Cooking in the Playground

[shawnhcorey]

If you have the requisite equipment, a beer cheese dip is fairly easy. The main pre-requisite is a double boiler. If you don't own an actual double boiler, a round metal bowl placed over a pot of boiling water (make sure the water doesn't touch the bowl) will work. I don't have the exact amounts, right now, but...well, here goes.

Grate 2 cups cheese, melt in double boiler. Add butter until it reaches creamy consistency. Add about 3/4 cup of beer, more to taste. Thicken with flour slightly (a tsp or two). Chill. Serve with toast. My favorite is to slice a baguette up very thin and toast the slices.

You can use corn starch to thicken it if you're on a gluten-free diet. Use the same amount but mix it will an equal amount of water before you add it to the sauce. If you don't, it'll form lumps.

[WarKitty]

The double boiler setup really is cruical if you want it to come out though - make sure you have a round bowl, not one with a flat bottom on the inside. Glass can be substituted for metal. And don't leave it alone for a minute! The key here is that if you're using real cheese, you want to keep the heat as even throughout the mix as possible, to avoid clumping and stringyness. Means you have to stir it a lot, and really mind the temperature. Sort of tricky; I wouldn't recommend this for beginner cooks.

If you use cornstarch, I'd mix it with a bit of beer instead of water, so as to not dilute the flavor.

More alcohol based treats: Rumballs! This is a no-bake recipe and is super easy.

Grind up vanilla wafers and optionally some almonds or walnuts in a blender. If you're like me and don't have a blender, skip the nuts, put wafers in a gallon bag, and pound until sufficiently fine. Actually, even if you have a blender, do this. It's much more fun. Mix equal portions of molasses or corn syrup and rum, brandy, borboun or other liquor. You'll only need about 2/3 cup each for a full box. Mix with powdered wafers; shape into balls and roll in powdered sugar. Serve chilled. Pour remaining syrup mix into ice tray and insert popsicle sticks.

[Coidzor]

Is a round but shallow bottom still round enough or is that too flat?

Also, is the variety of beer just up to individual taste or are there certain varieties that lend themselves well to this sort of endeavour?

[Wyntonian]

Here's something nice and simple for a quick bite:

Tomatoes and Mozzarella

Ingredients:
One big tomato or 2-3 smaller ones
Mozzarella
Olive oil
Fresh basil

1. Wash and slice up the tomato(es) into even slices, slightly thicker than you would for a salad.
2. Cut up as many slices of mozzarella as you have tomato slices.
3. Place on a plate: first mozzarella, then tomato, then mozzarella and so on.
4. Sprinkle lightly with olive oil.
5. Add fresh basil on top.
6. Enjoy.

I do these in a big bowl, smaller than bite-sized, and use balsamic as well as oil. Good stuff.

[missmvicious]

The double boiler setup really is cruical if you want it to come out though - make sure you have a round bowl, not one with a flat bottom on the inside. Glass can be substituted for metal. And don't leave it alone for a minute! The key here is that if you're using real cheese, you want to keep the heat as even throughout the mix as possible, to avoid clumping and stringyness. Means you have to stir it a lot, and really mind the temperature. Sort of tricky; I wouldn't recommend this for beginner cooks.

If you use cornstarch, I'd mix it with a bit of beer instead of water, so as to not dilute the flavor.

More alcohol based treats: Rumballs! This is a no-bake recipe and is super easy.

Grind up vanilla wafers and optionally some almonds or walnuts in a blender. If you're like me and don't have a blender, skip the nuts, put wafers in a gallon bag, and pound until sufficiently fine. Actually, even if you have a blender, do this. It's much more fun. Mix equal portions of molasses or corn syrup and rum, brandy, borboun or other liquor. You'll only need about 2/3 cup each for a full box. Mix with powdered wafers; shape into balls and roll in powdered sugar. Serve chilled. Pour remaining syrup mix into ice tray and insert popsicle sticks.

I think I can handle it, I am a full time house wife, which gives me a competence bonus to cooking. I'm realistically gonna make this in my fondu maker anyways, designed for you know working with cheeses and all.

Oh and same question Coidzor on the beer type.

[THAC0]

If you put the beer in first and melt the cheese into the beer, you don't need a double boiler.

Yes, the type of beer affects the taste - we like ambers here.

Add some garlic and horseradish to spice it up.

We also like a mix of 80% cheddar to 20% swiss (or some other melty cheese).

[shawnhcorey]

Also, is the variety of beer just up to individual taste or are there certain varieties that lend themselves well to this sort of endeavour?

I would recommend homemade beer or some from a microbrewery. The commercial, mass-produced stuff tastes bland.

[Deepbluediver]

Update: The Shepherd's Pie WAS delicious!
But I ate 3 big portions which is way to much, time to fast for a day or two.

My style of cooking is to find 3 or 4 recipes for the same things, and take what I like from each. I found one recipe that called for mixing eggs into the potatoes, which helped to give them some extra color, richness, and texture.

If anyone wants the full (approximate) recipe I used let me know and I'll post it.

Also, speaking on things cooked with beer...
Another favorite of mine is beer-battered fish, fried.

You can use just about any whitefish; I like either Catfish or Mahi Mahi.

The beer batter is really simple: mix 3/4 cup cornmeal with 3/4 cup wheat flour, add and egg, and then mix in about 1/2 cup of your favorite beer. If it's to thick, add more beer, slowly.

Cut fish into chunks 1-2 in. long, dip in batter, and drop into a fry pan with hot vegetable oil.
Cook for 2 minutes, flip, cook for another 1.5-2 minutes. Scoop out and let put onto a paper towel to cool for a muinute before serving.
If you are in a hurry, some ranch dressing and chipolte seasoning makes a decent fish sauce, more complicated reciped involving sour cream, yogurt, lime juice, and dill can be found anywhere.

This can be eaten as finger-food, but if you are worried about getting your hands greasy, you can wrap the fish in a tortilla with some thinly sliced cabage for a fish-taco!

[Socratov]

Update: The Shepherd's Pie WAS delicious!
But I ate 3 big portions which is way to much, time to fast for a day or two.

My style of cooking is to find 3 or 4 recipes for the same things, and take what I like from each. I found one recipe that called for mixing eggs into the potatoes, which helped to give them some extra color, richness, and texture.

If anyone wants the full (approximate) recipe I used let me know and I'll post it.

snip!

told ya

anyway, that is indeed a good way to get to new recipies. and as for the eggs, sure it works with the full egggs, but it works best if you divide the eggyolks from the whites and only use the yolks in there. using the yolks makes it stiffer and more texture rich (and better flavor). On top of that you can use the whites for some sort of mousse (or put it into cream, whisk and pour over your cappuchino )

[JCarter426]

I have a little game for you all. Guess the mystery meat. And no cheating with a reverse image search or some such.

[shawnhcorey]

I have a little game for you all. Guess the mystery meat. And no cheating with a reverse image search or some such.

Red snapper?

[WarKitty]

I think I can handle it, I am a full time house wife, which gives me a competence bonus to cooking. I'm realistically gonna make this in my fondu maker anyways, designed for you know working with cheeses and all.

Oh and same question Coidzor on the beer type.

For some reason the forum is eating my replies. As far as beer type - I prefer a stout or dark beer, but I imagine any strong, simple beer would work. More complex flavors probably wouldn't come through. I typically use sharp cheddar for the cheese, as it melts decently and doesn't fight with the beer.

[DSCrankshaw]

While I don't have much advice in the way of Medieval food, my wife and I have been experimenting with some Ancient Roman food.

A couple of blog posts on the subject:
Conditum Paradoxum - Take Two
One Ancient Roman Dinner
And another Ancient Roman Dinner

[JCarter426]

Red snapper?

Nope. Any more guesses?

[WarKitty]

Experimenting with pottage tonight. Will let people know how it goes.

[Flickerdart]

Whoever is responsible for editing Joy of Cooking needs to do a better job of it - it had duped me into preparing a soup instead of a pasta sauce by confusing a ragout with a ragu.

[Serpentine]

Nope. Any more guesses?

Looks like ham steak to me.

[Coidzor]

Whoever is responsible for editing Joy of Cooking needs to do a better job of it - it had duped me into preparing a soup instead of a pasta sauce by confusing a ragout with a ragu.

Wuff. Did the soup turn out well at least? And did you still end up using the pasta with it?

[Dumbledore lives]

What's a good food to make when you just have rice and carrots? We also have oils, garlic, and other random spices, but no real nutrition stuff.

[drack]

What's a good food to make when you just have rice and carrots? We also have oils, garlic, and other random spices, but no real nutrition stuff.

Spice up your rice a bit, perhaps even fry it? Carrots are fine on their own, but I don't know many good ways to mix them with rice and come out on top.
Edit: scratch that, rice soup works fine too.

[JCarter426]

What's a good food to make when you just have rice and carrots? We also have oils, garlic, and other random spices, but no real nutrition stuff.

I'm not a fan of cooked carrots - unless they're in something like bolognese - but here's supercook.com.

Looks like ham steak to me.

It is not ham steak.

[Coidzor]

What's a good food to make when you just have rice and carrots? We also have oils, garlic, and other random spices, but no real nutrition stuff.

Could make carrot vegetable stock from the peels and IIRC the carrots will mix in with the rice unless I'm misremembering what was in the last order of fried rice I had. Or you can have carrot and rice soup. Better if you have a bit of bouillon or something too.

[WarKitty]

Experimenting with pottage tonight. Will let people know how it goes.

Record of current ingredients:
Vegetables (total weight about 3/4 lb.)

• Leeks
• Cabbage
• Radish

Seasonings:

• 3 Bay Leaves
• 1 Clove Garlic

Other stuff:

• 1 cup Beans
• 3 cups Oats
• 9 cups Water

Put all ingredients into pot; boil till done by British standards or squishy by American standards. Sweeten with honey; serve over rye bread and accompany with cider. Eat while attempting to avoid family pet that seems to have forgotten that he's a carnivore. Get clawed by said pet; drop cider. Clean up, finish pottage, finish cider.

[Deepbluediver]

Nope. Any more guesses?

I think you're trying to trick us; that doesn't look like meat at all.
With the bright red color and those sharp triangular corners I think it's grilled watermelon.
The only meat I can think of that comes close to that color is salmon, and it does NOT look like grilled fish. Tuna would be darker, and turning white where it was cooked, lamb and beef would have more fat, and its definitely not fowl of any kind.

And yes, I've grilled watermelon before. I find that fruit goes especially well with fresh pork.


Edit: This thread is terrible; I have to fight the urge to just post a list of what I cook every night, in order to win the "top-that" of food contest.

(P.S. This weekend I made quiche)

...and apparently I'm losing the fight.

[drack]

(P.S. This weekend I made quiche)

...and apparently I'm losing the fight.

I don't know, sounds yummy. Me, I just made some delicious chilli. Everything's much better when you make it the way you like it. (hence why I've only added templates that can be added to any dish so far beyond listing what can be made with what.)

[JCarter426]

I think you're trying to trick us; that doesn't look like meat at all.
With the bright red color and those sharp triangular corners I think it's grilled watermelon.
The only meat I can think of that comes close to that color is salmon, and it does NOT look like grilled fish. Tuna would be darker, and turning white where it was cooked, lamb and beef would have more fat, and its definitely not fowl of any kind.

And yes, I've grilled watermelon before. I find that fruit goes especially well with fresh pork.

Correct!

So how was it? I'm curious to try it myself, but it's October now... probably will have to wait until next summer. It seems like an abomination against everything natural... but I really want to try it.

[Flickerdart]

Wuff. Did the soup turn out well at least? And did you still end up using the pasta with it?

Yeah, the soup came out very nice, despite me taking something of a liberty with some ingredients (balsamic vinegar? more like red martini!).

[Deepbluediver]

I don't know, sounds yummy. Me, I just made some delicious chilli. Everything's much better when you make it the way you like it. (hence why I've only added templates that can be added to any dish so far beyond listing what can be made with what.)

I'm not a picky eater, but I love cooking for myself because I can make things to my exact preferences (for example, I put hotsauce in the sheperd's pie I made).
I love recipes that are easy to modify depending on the cook's preferences and what ingredients are available.

I actually made 2 quiches: (quiche? quiches? quichi? what's the proper plural here?) one was sausage and mushrooms with cheddar, and the second was onions and spinach with feta cheese. I like meat in most of my meals, but I figure the occasional vegetarian dish is good practice.

Correct!

So how was it? I'm curious to try it myself, but it's October now... probably will have to wait until next summer. It seems like an abomination against everything natural... but I really want to try it.

I've seen it done a couple different ways: usually it's used in one of several kinds of salads; fruit salads, green salads, or salsa/chutneys with peppers all work well. When served by itself it's frequnetly glazed with olive oil or honey.

Personally, I still prefer watermelon just raw and chilled. Because of it's high liquid content, you need a hot grill (charcoal or gas, electric runs a distant third) and it takes at least as long as a simliarly sized piece of beef. For a final evaluation I'd say "tastes fine cooked, but not improved enough to warrant the additional time and energy".
Still, it's certainly worth trying at least once, I think; your tastes might be different from mine.

For cooking with fruit, I tend to prefer firmer varieties, such as apples or plantains. It's a good way to add "sweet" to a dish without have to resort to barbecque sauce.

[JCarter426]

I actually made 2 quiches: (quiche? quiches? quichi? what's the proper plural here?)

It's French, so quiches, but pronounced the same. But it's a loan word, so you can just pronounce the S if you want.

I've seen it done a couple different ways: usually it's used in one of several kinds of salads; fruit salads, green salads, or salsa/chutneys with peppers all work well. When served by itself it's frequnetly glazed with olive oil or honey.

Personally, I still prefer watermelon just raw and chilled. Because of it's high liquid content, you need a hot grill (charcoal or gas, electric runs a distant third) and it takes at least as long as a simliarly sized piece of beef. For a final evaluation I'd say "tastes fine cooked, but not improved enough to warrant the additional time and energy".
Still, it's certainly worth trying at least once, I think; your tastes might be different from mine.

For cooking with fruit, I tend to prefer firmer varieties, such as apples or plaintains. It's a good way to add "sweet" to a dish without have to resort to barbecque sauce.

Interesting, interesting. I'll take it into consideration. I prefer watermelon very cold and I generally don't like cooked fruit or even some vegetables, such as carrots as I mentioned, but it's worth a shot.

[drack]

I'm not a picky eater, but I love cooking for myself because I can make things to my exact preferences (for example, I put hotsauce in the sheperd's pie I made).
I love recipes that are easy to modify depending on the cook's preferences and what ingredients are available.

I actually made 2 quiches: (quiche? quiches? quichi? what's the proper plural here?) one was sausage and mushrooms with cheddar, and the second was onions and spinach with feta cheese. I like meat in most of my meals, but I figure the occasional vegetarian dish is good practice.

I think you were right the first time. Anywho I' picky to a degree, but I ore meant because nobody knows what you like more then you do, so you're naturally the best choice to make it