[Sca-cooks]Outlandish Seige Cooking contest

[karobert at unm.edu]

boy, that virtual contest looks a lot easier than the one this past weekend.

we were allowed to bring:  any and any amount of herbs/seasonings
                            any and any amount of alcholic beverages
                              any and any amount of fats
                               up to 4 cups of flour and 2 cups of sugar

we were all given:  about 3 lbs of pork (looked a bit like boned shank)
     1 onion, 2 turnips, a metric buttload of carrots, 2 pks of yeast, 2
    
     cups of oatmeal and 5 eggs

i brought rosemary, dry mustard, salt, pepper, coriander seed, paprika,
dried and fresh ginger, marjoram, sugar, a jug of dark beer, a box-o-red
wine, irish whiskey, lemon juice, butter and olive oil.

7 contestants, and 7 entirely different submissions.  several roasted
the pork whole, one made soup, one made middle eastern cold finger food
style platter.  several used the oatmeal as a breading for the roast.

one lady couldn't complete her pitas since the blowing dust was turning
them brown, and many did not even attempt bread due to the dust,
therefore many did not use the yeast.  all were taxed by propane stoves
blowing out at the most unexpected times.  to be expected after all,
since grand outlandish is a four day camping event (albq, nm).

i had planned to slice my pork and make a scallopine sort of thing since
i mistrusted the time available to roast.  good thing!  as i sliced i
found far too much membrane and fat to suit me.  so i took a deep breath
and went for the ubiquitous stew.

i prepared
     first course:  julienned carrot salad and stuffed eggs
     second course: pork and onion stew simmered in beer with garlic,    
                 rosemary, mustard, salt and pepper  and  as a side,
                 turnip fritters
     dessert:  a molded 'bombe' of oatmeal flummery and candied    
                 coriander carrots with an irish whiskey/ginger sauce

1 served the remainder of the beer as an accompaniment to the dinner.

there were no fruits, which surprised us all, so i used the carrots as a
fruit.

i must have done something right, because i scored 98 out of 100 points
(didn't use the dry yeast and used OOP paprika -- guess i was
inadvertently doing a more period meal than i intended).   good comments
were on texture, taste, abundance, presentation and the unique dessert.

it went so well, the coordinator is looking to do an entire food event
(indoors, thank goodness), with such competitions, subtlety competitions
and all kinds of classes.

cailte
(in baron ryan's words.... iron chef outlandish)