Food! Food! Food! The Good, Bad, Ugly, and Tasty steampunk treats and drinks

[Reni Valentine]

for the last steampunk picnic i went to i brought some spiced up gingerbread muffins

they were chocolate gingerbread rum muffins.

they were a big hit too. if anyone wants it i can give a recipie for it.

i would love the recipe if it's not too much trouble...

I wonder how many vegans are among us?

As am i

i'm not a vegan - hell, i'm barely even a vegetarian anymore (*sigh* i suppose i've lapsed a bit). i've seen a few random recipes that could be considered neoVictorian that are either vegetarian or easily made so using modern substitutions...

[elShoggotho]

Hm... the art of pretzel making could be considered mad science.

Metric measurements, the recipe is German.

You need:
500 grams of fine wheat flour
2 tsp. salt.
1 tsp. sugar
250 ml water
1 package (42 grams) of fresh yeast
40g butter
Coarse salt or ground cheese, possibly ham.
...and not to forget, the lye, wihich is a 5 percent sodium hydroxide solution.

First off, you need the dough. Mix yeast, butter, sugar and warm water, also mix the flour and the salt before kneading everything into a hearty dough. Immediately form the rolls or pretzels, let them sit for a few minutes, then refrigerate them. Take them back out of the oven, brush the lye on them while preheating the oven to maximum. Before you put them in, sprinkle coarse salt over them. Leave the salt off if you want to put ham and cheese on them. Bake the finished rolls or pretzels for twenty minutes. For the ham and cheese variant, put ham and cheese on the thickest part after you're finished, put them back in for a few more minutes.

IMPORTANT: GLOVES AND GOGGLES ARE MANDATORY WHEN WORKING WITH SODIUM HYDROXIDE! You should also wear a cotton apron, to protect your clothing. Also make sure not to use any plastic when working with the lye.

[Miriavas]

A friend brought up this dessert in conversation, and while it was created in the 1920's in honor of a Russian Ballerina, Anna Pavlova, it brought back so many memories of when My mother or Grandmother would make it for 'Tea' when we were expecting company. (I really need to work on those run on sentences, my apologies. )  It seams extremely neo-Victorian to me.

http://www.joyofbaking.com/Pavlova.html

[RoseOak]

Mmmm all this baking is making me want to make Nuns Pretzels on Sunday

[CapnHarlock]

You're talking like a Texan!  You speak my language!
How about an Amber or Bock-style beer for that?

At least New Mexican, from almost 30 years of eating Mrs. Anita Tellez's marvelous New Mexico homestyle cooking. Probably the best restaurant food in NoVA   (please note that this wonderful now-80-some-year-old lady offered the egg-cheese-chorizo "Breakfast Burrito" some 10 years before the chains ever heard of 9and corrupted)  the concept)

[CapnHarlock]

Not bad..... Not bad at all .....

"Cleaning Out the Fridge" Oven-Braised Beef Pot Roast

Ingredients:
(1) large yellow onion, peeled, halved, sliced very thinly
(1)  beef chuck roast, approx. 2 lb (the cheap, tough stuff)
 2 tbsp chopped fresh garlic
 fresh-ground white pepper (black pepper, if you don't have a handy pan-Asian market)
 about 2 tsp kosher salt (a tiny bit more than you think you need)
 spice-mix of your choice (I used a samll amount of leftover commercial 'Jamaican Jerk Seasoning') to taste
 other thin-sliced veggies in your fridge ( I used leftover 'broccoli-slaw' mix marinated in balsamic vinegar dressing - be imaginative - the vinegar/sweet helped, got bell peppers? use 'em, got kale? use it, etc.)
 a couple "squirts" Dijon mustard
 a 1-second-long pour of whatever beer you are drinking at the moment.
 2 sheets aluminum foil

Instructions:

1) rub the whole roast with a small amount of Dijon Mustard. Be stingy - just make it 'sticky' to hold the spices.
2) coat the whole roast with salt, pepper and your spice mix of choice - be imaginative.
3) place meat on 2 sheets of aluminum foil, arranged in an "X"  shape.
4) make a "boat" of inner foil sheet and cover meat with onions, garlic and veggies of choice/availability
5) add a little beer to keep moisture up.
6) wrap foil medium-tight as 2 separate coverings (no leaks)
7) place on a baking sheet and cook in 250F (US) degree (slow) oven approx. 3-4 hours (check for your preferred degree of done-ness - YMMV by your oven - DO check by poking it or use a probe thermometer - somewhere  between rare and falling-apart - your choice )
"stab" the foil packet to get juices into a saucepan. de-fat and reduce for gravy/sauce.

Goes well with rye bread, baked Cajun Onions and baked Sweet Potatoes  (oven heat re-use - I try to be frugal/green, when I can)

Yummm........ Enjoy .....

edit: noticed I mistyped time: 3-4

[ForestB]

I don't know how steampunk chicken soup is, but the "cleaning out the fridge" recipe reminds me of my chicken soup making technique...I just take whatever vegetables are available, with chicken , sometimes leftover, sometimes not. I then add spices (whatever I feel like), then simmer for a good while. It's the only way to get the meat and potatoes type that I married to eat his vegetables..

[CapnHarlock]

Chicken Soup is probably the most Steampunk food there is

Simple yet elegant, uses what you have on hand, encourages innovation, and, if you add sage, garlic and thyme to the stock, is quite capable of raising the dead - your grandma was right

[Angus A Fitziron]

Yep, I tried a slow cooked brisket encouraged by the good Capn. Included all left over veggies it was superb. UK temp was 100^o fan oven and I cooked it in a casserole dish but with only a small amount of liquid (red wine) so it didn't 'stew'. Thanks Capn!

[CapnHarlock]

Very glad it was tasty, Mr. Fitziron.

 Brisket is a marvelous but underused cut of beef   So many uses beyond "Corned Beef and Cabbage"  and Texas BBQ

looking back at the recipe I posted, it appears I skipped a step - sear the meat on all sides in a very hot pan w/olive oil before coating and braising - oops

[CapnHarlock]

OK, the presentation is a bit 'precious', but wtf?? 

Every 5 years or so, I feel like having "American-style" meatloaf, and, since I live alone, I did not want a huge hunk o' meat to deal with, so :

Meat Muffins:

Ingredients:

1 whole onion, minced
2 tbsp garlic, minced
~ 1 lb, lean ground beef
~ 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
~ 3tbsp parmigiane cheese, grated
salt,pepper to taste
~ 1 tbsp "steak sauce" or make up a spice blend - my son likes "A1", so, I had some
~1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
fresh thyme/oregano, chopped,  to taste
2 whole eggs
(no f'ing ketchup)

Prep:

1) Preheat oven to 400F.
2) saute onions in oil until lightly-browned, add garlic and herbs. sautee soft
3) in a bowl, mix beef, sauteed veggies, breadcrumbs, cheese, eggs and sauces until uniform consistency (not too much mixing)
4) Oil (or spray) a muffin tin  and fill with the "meatloaf" mix
5) bake approx 40 minutes , drain any grease, and allow to rest 15 min.

Like the old "armored St. George vs. The Dragon" advertising cartoon, "crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside"  MMMMMMMmm

[RoseOak]

for the last steampunk picnic i went to i brought some spiced up gingerbread muffins

they were chocolate gingerbread rum muffins.

they were a big hit too. if anyone wants it i can give a recipie for it.

I'd love the recipe. Its about time I made more muffins

[CapnHarlock]

wow... just wow... I am speechless...

It Isn'T BBQ, But it IS Steamed...   and F*'ing amazing

Another "Low and Slow" dish, I'm in a rut, here ...

A good friend has had some recent bad times, and definitely was in need of some
pork BBQ. This is what he got, instead. It was going to be apple-smoked, but I didn't feel like
shoveling snow.

Ingredients:

whole bone-in pork shoulder
~3 tbsp Dijon Mustard
kosher salt
black pepper
chili powder
mulling spice

Mop:
apple cider vinegar
soy sauce
shot of Sriracha chile sauce
shot of Worcestershire sauce
honey


Steaming Liquid:
apple cider vinegar
chicken broth
diced onion
garlic cloves
fresh oregano (Cuban, if you can find it)
fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

Extras:

1 whole lerge Yellow Onion
1 whole large sweet potato.

Prep:

sweet 'tater:

Wash, dry, sprinkle with salt, pepper. drizzle w/olive oil and  wrap tightly in foil

Onion:

Peel, slice down "blooming-onion" style (leave connected at root end.)
sprinkle w/salt, pepper, chili powder and olive oil.
wrap in foil.

Meat:

remove skin, make chicharonnes, if desired, otherwise just toss it.
remove most "silverskin", but leave a little.
rub all over with Dijon Mustard
cover evenly with kosher salt, black pepper and brown sugar.
coat with mulling-spice and chili powder and refrigerate at least overnight.

Instructions:

1) preheat oven to 250f.

2) put onion, garlic and herbs into a baking pan with a rack to keep meat out of the liquid
cover w/cider vinegar and chicken broth, put meat on rack, fat side down,  and place in oven.

3) Cook for about 45 min, then turn  over and cook another 30 min. Keep the steaming liquid
"topped up" with chicken stock, if needed. The "bark" should be starting to brown.

4) after 75-90 min, mop with the vinegar/honey  every 30 min or so. Cook another 2 hrs.

5) At this point, remove from oven and wrap meat in 2 layers of foil. dump in all remaining
mop liquid. seal and cook another 2 - 3 hrs. Toss in the wrapped onion and sweet potato and let 'em
cook.  Retain all the steaming liquid  and put into a pot.  Remove bay leaves and any stems.

6) When cooked, drain all the liquid from the foil packet into the pot, refrigerate and remove fat.

7) Add the roasted onion and the "mooshy" sweet potato pulp to the pot and blend. Adjust seasoning
in sauce to taste (heat, salt, acidity, sweetness)

Shred the pork shoulder and serve with the sauce.

The pork was excellent, but I ate the sauce with a spoon....

[OoJeremyoO]

ok i'm not eating pretzels anymore. yuck. lye.

[CapnHarlock]

ok i'm not eating pretzels anymore. yuck. lye.

You can make your own by boiling the dough in a heavy baking-soda solution instead (according to Mr. A. Brown).

The lye won't hurt you (if you're just eating pretzels, not making them carelessly). You will get more sodium from the salt than from the alkaline browning agent.

Lutefisk is quite another story

[Angus A Fitziron]

Slow braised pork shoulder sounds good Cap'n. I know just what you mean about cooking sauce temptations as well!

Here's a variation (well actually, it's nothing like it except it's pork and slow cooked ...)

I like belly pork - none of my family can stand the sight of it. 

So, I cook it in a chinese style, but the original recipe has been lost through years of modification and adaptation due what happened to be in the storecupboard at the time.

Prepare a stewing liquid.
Equal quantities of dark soy sauce and good rice wine.
About twice this quantity of chicken stock (I always retain chicken carcasses after a roast and cook them down for stock, including the clear liquid from the roasting juices)
You need about enough to cover the pork in a saucepan with a closely fitting lid. It sounds expensive but you do re-use it.

Belly Pork - ideally about 1/2" thick rashers; you don't need to take the rind off but do if you want to. These days the pork tends to have less fat on it than in previous days, but it is part of the dish so don't trim it all off. Cut the pork into 3 ~ 4" pieces and quickly sear on both sides (to just seal it but not so as to begin to cook it - I have done this dish without searing and it didn't seem to suffer.)

Add the pork to the stewing liquid. I may add a few strips of ginger or even a few chilli flakes to ring the changes from time to time, but don't be tempted to add onions or other vegetables, only aromatics. Just simmer the pork over a low heat for 3 or so hours, until the pork is tender. Turn off heat and allow to cool.

Drain and reserve liquid while it is warm. At this stage I will lightly grill the meat for my meal and I will freeze the rest. It freezes well and makes a superb addition to a later chinese feast or as a meal with more western style veg. Careful when grilling as the soy sauce in the meat attracts heat and does tend to scorch, which is nice, but not when overdone!

Put the liquid in a jug and refrigerate. The liquid will separate with the fat floating to the surface and the gravy will turn to jelly. At this stage, the fat can be easily and completely separated (still the best way to separate fat IMO - use the same technique when making chicken stock - see above). Then freeze the gravy for future use. When you come to make the next batch of pork, you will need to add some more chicken stock and possibly some water. Adjust taste by adding whatever soy sauce and wine you deem necessary.

[CapnHarlock]

Mr. Fitziron,

That sounds WONDERFUL. My employer and fellow food-fanatic has just found a new (old) country-style butcher-shop locally.  I think I need to make a trip to find some (unsmoked) pork belly


Thank you, sir