Welcome to the Game-Night Kitchen!

[Gilladian]

Add sliced portabello mushrooms, or even just quartered white mushrooms too...

 

[Sialia]

I used to do a similar dish: oil or butter in the pan, heat, then add chunks of cauliflower, onions, potatoes (and whatever optional other things were around: broccoli, mushrooms, red peppers, etc.)--toss it around untill all well coated, then cover until veggies are soft from thier own steam, then add basil, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic, dill (or just a good shake of "Italian Herb blend" spices) toss it all around and then add a whole load of shredded monterey jack and or cheddar cheese and put the lid back on just until the cheese melted. Serve.

This is hearty and satisfying enough to use as an entree.

Also, yummy. Also, reasonably inexpensive.

It's a little bit like homefries with more going on. Would not be bad served in a little skillet with a poached or sunnyside egg on top.

 

[Rune]

Episode 22: Corndog Poppers.

Hotdogs are great, right? What's better? Frying them in cornmeal batter.

Here's what you'll need:

• Hotdogs
• Cornmeal mix
• Wheat flour
• Egg
• Milk
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cooking Oil

Prep your poppers.

First, in a small stockpot, heat about an inch of your preferred flavor of cooking oil over a medium-high heat. It will be hot enough to use when you can flick a drop of water into it and it immediately boils away.

Anytime you are dealing with a large quantity of oil, you run the risk of having some make contact with your heat source--and then--a grease-fire. In the event of a grease-fire, make sure you put it out by pouring a generous amount of salt or baking soda onto the base of the flames. They also make special fire-extinguishers for grease-fires. DO NOT try to use water (or other liquids) to put the fire out--that will just spread it around! Of course, this assumes that the fire is still small enough to manage safely. If it is large enough to threaten your well-being, get out of the building and contact professional fire-fighters.​

Once your oil is heating, go ahead and cut your hotdogs into bite-sized pieces. Then begin the batter. Most cornmeal mixes have flour in them, but, even if the one you are using already does, I recommend that you add a little more, so that you get a slightly smoother texture to your cornmeal-coating. Most cornmeal mixes also have a rising agent in them, but if the one you are using does not, add a little baking soda. Add some salt, pepper, an egg, and enough milk to provide a thick, but smooth batter. Blend until there are no lumps.

Fry those dogs!

Coat the pieces of hotdog in batter, then gently lift them out of the batter on a fork (to provide drainage), and gently lay them into the hot oil. If you are concerned about getting spattered, wear an oven mitt! At any rate, do not just drop your hotdog pieces in! Not only will you splash hot oil everywhere, you will also probably lose some of your batter!

Once the poppers are golden and crisp-ish on the outside, remove them from the oil (preferably with tongs) and drain them on paper towels. Then, turn your stove off and let your oil cool before disposing of it!

Back to the poppers: plate 'em and serve 'em!

That's it, this week! Until next time, good gaming, y'all!

 

[Felon]

That sounds yummy, Rune.

 

[Rune]

Episode 23: Hot Chocolate.

The weather has turned a little chilly around here, so I figure now's as good a time as any to start making some delicious hot chocolate.

Here's what you'll need:

• Chocolate candy bars
• Milk
• Water
• Whatever you want to top them with--whipped cream, marshmallows, cinnamon, nutmeg, shaved chocolate, or whatnot

Hot.

First, heat some milk, either in a saucepan over medium heat, or in the microwave. If you are heating your milk on the stove, make sure you don't scorch it!

While you are heating the milk, put a couple of inches of water in another saucepan and put a heat-tolerant bowl over the top. Place this set-up over medium to high heat and melt your chocolate bars in the bowl. I recommend about one to one and a half chocolate bars per mug of hot chocolate, but tastes will vary. You can use chocolate chips, instead, but will probably want to add some sugar if you are using semi-sweet chocolate.

Chocolate.

Once the chocolate is melted and the milk is hot, mix them together well, then pour, top however you prefer, and serve.

...And that's it, folk! Until next week, good gaming!

 

[Gilladian]

Or you can just order some good hot chocolate powdered mix online (I like Penzey's) and forego the mess of making your own...

Always put the mix into milk, not water, for a good rich drink.

I also love mulled apple cider.

Heat a pan of cider on the stove. For each 8 oz mug of cider, add an inch of cinnamon stick, a clove (real clove, not garlic!), and a pinch of nutmeg (fresh grated if you can get it). You can add ginger and such if you like, but some people don't like it. You can use ground cinnamon if you cant get stick, but it isn't nearly as good-tasting.

Simmer the spices in the cider for at least 10 minutes, 30 if you can wait that long.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Penzey's ROCKS!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Cajun Red Beans requires an overnight soak of the beans (1-2lbs). Other ingredients include yellow/white onions, galic, black & red pepper, parsley, celery, 3 bay leaves, and some kind of meat. For those without hypertension issues, you'll also need salt. Traditionally, that would be some kind of salted or pickled pork, perhaps some kind of sausage (usually smoked and/or hot). I gravitate towards sausage, but to be healthier, I've started using hand-sized slabs of ribs that I've smoked or oven-baked, seasoned without salt.

You'll also need rice to serve them over.

Chop your onions & sautée them in butter to soften/clarify them, along with your garlic in your big pot. Then add your meat cut for the pot (slices if sausage, or single ribs) Add your beans, chopped celery, and spices with enough water to cover them. Bring the pot to a rolling boil, for a few minutes, then stir thouroughly and turn to low. Stir pot occasionally to prevent from burning.

After a while- an hour or so in a standard pot, shorter if using a pressure cooker- crush about a spoonful of the beans against the side of the pot- this will release their starches into the pot and will make your beans creamy. When the beans are all soft, the pot is creamy (and the meat is starting to fall off the ribs, they're basically done.

I was reminded of something today- my friend Lisa Morin's Black Bean soup. Her recipe was similar to my red beans (see above)- black beans are nearly identical to red beans, and can be treated much the same way.

Where she differed:

1) she didn't cook hers down as much- this is a soup, not a side dish. You still crush the beans for thickening, but you want a more fluid end product.

2) she used a bit more meat, and in larger chunks.

3) no rice is needed, but it doesn't hurt.

4) when served, the soup is typically given a topping of a dollop of sour cream and a squeeze if lemon juice. The lemon juice not only adds tang, but reacts with the black beans to turn some of it purple, so once you start stirring, the bowl is a full of swirls of black, purple, and white.

 

[Gilladian]

Mmmm... sounds delicious...

Tonight for dinner I'm contemplating Great Northern beans (canned, don't have time to soak and simmer dried), ham, celery, onions, and garlic. Not sure if I'll add tomato paste.

Brown the onions, add the garlic and celery, season with herbs de provence and a pinch of pepper, add the beans and ham, chicken stock (unsalted) if needed, and simmer for 15-20 minutes. I'll crush some of the beans to see what happens; somehow I've never done that before.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It is one of the easiest ways to thicken any bean recipe!

It happens naturally, to some extent, just because some will get smooshed by stirring the pot with any vigor. Doing it on purpose hastens and improves results.