Would you like to win one of Alice the Cook‘s autographed, hard cover cookbooks and one of her hand crafted spice blends?

Alice the Cook is hosting a photography contest.  Photograph Alice the Cook, one of her assistants, their kitchen, and/or one of their dishes and post it on the Alice the Cook’s facebook fan page and you will be entered into a drawing.  Photos must must be taken at the 2012 Minnesota Renaissance Festival.

The winner will be announced in early October.  Photos already submitted already qualify for this contest.

Tags: cookbook, Photo, renaissance festivals

As I mentioned in an earlier entry, I am posting out first weekend’s show schedule.  Once the weekend shows have been decided, I will be posting it here and on my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/alicethecook.

11:00am – Spice Blends lecture (learning how to make curry, garam masala, and ras el hanout in your own kitchen)

12:30pm – Cooking demonstration:  Italian Calamari with Squid Ink Pasta

2:00pm – History of spices lecture (how they were used and where did they come from)

4:00pm – Cooking demonstration: Pizza Making (history, dough making, etc.)

We are adding a 5:00pm show on seasoning your cast iron pots and wooden utensils after the first weekend, but we may be having a run through first weekend. 

Four versions of our self-produced cookbooks and a limited number of our hard-cover cookbook will be for sale.  FOr a limited time, we will be selling our 2011 souvineer cookbook that contains all of the recipes we demonstrated last year at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.  We have plenty of room for seating and shade to enjoy. We hope to see you there!

Tags: cookbook, Education, historical cooking, renaissance festivals

This past season and year have been amazing.  First, I became the official food writer for “Renaissance Magazine.” 

Second, despite the weather, the appearance at Siouxland was well worth it between the demonstrations and cookbook sales.  The cold and rainy weather did not diminish our spirits!

Third, we experienced some amazing weather at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.  There was no rain until final weekend.  The demos went well, fed an average of 100 people each day, amd sold more cookbooks.  Also, the community kitchen in which we help feed the cast members, were nominated and received the “Best Group Award” in 2009 at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.  We were touched by everyone’s generosity and kindness; we couldn’t have done it without your help. 

I almost forgot to add that I also won a $100 gift certificate for my website as part of a Passion and Quality campaign.

We plan on returning in 2010.  Thank you all.

Tags: community service, cookbook, historical cooking, history, Renaissance Magazine

Festive holidays bring friends and family together.   In my household, holidays also mean feasts.  Below is a recipe I used for cooking turkey.  This past weekend, we did a unique twist to the recipe and smoked the meat as well.  You can do this recipe easily in the oven, if you don’t want to smoke it, but smoking it adds to the flavor.  Below is the recipe from this weekend and I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:
1 turkey (between 13-15 lbs)
6 oranges
1/3 cup of whole cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp of garam masala
3 cups of applewood chips
6 cups of water
Large cast iron pot with ring insert
fire

Process:
begin soaking the wood chips in the water overnight.  While they soak, zest two of the six oranges and reserve the zest.  Pierce the skin of the unzested oranges with the cloves.  They should look like pomanders or Christmas decorations when done.  Place in the refrigerator until the next day.

The next day, make sure the turkey is thawed and its body cavity is rinsed out and clean.  Cut the two of the four cloved oranges in half and place in to the turkey’s cavity.  All four halves should fit, if not, push them in more forcibly and sew the bird shut.

If smoking the bird, place the wet wood chips into the cast iron pot with the ring insert above the wood chips.  Before placing the bird on top of the ring, sprinkle the cinnamon and garam masala spices onto the exterior of the bird.  Lay the bird, breast side down in the pot and place the last of the oranges outside of the bird in the pot and cover.  Once covered, place the pot on direct heat.

Check every twenty minutes and add about a cup of water to the wood (do not pour it on the bird).  The water will create a steamy smoke that will help season the bird and keep it moist.  The bird should reach an internal temperature of 175 degrees. At festival, this took 3.5 hours for a 14 lb turkey.

If you choose not to smoke the bird, use the ring, to keep the bird off the direct heat of the pot.  In the oven, cook at 400 degrees until the turkey reaches 175 degrees internally.

Pull the oranges out (do not serve) and let sit the meat set for 5 minutes before carving.

Tags: cookbook, Dairy Free, gluten free, historical cooking, recipe