Ren Fest Fun

Went to my first Wisconsin Ren Faire yesterday. I've been to three others, two in Michigan, and have actually been going to Ren Fests since well before I could drive.

This one, the Bristol Renaissance Faire, was pretty nice. Most fests are the same, but with a few minor variations. This one was nice because there was more open space, so it felt less crowded. Also, flushable toilets, which was amazing. Anyone who says that flush toilets detracts from an authentic experience hasn't had to use a privy in a hoop skirt and a bocice.

But I digress.

The other interesting difference between my "home" fest and the Bristol Faire was the food. There were certainly some of the same items--giant turkey leg, soup in a bread bowl--but there were also a lot of different things on the WI menu.

Michigan	Wisconsin
Chili Dogs	Brats
Scotch Eggs	Cornish Pasties
Suffed, battered mushrooms	Grilled, Marinated mushrooms
Hummus and Pita	Butterfly Potato chip
Cheese sticks with marinara sauce	Fried cheese balls with mustard mayo and BBQ sauces
Root Beer Float	Sassafras

Some of the standout foots of both fests:
Scotch Eggs: Take a hard-boiled egg. Cover it with tasty sausage sphere. Bread and deep-fry. Split in half and eat. Recommended limit is 1 per lifetime, or else you shortenn your life.
Sassafras: A root-beer like beverage. Soft drink with a nice herbal, complex flavor, somewhat licorice. Very thirst-quenching for those who don't drink beer.
Fried cheese balls: Cremy, gooey fried cheese.

The beer selection at the Bristol Faire was also much more comrepehensive than my home fair. At my home fair you can get Guinness, Harp, etc. At Bristol, I had a Newcastle, a Hacker Pschorr, a Leinenkugel's, and a cider. They had two types of cider so I can't remember which it was. My home fair's selection is a touch more limited, and it's the same beer pretty much on any tap you go to. At Bristol, you've got to hunt around for the keg you want.

I'm sure I'm suffering a bit from the "Grass is Greener" syndrome, where my faire is routine to me, and this was new, therefore better. But I think there were some key places that Bristol shines through. I'll never give up my home faire, but I may be getting to Bristol once a year from now on, too.

Best. Drink. Evar.

I hate to sound like I suffer from superlatives, but I would encourage you to try this drink recipe below before you claim I'm exaggerating.

This is one of those dangerous drinks, where the different components are so perfectly in balance that you can't really taste the alcohol. But the drink is also exceedingly complex and delicious, even though it contains only three ingredients.

I'm referring to a Watermelon Cosmopolitan. In my case, I made my own watermelon-infused vodka, which I think was the key to the drink's success. I'm sure you could also make this with a store-bought watermelon vodka, but I do encourage you to try to make your own. Not only is it very easy to make, you also get the bonus of alcohol-soaked fruit!

The drink was so good, when I offered a taste to my mister, he took the whole thing. High praise coming from a guy who usually prefers to sip scotch or a good microbrew.

Watermelon Cosmopolitan
1 part watermelon-infused vodka (recipe below)
1 part Triple Sec
1 part cranberry juice

Shake over ice. Strain into martini glass.

Watermelon-infused vodka
I used the rind of leftover watermelon, so I had a lot of the green part of the fruit that was soaking in the vodka. This gave my vodka a lovely cucumber vibe, in addition to the melon flavor.

Rind of one watermelon, with some red still attached.
750 ml bottle of your favorite vodka
1 gallon drink cooler, such as Coleman jug or glass Sun Tea jar

Take rind of leftover watermelon, that still has a little bit of red fruit on it. Peel waxy dark green skin off of rind and discard. Cut remaining rind and fruit into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces. Add to jar. Top jar with bottle of vodka. Save vodka bottle.

Let fruit and booze marinate for about a week, shaking every day or so. Strain vodka back into its original bottle using a funnel. You may wind up with a bit more liquid than you started with. If this happens, just pour the rest off into another container. Refrigerate until ready to use.

If you wish, you can keep the watermelon for eating later.

N-Ice surprise

Rejoice, Daiquiri Ice lovers.

Due to popular demand, Baskin-Robbins has brought back the original recipe for their Daiquiri Ice sorbet. They had replaced it with a revised formula a year or so ago, called Lime Daiquiri Ice, and it just wasn't the same.

The B&R Web site has it listed under "Flavors of the Month," so it may only be available on-and-off, during the summer months.

But, if you are a fan of the flavor, make sure to go over to Baskin-Robbins and have yourself a scoop or two.

Or, you can always try my daiquiri ice clone recipe. I put this together a few years ago when Baskin Robbins first pulled the plug on the original recipe.

BASKIN-ROBBINS DAIQUIRI ICE CLONE VERSION
(this is NOT Lime Daiquiri Ice)

The key to getting the right tartness level is the citric acid powder. The amount of citric acid powder will need to be adjusted depending on how sweet (or sour) your limes are.

2 cups water
1 cup sugar
Juice of 1 lime (fresh squeezed, a little pulp is fine)
1 tsp imitation rum extract
Between ½ and 1 ½ tsp citric acid powder (sold under the brand name FruitFresh. Or you can go to a health food store or online for generic food grade citric acid)
1 drop green food coloring

Heat sugar and water just until sugar melts. Remove from heat and add ½ teaspoon citric acid. Stir until dissolved. Let mixture cool a couple minutes, then add rum extract, lime juice and food coloring. Taste, and add more citric acid powder as needed, a quarter teaspoon at a time. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Churn in an ice cream machine for 25 minutes. Spoon ice into freezer-safe bowl, and move to the freezer for an hour before serving.

Note: The recipe only makes a little over 2 cups, so you may want to double the ingredients.

M-m-m-my Samosas!

A few weeks ago, I had some pretty tasty samosas at a local restaurant, and was inspired to try making some myself.

The flavors seemed pretty straightforward: Mashed potato, cilantro, some coriander and curry powder. Nevertheless, I hit the library to find a basic samosa recipe I could adapt.

Mollie Katzen's Moosewood cookbook had samosa recipe that I used as a template. Because I was in a hurry (read: lazy), I used store-bought won ton wrappers and did not make my own dough.

I also baked my samosas, instead of frying them, to try to save a little bit of time and calories.

Measurements here are approximate, you'll want to taste your potato filling often and season it to your liking. If you use leftover mashed potatoes, make sure to add a little milk or other liquid, to get them smooth again.

M-m-m-my Samosas!
Ingredients:
Store-bought won ton wrappers
1 pound potatoes (russet's fine)
1 bunch cilantro
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon Curry powder (more or less to taste)
2 tablespoons oil
Non-stick cooking spray (like Pam)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
salt and pepper

Equipment:
Pizza cutter
Frying pan
pot for cooking potatoes
clean work surface
potato masher

Peel your potatoes. Chop them into medium pieces, toss them in some boiling salted water until they are cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. Drain, add a little bit of milk and mash until mostly smooth.

Meanwhile, while potatoes are cooking, chop your onions and garlic, crush the coriander seeds lightly. Add a little bit of oil to pan, fry onions and garlic with spices to bloom the spices, on low-medium heat, until onions are a bit soft and everything starts to smell awesome.

Take several springs of cilantro, but not the whole bunch, remove the center stems, and chop. Add onion mixture and cilantro to the potatoes. Taste, add additional salt, pepper, cilantro and spices as needed. While potato mixture is still hot, add the frozen peas, and stir gently. Try not to mash the peas.

Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray, liberally. (this is important. I forgot this step and paid for it).

To fill: have a pizza cutter, a small bowl of water, and a clean work surface.

Cut wontons in half from corner to corner so you have two triangles. Make sure the top of the triangle is pointing up. Put a tablespoon or two of filling into wonton. Wet edges of wonton, With the top of the triangle pointing up, fold over wonton so edges meet symmetrically as best you can. Press wonton together to seal. If filling oozes out, then use less filling next time.

Put wontons on baking sheet. Spray tops of wontons with cooking spray. Cook for 5 minutes at 375 degrees, then turn over, check after another 5 minutes. They're done when they are golden brown but not burnt.

Post-Oscar debriefing

The final menu for the Oscar party deviated only slightly from what I’d planned. My friend B brought bacon salt dip, and gutless rumaki (bacon-wrapped water chestnuts). The squash soup was served sans greens, and the cheese plate was postponed. Also, no carrots.

The desserts went over well. I also had some ice cream to go with them for those who wanted.

I really enjoyed the broiled citrus topped with butter and brown sugar, in a shallow pan, broiled till browned and bubbly.

The poached pears also were pretty good. I tried a trick with them, and it worked pretty well. I did not want to spend forever peeling the pears, so I split them in half and scooped out the flesh with a melon baller. They were a little uneven, but came out fairly well.

Oh, the other thing I had was a champagne punch. This was based on a recipe I got 10 years ago but never made. I modified it a bit because there was no raspberry sherbert at the store, but otherwise it was pretty close to the original

Broiled citrus fruits
3 grapefruit
3 oranges
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Mix butter and brown sugar. Section grapefruits and oranges, reserving excess juice for another use. Toss sections into bowl to mix.

Spread fruit out in shallow baking dish so all fruit is in one thin layer. (can be done in advance to this point). Sprinkle brown sugar butter mix on top. Broil about 4-6 inches away from the heat for 5 minutes, or until the top is bubbly and just beginning to brown. Watch it carefully so that it does not burn. Serve warm.

Pear spheres poached in red wine
6 pears, firm, slightly underripe
1 bottle red wine
¼ teaspoon Chinese Five-spice powder
brown sugar or honey to taste, ¼ cup or more
orange zest from one orange

Cut pears in half. Using a melon baller, scoop out spheres, being careful not to hit the skin on the pears. (Can be done about a day aheadIf doing ahead, sprinkle with lemon juice and cover with plastic wrap). Add pears and the rest of the ingredients to large saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 45 minutes, letting the wine mixture reduce.

Using a slotted spoon, drain pears out of wine. Cook wine down a little bit more until it starts to get syrupy. Return pears to syrup, turn off heat. Serve warm, chilled or at room temperature. Can make a day in advance. Reheat or bring to room temp to serve.

Lemon Berry Champagne punch
Make sure all ingredients are chilled before you start.
1 bottle champagne
1 bottle rose wine
1 pint strawberry sorbet
¼ cup frozen lemonade concentrate
1 cup frozen raspberries

Mix all ingredients except for sorbet and raspberries. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop ice cream into punch. Stir to combine. Add raspberries and serve.

Oscars Party Planning

Out of the trifecta of the Emmys, Grammys, and Oscars, the Oscars are my favorite. And not just because my good friend B and I host a party every year. There’s simply something glitzy and glamorous about them in a way that the other two awards shows aren’t, and I like that. It gives me a chance to put on airs, and show off a little bit.

Just putting the finishing touches on my Oscar party menu. I’m part of a year-round CSA and I got a turkey from some family friends in the area, so I have a ton of food on hand to play around with and use for the menu planning. Not only is it thrifty, since all the food’s already paid for, being a localvore is uber trendy right now.

Here’s my menu as it stands right now. I’ll post the final version the Monday after.

Roast Turkey with sage and garlic gremolata
Celeriac and New potato mash
Butternut squash soup with kale and assorted greens
Italian garlic bread
Orange maple ginger glazed carrots
Cheese plate: Smoked cheddar and jalapeno Monterrey
Poached pears in red wine sauce
Warm baked citrus fruits

Until then, please, enjoy some Oscar links, courtesy of Mahalo. These links will be updated to-the-minute on Oscar night.

• Oscar Winners 2009
• Oscar Live Coverage
• Oscar Nominations 2009
• Best Picture Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Actor Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Actress Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Supporting Actor Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Director Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Original Screenplay Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Foreign Film Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Cinematography Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Costume Design Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Documentary Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Makeup Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Score Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Song Oscar Winner 2009
• Best Sound Editing Oscar Winner 2009
• Oscar Dresses 2009
• Oscar Performances 2009
• Slumdog Millionaire Oscar Performaces
• MIA Oscar Performances
• Wall-E Oscar Performance
  

Improv Recipe: Tangy, creamy, quickie custards

I’ve been having some bad luck with egg-based desserts lately. Well, not bad luck so much as laziness backfiring on me. I haven’t been measuring ingredients.

Yeah, cooking catastrophe waiting to happen, I know. Two pumpkin custards in a row never set on me, and when I tried to wing it and estimate the amounts of a chocolate mousse, which didn’t go well.

But I had some leftover eggs from a souffle I'd made, half a carton of heavy cream, and I wanted custard, and I didn't want to have to find a recipe for it or be bothered with "measuring."

So I knew I was tempting fate here. However, I had learned from my previous mistakes and discovered a few rules:

1. Use a water bath, and use hot water. Doesn’t have to be boiling, but microwaving a cup of water until it’s good and steamy will work.
2. The ratio of eggs to other stuff is important. More eggs is better if you want a custard to thicken properly. When unsure, err on the side of more eggs. You might get something closer to sweet quiche, but at least it will be solid.
3. Baking the custard in smaller containers will help even cooking and setting. One large container will take forever to come to temperature and will cook unevenly. Several smaller containers will prevent this from happening
4. Add less liuqidy ingredients when you can. I added a half a cup of strained greek yogurt (essentially sour cream) to the custard mix to help thicken it up before I put it in the oven.
5. Use a trusted recipe. Even if you’re not measuring your ingredients, it will give you a proper ratio of eggs to liquid.

With these precautions, I successfully made an improve custard, which was quite good. The greek yogurt gave it a denser body and a nice tang, a little like a cheesecake.

Improv custard for two

3-4eggs (at least 3 egg yolks and 3 egg whites)
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons maple syrup
pinch of salt
½ cup of greek strained yogurt (or sour cream is fine)
¼ t cinnamon

Beat eggs until uniform and lighter yellow. Add other ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into ramekins or custard cups. Put cups in a high-sided baking pan or baking dish that will fit both of them without touching.

Microwave 4 cups of water on high for 2 minutes or until steamy. Be careful not to boil. Pour water around cups, but don’t get any into the custard.

Bake at 300 degrees until just set in the center. Check after 40 minutes for doneness. You want the edges to be set but the center to be a little wobbly. Turn off oven, leave custards in oven for at least 30 minutes, up to an hour. Serve warm, or cover and refrigerate.