the Old Granny thread

[Bob Johnson]

I've seen microwave brownie-in-a-mug recipes... they didn't look very appealing

[Rui]

Indeed. Being a "poor college student" does not automatically mean "eating horribly". When I had to cook on my own when I lived in Germany and the UK, the standard fare included risottos, pasta, sausages, chicken cooked in various ways, and other interesting dishes.

Keep in mind, at least around here, for safety reasons on campus college students only have access to microwaves. Hence interesting recipes like the above.

Rules/laws don't stop college students from bringing toasters, toaster ovens, George Foreman grills, etc. to school. You just need to stash it away when you're done using it, since the fire marshal can't legally search through your belongings, drawers, etc.

The people who actually know how to use a toaster are the ones who would want to bring toasters enough that they don't care about the rules anyway. We have one in my apartment that bans toasters, and we've been fine.

[Radius Solis]

suggestions needed!

I have a cooking challenge coming up. In a couple weeks I am going to be making dinner for six, and it is going to be a single meal everyone can eat. But there are substantial dietary restrictions, and I am trying to figure out what to make that will be both fabulous and edible by all.

1. The whole meal must be vegan. I'm not used to cooking vegan so this is where I most need advice.
2. The meal cannot consist mainly of carbs; something like a rice or pasta side dish is fine, but a main-entree rice/pasta dish is out. One of the six is diabetic.
3. Soy-based and wheat-based meat substitutes are are out, and I do not cook or eat beans.

I'm most comfortable making East Asian, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, or Mexican food, but willing to try other cuisines. If the restrictions turn out to be too much and one of them has to give, it's going to be the single meal for everyone that gets abandoned. Another possibility I'm considering is a meze-like assortment of numerous different things so that it will be possible for everyone to pick their own preferences from among an array of food types, but even then I'd prefer not to have meat on the table while dining with vegans.

[rickardspaghetti]

1. The whole meal must be vegan. I'm not used to cooking vegan so this is where I most need advice.

Feed them cyanide.

[Radius Solis]

1. The whole meal must be vegan. I'm not used to cooking vegan so this is where I most need advice.

Feed them cyanide.

FOD.

[Risla]

Diabetic vegetarian (I eat vegetarian when out and about, vegan at home) who can't eat beans reporting for duty!

I'd strongly suggest making these. Wild rice isn't nearly as carby as real rice, and these are really fantastic. I'd be happy to dig through recipes for various stuff I like if that doesn't work, since what I eat seems to be a pretty damn close match for your criteria.

[Gulliver]

low-starch meal for vegans

I think mezze idea is a winner; if this were me I'd go for a mixture of middle-eastern and Mediterranean "sharing" dishes with a couple of nice breads and plenty of dip and things. Sun-blushed tomatoes, hummous, a good onion chutney, stuffed vine leaves, a couple of different kinds of olives, a big-ass salad or three (tomato and pomegranate salad with a good olive oil, a mixed bean (from cans) and and orange salad and a green salad of some variety), couscous or quinoa dish or tabouleh, or maybe a baked rice dish.

Ratatouille or something if you'd like something hot. Or just a big "whatever" hotpot, as they are generally pretty nice.

Those wild rice burgers look pretty nice, too.

Most of those things can be bought ready-made for laziness (unless you want to stuff your own vine leaves), and you don't have to eat the beans yourself. With vegan cuisine, there is rarely a "centrepiece" as such, so I think you were right with your instincts to
go for a selection of things.

[Legion]

Here's a framework

Entree: grated carrots. Look into Lebanese or Morrocan recipes for those, they have some pretty fresh variations (iirc: adding orange blossom water is really good)
Main course: vegan tagine (tons on recipes on the google)

If your friends are also arabophobic, kill them and get better friends.

[finlay]

I would have suggested chickpea curry, although the other things may be more appropriate. A buffet/French-style service sounds like a good idea, and then people don't have to feel obliged to eat everything that's put in front of them. (this may require more work to pull off, though!)

Speaking of chickpeas, you could always go for falafel.

[Gulliver]

Entree: grated carrots. Look into Lebanese or Morrocan recipes for those, they have some pretty fresh variations (iirc: adding orange blossom water is really good)

Wow, that sounds lovely. I wouldn't know where to get orange blossom water, but rosewater might work. Perhaps with a touch of orange rind stirred through. And perhaps some thinly sliced courgette flowers (were they in season) and a strand or two of saffron. Oh, how I love to overcomplicate simple recipes.

[dhok]

American Julekaga

This was passed down to us from my great-aunt on my mom's side, who spent several years in Norway decades ago. When she got back to the States, of course, the recipe had to be modified (no lingonberries; I don't know if there was anything else that goes into a real Norwegian julekaga that you can't get in America). It is absolutely delicious, and one of my favorite parts of a Nilsen family Christmas (my paternal grandfather was the child of Norwegian immigrants, but that's not where we got our julekaga recipe). It's a Christmas bread, but I've eaten it as early as Thanksgiving morning at my great-aunt's. So, without further ado, a recipe for delicious poser julekaga. Unfortunately, the recipe sheet only has Imperial measurements, not metric ones.
This is an absolutely huge recipe which needs a lot of time, but you can halve it if you need to, and most of the time the dough is rising or baking. I promise you it'll be worth it.

Warm 1 can of 16 oz evaporated milk and water to make 1 quart of milk.
2 packages of yeast
1 cup of golden raisins
1 cup of normal raisins
1 cup of Craisins; you can use citron instead (that's my great-aunt's version), but my mother doesn't like citron very much so the recipe in our house uses Craisins. They're both fine.
3 cups of sugar
2 tablespoons of cardamom
1/2 a pound of butter
3 eggs
1 tablespoon of salt
about 11 cups of flour (!!)

Add the yeast and enough flour to the milk to sponge it. Rise until light. Cream butter, sugar; add eggs. Add to sponge. Add salt, cardemom, fruit and the rest of the flour to make it stiff. Now knead it, set aside to rise. Punch it down, let it rise again, and put it in loaf pans; it will make 2-3 loaves. Bake it for two hours at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease while baking and afterwards. The result is a very sweet, fruit-filled bread. Delicious.

[sirdanilot]

^^ That sounds absolutely delicious. Any special reason to use evaporated milk with water rather than just normal milk? The only evaporated milk we get in Holland is used to put in coffee; there's no proper dry milk powder here.

We will be spending most of our Christmas time elsewhere this year, but there's nothing like a good Christmas loaf anyway. Dutch Christmas loaf is usually filled with sweet almond paste, but I'd like to make something more original at some point.

[dhok]

Use canned liquid evaporated milk, says my mother, not the powder.

[Qwynegold]

When she got back to the States, of course, the recipe had to be modified (no lingonberries;

Why don't you replace them with cranberries?

[Shrdlu]

Okay so here's how you do breakfast the Shrdlu way

You need:
One egg
A piece of bread.

Make an hole in the bread and place it the pan, imidently crack an egg over the hole. Fry everything and don't forget to flip the bread so the egg gets done on both sides. Salt and pepper to your heart's content and eat it with some fresh vegetables.

[dhok]

When she got back to the States, of course, the recipe had to be modified (no lingonberries;

Why don't you replace them with cranberries?

That's what Craisins are. Cranberry raisins!

[Astraios]

One egg

Eggs are brittle shells filled with pure vomit-inducing evil.

[Shrdlu]

One egg

Eggs are brittle shells filled with pure vomit-inducing evil.

Yet it contains everything you need expect vitamin C.

[Left]

I've seen microwave brownie-in-a-mug recipes... they didn't look very appealing

I had high hopes for it but it left me with porous excrement-like sponge bread that smelled like fried chicken.

[Astraios]

Yet it contains everything you need expect vitamin C.

No use to me, since they just cause me to throw it all back up.

[Shrdlu]

Yet it contains everything you need expect vitamin C.

No use to me, since they just cause me to throw it all back up.

Your loss, cutie.

[Astraios]

IKR.

[Shrdlu]

I know you where trolling me.

[Astraios]

... Eh? Eggs do make me vomit.

[Shrdlu]

... Eh? Eggs do make me vomit.

Your usually way when I say something you don't like is to respond in a negative manner. I say X, you "No, that's fucking stupid". I respond in a civilized manner and you continue "It is still fucking stupid". I though you where doing the same here.