Conference turris::cooks

 How about a london broil? Or a stuffed capon?

 If you weren't dead set on mashed potatoes, you could make a pot roast (though
that seems rather unexciting for campany). it's hearty, though, and need not be
spicy.

 If you want to do a roast beef, you could always put the garlic only on one
side of the meat, and make sure that whoever carves gives him a slice from the
"right" side.

 Another possibility is chicken cordon bleu. That's not really spicy, and you
can always make one with bland bread-crumbs as opposed to spiced up bread
crumbs.

 the Doctah

    I think Miss Manners would frown on that request from your mutual
    "friend".  I think it would be thoughtful of you to cater a little.  
    
    I don't believe you have to cater quite that much to a friend.  Why
    don't you have a couple of bland things and fix the meat anyway you
    want and just announce which things you think he might find most
    agreeable.
    
    After all, you have other guests to think of also.
    
    Mary Lou  

  How about cooking a dish that can be served with several different sauces,
so that he can pick which one he wants to use, if any.  Beef fondue would
fit into this category very nicely.

--Sharon

    I'd go with a fairly basic main dish, several side dishes of varying
    levels of spiciness, and sauces.  You can make a simple roast and 
    have various sauces for it on the side.  Another thought is individual
    steaks (or chicken, depending on the budget), with one or two pieces
    cooked plain and the others marinaded.  Mashed potatoes can be served
    plain, with gravies.
    
    --L

I run into this dilemma often enough, including vegetarian friends --

Solution::  Make your own shish-ka-bobs

I have bowls of "stick-ons" and let everyone create their own.  Then I have 
a couple bowls with sauces and seasonings where folks can brush on their own.

Baked potatos and a tossed salad with a variety of dressings, some breads,
and if that's not good enough -- oh, well!


dana

    For the main course, why don't you grill a piece of meat.  You can put
    a sauce marinade on yours, and leave your friends portion alone.
    
    I just made this great grilling paste this weekend, but it is spicy,
    be sure to leave it off his meat.
    
    	4 cloves garlic
    	3/4 cups pine nuts
    	Two Tbl fresh tarragon or two tsp dried tarragon
    	1 tsp grated lemon rind
    	1 Tbl lemon juice
    	Ground black pepper to tast
    	1 TBL olive oil
    
    	Smear over both sides of meat, grill, and turn carefully (so you
    	don't knock the paste off.  Make your friends piece on a separate
    	grill.
    
    				-David

    a good steak does not need to be spicy... broil it nicely, and serve A1
    and a few sauces for those who like it, I see nothing wrong in serving
    a bit of conventional recipes... after all, not everybody likes foreign
    food, what happened to normal American food before the "Nuveau" came to
    U.S.?
    I have the same problem with a very consertavive friend of ours, and
    whenever he comes home I serve London broil (I brush it with garlic and
    oil just lightly) and serve baked potatoes, or mashed, and a few other
    vegies, but normally, I cannot serve fish, or lamb, or pork, does not
    like rice (but loves fetuchini Alfredo, so I serve that often)... and
    apple pie for dessert, so, we adjust to his tastes but I won't be all
    overboard over it unless it is a medical problem... (which isn't) sooo!
    in a very delicate way, (since our friend comes to dinner very often)
    I serve things that he does not like too much and in due time... learns
    to like it or "dislike" it less.
    Stick to simple things and he might learn to eat new products as time
    goes by... and you can slowly introduce to your menus...
    

I got a chuckle out of the last response.  I believe the author got it backwards
though.  The bland stuff referred to is actually the foreign food, mostly 
influenced by the British Isles.  Nouvelle cuisine first gained popularity
here in the states, and was not an import.  But, back to the subject...

I have a couple of friends like the one you describe.  I believe they are 
allergic to food preparation.   That is to say if you do anything out of the 
ordinary for preparation or presentation, they won't like it.  A plain ground
sirloin burger on a homemade bun would be bad, 'cause it isn't a wonder bun.
They don't like plain food cooked next to spicy food because the aroma seasons
the plain stuff (especially true with garlic).  

If this particular friend is "daring" you might try finding a British or Irish
cookbook.  Otherwise, just boil and broil, and don't do anything fancy.  Do a
good prime rib steak, and keep some dijon mustard near your plate, or some 
garlic butter.  Or a plain roasted chicken, no stuffing (too many temptations
for spicing it up...then the whole chicken would be "ruined").

Make it as plain as possible, and make yourself a sauce or chutney to go with
it as compensation.  Make sure the friend has plenty of bottled gravy, though.

    My husband refers to this as the blandest meal in the world....
    Chicken and Dumplings.  Lately, though I've been using Cream of
    Chicken Mushroom soup as the base instead of water and he likes it
    a little better....
    
    As far as having to feed 'fussy' eaters, my brother-in-law and
    his wife have to be the fussiest.  As a matter of fact, they stayed
    with us for a week and all they would eat was PLAIN hamburger and
    baked potatoe with just butter.  No vegies.  That's what they eat
    EVERY day!  I couldn't wait for them to leave so we could 'eat' again...
    
    Kristen

  Gee, after reading this note, I'm sort of wondering if there's
  something wrong with me. As many of you know, I'm a big fan of strong
  flavors, spices, wierd and disgusting foods, and all sorts of yuppie
  trendy stuff (you know -- raw fish, sun dried tomatoes, squid-ink
  pasta, etc). BUT ...

  I can just as easily devour, with great enjoyment, a broiled steak or
  roast chicken with nothing more than a sprinkle of salt on it. On the
  side, boiled potatoes, carrots, or peas with nothing, or butter, salt,
  maybe a little pepper. An apple pie with vanilla ice cream for
  dessert. 

  I don't like to eat unseasoned food all the time, partly because it
  gets boring, but also because it gets *expensive* -- you need decent
  quality beef to just broil it and eat it. But I think it's a really
  thoughtful thing to do to be willing to adjust a menu for a special
  friend, and plain-jane food isn't so terrible. So I'm not sure I see
  what the problem is. Have we all gotten so gourmet and demanding that
  we forgot how to enjoy a hamburger on a "wonder bun"? I know that's
  not true, because some of you who are my "food friends" have been seen
  enjoying same with a cold beer at a typical summer cookout. Right?

  Now then, I wouldn't be inviting THAT fellow to dinner too often :-).

    Thanks for all your replies.
    
    When I first had this couple to my house for dinner - I would never
    have known that he didn't like what he was eating....he was very
    polite.  I did hear from my friend (the wife of the second couple)
    that he had gotten sick the next day.
    
    I understand that he eats out a lot - ie Burger King, Kentucky Fried
    Chicken, local restaurants where he apparantly feels comfortable.  I
    don't know as his tastes are limited to 'bland' food so much as he
    is set in his ways.  Which, I am not making a judgement here, that is
    just the way he is....and I think trying something 'different' is very
    difficult for him.
    
    I like the idea of having a meal whereby there are sauces or dips 
    available to the other guests - and perhaps he may try one of them and
    decide he likes it.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Marilyn
    

    ....and to add to my previous note:
    
    Nobody was/is pickier than I was growing up.  But, my parents insisted
    that when I went to someone else's house for dinner that I was NOT to
    ask what we were having...or 'pick' the food apart looking for
    something that didn't look 'right' - just EAT IT.
    
    Much to my amazement I found out how wonderful things tasted.  I
    learned to eat things that I never in my wildest dreams thought I would
    touch...let alone swallow.  It was like a whole new world opening up
    for me.
    
    Now I experiment all the time and have a ball eating all kinds of
    ethnic foods - as well as some of my favorites from childhood - a good
    ol hamburger on a bun.  Sometimes I get home from work and am too tired
    to cook and have a baked potatoe...with butter of course.
    
    So much good food out there - and this file has some wonderful recipes
    for which I am eternally grateful.  Digital has some GREAT cooks!
    
    We ought to have cook off....
    
    Marilyn
    

  Ian, I happen to agree with you that beef is strongly flavored, but
  perception of flavor (and its degree of being ordinary or unusual) is
  partly cultural (maybe mostly).

  Beef is "plain old American food", and isn't considered unusual or
  "strongly flavored" (though this is changing). Likewise, boiled
  carrots aren't unusual. Onions, even when cooked to mildness, are
  considered "strongly flavored", while sushi (which I mentioned on
  purpose) is unusual in the extreme, even though many of the fishes
  used are very mild. Anyway, you know what I mean.

  Most people familiar with American food preferences understand pretty
  well what this person's preferences are, so a description of
  unseasoned steak as "bland" or "ordinary" would be correct in this
  context. But you're right to point out that this is cultural, and that
  it's even changing within the English/American culinary tradition.
  It's nice to become aware of such differences.

    My family grew up with mom cooking with as few spices as possible.  We
    were lucky we got salt and pepper on the table.  Once dad got sick when
    I was still in grade school with G.I. problems, the cooking got even more
    BORING!  
    
    Then, two of my siblings decided that they liked the "emotional
    attention" of having a sensitive stomach track, and decided that their
    stomachs were "sensitive" as well.  Do I sound cynical???
    
    Anyway, my oldest sister - whom I once shared an apartment with - swore
    that she COULDN'T STAND the sight/smell/taste of garlic.  Even the
    smell sent her running for the bathroom so she could "get sick."  When
    we lived together, I couldn't even cook with garlic if she was going to
    be around.  
    
    Several years later I had my family over for Thanksgiving dinner.  My
    husband prepared a wonderful dish with spinach, tomato sauce and brown
    rice.  And he starts it out with LOTS [HMMMMM] of garlic!
    
    Anyway, to make this long story longer... my family showed up for dinner
    and everyone RAVED about the spinach dish-- especially my sister.  God
    forbid I should tell her it had garlic in it; she would have run for
    the bathroom!
    
    My point to all this is that alot of people - my family included - have
    emotional hangups about the word "SPICE" .  For me, I love all spices
    and usually when I'm cooking, open my cupboard and just have a ball
    with this spice, that spice... etc., etc., ...

roast a chicken - serve it with a nicely spiced sauce which the tasteless
friend can eschew and you can use to perk up your bird.

Serve baked potatoes - with lots of interesting toppings on a platter that
everyone can choose from - grated cheddar, butter, sour cream, diced shallots,
black olives, chopped green onion, capers (yes, try them with sour cream!),
baked garlic (bake garlic bulb whole wrapped in foil in slow oven until soft
and then snip ends from cloves and squeeze the soft pulp into a bowl, cover
with olive oil and chill)....perhaps even some salsa.  the bland fan can opt
for simple butter or sour cream...you can go crazy!

Serve a salad bar - again several lettuces and lots of fresh veggies to choose
from...and offer 3 dressing to choose from:  oil and vinegar, ranch or some
other creamed stuff, and a spicy vinegarette with dijon mustard for the
brave.

Serve fresh poached pears for dessert - poach firm, but ripe, peeled pears in a
sugar syrup flavored with a vanilla bean and two cinnamon sticks....syrup
is made by mixing 2 cups sugar to 3 cups water.  Poach pears for approx. 20
minutes.  cool in the syrup.  Serve a pear to each guest along with a nice
vanilla ice cream - serve carmel sauce or hot fudge sauce to the more
adventurous.

note:  core the pear from the bottom and slice enough off the bottom to make
the pear sit up reasonably straight....bosc pears are the best candidates.

    
    1) Vanilla ice cream - my comments strictly relate to the store bought
    product.
    
    2) Beef: I grew up in a family that thought "meat" was a synomym for
    "beef". However since my marriage (and somewhat before) I have changed
    cultures, and now almost totally eat oriental food - mainly Thai or
    Szechuan, and as my taste has become trained I have moved to agree with
    my wife's family that beef is strongly flavoured and masks the subtle
    spices often used (though the stronger red curries and the like still
    make their presence felt :-))
    
    /. Ian .\

    Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas.  Thought I'd let you know
    what I served and what happened.
    For appetizers I deviled eggs - Bull Run dip and some shaved pepperoni
    and slices of Vermont Cheddar - and assorted crackers.
    
    I had a Purdue Oven Roaster - and stuffed it with MY stuffing mix.
    Served baked potatoes and steamed broccoli and decided that I didn't
    want to make a salad with  6 six kinds of salad dressings to choose
    from....so I steamed some carrots and then just before dinner glazed 
    them in a mixture of ginger, brown sugar, salt and butter...and a little 
    water.  I then sprinkled the carrots with a little fresh chives.
    
    He loved the chicken - ate his baked potatoe - had some broccoli and
    had two helpings of the stuffing and THREE helpings of the carrots.  I
    was so surprised...but it was his choice!!  I would never have guessed
    that he ate more of the spicy stuff than he did the other. 
    
    Oh well....
    
    Oh yeh...we had Cream Puffs and French Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert...
    and coffee.
    
    M
    
    

    I'm glad that it worked out well.   I'm a little behind on
    reading these notes, but I do have other ideas for this
    situation.
    
    1. Grilled salmon steaks with different sauces.
    
    2. Broiled Chicken breasts (1 per person) and leave the one
       for the picky eater with some salt, paperika (the bland kind)
       and a dop of pepper.  You can spice up the rest.
    
    3. Roast tenderloin with choice of Hollandais, au jux (sp?) or
       a green peppercorn dressing.  (I don't know how to make one,
       but have had it in restaurants)
    
    My family eats very bland (I think its the eastern-european way)
    but when they come, I try to introduce them to 1 or 2 new things.
    
    aud...
    

    Well, to refresh this topic a little....
    
    This Saturday we are having some teens to the house as part of a
    "progressive dinner" (where each course is served in a different house)
    and I have the honor of "appetizer/soup/salad".  
    
    What is a favorite appetizer in your house?  Keep in mind these are
    teenagers!  I was considering nachos of course, but would like to try
    something different yet something they would eat.  Keep in mind I need
    ideas, not necessarily recipes.  I can look for those later.
    
    Thanks for your thoughts!
    
    -sandy
    

    Potato skins,(w/ sour cream, lots of melted cheese and real
    crumbled bacon)  chicken wings (bbq, teriaki, etc. etc.)
    chicken fingers w/ appropriate dipping sauce,  7 layer dip
    with nachos, veggie platter w/ onion and/or veggie dip,
    pizza fingers ( I buy Purity's french, batard or whatever
    bread, cut loaf in half, and spread with sauce, pizza cheese (comes
    pre-cut and packaged in many flavors in the dairy section) and
    sliced pepperoni, or onion/green peppers, or insert favorite pizza
    topping here, and put in the oven at 350 for 15 mins or until cheese
    and toppings have melted/cooked through).  Slice into small fingers
    and serve on large platter.

Something that is ALWAYS a hit here at work and family gatherings is hotdogs
wrapped in bacon.  You cut the hotdogs into three pieces and the bacon into 
pieces long enough to wrap around the hotdog, secure with a toothpick.  Line
hot dogs up in a pan (best when in one flat layer).  Mix together (I know this
sounds gross, but TRUST me) one cup of sugar with one cup of ketchup.  Pour
over hotdogs.  Bake at 350 for one hour, transfer to crockpot or chafing dish
and let people help themselves.  Last time I made these for work, 6lbs of
hotdogs went in less than 15 minutes.

Enjoy.....

Roberta

Potato pancakes, Chile con Queso.

Trite, but a sure hit - Potato chips with Sour Cream & Onion Dip.

Sounds like a neat idea - how many teenagers are involved in this?  Was is
a parent's idea, or theirs?

--Sharon

    Thanks for the suggestions so far.
    
    This is the (somewhat small) youth group at church.  I am expecting
    about 10.  This kids have no idea what they are doing just they they
    are to show up at a designated place and time and BE HUNGRY!!
    
    -sandy
    

    I hope this isn't too late, Sandy.
    
    I buy the small cocktail hot dogs and a package of frozen filo dough. 
    My local Shaws market sells both.
    
    Unroll the filo and cut it into oblongs of a size big enough to wrap
    around the dogs with the ends sticking out.  Wrap each dog, brushing
    the edges with cold water to seal.
    
    Place on a cookie sheet and bake at medium or medium-high heat until
    the filo begins to brown and the dogs sizzle.  Takes about 10 minutes.
    
    Serve with a mustard dip made of 2 parts mustard to 1 part mayonnaise.
    
    If you get too busy to cook, you can buy ready-made appetizers
    including pigs in blankets, cheese  puffs, etc. at any of the wholesale
    stores such as Sam's, B.J.'s, etc.  They come in big packages and are
    less expensive than the small quantities sold in the supermarket.
    
    L

    What did you end up serving?????

    Well, I went with potato(e) skins.  I used a recipe in here (although
    who really needs a recipe 8^) ).  They were a huge hit!  They were gone
    in a flash.  The kids (about 13) came in and devoured about 50 pieces
    in no time and they were off.  They still had no idea what they were
    doing!!  I spoke with a few the next morning and they had a great time!
    
    I used freshly baked potatoes, scooped out the insides, deep fried
    them, and placed them on a cookie sheet.  Covered them in 1/2 cheddar
    and 1/2 monterey jack cheese and crumbed bacon on top.  Baked until the
    cheese was melted (and a little more 'cause the kids were late). 
    Served on a platter with sour cream to add.  
    
    Thanks for all the help!  I will keep your suggestions for future
    parties (I love to entertain).
    
    -sandy