I wish I still had my recipe for high-protein Mancakes.

(The cookbook also had something called Gorilla Biscuits.)

I used to play in a group with as many as 11 people, so the "burden" of hosting was rotated.  The host was generally expected to provide a full meal, with salads and sides and usually a desert.  While I'm a reasonable cook (at times, even quite a good one), cooking for large numbers is time consuming and expensive.  Whoever hosted usually spent most of the day cooking for 10 hungry gamers and rarely got to do any actual gaming of their own.  Stupid.
 
For a very simple meal, you can't go past pasta.  Boil a bucketload of pasta and stir in a simple tomato pesto.  For the "gourmet" touch, I'd usually add fresh olives and/or sundried tomatos and serve with freshly grated parmeson cheese.  
 
Chili is another personal favourite, because I can cook it several days before hand in big batches and then freeze it.  Reheat as many batches as you need for your gaming session.

Quote from: fonkaygarryI wish I still had my recipe for high-protein Mancakes.

(The cookbook also had something called Gorilla Biscuits.)

Mancakes?  That just sounds wrong for some reason.

:eek:

Quote from: Bramha_BullMancakes?  That just sounds wrong for some reason.

:eek:

IIRC, the secret was egg whites and protein powder in the mix.  They were heavy and bland, but pretty good if you drowned them in butter and Aunt Jemima.

Which kinda defeats the purpose of a low-carb pancake, but who gives a shit?

11 people??  Tyberious, that sounds like a LOT of  effing work!

 My group has 5 other people besides myself.  The players are 3 women and 2 men. I tend to forget to eat when the game actually starts on game nights. My players literally have to say "Ed, go ahead and eat something. So, dinner is right before the game or a built in pause during the session. Sometimes I also work it into that night's story.

 So, yeah - only cooking for about 4 to 6 people....depending on which ones are trying to be on a diet or not.

- E.W.C.

Can't go wrong with a good Pasta Salad. Super-simple:

Pasta, cooked (bowtie is my fav, but elbow or something "substantial" works too (no spagetti)) - get the multi-colored kind, it adds to the visual appeal
Mayo/Salad dressing (I prefer mayo and let the pickles do the talking, sweet-wise, but some folks prefer the Miracle Whip route)
1 can olives (black or green or both) sliced
5-6 sweet pickles, sliced
Canned tuna or diced chicken breast(s) (or nothing if you just want pasta), as much meat as you think people want
1/2 onion, diced
Salt/pepper to taste

Those are the most basic of ingredients. You can add/subtract anything your heart desires (mustard with the mayo, add some nuts, maybe some finely diced carrots if you're that type - let your imagination run wild). The trick is, not too much mayo. I'd say for one bag of pasta (enough for a large mixing bowl of salad) you need about 1/6 of a jar, if that. Put it in the pasta first, without the other ingredients, and mix it. You'll be able to tell by looking if you need more, so start out light and work your way up.

One of my players has decided she is making "Irish Beef Stew" for us this Saturday.  Although she is worried it may turn out more like a casserole.

 She got her recipe from one of her grandparents.

 Here are my two questions:

1) we've got another player who is Jewish and the recipe calls for  "bacon, trimmed and diced "  Can anyone think of a possible substitute for the bacon ? Then again this player might not be that strict on the dietary rules...we're just trying to keep everyone's preferences in mind.

2) The recipe also calls for 4oz of wild/cultivated mushrooms. The husband of our voluntary cook doesn't like musrooms. Is there another possible ingredient substitute that would work in the place of mushrooms ?

Personally ...I LOVE mushrooms, but I'm the final authority in the game session  - NOT the food part of things.

- Ed C.

It's stew, you don't neccesarily need substitutes. As long as the recipe still contains other ingredients, you're fine. The chances of being hunted by Irish chefs are pretty small... Beef, onions, potatoes, garlic, maybe some celery and carrots.

Quote from: SosthenesIt's stew, you don't neccesarily need substitutes. As long as the recipe still contains other ingredients, you're fine. The chances of being hunted by Irish chefs are pretty small... Beef, onions, potatoes, garlic, maybe some celery and carrots.

 Yep,  yep, yep , and yes - all those things you mention are already part of the recipe.

- Ed C.

Hot and Sour Soup
Firm cubed Tofu
Veggies to your liking (I use bamboo shoots, shitake mushrooms)
Chinese black vinegar (any dark rice wine vinegar will do)
Pepper (traditionally, white but I like black or chili flakes)
Soy sauce
Chicken stock (I use organic)
chopped green onion for garnish

Get the chicken stock up to temp, add soy, vinegar, pepper. Allow to return to temp. Add veggies and tofu and cook about 15 minutes at a simmer, covered. Bowl and garnish with onion.

Tasty and chuck full of protein and calcium. It can be made with thin strips of chicken or veggie stock depending on presence of vegetarians.

Bill

Ronins bean soup

Ingredients:
Sausage
Chicken stock
Green onions
Navy beans
Rosemary
Thyme

Take and fry up the sausage. (I use Jimmy Deans hot and spicy.) Put this in a large pot. To this add three cans of navy beans. Green onions (The store I shop in they come in little bundles. I use the whole bundle) cut them up and add them to the pot. Then add the chicken stock. (Just a note I always use chicken stock, not broth. For those not in the know. They are different. I think stock is superior for this and will not use broth.) The kind I get comes in the resealable container. I use about one and a half containers. I then add a small pinch of thyme, and a really heavy pinch of rosemary. Stir this together real quick. Then bring to a boil. I then let it simmer for like ten minutes. Then serve. I like to serve it with with a hunk of a good bread.

Here's one of my bachelor/camping meals. It's good shit. You dice up some bacon, throw it in a pan and fry it till it's as crispy as you like it (I like it pretty crispy), then chuck in a can of baked beans. You can put in some of your nancy herbs or whatever, but the important ingredient is a handful of your favourite black olives. Eat with bread.

The stew tasted great! The nervous player shouldn't have worried. Turns out the player hosting us may be jewish - but she is not that strict about the bacon rule.

Instead of beef , the meat we wound up using was deer meat. Our hostess and her husband had plenty of that on hand.

 Stew tasted great!!

 She used Guinness in the cooking of it. With the leftover cans of Guinness we made drinks mixing them halfway with something called Strongbow. Tasted pretty good to me once I got used to it.
 That was our cook's idea ...we sort of had an Irish theme for things, so the cjhoice of drink made sense.

 She did a fantastic job.

 For "desert" - another player brought fresh strawberries.

- Ed C.

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs in sauce.

You need: Spices you like for italian foods.
               Ground Hamburger Meat 1 lb (lean)
               Instant Rice
               Tomato Juice (on small bottle, two small cans)
               Tomato Soup (one can)
               Mozarella cheese cut in 1" cubes


Spice meat by dashing and kneading until it is spiced enough for your taste.


Roll  ground beef into balls big enough to surround 1" mozzarella cubes.

Poke holes in them with your fingers (washed!) and put the cheese inside, then seal them closed, roll in instant rice.

Place small amount (half a cup to a cup) instant rice in a baking dish, place meatballs ontop.

Mix half the soup and juice and pour over the meatballs and rice (directly atop the meatballs is best).  Put a few dashes of spices over the top. Make sure you've covered the meatballs with the tomato mixture until only about 1/4" of the tops can be seen.  Cover with lid, and bake in oven at 350-375 degrees (depending on point above sea level) for 40minute to an hour. Test meatballs with toothpick, should come out clean of meat but with a little cheese.  Spice again and pour any remaining fluid (if any cooked out leaving the meatballs more uncovered)  over it very slowly. (not directly onto dish--some dishes don't like cool and hot mixes) cover again and let sit for 5 minutes and serve.


Serves well as a side to a nice salad.

Something my mom came up with that the family loved. It's great fresh, it's great the next day as leftovers (hot or cold) and we never really had the chance to see past the 2nd day as it never lasted that long.

Stir Lasagna

Bag of egg noodles (I can't remember if it's 1 or 2 pounds, depends on how much you want)
Spagetti Sauce, whatever kind(s) you want, I normally use Prego 1-2 jars depending on size.
Ricotta Cheese, med sized tub.
Shredded Mozzerella cheese, lots. (I get the big bag thats a couple pounds)
Canned Mushrooms, optional, but I think they compliment the mushrooms in the sauch myself.

Cook noodles and put into baking dish. Stir in sauce.  Stir in about 2/3 of the ricotta, all of it if you want.  Stir in 2/3 of the shredded cheese and anything else you like if it isn't already a part of the sauce. Top with the other third of the shredded cheese.

Nothing that you have put in actually needs to be cooked, so you just toss it into the oven under the broiler until the cheese on top has melted.

The recipe has the advantage that you can tailor it to whoever you are feeding, easy to add meat/mushrooms if you want more then is in your sauce already, easy to leave it out if you are feeding vegetarians/people who don't like mushrooms.  Easy to make, doesn't take long, you get much of the goodness of lasagna without having to spend all afternoon layering noodles. (and if you are cooking with kids, there are lots of things for them to stir into the dish which some of them enjoy.)