The Minnesota Renaissance Festival starts on Saturday, August 18 and runs weekends and Labor Day through September 30. Alice the Cook and her assistants will be performing at:
11:00am – Spice Blends lecture (learning how to make curry, garam masala, and ras el hanout in your own kitchen)
12:30pm – Cooking demonstration (different every weekend)
2:00pm – History of spices lecture (how they were used and where did they come from)
4:00pm – Cooking demonstration (different every weekend and different from our 12:30pm show)
We are adding a 5:00pm show on seasoning your cast iron pots and wooden utensils after the first weekend. We have plenty of room for seating and shade to enjoy.
A well-stocked pantry or larder has always been essential to any kitchen. It doesn’t matter that the kitchen is in a castle, a manor house, or ship. A good cook knew how to make food items last over journeys aboard ships or long winters. Below I have offered a variety of techniques to keep your food longer. Many of these techniques can be used to create fantastic dishes and wonderful gifts to your loved ones.
Smoking Meats Smoking meats were another way of preserving them. Unlike the salting process, smoking adds a tastier element to the meat. As a note, I feel safer eating smoked versus salted meats. Smoking meats require a lot less time than the salting process, so the rewards come quicker. Basically it comes to hours versus days. Although salting has been around for centuries, I grew up with smoked meats and still enjoy them today.
The process is quite easy; obtain wood chips (found in the same location as the charcoal briquettes) and soak them overnight in water. Once done, place the soaked wood chips in the bottom of the pot or tray.
Many of my ancestors hailed from Scotland. As a member of the Lindsay clan, I have had the opportunities to try
Traditional Haggis
many traditional Scottish recipes including haggis. Most people assume haggis is a Scottish dish; however haggis-like dishes have been traced back to the Romans and are mentioned in “Homer’s Odyssey.” Other variations have been found in Scandinavian culture and among other regions. But, it is the Scots who made haggis famous. Haggis usually consists of cheap cuts of meat, suet, sheep liver, intestines, and oatmeal. In the United States, similar dishes have evolved including Scrapple, hashes, and meatloaf.
One of the largest challenges making traditional haggis is locating the sheep’s stomach, a key ingredient in preparing haggis. I have found that sheep’s stomachs are very easy to come by via butchers who cater to the Amish customers or who provide other old world ingredients. A sheep’s stomach is quite large. If you feel as though a lot of people may not enjoy this dish, I would recommend cutting the stomach in half and reducing the recipe to limit any wasted food.
This dish became very popular with my staff and our friends. Very delicious and decadent, this dish will be very popular with your friends. I really hope you will enjoy it.
Ingredients ½ of a medium sized well-marbled chuck roast, cut into thin strips no longer that 2”
¾ lb. of bacon, cut up
Whiskey Beef and Bacon - 11/02/11
½ lb of red potatoes, thinly sliced
½ lb of carrots, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, roughly diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups of whiskey
1 tbsp of rosemary
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
salt to taste
Heat up a large fry pan (or wok) and begin to fry the bacon with the garlic and onions. When the bacon is about medium done, begin to add the beef to sear. Take 1 cup of whiskey and begin to deglaze the pan with the bacon and beef and add the rosemary. Add the potatoes and carrots and continue to stir. Cover the pan briefly, checking and stirring every 5 minutes. After about 15 minutes, add the rest of the whiskey to finish. The fats from the bacon and beef combined with the whiskey makes a great and tasty glaze on the food. While still cooking, add the black pepper. Once the whiskey has cooked down, add salt to taste and serve heartily with some nice ale.
Many of the recipes posted of late were prepared and demonstrated at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. We cooked each of these dishes on an open fire.
I mentioned in an earlier blog that we did several unusual dishes for the final weekend at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Among them were Whiskey Beef and Bacon Hash, Oxtail Soup, and Young Octopus with Saffron Rice & Lemon.
The nearby grocery store was having a special on octopus and I thought it would be an unusual cooking demonstration for our audience. Little did I know this dish would be so tasty. The timing is crucial; the saffron rice should be the first part of the preparation.
Saffron Rice with Lemon
Young Octopus with Saffron Rice and Lemon - 10/01/11
2 cups of white basmati rice
3 ½ cups of vegetable stock
½ tsp of turmeric
½ tsp of saffron threads
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lemon, zest and juice
¼ tsp sea or Kosher salt
Pour the vegetable stock into a medium sized pot with a tight fitting lid and place over high heat. While the stock comes to the boil, add the turmeric, garlic, lemon juice and half of the zest. Stir well and add the rice and salt. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid, and reduce the heat to low and cook for 12-15 minutes. Turn off the heat, but keep the lid on for an additional 5-10 minutes.
Young Octopus
½ lb. young octopus
1 cup rice flour
1 tsp of ground coriander
1 tsp of ground cardamom
¾ tsp of ground cinnamon
¾ tsp of fresh ground black pepper
½ tsp of chili powder
½ tsp of salt
3 cups of olive oil
Rinse the octopus in cold water and cut into thirds (roughly a tad larger than bite-sized). Once done, add all of the spices to the flour and blend well. Pour the oil into a medium sized pot and put on medium to high heat. The goal is to get the oil to 350 – 375 degrees.
While the oil heats up, dredge the octopus in the seasoned flour, until completely covered in flour and flash fry the octopus for about 10-30 seconds. Do not add more than two octopi into the pot to fry at a time, once it has curled up and cooked on all sides, remove from the pot and place on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
Once fully cooked, fluff the saffron rice with chopsticks and add to a plate. Add the octopus on top of the rice and use the remaining lemon zest on top of the dish. Now it is ready to serve.
