lwood

This is the recipe for the soup I served at last night's Hrafnar. I modified it slightly from this one, which itself is a copy of this recipe, published in the now-defunct Gourmet magazine in November 1996.

The significant changes were to use butternut squash purée instead of pumpkin, and vegetable broth instead of beef broth--one of our irregular attendees is a vegetarian who cannot have pumpkins-as-such for religious reasons. As one may freely substitute the winter squashes for each other in most cases, this didn't present a significant challenge.

( Recipe behind a cut )
Enjoy!

[Dear purplevenus et al, I make much talk of cooking meat, although also some of okra; you may not want to ( enter )

As promised...

( Adventures in Bacterial Ranching behind the cut )So, after all of that, I have two quarts of yogurt, which I'm going to squeeeesh into soft cheese, thus:

Cheese One: 6-7 April (projected)

Tonight, I'm going to take the two batches, wrap in cheesecloth, and allow to drain in the refrigerator under weight. The result is going to Greyhaven for taste testing on Sunday during Tea. Some will be plain, some will dance with roasted garlic, some will get cozy with basil, and yet more with sundried tomatoes, the whole to be nibbled with $flatbread. Should this all go over well, I'll probably do it all over again for Hrafnar, only with different flavorings: dill, garlic, straight, and I-dunno-yet.

Tea at Greyhaven is an open affair, should anyone be interested. 8-) Perhaps not this week, it's Easter/Twins' Birthday/Etc. Well, Hrafnar Happens anyway. ;)

-- Lorrie

Well, after last quarter's lengthy discussion of draugar in the Icelandic sagas, I have made another contribution to this quarter's Idunna.

A rabbit stew recipe.

While the posting of recipes is normally reserved for Aunt Hilda, her offering on strawberries was, unfortunately, not available at press time.

Still, rabbit's really yummy stuff. This particular stew is essentially a chicken stew recipe in order to encourage the unadventurous: they're not completely swappable, but this will do. Oh, and I encourage experimentation with root vegetables besides potatoes and carrots (egad!).

Perhaps for this next Hrafnar I will go so far as to commit actual hasenpfeffer. Making carrot cake with water_of_fire, though, and some kind of wabbit, are in the cards regardless.

-- Lorrie

Lorrie's "Rouse the Hunt" Eggnog

(inspired by dduane's Mysterious Miss S., lferion and Alton Brown)
Difficulty: Easy
Yield: Well over a gallon; call it five quarts.

12      large eggs, separated*
1    lb casters, superfine, or confectioners sugar** (approx 3 3/4 cups)
2    qt whole milk
1    qt heavy cream
1 1/2 c dark rum (e.g. Myers') (half a big bottle/a whole little bottle
1 1/2 c good bourbon whiskey (e.g. Maker's Mark)
much    nutmeg, to be grated on the spot--or you'll get the back of my hand!

Crack each egg into a small bowl. Put the yolk in one medium bowl, and the white in another. This will only seem like too much fuss until you screw up separating one of the eggs, and then you'll thank me. Repeat for the whole dozen eggs.

Now take all those whites, which should be about 1 1/2 c, seal them up in something airtight, and pop it into the refrigerator. We'll get back to them tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, whisk the yolks together until they are of a uniform consistency and have lightened in color. Now slowly add the sugar while continuing to whisk, always aiming to incorporate old sugar as new sugar is added. By the time you're through, it'll be quite thick in there, like a thick batter or thin dough. That's okay, you're about to thin it right back up.

Begin adding the milk. As you incorporate it into the sugary yolks, it will thin back up considerably (hooray). At some point...you're gonna need a bigger boat bowl, so transfer it then. Once you're done adding the milk, go for the cream.

Now, before you grab that booze, a sidebar:

This is just about the only pothole in the crafting of eggnog: when a big blob of alcohol hits an innocent strand of protein, the protein grabs onto all of its buddies, and they go into a big clumpy huddle. Those proteins call their friends in, and they call their friends, and so on, and so on. You want this to happen slowly, gradually, throughout the pitcher because that'll thicken the whole thing, rather like a custard. Do it wrong and the protein forms scared, clumpy lumps, which really isn't what you wanted. Separating the eggs was the first step in keeping this wolf at bay, as those whites were nearly all protein, but here's the other:

Pour the booze into the egg mixture v-e-r-y s.l..o...w....l.....y. Trickle it. Use a measuring cup if that'll help, and stir your proto-nog all the while.

Apply all of this to a pitcher, and throw the pitcher in the chill chest for not less than overnight. Well, okay, you can have a small taste...but I suggest a shotglass.

The next morning, you may, if you like, whip the egg whites to soft peaks, sprinkle in some more sugar to ensure they'll stay...firm...then whip to stiff peaks and stir into the mix. Whipping the tar out of those whites gets those proteins all coagulated, and will lighten the texture of your eggnog considerably.

It'll stay good in the refrigerator for several days--many, really. Embrace the power of booze!

* - Los federales would like you to know that so much as looking crosswise at a raw egg means certain death from salmonella. This is generally only a problem for people with weakened immune systems: very young children, old people, and otherwise immuno-compromised. If that's your deal, find one of the cooked recipes. However, even if it isn't, this would be a great time to splurge on those highfalutin' eggs.

** - Casters sugar may be hard to find at the local megamart; I specifically went to the local snooty grocery looking for it. Most stores I've been to in California have a "superfine" that's finer than granulated but not as fine as confectioners (or as casters), but should do fine here. Confectioners is ground quite well enough, but has cellulose in it as an anti-caking agent, which can throw off the taste and inhibit some of the coagulation you're aiming for. Why such a fine grind? So it takes less than all year to dissolve in a cold liquid...

-- Lorrie

PS: Note to Self: The two dozen eggshells of your courageous double batch, once run through the disposal, turn your kitchen sink's drainpipe into a filter. This is suboptimal. Do not do that again.

Depending on how you reckon things, I am 100000, 40, 32, and 20 years old today^*, all at the same time.

Owing to lack of any real planning, celebration will be:

ME! Having SUSHI for LUNCH! Woohoo! A feast of raw fleshy fishy bits, and lo, green tea ice cream.

And! A quiet dinner at the home of The Notorious DLP, in the company of whomever was invited and could show up on essentially no notice. But they will get salmon, aspearagus, and, if I've anything at all to say about it, ice cream cake. 8-)

My only sadness is that countgeiger is away in Vegas for a class this week. Last year, I was away in Jotunheim for the occasion, off gaining crazy wisdom in strange places like a good little Oðinnsgyðja--and what I got instead of cake was worth it, I ween. Next year, I want cake and my husband and the kin of my heart while fresh from another trip to Jotunheim--and I aims to get 'em.

Mad props, and my love, to all y'all.

-- Lorrie, now a happy power of two.

^* - That's 100000₂, 40₈, 32₁₀, or 20₁₆ years old, respectively, apply appropriate base as needed.

Someone on my friends list is gainfully employed at an answering service whose primary clients are medical professionals, and so collects many All-New Words for, well, private parts.

And yet, I bet nobody has called her to say, "Call my gynecologist, there's something wrong with my perthro!"

This is probably because her list of suspects would be rather short...

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This brought to my attention by kenazf:

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Meanwhile, back at the Stately Mad Science Lab, the on-campus cafe is serving as one of its specials, a:

G uacamole
B acon
L ettuce
T omato

...sandwich.

"[Co-Worker]", says I, "that's one queer sandwich."

Better not tell hauk about this new secret meaning of bacon...

-- Lorrie