Cooking in the Playground

HKR · 08-20-2012, 09:09 PM

Hello everyone!

In my years of Playing RPG´s i noticed that gamers tend to eat lots of fast food. This makes sense, because it´s convenient and saves valuable time that can be used for actually playing. However I recently thought about how good homemade food could make gaming sessions more enjoyable and memorable for everyone. (Remember that one time we had beerbutt chicken and killed that ogre chief? Man, that was fun... and tasty.)

It would be nice if some of the recipes posted had a medieval flair to them.
Just imagine how great it would be to fully play out an ingame dinner of potato stew, roast chicken, and dark ale with PCs and NPCs and simultaneously eating the same things in real life. You could also combine an outdoor gaming session with a nice barbecue.

I´m not exclusively looking for medieval/gaming food though. If you know a good recipe you would like to share, this is the place.

I´m going to post some of my own favourite recipes later if there is any interest in this topic.

Thanks for reading and have fun!

Trog · 08-20-2012, 10:15 PM

Gamer food, eh? Well, since chips seem to be a common gaming snack, here's a quick and easy queso recipe that I found online somewhere that has worked well:

16-ounce box Velveeta Cheese
1 c. milk
2 teaspoons paprika
½ tsp. ground cayenne pepper
15-ounce can Hormel Chili (No Beans)
4 tsp. chili powder
1 tablespoon lime juice
½ tsp. ground cumin

Cut the Velveeta into cubes. Combine the cheese with the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until cheese melts.

For vegetarian queso (provided you do dairy, that is), I think you can just substitute a can of veggie chili instead of the regular stuff.

Enjoy with tortilla chips! P=

Lady Moreta · 08-20-2012, 11:28 PM

You know, I was just thinking about something like this this morning!

We hosted our gaming group last session and I felt bad because we kinda dropped the ball on having snacks and drinks available (whoever hosts tends to provide such things)... it was partly due to the fact that it was only decided we were going to host the day before the game, and partly due to the fact we were broke, and partly due to the fact that when we went shopping 'gaming snacks' weren't on the list and we just plain forgot.

But as I was thinking about the upcoming game, and thinking that I'd kinda like to host again (I'm sick of all the travelling we usually have to do) and that I'd prefer to have 'proper' food available, because I'm also not a fan of the usual snack foods provided. I am a good baker, and I usually can have some form of cookie/muffin/cake on hand.. but I'd really like something a little more substantial, a little better for us and a lot more savoury. Trog's recipe looks good, but as it contains strange ingredients such as 'velveeta cheese' (what is velveeta cheese anyway?) I'd have to come up with something else... I'm thinking nachos would work

If anyone's got quick and easy savoury snack food recipes out there, I'd love to hear them! (I am also currently unemployed, so theoretically at least, I have plenty of time to cook.)

Trog · 08-20-2012, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Moreta

Trog's recipe looks good, but as it contains strange ingredients such as 'velveeta cheese' (what is velveeta cheese anyway?)

N o _ o n e _ k n o w s . . . O.O

But, uh, the important bit to remember (is that I had an onion tied to my belt... as was the style at the time) is that the cheese be the kind that is good for melting. Most regular cheeses have some separation of some kind. Velveeta uh doesn't, because it sold its soul to the devil to become only smooth and creamy when it gets hot.

Moff Chumley · 08-21-2012, 12:28 AM

Well, this isn't really gaming related, but in the last few months I've done a ton of cooking and have developed a technique I thought was worth sharing.

First of all, I hate following recipes, so everything I make is, up to a point, improvised. Since I live with my parents, my ingredients list is generally limited to staples that they don't mind me using. Generally, I stick to one basic formula; however, there's a ton of room for variation therein.

Step 0: If using bacon, chop up 2 or 3 strips, put it in the pan, and stir 'til the pan is fairly well greased. If using sausages, broil 'em 'til they're soft enough to chop.
Step 1: Chop up onion (generally white, although sometimes red. Either half or whole) to desired chunkiness and throw 'em in the pan on high heat. If not using bacon, grease with olive oil (or sometimes butter, if the mood strikes).
Step 2: Immediately once the onion hits the pan, figure out what else you're gonna throw in. Mushrooms, green onion, that sausage you had broiling, ham, so on. Leftover chicken works great. Whatever it is, slice it up and throw it in the pan.
Step 3: Continue adding components to your heart's content. Stir however much you need to in order to keep things from burning, unless you want them burnt. Salt and pepper go in here.
Step 4: Figure out what you're going to do with it. You can just dump it in a bowl and eat it with a fork; put it in a tortilla (or quesadilla if appropriate); cook a can of beans and dump it in there; eat it on a bun; etc. I generally opt for either the tortilla or black beans. Sometimes you need more than one tortilla.

I have no idea if that's particularly useful to anyone else. It's fast, very easy to clean up after, turns out a lot of food if you so desire, and is very hard to mess up unless you burn it. Results vary from pretty good to absolutely delicious, mostly depending on luck.

I've received numerous requests for whatever recipe I was using when I made this sort of thing for friends or guests. Generally "I dunno, kinda just made it up as I went?" doesn't go over well.

Karoht · 08-21-2012, 12:33 AM

Veggie Tray's are pretty common. About the only healthy snack I've seen. Cheap enough in stores, or cut up your own veggies/fruits/etc.

I totally recommend Quesadila. It's like Pizza only better, easy to make, and cheap.

Put shredded cheese, green onion, peppers, and some related seasonings onto a tortilla. Place another tortilla on top. Bake until cheese melts. Cut up like pizza. Serve with sour cream or salsa or hot sauce.

If you're feeling zazzy, you can brown some ground beef with some chili powder, add that in before you bake. Sliced chicken works the same way.

Enjoy.

Lady Moreta · 08-21-2012, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moff Chumley

First of all, I hate following recipes, so everything I make is, up to a point, improvised. Since I live with my parents, my ingredients list is generally limited to staples that they don't mind me using. Generally, I stick to one basic formula; however, there's a ton of room for variation therein.

That's roughly how my husband cooks... I'm not much of a one for recipes either, but I'm more likely to use one as a starting point and change/substitute as I see fit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karoht

Put shredded cheese, green onion, peppers, and some related seasonings onto a tortilla. Place another tortilla on top. Bake until cheese melts. Cut up like pizza. Serve with sour cream or salsa or hot sauce.

I totally read that a 'puke shredded cheese' at first and I was wondering what crazy recipe you were using... Then my brain caught up with my eyes... I like the sound of that actually... and it sounds quick and easy as we only have about an hour between getting home from church and the game starting to do anything in... I know, I could just get up and do stuff while the game is running, but I'm also the primary (read: only) notetaker in our group and if I'm not taking notes, next session, no one (including the DM) will remember what happened!

The Succubus · 08-21-2012, 04:14 AM

A really quick and delicious snack is to have portabello mushrooms on hot buttered toast. Be sure to add a little garlic to the pan while cooking the mushrooms and add a little bit of fresh parsley over the top. Add a little feta cheese to taste.

KuReshtin · 08-21-2012, 05:18 AM

The non-violent versions of the following dishes are very easy to make and are very tasty:

Sausage Stroganoff

Spoiler

'Flying Jacob'

Spoiler

super dark33 · 08-21-2012, 05:56 AM

Aight.
my mother makes these every week and these are amazing.

Tastey thing

Spoiler

Watch for your tongue.

Ravens_cry · 08-21-2012, 06:05 AM

I have a finicky toaster oven. Only the broiler works, but this has lead to some interesting cookery. I make a lot of unbreaded chicken-ish burgers because you can't beat 10 for 3 bucks. With my finicky toaster oven, the side facing away is always massively under done unless I flip it.
This lead to a wonderful idea. I started mixing things with the uncooked underbelly after flipping. Plum sauce, barbecue sauce, spaghetti sauce, they are all tasty and wonderful.
For those not 'blessed' with such a toaster oven, making unbreaded chicken burgers in the oven under the broiler, and mixing things with them can lead to some very tasty results.

Katana_Geldar · 08-21-2012, 08:27 AM

The thing with following recipes is that it gives you some basics to start with if you're just learning cooking. Then when you know what something is meant to be like, then change things.

And with some thing's the success depends on a good recipe as you need the correct quantities, particularly anything sweet. Even for something like shortbread which, at it's simplest, is sugar, butter and flour.

KuReshtin · 08-21-2012, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katana_Geldar

The thing with following recipes is that it gives you some basics to start with if you're just learning cooking. Then when you know what something is meant to be like, then change things.

And with some thing's the success depends on a good recipe as you need the correct quantities, particularly anything sweet. Even for something like shortbread which, at it's simplest, is sugar, butter and flour.

There's also a distinct difference between cooking and baking.

Cooking is a less precise art, where you can make a mistake and then come up with a way to mask that mistake.
Baking is very unforgiving with those things, and I find that baking definitely requires pretty exact measures of everything to get it right.

There's a quote that I like which describes the difference.

"If cooking is an art, baking is a science."

Katana_Geldar · 08-21-2012, 08:42 AM

Sauces can be very unforgiving if you make them from scratch. Particularly if your sauce splits. But if you can make white sauce, you can make lots of stuff.

Corlindale · 08-21-2012, 08:47 AM

I really enjoy soups.

Easy to make, good for avoiding wasted food (since you can throw in pretty much any leftover vegetable), cheap and (in most cases) healthy.

Lentil soup is a particular favourite of mine, and it comes in a trillion varieties.
Here's my usual basic recipe:
Start with a chopped onion in some olive oil, throw in some curry powder, cumin and dried coreander, followed by whatever vegetables you have on hand, chopped (I like bell peppers).

Throw in a can of crushed tomatoes, a bunch of red lentils (~200 g) and enough water to reach the desired consistency. Boil until the lentils are done, blend it with an immersion blender and optionally add coconut milk for creamyness at the end. Delicious, cheap, healthy and easy.

By the way, I've discovered a nice trick for leftover soup. Most soups thicken when left in the fridge overnight. I used to just thin them out with water, but sometimes it's nice to just reheat them in the thick, stew-like version, and serve them over rice or pasta. Good way to get extra uses out of your leftovers.

Lady Moreta · 08-21-2012, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KuReshtin

There's also a distinct difference between cooking and baking.

Cooking is a less precise art, where you can make a mistake and then come up with a way to mask that mistake.
Baking is very unforgiving with those things, and I find that baking definitely requires pretty exact measures of everything to get it right.

I find that depends on the recipe... I have a few recipes that I can mangle to my heart's content and they'll be okay. I have a few others that I have to follow precicely or I'll mangle them. For me, mixing seems to be the key - if it ain't mixed right, it don't bake right.

Karoht · 08-22-2012, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Moreta

I find that depends on the recipe... I have a few recipes that I can mangle to my heart's content and they'll be okay. I have a few others that I have to follow precicely or I'll mangle them. For me, mixing seems to be the key - if it ain't mixed right, it don't bake right.

My grandfather was a Swiss baker and Chocolate maker with more than 40 years experience.
He never tried to teach me or any of my family members anything, but if you watched him and listened as he would talk to himself, he was incredibly fussy about his mixing. Too much air, not enough air, not enough flour, too much flour, too much heat in his hands, too little heat, etc.

You should have seen his black forest cakes. Chocolate walls hand tempered, up to 12 inches high. When ever he would bust out one of those cakes, it was suddenly an occasion. People would bust out cameras, they'd never seen anything like it.

But indeed. Baking, especially as it relates to pastery and bread, is very very sensitive about how it is mixed. Ever have really heavy pastery? Not enough air. Ever have really greasy pastery? Too much butter or shortening. Puff pastery is tricky, hard to get the right amount of air into it.

arguskos · 08-22-2012, 05:48 PM

Reposted from our last good cooking thread (not a good gaming recipe, but damn delicious anyways, and I always like feedback about it [hurhurhur "feed"back]):

arguskos' Pasta Skillet
Core Ingredients
1 lb Ground turkey
1 8-oz can of tomato sauce (I like Contadina's Italian Herb myself, but that's just me)
3/2 of a cup of noodles (Mafalda noodles are the best, but you can make this with just about any noodles, except string noodles like linguine or spaghetti. Penne works especially well.)
1-2 cups of water.

Spicings
This can and will vary quite a bit by personal taste. I am a heat junky, so I'm giving you what I generally use. Season it however you like, the dish is amazingly receptive to flavors (though, given that tomatoes are involved, you must be sure to use something fairly strong to handle the tomato taste).

These come in two kinds (I use both), dry and wet.

Dry
A shaker of Spicy Smoky Seasoned Salt (a local thing, feel free to skip)
A shaker of Chili Powder
A shaker of Ancho Chili Powder
A shaker of Paprika
A shaker of Mustard Powder

Wet
Tabasco-brand Chipotle hot sauce.
Yucatan Sunshine hot sauce.
Your favorite barbecue sauce (no, really, just grab your favorite, though sweeter ones work a little better than spicy ones, at least in this specific mix up).

Topping
Shredded mozzarella/provolone blend.

Preparation
Step 1: In a high sided, flat bottom skillet, brown the turkey. This is about as easy to do as breathing, and should pose no trouble.
Step 2: Once browned, take off the heat (but leave the burner on, we're coming back in a few moments). Add the (uncooked) pasta to the turkey, and mix them thoroughly (trust me).
Step 3: If using dry spices, add a little now. I usually add a shake or two here and a shake or two in a moment. I've found it really increases the impact of the dry spices (not sure why).
Step 4: Add the sauce and mix everything to coat as much as you can. It won't be enough, trust me.
Step 5: Add some water. The exact amount varies greatly, actually. The more water, the more soup-y it works out to be. My general rule of thumb is to add just enough to come barely shy of covering everything and call it good.
Step 6: Add another few shakes of dry seasoning. Again, stir to mix it in there.
Step 7: Put it back on the heat, and cover the pan. Check it every minute or so to see how the pasta's doing.
Step 8: When the pasta is al dente, or close enough, it's done. Pull it off the heat, and instantly add the wet stuff. Normally, I just do a little of each hot sauce and a big ol' dollop of the barbecue, but that's really up to you.
Step 9: Put in bowl and top with cheese. Serve immediately. Makes about four bowls, depending on how big your bowls are.

Reasons to make this: There's a few reasons. First, it's easy and pretty quick. Second, it's filling (if not exactly health food) and makes a good amount for a single person (easy to have leftovers). Third, it's infinitely adaptable. The recipe above was honed over about two years of experimentation. I've made this with six kinds of meat, a dozen pastas, every cheese I could get my hands on, various optional ingredients (most veggies don't work here don't try them; if you want green, then serve a side salad that is well chilled and has a sweet and clear taste, it makes a fine complement to the hot, hearty, and spicy main dish), more wet and dry spices than I care to name, and even a few really bizarre ingredients (ever have a pasta skillet taco? ...yeah, it, uh... well... I tried, I guess). This isn't a taste revolution, but it's easy and filling and you can make it like fifty thousand ways (for instance, you could theoretically change the base sauce from tomato to something else; I haven't yet, but it could well be done).

super dark33 · 08-22-2012, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arguskos

Reposted from our last good cooking thread (not a good gaming recipe, but damn delicious anyways, and I always like feedback about it [hurhurhur "feed"back]):

arguskos' Pasta Skillet

Spoiler

Can be put inside the tastey thing.

Logic · 08-22-2012, 05:54 PM

Logic's Pretzel Dip

1/2 cup of Sour Cream*
1/2 cup of yellow mustard*
2 tablespoons of Wochestershire*

Stir ingredients together, makes a great dip for pretzels.

Logic's Alfredo Replacement Sauce

1 cup Ranch Dressing*
1 cup Sour Cream*
2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese*

Mix the sour cream and ranch dressing together until thoroughly blended. Pour over cooked noodles of your choice. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top and serve. This was created as an alternative to Alfredo sauce because I am a very picky eater.

*To all metric users, I apologize for not having the proper conversions handy.

Wyntonian · 08-24-2012, 12:59 PM

My grandpa's Filipino, so I learned at an early age how to make pancit guisado and lumpia. He was an army chef for a long while, and he's pretty darn good.

For pancit:

A package of rice noodles, softened in warm water for a long while. Just put them out in the morning or something.

Heat some oil in a wok, sautee garlic, sliced green onions, etc. Add noddles, and whatever else you want to put in. We do bay shrimp, chicken, carrots, red cabbage and some other stuff. Add as much Bug Juice as you want. The noodles should be brown. If you're not using two bamboo spatulas, you're doing it wrong.

It's super easy, and really fun to make, especially when he's there telling you what everything's called in Tagalog.

I know, that recipe's terribly unorganized, but it's how I learned it.

Morbis Meh · 08-27-2012, 01:44 PM

Well if you want to make it an event to remember may I suggest something fancy but not overly expensive (just time consuming) beef wellington (I love cooking so I enjoy putting effort into it).

Here is the recipe I usep; however, I hate liver so as a substitute I use herb and garlic cream cheese. A simple side dish is small bite sized potatoes roasted in olive oil and rosemary (salt and pepper added to taste). Cook them at about 425 for 45 minutes and serve with wellington along with a vegetable of your choice (I am fond of steamed aspargus)

Bill Murphy · 08-27-2012, 03:25 PM

I love to cook and entertain. Everyone here is giving great ideas on cooking so I'll make another suggestion...

PREP!
Get what you can done before your guests arrive. For example, set the table. Sometimes setting a table can be filled with unforeseen problems. "I only have four chairs and five people to sit!". Trying to solve that in front of your guests will make them feel awkward. "What?! No one ran the dishwasher??!"
Having an organized home makes the evening less stressful for yourself and your guests will feel more welcomed.

Karoht · 08-27-2012, 04:44 PM

I completely agree.

Prepare your space.
Prepare your entertainment.
Prepare your ingredients.
Prepare to have fun.

Always have half-a-plan.

Neftren · 08-27-2012, 06:17 PM

Right, so, some dorm room baking is in order, since I have an oven this year. I managed to swipe around twenty fist-sized peaches from the dining hall, and was thinking of making some Peach Crisp to share around, since I am totally awkward around other people, really shy, and well, you get the idea.

Anyways, back to the peach crisp idea. I went out and bought a box of brown sugar from my Student Union mini-mart, but wasn't able to acquire cinnamon or all-purpose flour, or even butter. What I do have on hand is the following:

Peaches (duh!)
Quaker Oats Toasted Oatmeal Squares
Pumpkin Seeds
Almonds (Unroasted, Unsalted)
Brown Sugar ( 1 lb. Dark Cane Sugar)
White Sugar (Table Sugar, ~ 5 Packets)

I've also got a bottle of honey and a lemon.

Suggestions on how to put all this together? I'm making this in a few hours by the way, so...

Coidzor · 08-27-2012, 06:21 PM

The playground cookbook is a pretty robust and nifty thread. If no one has shared it, I'll dig it up or you can just search for it.

Right now I'm currently working on a couple of projects, the first is to learn how to make some Mediterranean style rice dish that I had at a levantine cuisine place along with lasagna-style spanakopita so that I can do a nice mediterranean meal for my family at a get together. The others are learning how to make gelato and ciabatta bread respectively, haha.

The Succubus · 08-27-2012, 06:24 PM

Found a good recipe in a book on mycology (mushroom hunting) for West Country stroganoff. It uses a strong dry cider as part of the sauce. I'll give it a crack over the weekend and if it's any good, I'll post the full thing up.

Serpentine · 08-27-2012, 06:32 PM

As mentioned, there's the Playground Cookbook from a while ago, although sadly I never got around to finishing the index (and a number of those links are so old they're broken).

Quote:

Originally Posted by KuReshtin

There's a quote that I like which describes the difference.

"If cooking is an art, baking is a science."

Spoiler

I've made the Skyrim-style grilled leeks described here. They're actually really good.

Wyntonian · 08-30-2012, 11:40 AM

Perhaps we could restart it? It's old enough to be Thread Necromancy, but I'd like to see it keep going. Hell, I'd even learn metric conversions so I could share my 'Merican foods.

Seriously, though, that's really great. Breaks my heart how many interesting things are broken links.

Dusk Eclipse · 08-30-2012, 12:35 PM

And now I am a bit angry that my gaming group meets at the FGLS and all these tasty recipes would be unpractical to use... One can only eat so many burgers and/or pizza on his gaming career