Who's making what today?

[echoes]

Originally Posted by Divemaster

OK, I'm Irish from both sides of the family. That said, I just don't get the whole Guinness mystique. Sure, it was the world's first light beer (125 calories for 12 oz). That is an honor to be respected and a factoid to toss in the face of those calling Guinness "heavy".

I love the color and the cascading head on a properly poured pint. And that's about where the love affair with the Emerald Isle's ambassador ends. The taste just isn't there. Sorry, it isn't. Feel free to use it in recipes without guilt or without fear of Irish mafia retribution.

Honestly Sir,

I do not get it either....a beer is a beer to me. But for some reason the true Guiness enthusits are wired differently...and think that any change from their proper pour is sacriledge.....or something. Again, the idea of salty beer and sweet chocolate interests me very much as a chef....and the possibilities are endless!

Holly

[BryanK]

Apparently there's something to this Guinness stuff. Last night I learned in a birth class that the wife and I have been going to, that a lactating mother will produce more milk with the ingestion of one Guinness a week while nursing. We're expecting our little one at the end of May, and the little misses was quite pleased to learn that 1 or 2 glasses of red wine a week has the same effect

[mark46th]

Guiness was invented to keep the Irish from ruling the world...

[TOMAHAWK9521]

Originally Posted by mark46th

Guiness was invented to keep the Irish from ruling the world...

I thought that was whiskey?

But speaking of barley products, I made an acrylic stand for my big drinking horn in Plastic Fabrication. The prof had no idea what a drinking horn was so I had to educate him.

It was a simple design that I had to bend by hand over a heating element. If I were to make more of these babies, I'd build a jig and bend the acrylic over it with heat gun to eliminate the bends and give it a clean finish. BTW, this horn can hold 2 x Foster's oil cans. Imagine how much Guiness I can fill this bad-boy up with.

[Gypsy]

Originally Posted by TOMAHAWK9521

I thought that was whiskey?

'Tis.

Very nice horn.

[Gypsy]

My corned beef and cabbage was stellar! My corned beef was so tender it was almost falling apart.

Basic recipe but I used both Guinness and beef broth in place of water for flavor and used extra corned beef spices. Truly delicious!



4-5 carrots peeled and quartered (or thirds depending on size)
1 medium onion, cut in 4 wedges
6-10 red potatoes, quartered
4-pound corned beef brisket (I used flat cut)
14 oz can Guinness
4 cups beef broth
Water as needed
3 tbsp corned beef spices or pickling spices (spices that come with the brisket)
1 medium head cabbage, cut into 6 wedges

Directions

Place carrots, onion and potatoes in the bottom of a large slow-cooker or crock pot. Rinse the corned beef brisket and place over vegetables. Add the bottle of stout, beef broth, spices and enough water to almost cover the meat. Cover and cook on LOW for eight to nine hours.

Remove the meat and vegetables from the pot and cover with foil to keep warm. Increase heat to high and cook cabbage until softened but still crisp, 20 to 30 minutes.

Slice brisket across the grain, serve with vegetables, mustard and horseradish sauce. Use some of the extra cooking liquid at the table.

[Requiem]

Apple pie, anyone? Warm from the oven, with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream? It's going fast...

My mother-in-law's apple pie recipe consistently turns out perfect pies.

Apple Pie

6-7 apples peeled, cored and cut into chunks. Use tart, firm (cooking) apples such as Granny Smith
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (don't use the bottled stuff)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons flour
A few pats of butter (or margarine)

Using a medium-sized mixing bowl, toss all the ingredients except butter together until the apples are well-coated. Pour into a prepared pie crust shell, add the pats of butter around the apples. Top with pastry shell and crimp the edges. Make a few decorative vents in the top.

Place on a cookie sheet (unless you like to clean up sticky, burned on spills from the bottom of your oven). Bake at 350 degrees F. for approximately 60-70 minutes. Baking time isn't rocket science. Bake until the house smells delicious and the hot pie filling is bubbling up from the crust.

Crust recipes are varied. I like to use a no-fail pie crust recipe that calls for oil instead of butter. (Am I a heretic?) But it lives up to its name - comes out flaky and tender every time.

Susan

[mark46th]

Pie Crust is made out to be more difficult than it really is. I worked for a restaurant that was famous for its pies and was also a part owner of a commercial pie plant that made pies for grocery chains. I made over 1,000,000 pumpkin pies in one 3 month Thanksgiving season. The thing to remember about pie dough is the higher the shortening to pie ration, the more tender(and difficult to handle) the pie dough will be.

Here is how we made dough at the plant-

Pie Dough- 1lb of flour, 1lb of shortening, 1/4 tsp salt, 1.3 oz water

Shell Dough- we used these for custard and pumpkin pies- 1 lb flour, 14 oz shortening, 1/4 tsp salt, 1.3 oz water

Shell for Lemon, chocolate, etc type pie- 1 lb flour, 12 oz shortening, 1/4 tsp salt, 1.3 oz water. These shells need to be perforated (you can use a fork) to prevent bubbles as the crust bake. 375 for aout 15-20 min...

To make handling of the dough easier, refrigerate for 30 minutes. We made the dough the day before, storing it in the walk-in cooler over-night.

Dry mix the shortening and flour until they are well mixed- about 5 minutes. Dissolve salt in water and add to mix. Mix untill all water is incorporated...

[Requiem]

Originally Posted by mark46th

1,000,000 pumpkin pies in one 3 month Thanksgiving season...Pie Crust is made out to be more difficult than it really is.

Wow, sir, that's a lot of pies!

Agree that pie crusts aren't difficult. The success for my recipe is the amount of oil and most importantly, the amount of stirring/working with the dough you do. Less is more. Overworked dough gets tough.

I will have to try your recipe for pie dough. That's for a top and bottom crust? Interesting that each of these recipes calls just for the shortening to be adjusted.

Susan

PS - Your holiday pie-baking became a home-school math problem. Son #2 figured (by rounding your 90-day schedule to 100 days) that you made 10,000 pies a day. Whooo! Next he figured you worked a 10-hour day and how many pies you made per hour. (Okay, that one was too easy. But poor you, you never got a day off, or a lunch break. )

[mark46th]

We were running about 20 hours a day, I was there for at least 16, more if there were problems. We looked like zombies until after Thanksgiving...

[PSM]

Originally Posted by mark46th

We were running about 20 hours a day, I was ther for at least 16, more if there were problems. We looked like zombies until after Thanksgiving...

Marie Callender's?

Pat

[Requiem]

Originally Posted by mark46th

We were running about 20 hours a day, I was ther for at least 16, more if there were problems. We looked like zombies until after Thanksgiving...

That's enough pie for a lifetime. Do you even like pumpkin pie anymore?

S.

[mark46th]

PSM- Yes, Marie's for about 5 years. The pie plant opened about 10 years after I left Marie's...

Req- I didn't eat pie for a few years. Now if one is around, I may eat some.

[PSM]

Originally Posted by mark46th

PSM- Yes, Marie's for about 5 years. The pie plant opened about 10 years after I left Marie's...

That explains the numbers. For those that don't know, part of the SoCal Thanksgiving Day tradition was (is?) pre-ordering a Marie Callendar's pie and then standing in line to pick it up.

Pat

[33army]

Today I made Sloppy Joes. Except I put a layer of Bacon Mac n' cheese down first, then the sloppy joe, then added bacon strips on top. Served with a side of bacon mac n' cheese. My next task is to do it again with premium ingredients. Nothing wrong with this one as any red blooded american should love it but a "high-faluten" version would be interesting. Unless someone with more training than I would like to take that task. Maybe someone with actual culinary training?


Side Note: I did extra PT before consuming this. It is not Atkins or Paleo friendly. Consult a physician before consuming.


Edit: The bacon was "infused" with fresh rosemary. I.e., I placed said thick cut bacon in storage with copious amounts of fresh rosemary. It added a nice touch.