Cooking in the Playground

[HKR]

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]

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]

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

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 :smallsmile:

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]

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. :smallwink:

[Moff Chumley]

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]

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]

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.


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]

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]

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

Sausage Stroganoff (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akxgb5ONhB0)

600-800g smoked sausage
1 large onion
300ml Sour Cream or Creme Fraiche
100ml milk
Tomato puree (about 100g) or tomato ketchup
1½ table spoon Flour
salt and pepper

Optional ingredients:
Diced bell peppers
Chopped mushrooms

Slice and dice the sausage
Dice the onion
Fry both in pan (sautee pan works well, as you won't have to transfer anything to other pots)
If you're using additional ingredients, chuck them in at the same time.
When the sausage has a bit of colour and the onion looks ready, add flour over the mixture and stir, to make the flour coat all the ingredients.
Add sour cream/creme fraiche and mix into the rest.
Add tomato puree or ketchup (or both)
Add milk to make things a bit more saucy/runny

Let simmer for about 5-10 minutes.
Serve with boiled rice

Total cooking time from starting to slice and dice the onion and sausage shouldn't take more than 35-40 minutes.


'Flying Jacob' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvW2xeSn4As)

Ingredients:

1 roasted/grilled chicken
250ml whipping cream
Chili sauce
3 ba-[fruit that shall not be mentioned]
1 bag of salted peanuts
Rice

Boil rice
Take chicken and tear into bite-sized chunks
Whip the cream
Add chili sauce into the whipped cream
Slice the bananas

Put the boiled rice in a casserole dish.
Add the chicken chunks on top of the rice
Add the banana slices on top of the chicken
Add the chili whipped cream on top and cover everything
Sprinkle the peanuts on top of the cream

Put casserole dish into pre-heated oven (190-200C/375-400F)
Wait for about 15 minutes until there's a bit of a crust on top of the dish.

Serve with a green leaf salad

Total cooking time: typically 35-45 minutes from start to finish.

[super dark33]

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

Tastey thing
ingridients:
Malawach x number of eaters

Filling:
Can be leftovers of any of the below, or fresh ones:
Ground beef in any chunk size you want
Cheese
Fried chicken breast strips
Anything youll put in a tortilla.


1.cook the filling accordingly to what it is (I.E if you want Ground beff, put in a high edge pan with spices/sauces you like)
2.Put the malawachs on a bakeing plate that has bakeing paper on it.
3.When filling is done, put what you want on the uncooked malawach and fold it to half circles.
Heat an oven and bake untill crusty.

Watch for your tongue.

[Ravens_cry]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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).

Can be put inside the tastey thing.

[Logic]

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]

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. :smallbiggrin:

[Morbis Meh]

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 (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/beef-wellington/) 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]

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]

I completely agree.

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

Always have half-a-plan.

[Neftren]

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... :smallbiggrin:

[Coidzor]

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]

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]

As mentioned, there's the Playground Cookbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87639) 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).
There's a quote that I like which describes the difference.

"If cooking is an art, baking is a science."http://www.topatoco.com/graphics/00000001/qc-baking-apron.jpg

I've made the Skyrim-style grilled leeks described here (http://www.gourmetgaming.co.uk/post/13550426523/christmas-special-drink-nibbles-skyrim). They're actually really good.

[Wyntonian]

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]

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

[Logic]

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

Some are fine to prepare ahead of time. Like my pretzel dip. :smallbiggrin:
[/shamless plug]

[Dusk Eclipse]

True... I might try it sometime soon. I'll tell you how it goes.

[HKR]

Here´s one of my favorite snacks:

Surf & Turf Tuna Salad

bologna type sausage
gherkins
mayonnaise
canned tuna
hard-boiled eggs (cold)
onions
salt
pepper

(For all german readers: Skip the first three ingredients and just use Fleischsalat instead.)

Chop the sausage, gherkins, onions and hard boiled eggs into little pieces, and mix it all with the mayonnaise and the tuna. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Done! :smallsmile: In my opinion it tastes best on toast. It gets even better if you leave it in the fridge for a day or so.

Enjoy!

[Coidzor]

Anyone made spanakopita before? I'm receiving contradictory advice/recipes about how to prep the spinach for it, between sauteing, boiling, and steaming and I'm not quite up to doing a giant taste test-off just yet, haha.

[Neftren]

Anyone made spanakopita before? I'm receiving contradictory advice/recipes about how to prep the spinach for it, between sauteing, boiling, and steaming and I'm not quite up to doing a giant taste test-off just yet, haha.

I'm pretty sure you're just supposed to chop it and mix with olive oil along with the cheese, but I'll ask my friend (and before you ask, yes, she's Greek).

[Isolder74]

We really should just pin the cookbook thread to the main page to keep all the cooking related threads all in one place.

[Socratov]

if I may add my 2 cents, perfect gamer food is hard to make, for me perfect gamer food has to be adhering to at least these priciples:


quick to prepare/using little hands on time
using few utensils (to save time doing the dishes for gaming)
tasty
keeping one clean enough so she/he/it can keep on touching the gaming stuff
providing enough energy so you can last all night
cheap (so you don't spend a lot of momey so you can spend more on gaming)


Using this list Shepherd's Pie makes sense, pretty much any mash, provided the viscosity remains high enough so as to not spill. And with enough tips and tricks (when making mashed potatoes, use (belgian) beer and cheese for flavor, it works awesomely) you can make those nourishing, tasting awesome, cheap, using little utensils (3 pans inclusing the meat) and when made well enough you can last a bloody week with those. And the best thing is, you can prepare it the day before (increasing the taste) only nuking it on the day et presto, ultimate gamer eating (and it's healthy too :smallwink: )

[Cuthalion]

Right now I'm making Panir, a type of cheese. More about it later. It's really cool.

[Bhu]

op: Would you prefer healthier stuff than gamers usually eat?

[Tebryn]

if I may add my 2 cents, perfect gamer food is hard to make, for me perfect gamer food has to be adhering to at least these priciples:


quick to prepare/using little hands on time
using few utensils (to save time doing the dishes for gaming)
tasty
keeping one clean enough so she/he/it can keep on touching the gaming stuff
providing enough energy so you can last all night
cheap (so you don't spend a lot of momey so you can spend more on gaming)



Stir Fry. One wok. One cutting board and knife. It's fast to prepare and quick especially if you buy pre-cut veggies. It gives lots of energy and it's cheap as dirt if you know how to shop. And it's healthy if you don't use a super surgery sauce.

[Karoht]

I think you meant pre-cut there Teb :smallwink:

Healthy + Gaming can go hand in hand if you're careful about it.
Hummus is high in fiber, it's decently healthy, as far as chip dip goes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummus
Same with baba ghanoush.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_ghanoush

Careful, Tahini is basically made from sesame seeds. Just a quick allergy warning.

[drack]

Hmm, guess I'll toss up fried rice. I use it as a staple food since those big bags of rice are so darned tempting. :smalltongue:
Basically it is as follows
0: cook rice an let it sit out a bit (from hours to days it doesn't matter much, but if the latter a fridge would be nice)
1: oil pan and start er up
2: start cooking whatever needs to cook before you start. If you're feeling like there being bits of fried egg in there start that now too.
3: go crazy tossing in rice, meat, sauces, ect that you choose to flavor it with, and if you haven't fried up the egg you can drop it here mixing it well into the rice to help it stick together a bit more..
4: make sure to keep everything moving so that it doesn't burn, and add oil as needed.
5: cool&eat

Basically steps 2&3 are to throw all the delicious things you happen to have lying around with nobody to eat them into the pan to give them purpose.

(Just had some delicious salsa fried rice :smallwink:)

[Wyntonian]

(Just had some delicious salsa fried rice :smallwink:)

This actually sounds great. One of my friends brought by a bowl of mango salsa fresca, and I'm out of chips....

Also, the above is probably the most efficient ways of feeding myself I've come across.

[drack]

It was. I fried the egg up first that time (gonna edit in that you add with the rice otherwise to stick it together a bit more), anywho I'd suggest tossing in some stray spices you have too just to ad flavor, and I used two slices of bread to sop up the juices. Don't suppose anyone has tips for the meatballs I see in that loaf's future ay? :smalltongue:

[Tebryn]

I think you meant pre-cut there Teb :smallwink:

Naw man. Pre-Bought. They're totally new. You wouldn't have heard of them.

[shawnhcorey]

It was. I fried the egg up first that time (gonna edit in that you add with the rice otherwise to stick it together a bit more), anywho I'd suggest tossing in some stray spices you have too just to ad flavor, and I used two slices of bread to sop up the juices. Don't suppose anyone has tips for the meatballs I see in that loaf's future ay? :smalltongue:

Fry some bacon in the pan first. When ti's crispy, remove it and break it up. Fry the rice in the bacon grease and add the bits later.

Obligatory XKCD (http://xkcd.com/418/).

[drack]

That falls under stuff you should cook first. All the same I haven't bought bacon in a while. :smalltongue:

Naw man. Pre-Bought. They're totally new. You wouldn't have heard of them.


Well hopefully you have bought them before you cook them up too ay? :smalltongue:

[Karoht]

Naw man. Pre-Bought. They're totally new. You wouldn't have heard of them.Wow. I'ma rush to the store and get me some pre-bought food like all the other cool kids in their skinny jeans and glasses.


Protip: If the thing in question only requires a minor amount of prep before people show up, and maybe some baking or a quick toss in a frying pan or salad bowl, odds are it's gamer friendly.


As for non-cooked snacks, I find myself recently hooked on two things. Mustard covered pretzles (perfect for that mustard pretzle dip) and wheat covered peanuts. The former is pretty straightforward. The latter are strangely difficult to come by, and I describe the flavor similar to eating a slice of toast with peanut butter. I've only found the one flavor, but apparently there are two more.


Chili. How did I forget chili. Maybe not so gamer friendly if you play in a small poorly ventilated enclosed space. But throw some ingredients into a slow cooker on your way out the door, come home to chili ready to eat and ready to serve.
In the event that you do play in a small poorly ventilated enclosed space, I highly recommend that one purchases the 'fan of shame.' Buy a fan, any time you... detect poison... point it directly at the person you suspect. Suspect will then hang his/her head in shame.

[Tebryn]

Wow. I'ma rush to the store and get me some pre-bought food like all the other cool kids in their skinny jeans and glasses.

Comes with free Pabst no less. Go get you some.




Chili. How did I forget chili. Maybe not so gamer friendly if you play in a small poorly ventilated enclosed space. But throw some ingredients into a slow cooker on your way out the door, come home to chili ready to eat and ready to serve.

They could always make Cincinnati Style Chili. Or just beanless Chili. I can't actually think of a single time I've ever made Chili with beans and I got the recipe from my great grand mother.

[Ravens_cry]

Beans are a damn sight cheaper than meat.
When you're young and/or a student, a cheap, easy, hearty dish is always welcome, particularly when served with rice and making a complete protein.
Also, for most people if you keep eating beans, eventually the flatus (farts) will subside as your body adapts.

[Karoht]

Dumplings (AKA Potstickers) and Perogies

Oh man, these things are awesome gamer food.

Make filling. With just about anything.
Make perogie/dumpling pastery
Put filling in pastery.
Boil.
Possibly fry for all of a moment or two.

Serve with appropriate condiment/s

Samosa's are good too, but I find they are messy. Good for getting rid of leftover mashed potato or ground beef.

[Coidzor]

Beans are a damn sight cheaper than meat.
When you're young and/or a student, a cheap, easy, hearty dish is always welcome, particularly when served with rice and making a complete protein.
Also, for most people if you keep eating beans, eventually the flatus (farts) will subside as your body adapts.

Lentils, or so I hear, are even better. Also IIRC, soaking and draining the beans helps with the flatus and anise is rumored to help to some extent as well.

Red Beans and Rice is excellent though, especially because while meat makes it better, you don't really need all that much.

[shawnhcorey]

Lentils, or so I hear, are even better. Also IIRC, soaking and draining the beans helps with the flatus and anise is rumored to help to some extent as well.

You soak and drain beans because some of them have a toxin that can cause upset stomachs in some people. Lentils and peas do not have this toxin and don't needed to be soaked.

[Kneenibble]

I'm fighting an uphill battle against received wisdom every time I write this, but here we go again:

The complete protein thing is false. There is no need for your body to consume all the essential amino acids in correct proportion in the same meal -- as long as you eat a varied enough diet to get them over the course of the day, or every few days. Also, there is nearly no protein in white rice, and there is no way you could eat enough of it to balance out the amino acids that legumes lack.

Carry on.


You soak and drain beans because some of them have a toxin that can cause upset stomachs in some people. Lentils and peas do not have this toxin and don't needed to be soaked.

There is more to it than that: soaking them triggers sprouting, which converts some of the complex sugars [i.e. the farty ones] to simpler more digestible ones; plus another process involving enzymes that I don't understand well enough to explain. I would recommend soaking peas because it cuts down the cooking time tremendously.

The other thing with beans from the common bean family is that they should not only be soaked, but also boiled very vigorously for 15 minutes before simmering. That toxin you mention requires high heat for that long to break down, and slow cookers [and sometimes just simmering] don't do the job.

[Coidzor]

^: Brown rice is infinitely better anyway.


You soak and drain beans because some of them have a toxin that can cause upset stomachs in some people. Lentils and peas do not have this toxin and don't needed to be soaked.

Well, I was talking about beans specifically at the time. Also, I've read some debate over whether soaking is of benefit to lentils or not, though, yes, not for the same reason as beans. Consensus seemed to be that sprouting lentils was generally for the better though not mandatory.

[shawnhcorey]

Another note about cooking beans: acids and simple sugars make their skins tough. Add 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda to every cup of water you use to soak and cook your beans. This is neutralize the hydrochloric acid that comes from the chlorine in the drinking water. After the beans are fully cooked, you can add tomatoes (acid) or molasses (sugar) to your heart's content. :smallsmile:

[missmvicious]

Oh I'm a house wife I love cooking (and gaming) two things I'm really fond of are hearty meals for the manly men I game with and things I can make in one pan (cuts down on the clean up). Here's one of the recipes that has gone over really well.

1 lb of ground beef
1-2 sweet potatoes
1 cup of rice (uncooked)
Butter, salt, pepper, sugar, cinnamon & ginger

Prep:
Go ahead and get your rice cooking. Start melting the butter in your pan on a medium heat then peel and cube the sweet potato(es). Throw your sweet potatoes in your pan and add the spices to taste. Go light on the sugar cos its just to unlock the rest of the flavors. Cover that and give it oh say 20 minutes for the potato to cook. Then add your ground beef and have that brown with the potatoes. After all of it is brown your potatoes should be done also so go ahead and mix in your rice. You may add more of the spices here since you've like doubled the amount of food but you still want it flavorful.
Then serve and enjoy. ^_^

Also this thread
>subscribed to

[Coidzor]

Oh I'm a house wife I love cooking (and gaming) two things I'm really fond of are hearty meals for the manly men I game with and things I can make in one pan (cuts down on the clean up). Here's one of the recipes that has gone over really well.

1 lb of ground beef
1-2 sweet potatoes
1 cup of rice (uncooked)
Butter, salt, pepper, sugar, cinnamon & ginger

Prep:
Go ahead and get your rice cooking. Start melting the butter in your pan on a medium heat then peel and cube the sweet potato(es). Throw your sweet potatoes in your pan and add the spices to taste. Go light on the sugar cos its just to unlock the rest of the flavors. Cover that and give it oh say 20 minutes for the potato to cook. Then add your ground beef and have that brown with the potatoes. After all of it is brown your potatoes should be done also so go ahead and mix in your rice. You may add more of the spices here since you've like doubled the amount of food but you still want it flavorful.
Then serve and enjoy. ^_^

Also this thread
>subscribed to


What on earth is this dish called? :smallconfused:

[missmvicious]

Hmmmm I hadn't really named it.... I think I'd be open to suggestion.

[Ravens_cry]

Lentils, or so I hear, are even better. Also IIRC, soaking and draining the beans helps with the flatus and anise is rumored to help to some extent as well.

Lentils also cook very fast compared to other beans.

[Zzouzeizeski]

If I were to do it, I'd probably go with some bruschetta. Just get a loaf of French or Italian bread at a grocery store, slice it into thin (about 1cm thick) slices and maybe cut the slices in halves or fourths so that they're bite sized. Then, get a cookie sheet, oil it up a bit, then spread a mixture of olive oil, salt, pepper, and occasionally garlic onto the bread, place the bread spread out on the sheet, and throw it into an oven preheated to 350 degree Fahrenheit until the bread is golden brown.

Once you've got those convenient pieces of bruschetta, you have a foundation you can build pretty much any kind of snack onto. Throw some ham and cheese onto it, a thick marinara sauce, countless variations of sliced vegetables. One of my favorites is to place a small bit of cheese onto it, then a piece of grilled chicken, and then another piece of cheese on top of the chicken, throw that into an oven on broil (actually, I have a salamander that shoots flames down onto food, it's always exciting to use) until the cheese melts. Just let that cool down and you have a nice relatively mess-free canape that's an entirely self-contained finger food.

[Socratov]

Stir Fry. One wok. One cutting board and knife. It's fast to prepare and quick especially if you buy pre-cut veggies. It gives lots of energy and it's cheap as dirt if you know how to shop. And it's healthy if you don't use a super surgery sauce.

indeed. Stir fry is a great way of eating healthy fast food. Another one is Ratatouille (like the pixar movie), it's basically, throw stuf in pan, add water or stock (stock is better tasting), spices and herbs, let it simmer for a while, done. (eat with a bit of protein and carbs, have a glass of wine at the side, it's French after all :smallamused:)

[Coidzor]

Does anyone have any thoughts for what I can do that's low fat and low in iron with chicken, ground turkey, frozen broccoli, carrots, sweet onions, various forms of canned tomato, a head of red cabbage, some stock or possibly boullion to make stock with, and maybe some minced garlic? I think there's also some... medium firmness tofu but I've never done anything with tofu before, and I've got both rice and several forms of spaghetti/vermicelli/angel hair as well.

I'm not really used to caring about fat beyond making sure that I drain the lion's share of the grease out when I'm browning red meat in a skillet, and I've got to toe carefully because of the health concerns for my friend's mother. She suggested risotto, but while it doesn't seem to involve a whole lot of fat, it doesn't quite strike me as low fat, especially as I'm given to understand that in this case it is more code for almost no fat or no fat if possible.

Currently the best idea I've got is to make a sort of tomato bread, almost like a pizza with no toppings aside from the sauce, a simple rice and onion dish, and then steam the broccoli and/or carrots, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to crowdsource for some other ideas.

[THAC0]

Does anyone have any thoughts for what I can do that's low fat and low in iron with chicken, ground turkey, frozen broccoli, carrots, sweet onions, various forms of canned tomato, a head of red cabbage, some stock or possibly boullion to make stock with, and maybe some minced garlic? I think there's also some... medium firmness tofu but I've never done anything with tofu before, and I've got both rice and several forms of spaghetti/vermicelli/angel hair as well.

I'm not really used to caring about fat beyond making sure that I drain the lion's share of the grease out when I'm browning red meat in a skillet, and I've got to toe carefully because of the health concerns for my friend's mother. She suggested risotto, but while it doesn't seem to involve a whole lot of fat, it doesn't quite strike me as low fat, especially as I'm given to understand that in this case it is more code for almost no fat or no fat if possible.

Currently the best idea I've got is to make a sort of tomato bread, almost like a pizza with no toppings aside from the sauce, a simple rice and onion dish, and then steam the broccoli and/or carrots, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to crowdsource for some other ideas.

Maybe a marinara sauce with veggies and shredded chicken over pasta?

[drack]

Hmm, well I'm not going to claim to know the health side that well, but I can suggest a few things you can make and you can shoot them down. :smalltongue: I'll toss out the first two that came to mind as a start.
If you're thinking of tomato sauce on bread I' suggest you go with sliced tomatoes (since you seem to have enough verity to choose, if not skip that part or go dice depending on what you have), toss some of your onions, and perhaps some of the broccoli on there perhaps with a touch of that garlic (omit things until you have the taste you want), you could also put a bit of chicken on there skipping the broccoli... the other idea was a quick stew with base (if not so oily, else go with bullion), chicken, some onions garlic, carrots, and broccoli/cabbage if that's the sort of taste you're going for. Anywho best of luck (also if you have any seasonings that fit always help). :smallbiggrin:

Maybe a marinara sauce with veggies and shredded chicken over pasta?

And that sounds pretty good too. :smallbiggrin:

[Socratov]

Does anyone have any thoughts for what I can do that's low fat and low in iron with chicken, ground turkey, frozen broccoli, carrots, sweet onions, various forms of canned tomato, a head of red cabbage, some stock or possibly boullion to make stock with, and maybe some minced garlic? I think there's also some... medium firmness tofu but I've never done anything with tofu before, and I've got both rice and several forms of spaghetti/vermicelli/angel hair as well.

I'm not really used to caring about fat beyond making sure that I drain the lion's share of the grease out when I'm browning red meat in a skillet, and I've got to toe carefully because of the health concerns for my friend's mother. She suggested risotto, but while it doesn't seem to involve a whole lot of fat, it doesn't quite strike me as low fat, especially as I'm given to understand that in this case it is more code for almost no fat or no fat if possible.

Currently the best idea I've got is to make a sort of tomato bread, almost like a pizza with no toppings aside from the sauce, a simple rice and onion dish, and then steam the broccoli and/or carrots, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to crowdsource for some other ideas.

cut the chicken into blocks of roughly equal size. Then cut the veggies, strifry with lots of olive oil (add in garlick and italian herbs as well), then make some pasta (or something) and douse it with a milk/cream/cheese sauce. Might all in all take half an hour to make (excl. cutting), will stop you from starving for at least 3 days and actually make you more healthy (except for the fats) as well.

Oh, and protip: use stock or bouillon to cook the pasta in tiw ill bring so much flavor into your dish...

Another protip: if you stirfry hard veggies (like broccoli, haricot verts, and the such), it is better to blache(?) first by shortly (half a minute max) coocking them in stock/bouillon or water. Not only will it slightly soften the food increasing the frying benefits, it also brings a lot of color and (when using stock) taste to your food.

[Deepbluediver]

My favorite quick-and-easy snack-type food is tortilla chips and dip:

Layer about a half-inch of Sour Cream in a baking dish, add a slightly lesser amount of salsa, and top with plenty of cheese. (I use a mixture of cheddar and pepper-jack, but you can buy one of those bags of pre-shredded stuff in the store as well.)
Bake for approx. 15 minutes in the over at 325 until everything is melting and gooey.

When I want something heavier like for a meal I'll add a layer of canned chili on the bottom.

I've got tons of recipes for food, and although it's not fine-dining they're not exactly what I'd call simple. (And there definitely NOT low fat, sorry).
A lot of them are easily modified to suit your individual tastes.

Two of my favorite are Linguini with Alfredo sauce and sausages, and stewed Lamb.

Alfredo Sauce:
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1 lb. Mozzerella, diced
2 cups grated Parmessan
1-3 garlic cloves
white pepper
a few tablespoons flour
1 pint of heavy cream

Melt the butter in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Finely chop the garlic and add to the butter; let it cook for 3-5 minutes, until it starts to brown. Add a few dashes of white pepper, let simmer for another minute.

Add about 1-2 tablespoons of flour, stir until the lumps are gone. Reduce the heat to Low, and then quickly add the cream.

Let it heat for approx. 5 minutes, then start adding in the diced mozerella and parmessan. It is crucial to heat slowly and stir CONSTANTLY. Walking away from this for even a minute virtually guarantees the cheese will start to stick. Continue heating and stirring until the cheese is all melted. If your sauce is to thin, and more grated parmessan. If it is to thick, add a little milk.

You can eat just pasta and sauce, and it is very good, but I also like to add baked sausages (20 minutes at 350, turn halfway through) and sauted bell peppers or brocolli. That way I hit every major food group in one.


Potted Lamb
Usually shoulder-chops are the easiest to get, but if you can get lamb-stew meat in the store that works well, too.

Brown the Lamb in a dutch oven with a little olive oil.

Add either stock or water and buillon (about 2 cups per lb of lamb.) and season with Cumin, Paprika, and any other spice you like. (if you can't find lamb buillon, I substitute with a ratio of 2 beef and 1 chicken.)
Simmer for at least an hour, until the lamb is tender.
Add more water if necessary, but make sure you add about a few minutes to your cook-time as this will cool down the pan.

Now, making gravy from scratch may take a little practice, but I prefer it to anything store bought (though those little packets of powdered gravy mix will do in a pinch or if you are absolutely helpless in the kitchen).
Put about 1/3 of a cup of flour in a bowl, add lukewarm water a splash at a time, mixing completely. You should end up with a fairly smooth, liquidity mixture; though the first couple of time you WILL get lumps (I've been doing this for years and I still almost never get away lump-free). Luckily any leftover flour will settle to the bottom.

Pour the flour-mixture into the pot with the lamb, stirring constantly. Don't dump it all in at once, as this may cause the flour to cook before you can get it all mixed in, and you want to try to leave any lumps behind in your bowl.

Cook for another 5 minutes. If it is to thin, add more flour-water or just cook longer. If it gets to thick, thin it out with water or stock, but be careful because the viscosity is very easily altered.

Turn off the heat and mix in a healthy scoop of of sour cream. Serve with rice or noodles.
I also like to add Bell Peppers, chopped into bite size pieces and added to the same pan about 10 minutes before the flour-water.


I've got a great recipe for Beef stew with squash and cabbage, too, but I can't remember all of it off the top of my head. I'll try to remember to post it when I get home later.

[Karoht]

I've had word that Pork might become dirt cheap, or the price may go up in the next little while.

As such, for those who enjoy pork, I thought I might provide a quick purchasing/butchering tip.

Pork Tenderloin.
You can get them as long as your arm. And cutting into chops gets you porkchops at 40 cents a piece, if not less, for buying a tenderloin that costs less than $20. Or 4 medium roasts.
My advice, don't be put off if it has a large fat cap. It is very easy to remove that, and the pork itself is decently lean, not fatty. When you get it home, peel up the fat, use your knife and make sure you remove the fat and the connective tissue prior to any butchering. Try to scrape rather than slice, think of it more like shaving with a straight razor.
Cut the pork into 1/2 to 3/4 inch chops. Or, cut into roasts. Or do both! You have lots to work with. I usually get 12 chops and 2 roasts, or 24+ chops out of one tenderloin, but I cut them fairly thick.
24 chops at an average price of 17 bucks per tenderloin = 70 cents a chop, but again, I cut them thick. It's easy to get 36 chops out of one tenderloin.

Chops
Place in freezer bags, if possible, try and space them out, 4 in a bag, in a way that you can lay them out flat. Easier to store and easier to thaw. Also, pour in about a tablespoon of neutral oil, this will keep the freezer burn off, and will help tenderize the meat when it eventually thaws.
Fry them or put them on the BBQ. They don't take long on the grill, usually 5 minutes per side or less, depending on how thick you cut them.
Pound them flat with a mallet and bread them, for quick and easy schintzel. Or pound them flat and roll them up with a zuccini spear or asparagus for an easy rouladen.

Roasts
Prep:
Rub the whole roast in seasoning. If you think you have too much, add more, but take it easy on the salt. I stick to just garlic and onion powder if I'm in a hurry, and pepper. Or do it the night before and let it marinade, just be sure to refresh it a bit in the morning.
Place roast in my slow cooker with a bunch of tomatoes (crushed or diced tomatoes from a can work well, otherwise just cut up some tomatoes into 1/8ths) and some chopped or sliced potatoes, and some frozen peas/carrots/corn. Lentils are a good choice, as they will have all day to soak in flavor. Possibly add in some stock (veggie stock will do fine, leftover ramen noodle flavor packets are my favorite to use) or at the very least about half a cup to a full cup of water. Season, turn on slow cooker, go to work, come home and eat a fully cooked meal.

Or you can skip the slow cooker, brown it off in a frying pan or dutch oven, wrap it in bacon, and then bake it in the oven for a while.
Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin roast is quite tasty.

But I'll never tell you the secret of our signature bacon wrapped bacon balls wrapped in bacon.

[missmvicious]

Anyone try any of the others' recipes yet?

[Coidzor]

Anyone try any of the others' recipes yet?

Not in this thread, but I have tried one or two things from the old playground cookbook. Then again, I've been living like a chicken with his head cut off for the past couple of weeks.

[Tebryn]

When cooking Tenderloin, it's always best to wrap it up since it's especially prone to drying out. I wrap mine with bacon as has my mother and her mother before her. Gives it a nice added smokeyness and bacony sub-text on it's flavor.

[missmvicious]

Not in this thread, but I have tried one or two things from the old playground cookbook. Then again, I've been living like a chicken with his head cut off for the past couple of weeks.

I know what you mean. I haven't tried any, though its been weeks since I got together with my group. Seems like every week someone has reason to skip out and if one person bails everyone else slowly follows suit.

[Coidzor]

I know what you mean. I haven't tried any, though its been weeks since I got together with my group. Seems like every week someone has reason to skip out and if one person bails everyone else slowly follows suit.

Yeah... My group basically died due to one person moving across country, one getting put under house arrest by his parents, and the girl that every guy in the group had a thing for moving back home to live with her parents after she finally graduated.

Now I remain. A fool in the shape of a tree.

[Isolder74]

When cooking Tenderloin, it's always best to wrap it up since it's especially prone to drying out. I wrap mine with bacon as has my mother and her mother before her. Gives it a nice added smokeyness and bacony sub-text on it's flavor.

There are other tricks you can use as well. You can soak the tenderloin in a light brine overnight before you cook it. Do it right and you can cook it without needing the bacon. Really you don't actually need the bacon to cook a tenderloin moist and tender just cook it slow and even keeping most of the juices inside the meat that way.

Also dry aging beef tends to keep it moister as it cooks as well.

[Tebryn]

There are other tricks you can use as well. You can soak the tenderloin in a light brine overnight before you cook it. Do it right and you can cook it without needing the bacon. Really you don't actually need the bacon to cook a tenderloin moist and tender just cook it slow and even keeping most of the juices inside the meat that way.

Also dry aging beef tends to keep it moister as it cooks as well.

You could. But then you don't get to use bacon.

[Isolder74]

Who says you can't brine and use the bacon too?

[missmvicious]

Yeah... My group basically died due to one person moving across country, one getting put under house arrest by his parents, and the girl that every guy in the group had a thing for moving back home to live with her parents after she finally graduated.

Now I remain. A fool in the shape of a tree.

What an odd way for a group to die. :smallconfused: We just have one guy managing a halloween store that bails all the time and everyone bails one by one after that. I honestly had hoped my group would move away from gaming some and just be able to hang out socially. I enjoy talking to them but there is a lot of pressure to stop side conversations and get on to gaming, which can be nice but the game isn't an obligation or anything.

[shawnhcorey]

Do it right and you can cook it without needing the bacon.

:smallfrown: :smallfrown: :smallfrown:


You could. But then you don't get to use bacon.

:smalleek:


Who says you can't brine and use the bacon too?

:smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin:

[Deepbluediver]

Anyone try any of the others' recipes yet?

I'm making the sheperd's pie tonight. I have no doubt it will turn out delicious.

[Kneenibble]

When cooking Tenderloin, it's always best to wrap it up since it's especially prone to drying out. I wrap mine with bacon as has my mother and her mother before her. Gives it a nice added smokeyness and bacony sub-text on it's flavor.

How feasible is it to wrap other cuts of beef in bacon? Like, say, a ribeye steak? For I have both in the fridge right now, calling each to me with small meaty voices to be used for pleasure...

[Tebryn]

How feasible is it to wrap other cuts of beef in bacon? Like, say, a ribeye steak? For I have both in the fridge right now, calling each to me with small meaty voices to be used for pleasure...

I only do it with pork and even then, only loin but...I imagine it would be feasible if you first wrap it around the "ends" of the cut and then wrap the "body" to overlay over the bacon you used to cover the edges. I personally would cook it on a rack to save all the delicious drippings and make a gravy with it as well. Not the best for your waistline but damn will it be good.

[missmvicious]

I'm making the sheperd's pie tonight. I have no doubt it will turn out delicious.

Mmm it makes me hungry thinking about it.

[gunnar11]

A simple and good recipe coming up!

"Gunnar's Sweet Oven Chicken"

Ingredients:
-Honey
-Balsamico Sauce
-Chicken (legs or filet preferrably)
-Olive Oil
-Salt
-Pepper

How to Cook:
-Preheat the oven 180 degrees celsius.

-Put 2-4 spoons olive oil in a backing dish, on top of it the chicken, and dip it on each side in the oil. Then put some balsamico sauce on top of it and one spoon of honey each piece of chicken (for chicken legs a bit less)

-put it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

-Enjoy! They're delicious

[North_Ranger]

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.

[Karoht]

How feasible is it to wrap other cuts of beef in bacon? Like, say, a ribeye steak? For I have both in the fridge right now, calling each to me with small meaty voices to be used for pleasure...
Entirely, though it can be challenging and toothpicks may be required to hold the bacon in place.
Tenderloin tends to utilize bacon because the tenderloin cuts are round.
I think you can get medalion cuts of ribeye, but don't quote me on that.
Back wrapped chicken breast is pretty common.
Pretty much anything you feel confident in wrapping can be wrapped.
Kind of like Christmas Presents.

But don't cheat and use bacon gift bags. It's not as good an idea as one might first think.


@Brine + Wrap
Pork Tenderloin marinaded in mead (honey wine) for 24 hours, wrapped with bacon, and basted with a mango and rosemary (extremely little of rosemary) and mead sauce while roasted on a rotiserie. Smoked using applewood chips for the final hour.
OMG was it good. Not overly sweet either.

[Tebryn]

Where are you getting mead Karoht? I can't find a single place that sells it here in Flagstaff.

[Karoht]

Mead
I get a couple of brands from the liquor store. It's in liquours section typically.
Baron Met and Chauncers are common.
Calgary also is home to it's own Meadery, Fallen Timber. Which helps.
If you can get the SKU code, you can probably get a liquor store to order it for you, but you may have to pay for a whole case of it at a time. The good news is, you get bulk pricing that way. The bad news is, that's rather a lot of bottles to go through.

[WarKitty]

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.

[Coidzor]

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.

I was going to start looking into that soon actually, haha. Thanks for reminding me. Ran into an interesting pepperjack based beercheese at the state BBQ festival last month and I've been meaning to start poking around with it.

[missmvicious]

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.

Every man in my D&D group is gonna be thrilled. :smallsmile:

[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. :smallsmile: 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. :smallfrown:

[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! :smallbiggrin:
But I ate 3 big portions which is way to much, time to fast for a day or two. :smallyuk:

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! :smallbiggrin:
But I ate 3 big portions which is way to much, time to fast for a day or two. :smallyuk:

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 :smallamused:

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 :smallwink:)

[JCarter426]

I have a little game for you all. Guess the mystery meat (http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff140/JCarter426/Misc/MysteryMeat.jpg). And no cheating with a reverse image search or some such.

[shawnhcorey]

I have a little game for you all. Guess the mystery meat (http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff140/JCarter426/Misc/MysteryMeat.jpg). 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 (http://www.donaldscrankshaw.com/2012/06/conditum-paradoxum.html) - Take Two (http://www.kristinjanz.com/?p=316)
One Ancient Roman Dinner (http://www.donaldscrankshaw.com/2010/12/roman-cooking.html)
And another Ancient Roman Dinner (http://www.donaldscrankshaw.com/2012/09/roman-dinner.html)

[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? :smalltongue: 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. :smalltongue:

[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 (http://www.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. :smalltongue:

(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. :smalltongue: Me, I just made some delicious chilli. Everything's much better when you make it the way you like it. :smalltongue: (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! (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Grilled_watermelon.JPG)

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. :smalltongue: Me, I just made some delicious chilli. Everything's much better when you make it the way you like it. :smalltongue: (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! (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Grilled_watermelon.JPG)

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 :smalltongue: