting to try my hand at it. It should be good. Problem is, my wife also hated stroganoff as a kid, and she's not too enthusiastic about me making it. Regardless, I'll stick with whatever mom comes back with. (fingers crossed that it's stroganoff though!)

tjs

Wow, I wish I wasn't traveling! I liked almost everything except 2 things I despised. Tomatoes and Strawberries. When I got into cooking I decided I had to overcome those two and would gag on them eating them for a long time. Now I adore both. That was lobbing a fat pitch

@Brian, that's funny, I emailed my sister to see if there was something I was forgetting. So far I was not picky but my sister hated everything and has a really good memory, LOL!!

prince_of_porcelain

So far this is all I get: "Wow, that's a hard one. Dad and I are thinking, but I don't know if we'll be able to come up with anything." Come on mom...stroganoff!

I had to poll my wife i will be posting tomorrow.

Man, you all are such food snobs.

I wasn't picky at all that's why I had my wife pick lol

Hah, if I was picky I could use - from my wife;

Tomato, peas, cucumber, arugula, pumpkin, etc, etc.

She got married to me and now will say - she does not like frozen peas

tuckatodd

@Johan I agree!!

I was so picky as a kid I would pretty much only eat rice and fried eggs with soy sauce. My parents are amazed at the transformation that can come from 4 years of shit food in a college cafeteria!