Author: anj68

Alice uses cast iron pots and wooden utensils and keeps the recipes as close to the traditional recipe as possible. She even utilizes a fire pit located outside her home to test authentic recipes. For more information about Alice the Cook, visit her website at http://www.alicethecook.com In future blogs, I will offer recipes, kitchen hints, and historical cooking lessons.
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Two Weekends in One: Festival Friday and Irish Weekend – September 28 – 30

This weekend is unusual.  There are two separate themes running this upcoming weekend.  On Festival Friday at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, students come in and the festival provides a number of educational opportunities.  For more information, you can download their program HERE.

For Festival Friday, I will have four lecture based demonstrations at 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm.  My cooking will be very limited that day as all of my assistants will be unable to attend.  Festival Friday will provide ample opportunity to speak with me one-on-one. 

For Irish weekend, you can download the program HERE.  My shows for the final weekend are:

11am:  Spice making demonstrations

12:30pm:  Soda Bread and Irish Stew cooking demonstration

2pm: History of Spices

4pm: Cooking with Whiskey cooking demonstration

5pm: Seasoning your cast iron pots

This is the final show of the season.

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Spice Blends from our Demonstrations

Each day, we demonstrate how to make various spice blends over an open fire.  An earlier entry – http://alicethecook.com/?p=801 talks about how we do it, but doesn’t necessarily cover the recipes.  Due to popular demand, below are the spices we demonstrate (and sell) at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.

Spices change based on the tastes of individuals and family units. Some prefer savory tastes and others prefer a spicier blend.  You can adjust accordingly. 

Toasting the garam masala spices

Please remember that you need to use a hot, dry cast iron plate for toasting these spices. 

  1. Gather your spices
  2. Toast the spices
  3. Grind up the spice.  You can use an electronic grinder, but make sure you do not use a coffee grinder.  Keep them separate so that you can enjoy both. 
  4. Use the spices as needed

As the spices age after grinding, they diminish potency significantly over time.  Most of the ingredients can be purchased through a co-op or a spice specialty store, such as Penzey’s Spices or Spice House; I’ve also had a lot of luck locating hard-to-find spices through Amazon.com.

If you to make more spices make sure you freeze your spices in an airtight bag to minimize the loss of flavor.

  • Garam Masala: cumin, coriander, black pepper, cardamom, chilies, clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg
    In the case of garam masala, you would toast the spices together and grind them.
  • Curry:  sea salt, mustard seeds, turmeric, garam masala, coriander, garlic, ginger, and cumin
    In the case of the curry, you would begin toasting the mustard seeds until they begin to pop.  You would then add the salt, coriander, garlic, ginger, and cumin.  As a note, I would strongly recommend using dried spices instead of fresh ginger and garlic as they will scorch on a hot pan. Once toasted, I would begin grinding and then add the garam masala and the turmeric after. 
  • Ras El Hanout: cinnamon, cloves, corriader, cumin seeds, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom (use sparingly), ginger, fennugreek, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, dried Damascus rose petals, and optional chilis
    Like the garam masala, these would be toasted and ground together.  The rose petals will float to the top and be the last ingredient to grind.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

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Spaetzel (Oktoberfest)

Ingredients:

Spaetzel made September 22, 2012.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground or freshly grated nutmeg
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup extra fine dry breadcrumbs (optional)
4 T butter (optional)

Preparation:
Combine flour, salt and nutmeg. Add eggs and mix. Pour milk into the dough little by little, until a smooth batter forms, slightly thinner than brownie batter. Let rest at least 5 minutes.

Bring 2 quarts of water with 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a heavy, 4 – 5 quart saucepan. Plan on boiling at least 2 batches from this recipe.

Set a large colander (one with large holes) over the saucepan and press the dough, a few spoonfuls at a time, through the holes directly into the water. Boil for 5-8 minutes until the noodles are tender to the bite. Remove noodles with a slotted spoon and drain further in a sieve. Toss with roasted breadcrumbs to serve.

To make breadcrumbs: Melt and stir 4 tablespoons butter in a pan over medium heat until butter stops foaming. Add 1 cup breadcrumbs and cook, stirring constantly, until crumbs are browned. Drain on paper towels.

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Red Cabbage (Oktoberfest)

Ingredients:

Tasty red cabbage made on September 22, 2012.

2 1/2 oz. bacon, either American or German “Bauchspeck”, chopped
1/2 c. onion, diced
4 c. shredded red cabbage, about 1 lb.
1/2 c. dry, red wine
1/2 c. apple juice
1 T. honey
1 bay leaf
4 cloves
Ground black pepper
1 apple, peeled and quartered

Preparation:
Brown bacon in a dutch oven (to make a vegetarian option, use tbsp of olive oil instaed of bacon). Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook for 2-3 minutes. Pour in red wine and juice to deglaze, add the spices, sugar and apple.

Simmer on stove top for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Keep the liquids one finger width (1/2 inch) deep, adding apple juice or water. Adjust seasonings. Serve hot.

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Wiener Schnitzel (Oktoberfest)

Ingredients:

Wiener Schnitzel made September 22, 2012.

4 thin boneless pork chops or veal chops (we used chicken breasts instead)
1/2 c. oil (I use olive oil)
Flour
Parsley
butter
3/4 c. extra fine bread crumbs
2 eggs
salt & pepper
2 lemons
waxed paper

Heat the oil in a large skillet at medium high heat.  Place each chop between two sheets of waxed paper and pound with the smooth side of a meat tenderizer until thin (1/4″ – 3/8″).  Dip the meat into flour so that it is lightly covered.  Beat the two eggs in a bowl that is wide enough to dip the meat into.  Spread the bread crumbs onto a plate or flat surface. 

Take each cutlet, season with salt and pepper and dip both sides of meat into eggs to coat.  Then coat the entire cutlet with the bread crumbs.  Place in hot oil and cook on both sides until golden brown.  It only takes about 1-2 minutes per side.  In a separate pan, melt 4 tbsp of butter. As a note, traditional recipes call for lard instead of butter.  Once the cutlet is done frying, lightly fry it in the butter to give it the authentic German taste.  Serve each cutlet with half a lemon on the side.