Porthos

I have been asked about the feast before so I thought I would at least list what all goes out the window. The food is broken into two categories - platters and pass foods. Platters have a variety of items on them and go out to individual tables, pass foods are in bowls and servers walk around all of the tables and offer spoon-fulls of the dish they are bearing to those eating the feast. All items, whether platter or pass, are cut into finger-food pieces. I hope to take some pictures this coming weekend to add. We had an extra 28 people added to those whom we normally feed (normal is around 80 people) and that took any "spare" time away. From Sunday (yesterday): Meat platters: Grilled beef (this weekend was about 18 lbs of beef per day) Pork roast Grilled sausages Chicken (prepared off-site by one of our cooks and reheated before plattering) Cut-up spiral-sliced ham to bulk up the meat platters because of the extra 28. Veggie/Cheese Platters: Cubed Medium Cheddar Cheese Cubed Monterrey Jack Cheese Cubed Gouda Cheese (This week's choice for the 4th cheese) cut-up Brie Celery Sticks Baby Carrots or Carrot Sticks Cucumber Sticks Edemame (which mostly come back but is wanted by some) Grapes (on Sunday) Orange wedges Bread baskets: Home-baked free-form bread rounds (sent out whole) (maybe 8" diameter) Store-bought dinner rolls Butter Bowls of green and black olives. Pass foods: Meatballs in Sauce Potatoes dressed with butter and herbs potatoes dressed with olive oil and herbs for the vegans Vegan Barley (Mire Poix, barley, Knorr Veggie Bouillon) Pinto Beans (vegan) My lovely bride of 36 years is known for her bread puddings. This week was a tasty artichoke and cheese bread pudding (with the exception of the mushrooms sauteed in butter all other veggies are vegan) Roasted Brussels Sprouts Sauteed Pepper Strips Sauteed Onion There are guild members that are gaga (I'm one) who enjoy just the onions on their own. Steamed Carrots Steamed and Sliced Red Beets Broad Beans sauteed in Sesame Oil with Black Sesame Seeds Sauteed Mushrooms Cut-up tomatoes in a very nice freshly-made balsamic vinaigrette. (Thanks, Mike) Vegan Sheppard's Pie (made with real vegan shepherds) Made off-site in Bob's home kitchen. As soon as the plattered foods go out the window we start cutting and plattering the desserts: Home-made desserts: Brownies Brownies with pecans Vegan Tea Cookies - this week was cranberry and raisin Triple-ginger Gingerbread 2 Kinds of Melon, sliced Store-bought: Apple Pie Pumpkin Pie Biscotti My day in the kitchen starts at 7:00. Is it any wonder why at 2:30, when the counters are wiped down and I walk out the door I am so ready to sit in the shade and sip a beer. I have a fantastic crew who makes me look good: Mike, Aris, Glynnis (my daughter - ), Pollo, Bob for parts of the morning and the chicken and Vegan Sheppard's Pie, and Robert on Saturdays. We also get "chopping help" from guild members who will prep the broad beans, cut up the celery sticks while sitting in the feasting area. We have enougn people in the kitchen that we have not had a lot of "chopping" to ask for. A few comments. All of this is done, minus the desserts, in the four-hour window before sending the food out of the window. The beef comes in as a roast and is butchered into "steaks". The steaks are grilled on a six-burner grill. The finished steak then rest before being cut into bite-size portions. The grilled sausages are also done on the six-burner grill. Before beginning this cooking which starts at 9:30 I will have hard-cooked 5 dozen eggs, we will have cut up about 12-15 oranges into wedges, cut up 18 croissants into thirds and 18 Costco-size muffins into 6ths. This is set out at 10:00 a.m. so that our hard-working re-enactors have something to nibble on before the feast. That's what I did twice this weekend. And it made me smile.

A simple "We are unable to provide dishes without MSG" at the bottom of the menu would deal with that. Then the potential patrons can decide whether to stay and order or chose not to eat there.

Thank you for this link. It was very interesting reading. The one thing I do slightly differently concerns water. I did not state my viewpoint earlier as clearly as I should have. If the water has a specific quantity required then I still like it in the ingredient list. If it calls for say 2 cups of boiling water to be poured over something then I definitely want that in the ingredient list so that I can have said water at the boil when I need it. Just how I see it, no compliance by others required.

I've been cooking for 48 years so I am no beginner. I want ALL ingredients called out. People who are familiar with my posting know that when I encounter recipes that don't do this I word-process a copy and "fix" the ingredient list. Please note where I suggested this one helpful sentence: In the introduction slip in this basic piece of wisdom: "Remember to read a recipe through before starting it."

The ingredient list needs to be in the order used to make the dish. You would be surprised at how many times I find this not true. If the recipe calls for salt, pepper, water,etc list them in the ingredients. Avoid surprises. In the introduction slip in this basic piece of wisdom: "Remember to read a recipe through before starting it." Hope this helps.

I feel the same way. I have a love affair with the Revereware 3 qt saucepan. A few months ago I needed to lend the one that is part of my Ren Faire kitchen to a guild member who's 9-year-old was suffering nausea and needed something to catch the matter if more came up on the way home. I got it back a few week ago. I could tell (because of just how anal I am about how I clean things) that they had used it in their kitchen before it got returned. Their son is one of the cooks in my Ren Faire kitchens and so I asked him a couple of weeks ago if they had used it. After describing it he asked, "That wasn't one of our pans?" to which my DW stated that I should start looking for one for them. Tuesday I found one for $3.59. I have cleaned it up and it is currently in the dishwasher and will be delivered to them this weekend. This is the one I grew up with, most likely older than I am: Since I am in thrift stores at least every other week I can attest to how many "As Seen On TV" items quickly make their way from manufacturer to consumer to thrift store. That said 'What's new in kitchen gadgets" can run the gammut from gimmick to very useful. I've already commented on just how quickly I fell in love with (yeah - I know - they say you can't love inanimate objects) the Charles Viancin silicone flower lids.

Heidi, you reminded me of the Wusthoff shears that my daughters gave me a few years ago. The latest "just because" gift from my DW was a set of small silicone bowls. They are made for toddlers but she thought they would make great mise en place bowls. They do.

Bought them myself but I really like my Charles Viancin silicone lids.

For those who remember late last fall when I was asking about trying to repair a cracked large cast iron griddle I tried to repair it but did not succeed. However, an anonymous benefactor replaced it. That was a most appreciated gift. My good knives have been gifts from my sweet wife. The first one, still my favorite, a 10" chef knife, was given to me 31 years ago. About 20 years ago my MIL and FIL gave us a graniteware stock pot with a steamer insert and a colander. The stock pot is gone but the colander is still in use in our kitchen, a sweet reminder of a lady I miss. This is not quite in the same vien as what has been expressed but my dear FIL gives checks for Christmas and birthdays. The last Christmas check allowed me to acquire a 3 qt saucier. My birthday check will be buying a14" Tramontina saute pan for use in my ren faire kitchens.

Does pouring over the food ads in the spring when I am shopping for my Ren Faire feast kitchen count. Unlike my predecessor I look for the best value for the feast ingredients every week. Feeding 80 re-enactors on a limited budget is both challenging and FUN! So every Wednesday I am looking, looking, looking.

To my own shame I did buy an Eggstractor once.

The one and only person to give us useless gifts for the kitchen was my mother. The one that quickly springs to mind was the "meat defroster" which was essentially an anodized heat sink. Edited to fix a typo.

Did you have it re-tinned?

Yeah, that was the other one.

I seem to have a heart of stone. I don't buy food things to bring back when traveling and I am rather pragmatic about our regular grocery shopping. As well as cooking together my DW and I shop together. She is for more likely to pick up something on impulse that then sits forever. She brought back rose water and something similar from our trip to Epcot that is still untouched. I'm more like weinoo - past date with a date that means something then it's out of here. But if those bottles of water stuff make my DW happy then they are worth keeping.

Um, I thought that was what cast iron does. I was under the impression that the beauty of cooking with copper is that it responds quickly to changes in heat, the opposite of storing heat. Understanding Stovetop Cookware: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/25717-understanding-stovetop-cookware/

Diabetics do eat carbs but in carefully controlled amounts. As some have already stated don't make carbs the major part of the meal, but don't fear to have a side containing carbs. Potatoes are not necessarily off-limits. Your diabetic friend can then easily choose how much carb-based food he/she wants to include in the meal. I have a type 1 diabetic friend that regularly has Kix cereal for breakfast. She knows how much she can handle. And, yes, asking for input from your friends will hopefully give you more specific guidance.

I had no idea what cilantro was until I married in 1978. My family of origin was very basic meat and potatoes. When I began cooking the family dinner in 1967 I soon bored of cooking the same old same old. I had to be very careful about how far away from basic I ranged but I did try new (to me) things. I still have a very clear memory of the first white sauce I made. Even though I often accompanied my mother to the supermarket I did not really pay attention to what was available and what things were called since I was cooking to the tastes of my parents and that is what my mother shopped for. I don't think I even realized that there were any other potatoes than russet at the time. Anyway, what I'm doing a poor job of saying is that I have no doubt that before my grocery shopping for myself I would have no memory of the other names for cilantro but have no trouble accepting that cilantro was called by another name.

Here in southern California I have always found it as cilantro.

I have the 10" Fibrox (NSF approved) and also the 10" with the rosewood handle (non-NSF approved). They both serve me well. The Fibrox is available for anyone in my Ren Faire kitchens to use. I have noticed that the young man who has cooked for me for a couple of years and is waiting to turn 18 to enroll in the culinary school he has chosen gravitates toward that knife even though there are other 10" knives to be had. As head of the kitchen I reserve the rosewood handled knife for myself. To reiterate what has already been said: how a knife feels in your individual hand is what matters fregarding fit. For quality you don't want to go to the grocery store and buy some no-name for $10 bucks hoping for the best; you will very likely be soon disappointed. Alex, I hope you will update us as you take this journey letting us know what you have found you do like and don't like.

Steal of the year. My Sweetie spotted this in a Goodwill this afternoon for 99 cents. It is the 6 qt size. I didn't take time to clean it before snapping the picture.

I agree that the Food Network is essentially useless. But I have to think that there are other food TV shows out there that might help.

Might I add that in addition to whatever equipment you start with you might want to consider subscribing to Cooks Illustrated. My wonderful FIL became a widower 12 years ago and he and my amazing MIL had had a very traditional Wage Earner/Homemaker relationship and he basically didn't know how to cook. He read, he watched food TV, and his skills in the kitchen are very,very good now. I personally believe from conversations with him that Cooks Illustrated was his best "mentor."

arafalov, here is the Cook's Illustrated list mjx refered to: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/equipment_reviews/1077-top-essential-kitchen-equipment

2nd the Victornox knives. If you have easy access to a restaurant supply store that is open to the public I would take a look there. And if you aren't already aware, as CatPoet has said how a knife feels in your hand is a very personal thing and you will want to be able to pick up and feel the knives you are looking at. I find that anything smaller than a 10" feels like a toy in my hand. But that is my hand.