[Sca-cooks] Stupid cook tricks

[Elaine Koogler]

Robin wrote:

> Elaine Koogler wrote:
>
>> Kind of reminds me of the time I picked up a container with powdery 
>> white stuff to thicken a beef stew.  Couldn't figure out why it 
>> wasn't thickening...turns out it was confectioners sugar...I'd 
>> forgotten to label the container!  Aaaaarrrrrrggggghhhh!  
>> Sweet...very sweet...beef stew!
>>
>> Kiri
>
>
> Oh, dear.  What did you do?  My first inclination, depending on the 
> other ingredients, would be to add some vinegar and turn it into a 
> sweet-sour dish.  I'm fond of that flavor combination, which shows up 
> in so many period reciipes, especially in the Middle East and Southern 
> Europe.
>
I don't remember...This was long before I knew any of you guys...and 
hadn't really begun experimenting with stuff.  I just remember how upset 
we were.  I was unemployed at the time and so messing up a dish like 
this was a very expensive goof up.  But your idea is a good one. 

OK...now that you've come up with a solution for the stew, try this 
one:  we had a young man in our Barony who thought he knew everything 
about cooking feasts.  So we let him cook a course at a feast (again 
some years ago.)  He decided to use a Scotch Broth recipe out of a 
traditional Scottish cookbook I have.  The last phrase in the recipe 
said, "...a cup of barley, salt,  pepper."  This very wise young man 
decided that he needed to add a cup of barley, a cup of salt and a cup 
of pepper.  Now the salt wasn't too bad.  However, the pepper was really 
awful...making the dish inedible.  The fellow had a problem with taking 
direction particularly from women, so they asked Phillip (my lord) to 
see what he could do.  They wound up throwing away the liquid and 
starting over using the meat and veggies, which they rinsed off.  It was 
still very peppery, but a little better.  Any ideas?

Kiri