BetterMost, Wyoming & Brokeback Mountain Forum

Our BetterMost Community => The Holiday Forum => Topic started by: Front-Ranger on October 19, 2011, 07:12:02 pm

Title: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 19, 2011, 07:12:02 pm
Ladies and gentlemen, ready your skillets! The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge is coming!

Whether you are handy with a salt shaker or a can opener, this challenge is for you! Rules (very few and mostly flexible) will be posted here soon, and this weekend, the secret ingredients will be posted.

Your challenge is to come up with a Halloween recipe that uses these secret ingredients. Post your recipe here to play...that's all there is to it! Extra points will be given for speed of response, relevance, and how many Brokie references there are. If you actually make the recipe, you will receive double points, even more if you post a picture of the yummy dish!!

Guidelines: Each challenge will be posted for approximately 10 days. You may use any other common ingredients and condiments, uh, ketchup, but more is not always better, so don't expect to get extra points for using lots of ingredients! If you post a recipe from the Internet, that is fine, but please indicate where you got the recipe, including a link, if possible. Metric, US or UK units are all equally acceptable. Commentary on when the dish was served, who the guests were, or any other anecdotes are welcome. You must use all the ingredients or your entry will be disqualified. I will ask a selection of BetterMostians to judge the entries with me. Judges will be anonymous.

Are your ready? Stay tuned and prepare to allez cuisine!!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Marge_Innavera on October 20, 2011, 11:04:51 am
I'm up for it!   :)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 21, 2011, 11:36:52 pm
Great!!  :D

A few rules/guidelines are listed in the first post.

Are you ready to receive your secret ingredients? Okay, here they are:

* sweet potatoes (either canned, fresh, or pureed) (sometimes called yams)

* walnuts (other nuts may be substituted)

* apples, apple juice, or apple sauce

Now, let's allez cuisine!!!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Ellemeno on October 22, 2011, 01:59:47 pm
Great!!  :D

A few rules/guidelines are listed in the first post.

Are you ready to receive your secret ingredients? Okay, here they are:

* sweet potatoes (either canned, fresh, or pureed) (sometimes called yams)

* walnuts (other nuts may be substituted)

* apples, apple juice, or apple sauce

Now, let's allez cuisine!!!


Sweet Potato Splendor

Take fresh sweet potatoes, wash them and cut them into bite size chunks.  
Rub them lightly with olive oil, and spread them in a baking dish.  
Put them in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  

Pull the pan out of the oven, and with a spatula, loosen the sweet potato chunks from the pan, and flip them around.  
Pour some apple juice in the pan.  Not much, just enough to mostly have a thin layer of it on the bottom of the pan.  
Chop up some walnuts, not finely, just enough to not have really big chunks.  And not too many, just enough to add a little sumpsumpn to the roasted sweet potatoes.  
Also sprinkle in a small amount of salt, and a light amount of either powdered ginger, or if you gots it, chopped candied ginger.  
With the spatula, blend all this, and spread it around the pan.  
As you are blending, add more apple juice, if necessary, to coat all of it.  

Put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes, pulling it out halfway through to flip and check.  
Keep baking until the sweet potato is cooked through.  

Depending on the amount of liquid, the heat of the oven, the age of the sweet potatoes, and other factors, this will either turn out with a delightful roasted and glazed quality, with every sweet potato jewel and every walnut crumb glazed in rich apple goodness, or it will turn into a mush, also very delicious, or somewhere in between.  
Wherever it ends up on the consistency spectrum, it will be delicious and have lots of vitamin A.  
If it's mushy, you can eat it in a bowl with a little half and half poured on.  
Yum.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Penthesilea on October 22, 2011, 02:11:25 pm
I'm in! :)
I already have something on my mind...... hope it'll work out.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 22, 2011, 06:08:25 pm
The sweet potato splendor sounds totally delicious!!! 

I may try it one day.

I take for granted it's calory free.   ::) ;D


Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 23, 2011, 07:24:24 pm
The sweet potato splendor sounds totally delicious!!! 

I may try it one day.

I take for granted it's calory free.   ::) ;D
I agree, and am looking forward to making this...you won't be surprised to find out that I have all the ingredients!

I was looking for canned pumpkin in the grocery store today and couldn't find it anywhere. Looked up and down the canned vegetable aisle. I was beginning to think maybe I had been teleported to Europe! Anyway, I finally found it with the pie fillings in the baking aisle. Monroe has very little imagination!!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 27, 2011, 08:19:06 pm
Friends, are you ready for a new challenge? Secret ingredients coming up soon!!

And we'll also hand out prizes for the first challenge. Correct that...a prize!!  8)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Marge_Innavera on October 28, 2011, 07:50:16 am
It'll be an impressive entry that can top the sweet potato splendor !   I plan to make it for my ladies' club Christmas feast at our December meeting.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Jeff Wrangler on October 28, 2011, 02:26:32 pm
Anybody got a recipe for fried brussel sprouts? Paul and Lynne and I had some at the bar on Tremont Street in Boston where we had dinner, and they were scrump-diddly-umptious!  :D
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 28, 2011, 02:47:45 pm
I agree, and am looking forward to making this...you won't be surprised to find out that I have all the ingredients!

I was looking for canned pumpkin in the grocery store today and couldn't find it anywhere. Looked up and down the canned vegetable aisle. I was beginning to think maybe I had been teleported to Europe! Anyway, I finally found it with the pie fillings in the baking aisle. Monroe has very little imagination!!

I've never heard of canned pumpkin.

Fresh pumpkins are sold here now on a regular basis at this time of year, but it's only maybe 10 years ago they started showing up in the stores. Before that they were practically unheard of.

But canned....? Nope. Not yet, anyway.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 28, 2011, 02:55:54 pm
I'm planning to go to the farmer's market tomorrow. Will look out for sweet potatoes and walnuts.....   ;)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: southendmd on October 28, 2011, 06:09:46 pm
Anybody got a recipe for fried brussel sprouts? Paul and Lynne and I had some at the bar on Tremont Street in Boston where we had dinner, and they were scrump-diddly-umptious!  :D

Yes, Jeff, they were scrummy.  I think they used a deep fryer, but you can approximate the taste.  After rinsing them, slice them very thinly, then saute them in canola oil on very high heat.  I add just a little cumin.  Yum. 
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 28, 2011, 06:13:19 pm
Btw, what is an iron camp anyway?
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 28, 2011, 07:39:50 pm
Yes, the name of the challenge is a little obtuse. I named it after the Iron Chef series on TV but I thought the word chef was not Brokieish enough, so I changed it to Iron Camp Cook in honor of Ennis, his iron skillet and his salt shaker.

I was just reading a restaurant review of a new place in Denver and they raved about the fried brussels sprouts. Lynne, your recipe sounds great. I usually prepare them steamed in a sweet/sour sauce, and I'm getting a little tired of that.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: southendmd on October 28, 2011, 08:11:46 pm
I was just reading a restaurant review of a new place in Denver and they raved about the fried brussels sprouts. Lynne, your recipe sounds great. I usually prepare them steamed in a sweet/sour sauce, and I'm getting a little tired of that.

It's Paul, actually.   :)

When they're steamed, they're more like cabbages  :P, so I prefer the high-heat saute til they're blackened.  No need for a sauce. 
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 29, 2011, 10:33:21 am
The iron skillet award for our very first challenge goes to (drum roll please) Ellemeno, our BetterMost administrator, for her excellent Sweet Potato Splendor! This recipe is simple, delicious, and easy to make. I can just hear Ennis clanging on his coffeepot with a stick in appreciation! And Jack is sharpening up his potato peeling knife! 

The only thing missing is a photo, so I found one that will do on the Kraft Foods site. They have a similar recipe using Planters Walnuts, but I recommend you use Ellemeno's, which is much better!

(http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j341/LeeRecca/Recipes/Apple-Walnut_Sweet_Potatoes.jpg)


Sweet Potato Splendor

Take fresh sweet potatoes, wash them and cut them into bite size chunks.  
Rub them lightly with olive oil, and spread them in a baking dish.  
Put them in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  

Pull the pan out of the oven, and with a spatula, loosen the sweet potato chunks from the pan, and flip them around.  
Pour some apple juice in the pan.  Not much, just enough to mostly have a thin layer of it on the bottom of the pan.  
Chop up some walnuts, not finely, just enough to not have really big chunks.  And not too many, just enough to add a little sumpsumpn to the roasted sweet potatoes.  
Also sprinkle in a small amount of salt, and a light amount of either powdered ginger, or if you gots it, chopped candied ginger.  
With the spatula, blend all this, and spread it around the pan.  
As you are blending, add more apple juice, if necessary, to coat all of it.  

Put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes, pulling it out halfway through to flip and check.  
Keep baking until the sweet potato is cooked through.  

Depending on the amount of liquid, the heat of the oven, the age of the sweet potatoes, and other factors, this will either turn out with a delightful roasted and glazed quality, with every sweet potato jewel and every walnut crumb glazed in rich apple goodness, or it will turn into a mush, also very delicious, or somewhere in between.  
Wherever it ends up on the consistency spectrum, it will be delicious and have lots of vitamin A.  
If it's mushy, you can eat it in a bowl with a little half and half poured on.  
Yum.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 29, 2011, 10:38:17 am
Are you ready for the final Halloween Challenge? This one will run until next weekend:

A few rules/guidelines are listed in the first post.

Here are the secret ingredients:

* grapes (may be either red, green or black, but must be seedless)

* candy or chocolate of any kind


Now, let's allez cuisine!!!
[/quote]
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 29, 2011, 10:41:36 am
Congrats to the glorious victory, Clarissa!!    ;D
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 29, 2011, 10:44:02 am
I don't need no grapes. I'll just have my chocolate plain, thank you very much!   8)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 29, 2011, 10:45:48 am
Come to think of it...

Hm...why not melt the chocolate, and dip the grapes in it.

Does that count as an entry for the challenge?
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 29, 2011, 12:46:05 pm
Come to think of it...

Hm...why not melt the chocolate, and dip the grapes in it.

Does that count as an entry for the challenge?

You bet, friend! Now you're getting the hang of it!! But, what kind of grapes? What kind of chocolate? How would you melt it? And, chocolate is sticky so would you like to roll the chocolate grapes in something else, like chopped pistacios or coconut? And, what about the Halloween angle? What can you do to make the grapes creepy? (Personally I think that peeled grapes are pretty creepy looking, myself)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Penthesilea on October 29, 2011, 12:52:36 pm
Come to think of it...

Hm...why not melt the chocolate, and dip the grapes in it.

Does that count as an entry for the challenge?



That was exactly my thought. It's actually something I've eaten before, and liked very much.

(http://i575.photobucket.com/albums/ss192/Penthesilea09/4d3a2807.jpg)


(http://i575.photobucket.com/albums/ss192/Penthesilea09/b839f5d7.jpg)



For the Halloween aspect: take white chocolate and sprinkle/drip with red fruit sauce. Voilá, you have Gored Bloody Eyeballs.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 29, 2011, 02:33:41 pm
You bet, friend! Now you're getting the hang of it!! But, what kind of grapes? What kind of chocolate? How would you melt it? And, chocolate is sticky so would you like to roll the chocolate grapes in something else, like chopped pistacios or coconut? And, what about the Halloween angle? What can you do to make the grapes creepy? (Personally I think that peeled grapes are pretty creepy looking, myself)

Details, details.... LOL

My original thought was what Chrissi already posted about, so here's a different take on it:

Melt chocolate, milk chocolate for kids, dark for adults, and pour into it a mixture of raisins (dried grapes) and chopped nuts. It could be any nuts or mixture thereof: almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts, pistachios etc.

Put spoonfuls of the mixture on a baking sheet in little heaps, and let cool and harden.

The creepy thing about it is the calories it contains.

Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: ifyoucantfixit on October 31, 2011, 02:16:22 am

                              I just made up a recipe.  It seems to be really a hit with the family.


                          Rocky road grapes   (if it is for Halloween make it rocky mountain nuts)
                                                                           ;)
              First freeze your grapes.  I prefer the red seedless, but you can use your preference
              Melt the chocolate, your preference again, dark or milk.  (I like dark) toll house.
              Use a long toothpick and dip the frozen grapes in melted chocolate chocolate.
              place on a silpat or waxed paper to cool and get slightly solid
              
              toast pecans and then crush into medium to small pieces.
              roll the chocolate covered grapes in pecans.  
              Yummy, dive right in.  

               Easy make for any occasion or just for a simple treat.
               If you like it, you can chop up the small marshmellows and add that to the  
               nuts after they are toasted.  I like using the microwave for about 45 sec.  Depends
               on your own appliance.  Placing them on a ironware plate for toasting, uncovered.

                
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 31, 2011, 01:43:32 pm
Why am I not surprised that you came up with a great grape recipe, Purple? I'm definitely going to try this one...hopefully tonight!!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on November 13, 2011, 10:10:37 am
All those Halloween recipes with grapes were fantastic! Thanks to our triumvirate of Janice, Sason and Chrissi for the wonderful ideas! Stay tuned for a Thanksgiving iron cook challenge coming up!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on November 15, 2011, 12:43:59 am
Going back to our original challenge of sweet potatoes and apple juice, here (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/bourbon-sweet-potatoes-parsnips-10000000682493/) is a recipe that adds parsnips to sweet potatoes and uses orange juice and bourbon instead of apple juice. Splendor!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Ellemeno on November 18, 2011, 03:33:50 am
The iron skillet award for our very first challenge goes to (drum roll please) Ellemeno, our BetterMost administrator, for her excellent Sweet Potato Splendor! This recipe is simple, delicious, and easy to make. I can just hear Ennis clanging on his coffeepot with a stick in appreciation! And Jack is sharpening up his potato peeling knife! 




Thank you, Lee!  I'm just discovering this honor. 

I will make this recipe for Thanksgiving, and will call it by its new name - Iron Camp Splendor.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on November 18, 2011, 04:25:29 pm
I've bought sweet potatoes, walnuts and apple juice. Will try to make it this weekend!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on December 29, 2011, 07:10:37 pm

Sweet Potato Splendor

Take fresh sweet potatoes, wash them and cut them into bite size chunks.  
Rub them lightly with olive oil, and spread them in a baking dish.  
Put them in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  

Pull the pan out of the oven, and with a spatula, loosen the sweet potato chunks from the pan, and flip them around.  
Pour some apple juice in the pan.  Not much, just enough to mostly have a thin layer of it on the bottom of the pan.  
Chop up some walnuts, not finely, just enough to not have really big chunks.  And not too many, just enough to add a little sumpsumpn to the roasted sweet potatoes.  
Also sprinkle in a small amount of salt, and a light amount of either powdered ginger, or if you gots it, chopped candied ginger.  
With the spatula, blend all this, and spread it around the pan.  
As you are blending, add more apple juice, if necessary, to coat all of it.  

Put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes, pulling it out halfway through to flip and check.  
Keep baking until the sweet potato is cooked through.  

Depending on the amount of liquid, the heat of the oven, the age of the sweet potatoes, and other factors, this will either turn out with a delightful roasted and glazed quality, with every sweet potato jewel and every walnut crumb glazed in rich apple goodness, or it will turn into a mush, also very delicious, or somewhere in between.  
Wherever it ends up on the consistency spectrum, it will be delicious and have lots of vitamin A.  
If it's mushy, you can eat it in a bowl with a little half and half poured on.  
Yum.


I've finally bought the ingredients for this awesome-looking dish, and plan to make it tomorrow.

I'll bring it to a potluck New Years Eve.

Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 05, 2012, 12:09:58 am
Time to revive this thread!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 17, 2012, 04:51:22 pm
Hi all. I'm planning to bring in a special Halloween dish to work next week. I'd like it to include apricots. Also, one of the people in our office is diabetic and can't have sweets. Anyone have a recipe that would work? I'd be much obliged!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 17, 2012, 05:16:03 pm
Fraid not, Lee.

Apricots are sweet in themselves, so I don't see how that could work out.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 17, 2012, 08:40:20 pm
A clarification, when I said, "Sweets" I meant sugary items like candy, cake, cookies, etc.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Penthesilea on October 18, 2012, 02:45:45 am
Hi all. I'm planning to bring in a special Halloween dish to work next week. I'd like it to include apricots. Also, one of the people in our office is diabetic and can't have sweets. Anyone have a recipe that would work? I'd be much obliged!


I have a terrific recipe with apricots! Don't know whether it works for your collegue though, it's heavy on the cream side. Maybe ask them beforehand.
The sauce has an orange-y color, so I think it would be nice for Halloween. :)


Schweidelende nach Elsässer Art
(Pork Loin D'Alsace)


The measurements are for 4 people.

1 pork loin
2 or 3 bananas (depends on the size)
1 small can mushrooms (0.8 lb) (you can use fresh ones, of course)
1 small can halved apricots in their juice (0.8lb) (these I really prefer from the can for this recipe. But you don't need the juice)
150g (0.3lb) grated cheese (I use Emmenthal, but think American cheese also works. You need a cheese that melts nicely)

For the sauce:
1/4L (8.33 fl oz) cream
3 good table spoons ketchup
3 good table spoons tomato purée (the thick one, from a tube, not the thin stuff from a carton)

salt, pepper curry, sugar (not much, only as a spice)


Butter a glass casserole dish. Cut loin in medallions and roast gently (it shouldn't be "done" through and through, just roasted from the outside). Put loin in casserole, add some salt and pepper.
Cut bananas in halves twice: once lengthwise, once in right angle (so you get 4 pieces out of each banana).  Roast them gently.
Drain the apricots and cut them in half (so you have 1/4 apricots).
Roast the mushrooms gently.

Put everything on top of the loin in the casserole (casserole is not ready for the oven yet though. Time for the sauce now).

For the sauce: stir all ingedients until it has a viscid texture. If it's too thick, add some milk. Add salt, pepper, sugar and curry spice. Be generous with the curry.


Pour sauce over casserole and put grated cheese on top. Put the casserole in the oven for ca. 1/2 hour at 200°C (392°F)

Served best with Basmati rice.





Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 18, 2012, 08:20:00 am
Wow, this does sound delicious. I'll bet my coworker could eat this because he takes cream in his coffee! Thank you so much, friend, for taking the time to write down this recipe...I can't wait to try it!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Penthesilea on October 18, 2012, 10:41:23 am
Wow, this does sound delicious. I'll bet my coworker could eat this because he takes cream in his coffee! Thank you so much, friend, for taking the time to write down this recipe...I can't wait to try it!

Report back when you do. :)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 16, 2013, 05:44:31 pm
We're back!! Fire up your iron skillet friends!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 16, 2013, 05:48:56 pm
Yes, Jeff, they were scrummy.  I think they used a deep fryer, but you can approximate the taste.  After rinsing them, slice them very thinly, then saute them in canola oil on very high heat.  I add just a little cumin.  Yum. 

Thanks for the brussels sprouts recipe, Paul. Is it the cumin that makes them scrummin-y?
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: southendmd on October 16, 2013, 06:05:51 pm
Thanks for the brussels sprouts recipe, Paul. Is it the cumin that makes them scrummin-y?

Yes, but I'm sure being deep fried also helped!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Jeff Wrangler on October 16, 2013, 07:04:20 pm
Anybody got a recipe for fried brussel sprouts? Paul and Lynne and I had some at the bar on Tremont Street in Boston where we had dinner, and they were scrump-diddly-umptious!  :D

Difficult to believe this was two years ago.  :-\  Seems like it was just yesterday. Good memories.  :)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 17, 2013, 01:18:52 pm
And the game is on!! (Sherlock reference there)

Okay, here are the ingredients for your first fall challenge:


No, you can not use tomatoes for the fruit!!

Rules and guidance in the first posting...
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 17, 2013, 08:56:34 pm
Yes, and citrus fruit works too!! That ought to make the challenge a bit easier!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 18, 2013, 02:31:12 pm
I can see you all out there with your thinking caps on!! Or, maybe it's one of those chef's hats? (What are those called?)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: southendmd on October 18, 2013, 04:06:16 pm
I can see you all out there with your thinking caps on!! Or, maybe it's one of those chef's hats? (What are those called?)

A toque!  Bork Bork Bork!

(http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/49460481/Swedish+Chef+Scspicysauce.jpg)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 18, 2013, 04:27:35 pm
toque you, Paul! (Paul to the rosque you!)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 18, 2013, 05:39:39 pm
 :laugh:
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 18, 2013, 05:42:25 pm
Swedish chef says: "Tack for the pic of my toque! Bork bork bork!"
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 18, 2013, 06:03:16 pm
Lee, when my son was little I used to cook a dish he liked a lot.

It was fish cooked in a sauce made with orange juice. Does that count?
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Penthesilea on October 19, 2013, 04:41:43 am
And the game is on!! (Sherlock reference there)

Okay, here are the ingredients for your first fall challenge:

  • fish (any kind, including shellfish)

    fruit (any kind, including berries, stone fruit, puree, jelly, etc)

No, you can not use tomatoes for the fruit!!

Rules and guidance in the first posting...

Yes, and citrus fruit works too!! That ought to make the challenge a bit easier!


That's easy. Here's my recipe:

1. Take plane to UK
2. Go into a snack bar
3. Order fish & chips
4. Disregard the vinegar and use lemon juice instead.
5. Fly home


If that's too elaborate, try alternative recipe:

1. Buy frozen deep-fried fish and a lemon
2. Bake in oven (fish only)
3. Squeeze some lemon juice over the fish


Ta-da! Ain't I a famous chef? ;)

Seruously, battered and deep-fried fish is the only kind I like. Kind of fish fingers for adults. :laugh:
Otherwise fish = eeewww to me. One of the reasons is that no matter how bone-free a fish is guaranteed to be, there's always one person at the table who does have a fishbone. And that person is always me. :P
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 19, 2013, 11:05:15 am
They don't have fish and chips in Germany?? Chrissi, I think vinegar would also work, since it's made from grapes!

Sonja, your recipe sounds wonderful...more details please!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 19, 2013, 12:08:08 pm
Ha! I haven't cooked that fish for at least 10 years, but I managed to find the recipe!  ;D

I remember it being quite easy:

600 g cod filet
1 large chopped onion
1-2 tbsp butter
2-2½ tbsp flour
½ dl concentrated orange juice
3-3½ dl fish broth
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground ginger
1 package of grean beans (I think there are 300 or 400 g in one package)
1 orange cut in slices

Directions:

Saute the onion in butter or margarine, without browning it. Add the flour and then the liquid.
Cut the fish into cubes. Add fish and beans in the pan. Simmer on low heat for ca 10 min.
Season with ginger and salt. Garnish with orange slices and serve with rice.

I seem to remember that I added more ginger and salt.

Voila!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 19, 2013, 02:20:52 pm
Awesome! I have everything except the orange and the onion. I'll get those today and make the dish this week!!

It was a close race between Sonja and Chrissi but Sonja edged by with a more detailed recipe...and one that didn't hinge on intercontinental flights!

So, as the winner, Sonja, you get to choose the ingredients (two or three) for the next challenge. Don't make it too easy!!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 19, 2013, 03:20:03 pm
I won!!  I won!!! I won!!!!! I won!!!! I wooooooon!!!!!!  I'm the wiiiiiiinneeeeeeeerrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!   ;D ;D ;D

*dances madly around the room*
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 19, 2013, 03:22:55 pm
Oh, that's easy: herring and lingonberries!   8)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 19, 2013, 09:27:01 pm
Sounds intriguing, but we've already done fish and fruit! Suggest something different, or anyone else can also make suggestions!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 20, 2013, 06:09:30 am
But this is not just "fish and fruit".   Herring and lingonberries are Sacred Swedish Food Items!    ;D


But I'll make it easy for you. This is how you use that particular combination: fried herring with mashed potato and lingonberry jam.
Not one of my favourite dishes, to be honest. But there you are.

(http://www.recepten.nu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/stekt_stromming_600-600x250.jpg)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 20, 2013, 06:13:41 am
So, here's another one. Minced meat and white cabbage.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Penthesilea on October 20, 2013, 07:20:53 am
So, here's another one. Minced meat and white cabbage.


Don't ask a Kraut what to do with it. Too easy ;) :laugh:

Krautwickel!
In English stuffed cabbage or cabbage rolls.
It's white cabbage wrapped around a filling of minced meat, herbs, onions, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stew the rolls and serve with gravy and (mashed) potatoes.


The rolls ready to be stewed:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Lebensmittel-Kohlroulade1a-Asio.jpg/800px-Lebensmittel-Kohlroulade1a-Asio.jpg)

The whole dish:
(http://www.f1online.de/premid/005338000/5338211.jpg)


You can also take savoy cabbage instead of white cabbage. But eww, eww, eww - who in their right mind would want that? ;) Savoy cabbage is just yuck.

Now I'm curious what the Americans come up with. Do you know cabbage rolls at all? What else could one do with the two ingredients?
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 20, 2013, 08:40:44 am
Krautwickel!


Kåldolmar!   ;D

That's exactly what I had in mind, Chrissi!

There's another Swedish dish where you chop the cabbage and layer it with the minced meat in an oven pan. The cabbage on the bottom and top, meat in between. Then bake it in the oven. We had it in school. That's one of the very few (probably the only one) traditional Swedish dishes that I didn't find revolting.

Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 20, 2013, 03:27:00 pm
Oh, I just love seeing these international recipes! Might you let us know what kind of herbs you use in the cabbage rolls? If I recall, the seasonings really make the dish. Do you use caraway seed?

I am tempted to make these with chard rather than cabbage because the kind of cabbage available in our stores has a tight head of leaves and doesn't roll up nicely. In the US we tend to put a lot of tomato sauce in our cabbage rolls, which I don't think really belongs there.

Another dish that uses cabbage (if you're a purist) is...fish tacos!!! There's a whole thread devoted to these goodies around here.

I seem to recall that Serious posted a long list of things you can do with cabbage. I'll try to unbury it.

I'm not a big fan of Savoy cabbage either, Chrissi, but there is one good recipe I like that uses it. It's veal saltimbocca.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Sason on October 20, 2013, 03:37:22 pm
Lee, here's the kind of cabbage we use in Sweden:

(http://fragamormor.blogg.se/images/2010/vitkl_110957894.jpg)

I've never made this dish, but what I think you do is boil the cabbage leaves first, so they soften, and then use them to wrap the meat. It's a labor intensive dish, hence probably the simplified variation with layers.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 20, 2013, 03:58:15 pm
That looks like the same kind we use in the U.S., Sonja.

Now, here are Katherine's ideas for cabbage:

Quote
I love cabbage, because it is nutritious, cheap and easy (especially if you buy those pre-chopped bags). The fresh farm-market stuff should be really good. Here are a few ideas:

Cut the cabbage in chunks, toss it with olive oil and roast it in the oven.

Make the traditional Irish dish colecannon: add boiled cabbage and onions to mashed potatoes. I also add grated cheddar.

Asian stir fry: Shredded cabbage and onions, red peppers, carrots sauteed in Asian flavors: peanut and sesame oil, garlic, rice wine or vinegar or fish sauce, soy sauce. Add shredded chicken. You can add rice or pasta to this, or just have the vegetables and chicken.

Cabbage soup: saute chopped onions, add flour to make roux, cook until roux is golden, add chicken broth, then add chopped potatoes, chopped ham, when potatoes are almost tender add shredded cabbage, cook until cabbage softens.

Chopped salad: chop lettuce into small pieces. Add shredded cabbage and whatever else you want in the salad, also finely chopped.

Also, when I make fish tacos I always top them with Southwestern cole slaw. I just mix shredded cabbage with chipotle-ranch dressing. Even my son loves it.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 25, 2013, 02:47:08 pm
The other day I watched the teen version of "Chopped" on the Food Channel. I always find this show fascinating but when they line up people and eliminate, or "chop" one of them from competition, I find that excessively cruel. Especially when you have to watch the person walking away dejectedly and there is an interview with them about the experience of being "chopped." Maybe I am too much of a softie. It was doubly bad watching these brilliant teen chefs being chopped.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Penthesilea on October 25, 2013, 03:00:42 pm
Oh, I just love seeing these international recipes! Might you let us know what kind of herbs you use in the cabbage rolls? If I recall, the seasonings really make the dish. Do you use caraway seed?


I'm sorry to dissapoint. I never made the dish myself. I hated it as a kid, and have eaten it maybe three or four times as an adult. It's something I really have to have a craving for, otherwise I still don't like it. You can buy the ready to stew rolls in the butchery, which is what I do since I'm the only one in the family who eats it at all. That way it's still home-made, or at least hand-made, since the butchery makes the rolls themselves. But I don't have the work. ;D
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Jeff Wrangler on October 25, 2013, 04:09:06 pm

Don't ask a Kraut what to do with it. Too easy ;) :laugh:

Krautwickel!
In English stuffed cabbage or cabbage rolls.
It's white cabbage wrapped around a filling of minced meat, herbs, onions, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stew the rolls and serve with gravy and (mashed) potatoes.


The rolls ready to be stewed:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Lebensmittel-Kohlroulade1a-Asio.jpg/800px-Lebensmittel-Kohlroulade1a-Asio.jpg)

The whole dish:
(http://www.f1online.de/premid/005338000/5338211.jpg)


You can also take savoy cabbage instead of white cabbage. But eww, eww, eww - who in their right mind would want that? ;) Savoy cabbage is just yuck.

Now I'm curious what the Americans come up with. Do you know cabbage rolls at all? What else could one do with the two ingredients?

Of course we have stuffed cabbage!  :P  And stuffed peppers.  :P I really don't care much for either.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 30, 2013, 02:00:02 pm
Here's one last Halloween challenge for you all:

Split peas
Peppers (sweet or hot)
Yogurt

Allons-y to the kitchen!!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on November 21, 2013, 09:21:13 pm
In honor of Throwback Thursday, we present for an encore the recipe of Sweet Potato Splendor, submitted by Ellenemo!


Sweet Potato Splendor

Take fresh sweet potatoes, wash them and cut them into bite size chunks.  
Rub them lightly with olive oil, and spread them in a baking dish.  
Put them in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  

Pull the pan out of the oven, and with a spatula, loosen the sweet potato chunks from the pan, and flip them around.  
Pour some apple juice in the pan.  Not much, just enough to mostly have a thin layer of it on the bottom of the pan.  
Chop up some walnuts, not finely, just enough to not have really big chunks.  And not too many, just enough to add a little sumpsumpn to the roasted sweet potatoes.  
Also sprinkle in a small amount of salt, and a light amount of either powdered ginger, or if you gots it, chopped candied ginger.  
With the spatula, blend all this, and spread it around the pan.  
As you are blending, add more apple juice, if necessary, to coat all of it.  

Put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes, pulling it out halfway through to flip and check.  
Keep baking until the sweet potato is cooked through.  

Depending on the amount of liquid, the heat of the oven, the age of the sweet potatoes, and other factors, this will either turn out with a delightful roasted and glazed quality, with every sweet potato jewel and every walnut crumb glazed in rich apple goodness, or it will turn into a mush, also very delicious, or somewhere in between.  
Wherever it ends up on the consistency spectrum, it will be delicious and have lots of vitamin A.  
If it's mushy, you can eat it in a bowl with a little half and half poured on.  
Yum.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Penthesilea on November 22, 2013, 01:51:34 am
In honor of Throwback Thursday, we present for an encore the recipe of Sweet Potato Splendor, submitted by Ellenemo!



Question: what about peeling the sweet potatoes? Did Clarissa forget to mention it or are they used with peel?

What would you recommend to add instead of walnuts (or any kind of nuts)? Whate else would fit with this? Raisins? Orange slices? Cornflakes (before serving, so they don't get soggy)?

And while we're at it, what else except nuts has that lovely crunch to it? Cornflakes are nice, but they soak up so quickly and then are yuck.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on December 06, 2013, 04:56:06 pm
Sorry to be so late in answering your questions, Penth.

Yes, the sweet potatoes must be peeled first. You could substitute pine nuts or any other kind of nut for the walnuts, or you could use sunflower seeds or granola or wheat berries (That cereal is called Grape Nuts in the US). I wouldn't recommend using cornflakes for the reasons you mentioned. Or, you could make a crunchy topping with oatmeal, tossed with some melted butter, flour, and brown sugar and sprinkled on top of the sweet potatoes and baked until it is brown and crisp.
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Penthesilea on December 06, 2013, 07:31:11 pm
The oatmeal topping sounds great. I love oatmeal.
Making a mental note to remember this thread next time I need a crunchy topping for something. :)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on May 29, 2014, 12:06:12 pm
I just found a neat game! Food Network posts pictures of some ingredients that are in your grocery cart and you come up with a dish that uses all of them. Winners might appear on the broadcast!!

https://twitter.com/FoodNetwork/status/472033384571478016/photo/1 (https://twitter.com/FoodNetwork/status/472033384571478016/photo/1)
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Jeff Wrangler on May 29, 2014, 12:16:32 pm
Or, you could make a crunchy topping with oatmeal, tossed with some melted butter, flour, and brown sugar and sprinkled on top of the sweet potatoes and baked until it is brown and crisp.

Why don't you just crumble up oatmeal cookies?  ;D
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on June 20, 2014, 06:01:12 pm
Why don't you just crumble up oatmeal cookies?  ;D
That would work just as well!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: CellarDweller on September 13, 2014, 08:55:23 pm
Oh, will we get Autumn/Halloween recipes here this year?
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: Front-Ranger on October 22, 2014, 08:06:15 pm
Certainly, friend Chuck! Let's see...

I think we need a recipe with eye of Newt hard boiled eggs and spiders' webs angelhair pasta. Ready, set, go!!
Title: Re: The Iron Camp Cook Halloween Challenge!
Post by: CellarDweller on October 23, 2014, 06:25:26 pm
eye of Newt and spiders' webs

:laugh:

Thanks Endora!  ;)