cookng-grains-msg – 4/24/08
Cooking grains in quantity.
NOTE: See also the files: grains-msg, rice-msg, beans-msg, cutting-onions-msg, serving-soups-msg, warming-ovens-msg, kitch-toolbox-msg, bread-for-fsts-msg, headcooks-msg.
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Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 12:42:50 -0500
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Recipe 7-Weekend of Wisdom
> This recipe was problematical from the beginning and actually never
> got prepared as written. It is easy to get 2 cps. of milk to come to a
> boil without scorching it but bringing 4 gallons of milk to a boil is
> quite a different thing. We ended up throwing out the milk and using
> water as in standard rice preparation. I think that this was my most
> disappointing dish. The rice was moist and tended to stick together.
> Again I blame this on the massive quantities used for feast preparation
> and the length the dish was held before service. I eliminated the rice
> cleaning steps because with today's packaged rice, it was unnecessary.
Dear Ras,
I can see where you would have had problems with this dish. The way I
would have handled it would have been to start with a large, flat
roasting pan, roughly 8 inches deep - one that would have covered 4
burners, or the grill top, for example (the kind one ususally finds at
large sites, or one of more modest dimensions, ie. a household roasting
pan). Boiling the milk in that would have been easier, because the depth
of the liquid would not have been so great. Then, rather than just
pouring the liquid over the rice and waiting for it to absorb, (since you
omitted the rinsing, soaking and drying portion of the recipie which
would have not only cleaned the rice but also started the cooking
process) I would have put the roasting pan with all ingredients in a low
oven, covered with parchment paper to prevent drying out of the top
layer. I always make rice for large quantities this way, as it avoids
the very problems you cited.
Christianna
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 22:59:11 -0700
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: SC - Cooking rice for many
Anahita writes
>It sounds like a situation in which you can't do much, just go with
>the flow. Let me say that cooking rice for 200 is not an easy task
>and takes a long time. Anyone know how long does it take for all
>those gallons and gallons of water to boil?
I have a system for cooking large quantities of rice that I am
reasonably happy with.
Take a very large pot (say 6 gallons or more). Put in the right
amount of water. Bring it to a boil. Add the rice. Bring it back to a
boil, stirring occasionally. Cover, remove from heat, and let stand.
This works with large quantities because they stay hot for a long
time. Its big advantage is that at the point where you are heating
the pot with the rice in it the rice hasn't been cooking very long,
so isn't yet sticking together as a mass, so you can still stir it
and don't have much of a problem of scorching. Then you take it off
the heat, which also frees up a burner.
If you figure on 1/2 cup cooked rice per person (the actual amount
obviously depends on the menu), a six gallon pot will provide for
almost 200 people.
- --
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 10:14:28 -0400
From: "Christine Seelye-King" <kingstaste at mindspring.com>
Subject: RE: SC - rice / squash feast - help!!
> It sounds like a situation in which you can't do much, just go with
> the flow. Let me say that cooking rice for 200 is not an easy task
> and takes a long time. Anyone know how long does it take for all
> those gallons and gallons of water to boil?
>
> Anahita
Suggest that the rice be cooked in a large pan in the oven. It is much
easier, does not burn and stick on the bottom, and does not require constant
attention. She might even be able to put it in the oven right before
hitting the fencing tourney, and take it out after she's done, providing she
times it right.
Christianna
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 10:12:42 EDT
From: CorwynWdwd at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Cooking rice for many
ddfr at best.com writes:
> I have a system for cooking large quantities of rice that I am
> reasonably happy with.
I too have a system for cooking mass quantities of rice, taught to me by the
woman who got me involved in SCA cooking.
I bake the rice. I put one part rice to two parts liquid (water, beef broth,
almond milk, you decide) in a deep rectangular pan, cover with foil and throw
it into the oven first thing, at about the 300-400 degree mark. The rice has
never scorched using this method and it boils and steams the rice fairly
quickly because of the increased surface area exposed to the heat. After
it's done (I check occasionally, sometimes takes an hour but seldom if ever
more) you can put pans and all into a cooler lined with newspaper and keep
closed. It stays hot enough to blister an unwary hand for hours and can be
served up hot at the right time.
It ain't period I'm sure, but it helps feed the masses.
Corwyn
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 07:49:34 -0700
From: Steve <s.mont at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Cooking rice for many
The "baked rice" is a method that I used when in a busy professional
kitchen. We would prep the rice with all the dry ingredients before the
shift started then added the liquid to the pans and cooked them off as
needed. It gave us 2-3 cooked pans all the time without having to have
someone watch the rice at all times.
?duin
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 19:57:29 -0400
From: "Marcus Antaya" <mjantaya at home.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Cooking rice for many
It also depends on what kind of rice you use...
When I make my risotto, I use italian long grain, and then simmer the =
rice in just enough liquid to cover it, then add boiling water (about a =
cup per cup ish)and let it simmer for 45 minutes...
Gyric
From: rcmann4 at earthlink.net
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Date: Sun, 6 May 2001 19:22:19 -0400
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Rice success!
When we were discussing cooking rice for feasts, someone
(Balthazar?) suggested using disposable roaster pans in the oven,
tightly covered with tin foil.
Tonight, I redacted a recipe from Nola. It's a rice casserole, made
in the oven with saffron-tinted beef broth. Since rice is cheap, I
decided to give the recipe a try in bulk. I washed 5 cups of rice in
cold water, then hot, let it drain thoroughly, and placed it in the
roasting pan. I boiled a pinch of saffron in 10 cups of homemade
beef broth, and poured the boiling broth over the rice. Covered it
tightly with heavy duty foil, and baked it at 350 F for 45 minutes. It
was perfect! Moist, fluffy, and no toothbreakers!
Balthazar (or whoever suggested this), thank you very much! I
have never been able to cook more than 2 cups of raw rice without
having it be half-mushy/half-raw.
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2001 23:31:30 -0800
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: david friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cooking rice in feast quantities
Brighid asks:
>I suspect I'm not the only one who would like more detail about this
>method. What quantity of rice did you use in one pot? What was
>the proportion of water to rice? And how long does it take to finish
>cooking?
I used 33 cups of basmati rice and a ratio of 1 3/4 c of water per
cup of rice; if I did it again with the same rice I might increase
the water slightly. Different varieties of rice differ in how much
water they need.
I don't know when it finished cooking, but less than an hour after I
brought the water back to a boil, that being about when I delivered
it to the servers. One advantage of this approach is that it frees up
the burner for the last hour or so--and you don't have to be paying
attention to the rice during that time either.
Alban asks:
>I've always wondered something about this method: as the water
>is absorbed and the water level goes down, wouldn't the rice on top
>get too little and the rice on the bottom get too much?
The rice on the top is a little drier, but not much. The pot is
covered, so the whole thing is full of steam. And of course, when you
start, the water level is well above the top of the rice.
--
David Friedman
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2001 04:47:48 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cooking rice in feast quantities
Ted Eisenstein wrote:
>>The solution is to bring the water to a boil, add the rice, bring it
>>back to a boil (stirring some), cover, turn off the heat and wait.
>>With large volumes, the rice stays hot long enough to cook itself.
>>Since you are turning off the heat before the rice becomes sticky,
>>you can do it without scorching.
>
> I've always wondered something about this method: as the water
> is absorbed and the water level goes down, wouldn't the rice on top
> get too little and the rice on the bottom get too much?
> Or is this a stupid question and I'm missing something obvious?
Depending on your method, this is to some extent true, but again,
depending on your method, while the rice on the bottom gets more contact
with liquid, the rice on the top gets more steam, so the impact of the
difference is less. If that makes any sense.
I've found that the method His Grace describes works especially well
with basmati. I've also had good results with finishing rice in a
low-temperature oven, either in a pilaf method, or what is known as the
Creole method, where the rice is boiled more or less like pasta for
about ten minites, drained, and either steamed or finished, again, in
covered pans in the oven. Obviously you'd need huge quantities of water,
though.
Adamantius
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2001 05:25:17 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cooking rice in feast quantities
david friedman wrote:
> The rice on the top is a little drier, but not much. The pot is
> covered, so the whole thing is full of steam. And of course, when you
> start, the water level is well above the top of the rice.
And, of course, maybe ten minutes before serving, you can remove this marginally drier layer, invert it, and get a somewhat more uniform effect. But as His Grace suggests, it probably isn't a big deal.
Adamantius
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2003 12:34:34 -0800
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] how to cook 20 lbs of rice
"Vincent Cuenca" <bootkiller at hotmail.com> wrote:
>I know I got this info last year, but I can't lay hands on it just now.
>
>Does anyone remember HG Cariadoc's method for cooking large amounts of rice
>in a pot? Specifically, how much water in proportion to the volume of rice?
>I remember the method well enough.
>
>A similar method for couscous would be greatly appreciated as well.
Can't tell you Cariadoc's method, but i cooked couscous for 150
people last summer...
We used modern processed couscous - traditional couscous is cooked in
a special pot, called a couscousiere.
Anyway, we dumped several boxes of couscous into each of two large
aluminum baking dishes, poured in boiling water and covered the pans
with aluminum foil. Periodically i lifted the foil and gave the stuff
a stir. While it was still warm i added a generous amount of olive
oil, stirred it some more, and recovered it with the foil.
This was done at an outdoor camping event - we don't really have
feasts in the West Kingdom (although we do in various Principalities,
Shires, etc.), so this was unusual.
For indoor feasts, i borrow several rice cookers, and cook the rice
in that. It makes better rice, in my limited experience, than trying
to cook it on a stove or bake it in an over. AND it has the advantage
of leaving the the burner free and the oven free to cook other things.
Anahita
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 16:08:31 -0400
From: "Generys ferch Ednuyed" <generys at blazemail.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Cooking Couscous for 200
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Couscous, at least the small "French" kind, is IMO easier to cook for a
large group than rice. I did it for 120 for a feast recently, and simply
got my broth boiling, then added the couscous. Stir for like, 2 minutes and
it's done - you can do it right before serving. If I remember correctly, it
was a 2:1 ratio, but I could be wrong.
Generys
<<< I know I have seen people give their secrets for cooking large amounts of
rice but what about couscous for 200 people? I'd like to cook it with a
chicken broth since it is going underneath a chicken recipe. I will
probally bake it instead of doing it on the stove. I'm more or less
looking for a ratio of broth versus dry couscous.
Lavender >>>
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 16:14:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cooking Couscous for 200
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
<<< I know I have seen people give their secrets for cooking large amounts
of rice but what about couscous for 200 people? I'd like to cook it with
a chicken broth since it is going underneath a chicken recipe. I will
probally bake it instead of doing it on the stove. I'm more or less
looking for a ratio of broth versus dry couscous. >>>
Don't bother baking it. Put the dry cous-cous in a pan at least double
its depth. Heat the appropriate amount of broth to boiling. Pour broth in.
Stir. Cover. Walk away. Come back in 10 minutes. Done!
-- Pani Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 17:04:58 -0400
From: "a5foil" <a5foil at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cooking Couscous for 200
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Couscous -- at least the packaged kind I buy -- is precooked, so it doesn't
really need to be cooked further -- just pour on boiling liquid, stir well,
and let it sit. Stir again before serving to break up any lumps. And it
doesn't have to be fixed right before serving, either, as it's good warm or
room temperature. Or you can steam the soaked couscous for a few minutes
just before serving to heat it up again, but I think that would be difficult
to do for 200 servings.
The recipe I fixed last night used about 1 3/8 cup liquid (1 cup water plus
lemon juice, vinegar and oil) to 1 cup of couscous, for 4 side servings. You
ought to get 8 to 10 servings per pound of couscous.
Cynara
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 10:39:17 +1000
From: Robyn.Hodgkin at affa.gov.au
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Cooking Couscous for 200
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Couscous is a brilliantly easy alternative to rice, which I highly recommend for cooking for large numbers. Using broth instead of plain water is great, but as everyone said, with modern couscous' you don't have to boil or bake, just add water.
My hint is: DO NOT ADD AS MUCH SALT AS THE PACKAGE MIGHT SAY. I would in fact not add salt at all beyond what is in your broth.
Kiriel
ps. would love to hear more about use of couscous in non-middle eastern, period cooking. Haven't seen it referred to anywhere and would dearly love to be able to use it.
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 15:42:02 -0400
From: "Christine Seelye-King" <kingstaste at mindspring.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Big batches of rice
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Don't be scared of large quantities of rice, bake them!
Large Quantities of Grain - . When cooking a large batch of grains, instead
of using a pot with boiling water on top of the stove, bake it as a ÔpilafÕ!
In a large, deep, baking pan, place grain, liquid, fat, and seasonings.
Heat oven to 350 degrees (25 degrees in either direction wonÕt hurt if youÕ
ve got something else in the oven as well, just watch the cooking time).
Place baking parchment or wax paper over the top to keep the top layer of
grains from drying out, and bake for between 45 - 90 minutes. Check after
30 minutes to adjust cooking time. No more nasty burns or sticking to the
bottom of a large pot to deal with!
If it's white rice, go for two parts liquid to one part rice, a bit more
liquid if its brown rice. Your liquids can be water, stock, soup, etc. The
fat is just enough to oil the pan usually, but can be more if you want a
richer final product.
One of the nicest parts about this is that you can put it in the oven and
not worry about stirring it, just check on it half way through and again
towards the end. It frees up your stove space (but takes up oven space),
and usually gives beautiful results. Problems tend to be not enough water
or not enough cooking time= crunchy rice.
Seriously, this method beats boiling a bunch of noodles!
Good luck,
Mistress Christianna MacGrain
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 12:56:39 -0500
From: "Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Olwen's Rice (was OOPS! 12th Night Feast)
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> 55 pounds of dry short grain rice. Cooked 4 cups at a time with extra rice
> flour added to make extra sticky sushi rice. After cooking, each batch
> weighed just over 5 pounds. I cooked rice for three days straight. I still
> can't go near the sink to clean the last of the mess because it smells like
> rice.
> Pictures will follow sometime soon.
> Olwen
Oh dear....
Suggestion:
55lbs of _jasmine_ rice. Large pot- 2 waters, one rice. Bring water to boil,
add rice, bring to second boil, cover, turn off fire, or move someplace warm
and forget. Ignore for an hour or so. Start second batch. Do something else
until first batch has finished, and then add the sweet vinegar, etc,
stirring until cool. Place in other container, and restart your 3rd batch in
the first pot. Finish second batch, and restart 4th batch. Continue until
done.
I've only done 15 cups at a time, but there's no reason 20 wouldn't work.
Much easier than trying to do 4 c at a time, and should only take you a long
afternoon.
Saint Phlip,
CoD
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005 20:47:11 +0200
From: Volker Bach <carlton_bach at yahoo.de>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] rice pudding
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Melissa Carter <homefrogs at houston.rr.com> wrote:
> I'm a relatively new feast
> steward and I have a small question. What would be the best way to go
> about preparing rice pudding for 85 people without it burning?
This will depend on equipment availability, but you can get very large (30-40
liter) pots with inbuilt heating elements and thermostats for home canning
(heat-sterilising the jars and sealing them). I don't know how common they
are where you live, but around here they're common enough to show up second
hand quite frequently. Anyway, what you can do is put your liquid into such
a pot in the morning, set the thermostat to 80¡C, around noon throw in the
rice and leave it standing till the evening, when the pudding will be hot and
ready to serve. We've done soups and porridges that way, and nothing ever
went wrong (except once when too much salt got in, but that wasn't the pot's
fault)
Giano
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005 11:06:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: Pat <mordonna22 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] rice pudding
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Cook the rice pudding in the oven: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Put all
ingredients in a buttered baking dish and stir to blend. Bake 3 1/2
hours or until set, stir 3 times 1st hour so rice won't settle.
Lady Anne du Bosc
known as Mordonna the Cook
Shire of Thorngill, Meridies
Mundanely, Pat Griffin of Millbrook, AL
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005 14:56:00 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
From: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Riso con lo zafferano and rice puddings
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
<snip>
Now, for the rice puddings for 100 question, I found a feast listing
for Messisbugo:
BANCHETTO ORGANIZZATO DAL MESSISBUGO PER 104 INVITATI, A FERRARA NEL
1529 (Banquet organized by Messisbugo for 104 guests, at Ferrara in
1529), take a look at the fourth course:
IV¡ vivanda
Capretti ripieni arrostiti; capponi in pasta; piccioni ripieni alla
lombarda; arrosto con salsa francese; lucci al sale ricoperti di salsa
gialla, trote al vino alla ungherese con fette di pane; rombi fritti,
coperti di salsa e mostarda; sarde fritte con arance e zucchero;
pasticci di pasta reale ripieni di riso alla turca, fritti e ricoperti
di zucchero.
"Pasticci di pasta reale" = mess of royal pasta, i.e. marzipan
"ripieni di riso alla turca" = stuffed with rice made in the Turkish
fashion (royal Ottoman kitchens were famous for their
rosewater-flavored rice puddings).
You may only have to use half as much rice pudding if you're making
individual servings encased in marzipan. That's still a helluva lot of
rice pudding and a lot of pots to use to make it, though. As well as
some very strong arms needed to stir the pots and keep the bottoms from
sticking. I'd like to see Messisbugo's recipe for this.
Might just baked rice puddings serve? Figure a large pan can serve 8 to
10, and it's something you can make ahead of time and freeze?
Gianotta
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005 18:08:44 -0400
From: <kingstaste at mindspring.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] rice pudding
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
>>>
I'm a relatively new feast steward and I have a small question. What would
be the best way to go about preparing rice pudding for 85 people without it
burning?
Hedwig
<<<
Bake it in the oven. For large amounts of grains, baking is the best way to
go. You can prepare the rice in a large baking pan first, using the
standard 2 parts liquid to one part grain. Then, once the rice is cooked,
make up your custard with or without eggs, with milk or almond milk, the
seasonings like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, etc., and raisins if you like.
Cook the eggs and milk in a pot first, then pour it over your rice and mix
all ingredients well. Then, back into the oven to finish it off. No burned
spots on the bottom, even cooking all around. Do make sure you cover the
top with some parchment paper at the very least, or a metal tray over the
top of the pan works well.
Christianna
Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2005 06:52:39 -0600
From: "caointiarn" <caointiarn1 at juno.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] rice pudding
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
At 1/2 cup per person, that's 43 cups, that's 11 quarts, that will need 2
big {6 quart sized} crockpots. Very doable. and very little attention
once it is cooking.
>> Hey, I was gonna say crockpot . . . .Caointiarn
>
> Crockpots are super for this kind of thing, but with 85 people you'd
> need more than one.
>
> Adele de Maisieres
Date: Wed, 05 Oct 2005 16:59:01 -0700
From: Maggie MacDonald <maggie5 at cox.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Rice in a roaster?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
>>>
Has anyone ever tried doing quantities of rice (with
meat in it) in a roaster? Did it work? if not, how
about in a regular oven? how did that work out?
Gwen Cat
<<<
Yes, I've done rice for a feast in a roaster. It didn't work too
badly at all. Just allow extra time for cooking. I don't remember the
exact quantity we did, but at a later time I boiled the water/etc in
a roaster and did cous cous without it getting all mushy and
nasty. (both feasts were for about 150 people).
Maggie
Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2005 13:13:41 +1300
From: Adele de Maisieres <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Rice in a roaster?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> Has anyone ever tried doing quantities of rice (with
> meat in it) in a roaster? Did it work? if not, how
> about in a regular oven? how did that work out?
I haven't done rice in a roaster (although it should work). I _have_
done rice in a regular oven and it is by far the easiest way to do rice
for a crowd, especially if oven space is plentiful.
The procedure is basically:
Remember that rice more than doubles in volume, so be sure you have
enough pan for your rice. Also, consider what the pan is going to
weigh. Ideally, find pans that will let you do 8-10 cups (or less) of
rice per pan. Pretty much any ovenproof dish is OK for this, as long as
you can cover it tightly.
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C
Put the rice in the pan with and add twice as much boiling water as
rice. (So, if you have six cups of rice, you need twelve cups of water,
etc). Cover the pan _tightly_ with foil. Bake for an hour (or a bit
less if you're using a convection oven). Take the rice out of the oven
and let it stand for ten minutes, then uncover, fluff it up with a fork
and serve.
Everything else:
Naturally, you can add salt, spices, butter, etc. to this dish. Just
put them in the pan before you add the boiling water. If you want to
use broth or something instead of water, that's fine too.
--
Adele de Maisieres
Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2005 07:31:13 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Rice in a roaster?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
We used commercial rice packages (36 servings to the box)
and did rice in the oven according to the package instructions.
Used the deep pans that the kitchen had in stock.
225 people. Worked fine. This was 24 years ago at this point.
I can't remember anything special about it at this point. It just
worked.
Johnnae
Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2005 08:34:27 -0500
From: Heather M <margaretnorthwode at frontiernet.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Rice in a roaster?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Cat . wrote:
> Has anyone ever tried doing quantities of rice (with
> meat in it) in a roaster? Did it work? if not, how
> about in a regular oven? how did that work out?
> Gwen Cat
You can do rice in a roaster. Just, take my warning - give it more than
forty-five minutes from start to finish. I put some in a roaster for a
feast this past weekend, having never used the roaster for rice alone,
and my sous chef/chief kitchen drudge and I ended up having to take it
out of the roaster and into a just emptied-and-cleaned stockpot to cook.
In a half-hour at 400 deg. F. the water in the roaster had warmed up
only to the point that it was uncomfortable to handle, and the rice had
absorbed but little water.
It turned out tasty, and on time, but just barely. (The real saver here
was having the almond milk already ready - thanks, list!)
Margaret Northwode, Meridies
Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 08:21:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Cat ." <tgrcat2001 at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Rice in a roaster Sca-cooks Digest, Vol 29,
Issue 12
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> Gwen Cat the curious PEST again.
> Has anyone ever tried doing quantities of rice (with
> meat in it) in a roaster?
snip
Based on what I found in the files and the helpful
replies here, I did a test run last night. Boy Howdy,
how easy was that.
I used a 2 lb (~4 cup) bag of rice (same kind, but
smaller amount from what I will use Saturday), and 7-8
cups of water. Set the roaster at 350 and walked
away. It took a little under 1.5 hours before it
smelled done, so I turned it off and let it steam a
bit longer. IT WAS PERFECT! I never stirred, though
I peeked a couple of times to be sure it was ok, and
just ignored it otherwise. I did not have meat to
throw in it, but I expect no trouble for the pre
cooked chicken chunks IÕm tossing in for the real
thing. I do expect it to take at least twice that
long to do the amounts I need, but as long as I start
them by 8:30 I should hope they will be done at noon.
Thank you all for helping me work it out!
In Service
Gwen (now to make carrotsticks for 150) Cat
Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 11:34:40 -0400
From: "Jeff Gedney" <gedney1 at iconn.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Rice in a roaster?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> In a half-hour at 400 deg. F. the water in the roaster
> had warmed up only to the point that it was uncomfortable
> to handle, and the rice had absorbed but little water.
Why did you start with cold water?
Seems to me such an application ought to start with
boiling water.
A Roaster is really good at holding temp, but it has
to be a damn good roaster to bring a large thermal sink
like a gallon of cold water to boiling temps at any
rate resembling that of a good stove.
Capt Elias
Dragonship Haven, East
(Stratford, CT, USA)
Apprentice in the House of Silverwing
Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2005 12:09:55 -0400
From: "jehan.yves" <jehan.yves at signofthetiger.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Rice in a roaster Sca-cooks Digest, Vol
29, Issue 12
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
A real help, timewise, would be to bring your water to a
boil before adding it to the roaster. A large pot, on an outdoor
fryer base, can bring the water to a boil pretty quick.
JehanYves
Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2005 14:52:39 -0300
From: Micheal <dmreid at hfx.eastlink.ca>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Rice in a roaster Sca-cooks Digest, Vol
29, Issue 14
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Okay this works every time I have ever done it:
1pt Fat or butter
1pt Onions finely diced
2 ,1/2 quarts rice
1, 1/2 gallons of water or
1 1/2 gallons of meat or vegetable stock
Method
Melt fat add onions and cook for 2 minutes
Wash rice thoroughly in cold water drain well
Add to melted fat , stir to coat with fat
Cook on top of stove for 5-6 min
add boiling stock Bake in oven until tender ( apox 20 min)
Do not attempt to prepare baked rice in a larger batch then the one
Given above.
Yields 100, 3oz servings.
Cealian Of Moray
Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2005 15:31:53 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"
<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: rice
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
On Oct 6, 2005, at 2:03 PM, Devra at aol.com wrote:
> Maybe the rice was old. Master Adamantius cooked a wonderful 12th
> Night event in RI, and made a seafood rissotto, which unfortunately was
> extremely crunchy. I believe that he cooked the rice for several hours,
> too. Tasted really nice, if you got over the feeling of eating raw rice.
> Devra
Yes, I was going to point out that I had also had had the Mysterious
Waterproof Rice phenomenon occur to me. It was Blomanger of Fish, and
it should have been wonderful, and the test batches were. I'm still
not sure what the problem was, but for that dish, I think the thing
to do is to start with rice pre-cooked in plain water, rather than
cooking it in the seafood-stock-based almond milk, as I recall the
recipe stipulated. While my preference would be to follow the recipe
as written, there may have been some physical differences between the
rice I used and the stuff the 15th-century cooks/authors used, which
might account for the problem.
I actually don't think I would have called it crunchy, but it was
distinctly al dente, as I recall, kind of like the center of a grain
of arborio risotto, only it was throughout. More chalky. As someone
(Urtatim?) suggested, it might have been extremely old rice.
Adamantius
Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 17:19:19 -0400
From: "Mairi Ceilidh" <jjterlouw at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Rice in a roaster?
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Adele de Maisieres wrote:
> That's as much a quantity thing as anything else. _Always_ use
> _boiling_ water when doing baked rice.
The homeless shelter where I help do dinner once a month does not have a way
to boil water. They have a steamer thing that will hold two large steam
table pans. We use tap water and bake it at 400* for 45 or so minutes.
Works every time.
Mairi Ceilidh
Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:51:50 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 15th C. Ottoman Bulghur w/Chestnuts
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On Sep 19, 2007, at 8:19 PM, Lilinah wrote:
> Bulghur - Based on my reading of other recipes, it is likely that the
> Ottomans prepared bulghur either with broth or water. Broth would be
> more flavorful, so that what i plan to do. It is quite edible if just
> soaked in liquid and not actually cooked over a fire. Modern bulghur
> pilavs simmer the bulghur about 25 min. But if i can keep a burner
> free, that would be nice. Any opinions, based on cooking and/or
> eating bulghur, as to whether i should just soak the bulghur in hot
> broth (which would free up a stove burner) or actually put it over
> the fire?
Bulgur's steamed before drying, I'm pretty sure, so you can pour
boiling water over it in the right proportions, and it'll soak it up
and "cook", if it's not too coarse and you stir occasionally... this
assumes you don't want it _really_ soft.
I've cooked bulgur in food service operations, when no one was
looking, with hot water from the coffee urn ;-). People kept asking
what my secret for perfect bulgur was.
Adamantius
<the end>