I don't consider myself a picky eater but there are a handful of foods I avoid at all cost. When I'm reading through recipes I notice that if I see one of these foods I will immediately skip to the next recipe without even bothering to see if that ingredient can easily be left out. Two of these ingredients for me are raisins and winter squash. What ingredients immediately turn you off?
Separated eggs that don't call for the same number of yolks and whites. I hate waste, but I also hate having to store that extra yolk/white or two. I can only think of one recipe I make that calls for an extra yolk, and only because it's a damn fine chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Ugh, yes, seconded. Or any recipe that calls for a small amount of something - heavy cream, say, or Pernod - that won't be easy to use up if I buy it special.
If it's just an issue that the recipe calls for a small amount of an ingredient that I would not use regularly, I'll try to substitute around it. For example, I recently made a rhubarb-cranberry cobbler (DOTM) that required 1/8 cup of frozen condensed cranberry cocktail (actually the recipe required 1/4 cup but I had halved it). I substituted 1/8 cup of a combination of lemon juice & maple syrup.
Hi Small h,
If you have extra heavy cream - what we call double cream in the UK - whip it past the point of no return and it will split into butter & butter milk. Mix the butter milk with some brown wheat bread flour, salt & bicarbonate of soda into a soft goo and then cut a deep cross through it. Bake at 180c for 30 mins. You'll have warm soda bread begging for that butter
bon appetit
Now you want me to buy brown wheat bread flour and find a way to use THAT up? I do not think your solution is a solution, but thanks anyway.
Just keep making soda bread to use it up. As indicated it's such an easy recipe and such a delicious outcome. We regularly make soda gread and freeze what we can't eat immediately.
For me it's poached eggs I avoid as getting eggs fresh enough to poach is a pain and so disappointing when they fall apart
Great photo, thanks!
I throw the egg whites in a dish and cook them for breakfast the next day. I hear you on the waste.
I don’t mind separating eggs and I will just save the extra white for an omelette within the next few days. But if I want to halve a recipe that has an odd number of eggs, I rarely will be bothered to measure out 1/2 egg. I’ll typically just try to get away without that half egg.
If I am making a half recipe of something that calls for an odd number of eggs, I typically just add the yolk of the last egg and use the white for something else.
I also keep dehydrated egg whites around, and when I need more whites than yolks, I'll supplement with that. I also use them when I need beaten egg whites but not the yolks, to avoid the issue of what to do with the egg yolks. (I don't mind having extra egg whites around because they freeze well, but yolks don't keep.)
I know plenty of ways to use up a leftover white or yolk. The problem is that we so seldom eat eggs in general that I have to plan to use it up. We almost never eat breakfast other than a bowl of cereal or a piece of toast. When we still had dogs, I'd cook the leftover bits for them and they'd get a little treat.
Ice cream has been the July DOTM, and some of the best recipes use several yolks in the custard. Right now, I have more frozen egg whites in the freezer than I care to admit.
Hah! If it includes Minute Rice, I don't even consider it a recipe!
Same with me for any recipe that calls for a can of "cream of whatever" soup.
"a can of "cream of whatever" soup"
Haha. My well-meaning MIL got me a subscription to a cooking magazine that I won't name, but almost every "recipe" I read in it was nothing more than tossing together a mixture of already prepared foodstuffs.
I agree EXCEPT that once every 3 months, my section brings breakfast for our 90 person choral group. I always bring a hash brown casserole that includes a can of cream of mushroom soup. I've tried other recipes that don't have it and the soup version gets the most rave reviews. Never use it aside from that.
I'll swap you those raisin or winter squash recipes for all my recipes that call for fresh cilantro by the cup-full. Small quantities I know I can (and do) omit or substitute oregano. Others will never get made here since we both have the soap-tasting gene for cilantro.
I've noticed that celery gives you that snap, w/o the cilantro soap. Puree it in or just use the greens. My soapy cilantro hating friends can tolerate that, it seems. I've tried parsley, italian parsley, basil, oregano, even tarragon (I think more people hate tarragon than cilantro). Celery worked the best for my buds.
Self rising flour. I once made my own and all I could taste was baking powder. That has turned me off and I don't need more flour hanging around.
Mushrooms
Broccoli
Peanuts/tree nuts unless it says optional (that one is for kiddo's allergies)
Raisins and organ meats. Though I will make Polpo's chicken liver recipe for my mom, when I visit.
Artichokes. Eggplant. Olives if they are copious and chopped up (I will just pick them out if they are whole and not a dominant component.).
Caraway seeds (although I learned nigella seeds can substitute in rye bread)
Last year at this time I would have said miso, because I had never cooked with it and had no idea how to choose which kind, etc. But I broke through that barrier and now have a small tub of miso in the fridge. I understand it'll last a while...? We made a miso salmon (Everyday Dorie?) and miso butter for steak from Cravings. And now I'm eyeing some new uses for it, like mixed with tahini.
Nowadays I have to avoid grapefruit due to medication interactions, so the cocktail book of the summer is a little disappointing in that regard as I turn past those recipes.
As long as you keep the miso from drying out, it'll last forever. If you keep it in the fridge, it'l remain more or less unchanged. If you keep it at room temp, it'll get stronger and stronger.
That would be another interesting thread. What have you avoided then learned to enjoy?
I can not get one caraway seed past my gullet. They'd better be finely ground, and very sparse, for me. I can't take those little turds. Nigella it is.
"Cream of" soups is another immediate elimination.
Most heavily processed foods, like canned soups or cake mixes will usually scare me away. It's not my cooking style and more importantly, I don't live in the U.S. anymore, and a lot of those products are not available to me.
Also, lard, duck fat, goose fat and the like.
In cocktail recipes, bourbon, whiskey, and scotch, sadly. I had a bad experience in my early drinking days. This bums me out because I love cocktails, and this is very limiting for me!
I went to a restaurant the other day that is lauded for its use of duck fat. It did nothing for me and I didn’t really understand why everyone was so crazy about it.
To each his own is right, NShewmaker. I do not mind any of the above ingredients. As for the use of duck fat, this has been debated. But I believe I did detect a difference in the great fries prepared with duck fat at a restaurant called Duck Fat in Portland, Maine...
That was the restaurant I went to. I had a different issue with it in general (found hair in my poutine), but I did not think the fries were anything special barring that. Not bad, but was expecting more based on all the rave recommendations from everyone I talked to in Portland. I did enjoy my sandwich from them though.
I like frying with duck fat and keep a couple of tubs in the freezer.
I am unfortunately susceptible to freudian spoonerisms, though, so I have to be careful when I discuss it around the kids.
That's a shame Shew. I love duck fat. Good winter food. Roast potatoes, confit, cassolette.....bring it on
Second this, when I started to cook my recipes revolved around Campbell’s mushroom soup, then I learned how to make roux and cream sauce from scratch. Haven’t used Campbell’s in a long time
Quinoa--can't fathom why people eat it, even seek it out. Cilantro--I use a lot of herbs and grow most of the ones we use, but no cilantro. Don't even like the scent.
I love my cookbooks and have marked up recipes with ingredient substitutions and changed amounts. Any recipe that includes quinoa or cilantro is left alone!
Mint. Can't even stand the smell. I was told I'm probably allergic to it.
Anyone else find truffles repulsive? I expected to love them like everyone else does, but no. I felt like a freak when I discovered how awful they were, and then I read they contain a chemical only a few people detect, like the problem some have with cilantro. Similarly, even a stalk of celery can ruin a dish for me. I can live with that, but I feel really cheated that beets don’t agree with me. As they say, I like them but they don’t like me. What gives?
I was going to include truffle OIL - because usually it's that petroleum artificial stuff which to me is vile.
I like fresh truffles shaved all over pasta or risotto or eggs though. #makeitrain
Truffles/truffle oil make me nauseous. I have a really hard time when someone at the table orders something with truffles. Just the slightest whiff and I'm feeling it. It doesn't seem fair to ask folks not to order it, though, so I try to breath through my mouth when necessary. Crazy.
No ingredient I can just leave out or sub for. But I've never learned to eat tripe or brains, and those are so off my list I can't recall even seeing a recipe to pass up.
On a more mundane level, I don't like most strong cheeses, including sadly Parmesan, so if one is a major element, it's a pass-on-by. Minor may still be a go, though.
SOY & SOY BIPRODUCTS,,. Carcinogens and tumeric a natural blood thinner to be careful with!
Ditto on canned soups and minute rice.
My husband doesn't like walnuts, cilantro and olives but two grandchildren love black olives. I love walnuts so I might buy bakery cookies that contain walnuts knowing I won't have to share with him. For cilantro, I might chop some for the table so people can add there own. But I love raisins and winter squash. I like feta but family doesn't so I'll sub ricotta salat if I can find it or queso fresco.
Raisins, mushrooms, green onions, seaweed. Can’t say I necessarily avoid the recipes but substitute or omit these ingredients.
Costly ingredients such as truffles, morels, saffron, foie gras.
Hot chili peppers, especially with seeds.
Exotic non local ingredients that can only be had by mail order.
I won't consider a recipe that calls for lots of fresh basil in the winter.
I seldom follow a recipe exactly, if I see an ingredient I don't like, I'm good at substitutions. But some items I refuse to make are Brussel sprouts and watermelon. And I NEVER add cumin to anything!
Agave syrup
Olives and capers! Oh and "cream of" soups
These are so interesting! For the people who avoid artichokes, is it the taste or the effort? Artichokes are one of my top 5 foods, I've loved 'em since I was a kid and my mom would steam them and serve with lots of lemon butter. I'm vegetarian so I avoid recipes where meat is the central ingredient but I do use meat substitutes so a recipe for soup or stir fry with meat is not a dealbreaker. Cantaloupe, however, is a dealbreaker in every regard.
It's the taste of the artichokes. I avoid them in dishes at restaurants.
It's a love\hate relationship for me. I love the taste. But it kills your palate for just about anything else.
For the last several years, I have not had an artichoke that had any flavor whatsoever. I used to love them, but I don't bother with them anymore, because there's no taste. And it's not just me: Mrs. ricepad agrees. Even 'chokes we've picked up in Castroville have been blah.
I can't believe no one has said this: fennel! (Or anise). I hate those licorice flavors, but it's easy enough to leave them out. Same with olives.
I also avoid all squashes and since they take up a lot of space it generally means skipping the recipe.
Blue cheese
Brie
Eggplant
I'll second all the organ meat comments, and add any ingredient that I have to order online. I'm just not that patient!
maldon salt. I scratch off things that seem pretensious - like fry in extra virgin olive oil
Not an ingredient, but the word 'creamy'.
I can’t digest spicy hot food, so anything with chilies, cayenne, hot sauce etc. is an immediate turn-off.
This has been very interesting, I realized I'm very open-minded about what I eat, I'll eat almost anything!
I think the only ingredient that I'll avoid is organ meat, only because I don't know where to find it or how to cook it and I'm sure there's a fine line between cooking it well and completely botching it up. I see pig's blood, pig's uterus, chicken feet, turkey neck (not really an organ), etc... at the supermarket all the time but I don't know what to do with it. I'm sure they're all delicious.
Organ meats can be really nice. You should start with something simple like pan-fried breaded calf liver. Forget the blood and uterus for now.
If you find an easy recipe for czarnina, you might change your mind on the blood thing. Although most tradish czarnina is made with blood from muscovy ducks, pigs blood will work in a pinch.
You would not think there's blood in there when you try it. Very subtle. Peculiar dish that really works.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/132...
Okay, you got me, I have absolutely zero interest in eating this dish.
You would be very surprised at the flavor. I promise it's not based on a dare. I wouldn't have predicted I'd like it , either, had I known the ingredients it does, before I ate it. As a little kid, it wasn't my fave; but, I've loved it since I was about 13. I love Polish food, but the frequent addition of caraway seeds shuts down my hunger quickly. No caraway in czarnina though. It's well balanced and surprisingly mild. Aside from nasty caraway, the Polish seem to have a delicate palate. This is a good recipe for the "peasant food" thread. Waste nothing! If you have a small Polish place near, order a bowl for takeout. $3 might give you a pleasant surprise. Nothing strident or jumpy about this dish; smooth and rich. Kiszka (blood sausage) has the minerally/livery flavor of blood. I believe it's Sweden where blood "pancakes" are popular. I'll settle with czarnina.
I always have chicken feet in the freezer so I can add a couple to the pot when I'm making chicken stock from a bird carcass.
Didn’t know how to prepare - or that I even liked - organ meats till I lived in Michoacán. Now, I love tacos de seso, tripas, menudo, riñones, morcilla, etc. Tacos de lengua was a favorite of mine. Fortunately, there is good, homestyle Mexican food not far from me, so I can get it on a whim.
What I can't stand are olives. I do not know why but when I see recipe with them I skip it. Another thing is bean. I do not know why my grandma so often does soup with it!
I don't think there's really any specific ingredient that would turn me off a recipe. I make an exception for andouillete de Cambrai which smells like shit and tastes what I imagine shit tastes like.
I am, however, turned off by overly long lists of ingredients. For example, in my Saturday newspaper's food supplement, Yotam Ottolenghi always has several recipes. I used to take one look and then turn the page. Now, I don't even bother looking. There will always be several ingredients, I (and most people) won't have in their cupboards. They will always be unsual ingredients that you'd have to get via the internet - and then would not use them again. Just not my way of enjoying food, thank very much.
Beef and Pork, I also skipped the video or any recipe where they are using beef or pork
Quinoa
Grapefruit
Orange peel
Orange juice
Not a fan of liver, tripe, kidneys, brains.
Ethical issues with octopus.
Not comfortable with many types of game or fish due to concerns over provenance and safety, but hey, I’m in Texas. Would you eat anything pulled out of a brown river or Galveston Bay?
Not a fan of canned spinach.
Have eaten all manner of sashimi, including small still gasping fish and live shrimp, but didn’t enjoy any of it, although I love oysters on the half shell with a squeeze of lemon and a twist of pepper.
I'd add marshmallow(s). Okay, I'll eat one, maybe two, smores per year. Rice krispie treats, once a decade. I have both of those important marshmallow recipes committed to memory. I could just never appreciate adding marshmallows to sweet potatoes. They're already sweet; both of 'em. 1 sweet + 1 sweet does not equal a savory. 2(sweet)= too much sweet.
Agreed!!! I like sweet potatoes just baked in the skins. I also like them quartered lengthwise and roasted with fingerlings, parsnips and leeks, tossed first in EVOO and a savory rub.
You can't mess up a sweet potato if you try. Marshmallow, to me, is trying to mess it up.
When I think of a sweet like that, I like to wonder what savory might complement it. Rosemary? Tarragon? Garlic? About the last thing I'd consider if marshmallow. Having it has confirmed my suspicion that someone, or someones, in thanksgiving history has/have conspired to ruin the sweet potato.
Even when I was little, I hated that. Eat the yams and leave the marshmallows.
I bake them, skins on, also. Can't screw it up!
"I'd add marshmallow(s)."
Thank you! Dang, I hate marshmallows so much I forgot they were a "food"! Hate cookies, cakes, ice cream that has them, yes Virginia I hate s'mores also.
I used to love marshmallows made by a British company called “Pascal’s”. The texture and taste were really nice. I haven’t found anything in Canada that’s even close...they are all too powdery and too sweet, and I hate the practice of dusting anything with icing sugar. It makes me cough and messes up my hands.
I’ve long been thinking of making my own marshmallows.
Edit: I would not put them in any food. Marshmallows and sweet potato sounds particularly unappetizing, to be polite.
It's even worse than you may ponder. How those things got together is beyond me. Sweet potatoes are the perfect thanksgiving food. Now let's turn it into a confection. Fortunately, my family agrees, so we delete marshmallows in our yams. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday; and I love prepping for it.
I'd also +1 on the "creamy" thing. It seems that cream is rarely an ingredient in anything "creamy." Thus, I just saute green beans in butter and olive oil, and finish with Parm for my TG dinner. Soft green beans in cream of mush soup doesn't work for me/us. I do finish it off with the crispy fried onions, though (part of a US American thanksgiving practice for those asking themselves what the heck I'm talking about.)
That's why I added them so late. Hard for me to consider them a food; but they are an ingredient. Just an ingredient that is good for two recipes: smores and RK treats. I can not eat one raw out of the bag. I SO dislike the texture/flavor. As a kid, the first time I had a MallowCup was almost as bad as my first experience with clowns. Heebie jeebies.
Yes! Recently on a road trip through Ohio I stopped at a local BBQ place. Great brisket and sweet potato fries which were served with a marshmallow dipping sauce. Gross! I thought it was just hideous although the bartender and people on either side of me all were fans.
Uff. I've never even heard to a marshmallow dipping sauce. Did they have a savory BBQ sauce? I'd think a back-o-dah-mouth sauce would be a good dipper for sweet tater fries. MM sauce...man, dass messed up, unless you're pregnant.
Marshmallows have their place, and IMHO it is a very small and circumscribed place, in a dollop of marshmallow sauce on a hot fudge sundae made of a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of coffee with toasted almond slivers. It was my standard order at the Haagen Daz parlor on Knox in Dallas circa 1976, when my then youthful metabolism allowed me to enjoy such things. They do not in my belief belong near, on, or in anything remotely savory. Several days ago, at age seventy, I was required to eat my first s’more. I prefer plain graham crackers.
Me, too. Graham crackers take me back to my earliest memories. Smores are just too much. I'll eat one per year as a reminder. Just like I need periodic reminders like: fire-hot, knife-sharp, rock-hard, splitting maul+clothesline=headache. Sad I need to relearn so much so often. Been awhile since I messed up the last one. More pain means better memory. More pain means better memory. Wait, did I already say that?
I'd really like to know more about the splitting maul+clothesline equation. I don't doubt it for a second, but it seems to imply induction that is not immediately apparent.
I heat with wood. Been splitting it since I was wee. One day, when I was about 8 yoa, I was splitting wood on our patio and was so focused on the importance of my job that I neglected to notice the clothesline out there. Swung the maul to split the wood, hit the clothesline, bounced back, knocking me out. Hit me right in that spot on the top of your head where the hairs all meet. Felt like Bugs Bunny the morning after mixing carrot juice and radish juice, if you've seen that episode. When I came to, still groggy, went in the house (ice) my mom asked what happened. Told her I fell off a swing. Since that day, I give a careful look for clotheslines before splitting wood. One of the few pains I learned well the first time. Never happened again. Now bee-sting is one I have to learn once or twice per year. More it hurts, the better the memory. Did I already say that?
Sorry for being obtuse. The other forum I visit is all wood cutting/splitting/etc. people. It appears I'm not the only one to learn this valuable lesson the hard way.
Still, nothing a nice soft marshmallow can't cure. ;)
I find the combination of honey and chicken really awful. The biggest turnoff is honey mustard on chicken. But then I was once served in a restaurant a crepe filled with asparagus and ham, and topped with maple syrup. After the first bite I felt like throwing the plate at the chef!
ME TOO!
Likewise. Loved waffles and pancakes as a kid; but very rarely eat either now. Hard to eat a breakfast that makes you feel like you need a nap when you're done. Real maple syrup is heavenly, though. Just not on a savory crepe. One delicacy in my part of WI is dipping soft muenster cheese into real maple syrup. I can handle it; just don't do backflips or anything.
Similarly, I was served a terrific pizza on the deck at the Cafe at Hawk Creek in Neskowin. It came with the usual Parm and red pepper flakes but also honey...”for the crusts.” I didn’t go there but fellow diners liked it.
I avoid recipes with LOTS of ingredients. Takes the wind out of my sails when there is a big complicating list
I thought of another one today while reading the latest SK post...Tofu. Now wondering if halloumi cheese could substitute.
It's a common suggestion to substitute tofu for paneer, so if you have access to Indian ingredients you could do the reverse. It will also retain its shape, but is far less salty than halloumi, so would be more versatile with different accompaniments/sauces.
I agree with Caitlin that paneer might be more tofu-like in texture and not as salty as haloumi - if you try it I'd be interested in how you liked it. I'd imagine it depends a lot on what dish you're planning on I guess. My thought is that tofu is much lighter than any kind of cheese. I can't imagine being able to eat anything close to my normal serving of mapo tofu, for example, if cheese were used instead of tofu. But if you don't like tofu anyway that might not matter to you.
I just thought of another thing that puts me off a recipe, although it's not an ingredient but a task: sifting. I really don't like to sift. A recipe that involves sifting REALLY has to promise otherworldly goodness for me to try it.
That would be an interesting thread.
I had a relative offer to help me bake, but I had to turn her down because she refused to sift (I always sift), and because she refused to weigh ingredients. She measures flour by putting it into a cup and shaking it down to the level needed....highly inaccurate.
I avoid recipes that give you volumetric measurements rather than weights. “1-3/4 cups of flour lightly sifted into the cup” is just too time-consuming, and who measures butter in tablespoons?
I don't mind when recipes specify tablespoons of butter; I know that 1 tablespoon is half an ounce, and most butter available to me comes packed as 4 or 8 oz sticks or blocks. (I almost never sift, I weigh flour and whisk dry ingredients to aerate and blend 95% of the time. Generally, I only pull the sieve out when dealing with cocoa powder or confectioner's sugar, since they're prone to lumps.)
I measure butter in tablespoons. They're marked on the wrapper.
Mass and/or weight is more accurate than volume; IMHO. Hard transition from volume to mass.
I'm a sifter as well.
I don't see the issue with sifting to be honest. It's so easy it doesn't make sense to omit it.
I just put a sieve over my (Kitchenaid) bowl, on top of a kitchen scale, and add flour directly into the sieve. Ten seconds of shaking the sieve and I have lump-free flour in my bowl, and the sieve can go in the dishwasher.
Sifting is to prevent lumps in flour - you still have to stir the dry ingredients to mix.
Plus you'd be surprised to learn there are always a few grey, hard particles in white flour. These come out by using a sieve.
I used to sift long ago when my flour had lumps. For some reason, and I don't know why, I haven't had any lumps in store-bought flour in at least 12 years or more. Maybe I switched brands at some point, or maybe it's because I keep the house very low humidity most of the time. I don't recall if I ever ran into any foreign particles back when I did sift.
The first time I made a cake that used chestnut flour and AP flour, I sifted the two flours together, and noted that it was obvious that there were two different flours, i.e. they were not homogeneous. So I sifted them again; still not homogeneous, so I sifted them a third time, at which point they were homogeneous. I now tend to triple sift everything.
BTW, I’m a “Cooking Electrical Engineer”.
Triple sifter. Sounds like overkill. But, in that situation, merited. Sift 'til ya get it right.
Using very different flours - that sounds like a time when I might decide to sift, too. Most of my recipes are either all the same flour, or so close (a cup of bread flour + a cup of AP, or all bread flour plus a TBS or so of gluten) as to not make much difference, at least to my way of thinking. So I just hit `em with a whisk.
" BTW, I’m a “Cooking Electrical Engineer”. "
Cool! For 30 years people have been telling me how engineers are supposedly 1-track minds and too technical-minded for more artistic things, so I picked my handle in hopes people would take pity upon me when I asked dumb cooking questions.
Or maybe it was just the beer.
:-)
Baking is very close to Engineering as there is precision involved in both. You should join us in the “What are you baking thread”. There are some real expert bakers there, e.g. Caitlin McGrath, who is in this thread.
I've been working my way through that Baking thread - it's pretty intimidating!
I'm good with several breads and make bagels weekly or even twice a week when the kids are craving them (they go in spurts), but that's about it for me. The fancy cakes, pies, cookies etc., I leave for my daughter.
But I do want to try those lamb meat pies Nannybakes showed us...
I thought of something else too. Anchovies! To all those people who say that they just melt in and disappear, leaving a savoury and umami flavour, I say NO! They may melt away but they leave a fishy oiliness that coats the mouth and won’t leave. I notice them every time and have been known to gag, hopefully discreetly, at the table. I do love Worcestershire and fish sauce but any oily fish is iffy. Love salmon, can’t do smoked salmon.
I can't stand recipes where the smoked salmon ends up cooked. Like pizzas and pastas with smoked salmon.
+1. I loved smoked salmon. It's all done, though. Needs no extra anything.
I'm also with Pavlova on the anchovies. Just too salty/oily.
Not a huge caper fan, either. The last dish I had with capers, must have had too many. It was glowingly bright and briney. A few in a salad work; but too much of a good thing ruins the dish.
Cauliflower.
Fun article on this topic in today's The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019...
"Okra is the most foul thing ever grown."
Don't forget to check out the comment section!
I was going through a few photos for another thread I'd taken in China. I've eaten sheep heads with their eyes all chopped into a dish in Arab countries before and enjoyed it. But these in a market looked well past their prime. The still shot doesn't do justice to the flies hanging around.
I didn't stay long enough after the photo to ask what they were used for and to be fair no one in China outside the hotels speaks English anyway. Maybe it was for dog food or something.
I gave it a miss.
Rosemary. For some reason, I can taste it over anything else. I can only tolerate it in very tiny amounts.
I do not understand the new Cauliflower Obsession because I do not like it so I can't imagine trying to sub for delicious things like potatoes and rice. Yes, I've tried it roasted. Still a no.
Folks who sub cauliflower for "delicious things like potatoes and rice" are often trying to reduce their carb consumption, especially to lose weight. See the recent press accounts that Jessica Simpson credits cauliflower for her loss of 100 lbs. It's not that they necessarily prefer cauliflower over potatoes and rice.
If there is a genetic polymorphism that makes celery taste bad, like there is for cilantro, I must have that polymorphism. I really dislike celery but have learned to substitute leeks in a soffrito type situation so I don't have to avoid recipes.
Confession time: This week, I was the first person to pick up my CSA at our pick-up site and I stuffed the celery from my box into one of the other boxes. Hopefully that person doesn't mind celery!
Anchovies. Feed them to the cat, No desire to try Kale or collard greens. There are plenty of vegetables I already like. I can usually use a substitute or omit the ingredient that I don't care for.
I feed my anchovies to my husband, who loves them. In fact, in Mediterranean type restaurants, we typically do an exchange where he gets the olives & anchovies from my salad in exchange for the tomatoes from his.
(Kale is ok but I am not crazy about it. I typically just substitute spinach in recipes that call for kale.)
A few things I don't eat: raw fish, lamb, rare meat, raw clams & oysters, fishy smelling stuff like some fish, seaweed, mint jelly, innards, etc. I feel I like enough stuff, I don't have to like everything! I know some people who refuse to eat salads or vegetables, that's too bad.
I just omit an ingredient I don't like or want to use. If I think an ingredient would be tasty in a recipe, I add it. to me a recipe is just a blueprint, I always make it my own, seldom do I make a recipe exactly as it's written.
I've been following this thread for months as new comments have been added but all along could not think of a single ingredient that would make me immediately skip a recipe (except as mentioned earlier, those "recipes" that are not much more than "dump a can of dis in widda canna dat and bake at 350").
Last night I was skimming some cake recipes and came across one calling for mostly self-rising flour, and immediately moved on. So, I guess that is my nemesis. Not sure if it's been mentioned yet or not (comments are slow to load despite scrolling... scrolling... scrolling...).
How much baking powder is really in that stuff? How much salt? Is it really good throughout its shelf-life sitting in that paper bag, or has the baking powder been losing potency over time, hit middle age and in need of Viagra or Cialis?
More seriously, any time I used it (and I haven't for 20 years) it seemed like it had a lot more baking powder than I would normally have used for a given recipe - that metallic "bite" type taste in the back corners of my mouth.
I was in the baking aisle of a grocery store last week and was SO HAPPY to find flour (limit 2 bags). As I put it in my cart, another shopper asked an employee for self-rising flour which they didn't have in stock. She looked really disappointed so I told her she could make her own. She couldn't believe that it was possible but was very happy when I told her she could google the substitution, and I suggested she buy regular flour and baking powder if she didn't already have it at home.
I just don't get why recipes use self-rising flour as an ingredient when it only saves adding salt and baking powder.
Sun dried tomatoes
Quinoa.
Potato skins....can’t stand the texture.
Marmalade. Too sour!
Grapefruit. Also too sour, and dangerous with medication.
Cumin, Brussel sprouts, Lima beans and sugar in vegetables(other than baked beans)
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