Mothership Meals and Satellite Saucers: Cold, Hungry, Need Food

Friday, March 13, 2009

Cold, Hungry, Need Food

I went to Harlem yesterday on a food tour, and before I can even blog about it, I had to go shopping and start cooking. It was really cold, the food was great, and afterwards I came home, exhausted, to a largely food-less house. This combination has resulted in a cooking version of hoarding.

This is what's happening in my kitchen, even as I blog:

Pasta Puttanesca

I started to make this last night, but realized we didn't have garlic. Or black olives, or capers. I had to shelve the half-cooked onions until today. I don't even know when we are going to eat this, but I wanted to finish it. It is one of those food weeks where I will just feel better knowing we are minutes away from dinner. (Yeah, yeah, my kids don't like pasta with tomato sauce, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.)

Red beans, soaking.

I had this red bean-turkey soup at Lee Lee's Bakery in Harlem yesterday. They are known for their rugelach, but it came out eventually that they also have red bean soup. It was really salty and smoky with the beans falling apart, and unbelievably delicious. Alas, I couldn't find a smoked turkey neck at the Coop this morning. Or any kind of smoked turkey. I got ground turkey, and plan to add a bit of pancetta.

These are the beginnings. I guess that's more than "a bit" of pancetta. Oh well. I think I can make it work.

Jacob's cattle beans.

I had no specific plans for them, but they are NYS-grown, and they looked beautiful, so I bought them. I might cook them with some of that pancetta, and serve them with collard greens and corn bread and macaroni and cheese, and I will feel like I am at Manna's Soul Food Buffet on 125th Street.

Black Beans

They are soaking in anticipation of our Sunday night rice and beans. No meat on Sundays, right? Well, except for bacon in the morning, and pancetta in everything.

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The Mothership Method

(Or, how to sit down for dinner with your family without completely losing your mind)

It would be great if kids AND parents wanted boiled chicken and baby carrots every night for dinner. But, too bad, we picky parents want spicy, exotic, fun foods, and our kids want, well, sorta lame foods.
Here's the solution: break it down. Serve the dish deconstructed, and let everyone put their own dish together at the table. Sort of like tapas, or smorgasbord, or tacos. Or how in some parts of China you get a bowl of rice, and everything else is in the middle of the table and you take what you want for your own little bowl of rice. That way everyone gets to eat what they want, parents don't have to nag their kids, and kids get to feels some ownership over their meals. Plus, kids get exposed to the look and taste of the foods you hope they will one day love. But it's not just tacos. You'll be amazed at what can be served with the Mothership Method.

Ten Tips to Get Through Dinner Without Having A Nervous Breakdown

1. Accept That Kids Are Picky. No need to freak out on your cooking ability, or look at your kids like there is something wrong with them. It's called "neo-phobia", and it's just how they are, especially from ages 3-6.

2. Serve Meals Broken Down. Even grown-up meals like coconut curry or linguine with clams can be served in their elements, making them more appealing to kids. Grown ups can assemble their own jumble of deliciousness at their own plate while kids take on the pared-down elements.

3. Push if it Works, But Don't Nag If It Doesn't. Some kids are okay with being expected to taste everything on their plate. Others aren't. I think it's okay to push kids -- but not if you're turning dinner into a battlefield.

4. Suggest a Smell. Smelling a new food is easier than tasting it, and can sometimes provide a kid with the information needed to take that scary first bite. But don't confine smelling to new foods. Smell favorites, too, and help them develop their sense of smell by making a game out of it.

5. Don't Ask "Do You Like It?" Instead, try, "What does this remind you of?" or, "Would your cousins like this?" or, "Does this taste salty or sweet?". Asking if they like it or not gives kids too much power and ends the conversation. Besides, we don't care if they like it! We just want them to keep tasting it until it is familiar.

6. Don't Get Frustrated. Imagine being in Taiwan, or Nairobi, or Rome for the first time. Would you eat everything on the local menu? New foods are scary and gross. Our kids need time to learn about the foods that we eat.

7. No SubstitutionsThis is family dinner, not a diner. You, in all your wisdom, have provided foods that are healthy and delicious and appropriate for your children. There is something on the table for them to eat. Period.

8. No Snacks Before Dinner. This can be the hardest with our hectic schedules and hungry kids. But children who come to the table hungry are more likely to eat than cause trouble.

9. Put Peer Pressure To Your Advantage. School children are more likely to accept new foods if the alpha girls in their group accept them. Swap healthy food ideas on playdates.

10. Involve Your Kids In Cooking, Shopping, and Gardening. The more experience kids have handling and preparing a variety of foods, the more likely they are to eventually accept the foods. (But don't get upset if they help you make a complicated wonderful meal, and then refuse to eat it.)