New Eating

I have always been a very picky eater. Just ask my mother. I can see, now, how frustrating it must have been for her, working full time and coming home and cooking for us every day, only to have that one rude, whiny offspring refusing the fruits of her labor, always saying "I don't like that". At 38, I seem to be finally outgrowing the petulant scorn of foods "I don't like" even though I've never tried them. During the past few months, through really-well-prepared-food opportunities, and through cooking experiments of my own, I have found that many of the "I don't like"s were due to stubbornness, bad attitude, bad habit, and a conceit that said I knew what was good to eat, despite everyone else's opinions.

My partner's company's holiday party took place at Gourmet & Co, here in Johnson City. The Angus fillet I ordered was not so much different from what I was used to, albeit slightly less cooked. This, of course, just proved how much more tender and flavorful medium-cooked beef is, compared to even medium-well. The big surprise here was how I cleaned my plate of not only the beef, but also the haricots verts and potato-with-truffle. Wow, who knew green beans could be not only edible, but actually GOOD? My mother always served canned vegetables, so I grew up thinking I hated all cooked plant life. I had no idea that there would be such a difference between canned and fresh or fresh-frozen. And when prepared with an expert hand at seasoning, green beans become a dish worlds away from Green Giant flavored with margarine and salt. So now I know, and have been practicing with frozen haricots verts in my own skillet. Not exactly Gourmet & Co, but still.

Today I and my partner went to Cafe Lola for the first time for Sunday brunch. One of my student workers had sung its praises and informed me of the unlimited-Mimosas-for-$9 deal. I admit this latter was the selling point for me, but I was even more delighted with my food choice. I had never eaten Eggs Benedict and decided to give it a try. I should say, first, that while I am an egg fan, for almost all my life I would only eat them hard-boiled. And I mean hard-boiled, completely dry, no mushy yolk allowed at all. In 2009 we took a graduation trip to Cancun, to an all-inclusive resort that had the most amazing breakfast buffet I've ever seen. It literally filled a room. A big room. The smell of scrambled eggs with ham and cheese at one of the stations tempted me to try them, so from then on I've liked scrambled eggs. Especially with cheese and some type of pork product. Still, it was a pretty big leap for me to agree to spend $8.95 on a brunch entree I'd never tasted. Luckily, I fell a little bit in love. The presentation was absolutely beautiful: crispy English muffin, thin, smoky ham, fluffy poached egg, creamy pastel-yellow hollandaise, a sprinkling of fresh parsley. When I cut into the dish and the yolk ran out all over the plate, I admit to being somewhat alarmed. But I kept thinking of Julie in Julie and Julia saying that the only-slightly-cooked egg was like butter sauce and braced up and tasted it. Julie was correct, fortunately. The rich, saucy egg was buttery, and not at all slimy, as I'd imagined it. This was the first time I'd eaten hollandaise, too, and I was very pleasantly surprised (more butteriness). For some reason, I'd thought it might taste like mustard. I was wrong.

So now, thanks to the excellent chefs at Gourmet & Co and Cafe Lola, I can add a whole category of foods that I like. I also look forward to becoming adept at making them for myself.