Sweet Tea is the only iced tea.

Waffle House is the shiznit after getting out of a bar (and you can talk your DD into eating).

I hate grits and will never understand the South's obsession involving them.

Atlanta is alright, assuming you like to live over half your life in mind numbing traffic. I'm in the Charlotte area myself, and the food is starting to improve, but when taken in light of what it could be, there is no competing with the fast food of many Asian nations. It really makes me die a little every time I drive through a window around here (literally).

I'm from Chicago... Grits are good if you do the following.

1. get them with 1-2 overeasy eggs and 1-2 patties of sausage.

Cut the eggs and sausage up into small bite sized pieces. Mix the grits in with the concoction of eggs and sausage on your plate.

Eat the combined mess.

I may try that sometime...but I'll likely continue getting hashbrowns with my meals. I likes them.

Yes, yes I am a Damn Yankee

For grits put some butter on them, sprinkle a little sugar on top,or if at a waffle house use a touch of maple syrup.

Grits, steel cut oats are great.

WMS

That's one of the ways I eat grits, the other way is with lots of butter and pepper.
Then again, I grew up eating lots of rice for dinner anyway, so grits is not a stretch.

As for Atlanta traffic, no kidding, it wasn't nearly as bad when I was growing up. But people kept on moving in during my high school/college years and they kept on expanding further and further out that it was ridiculous. After that, DC traffic is nothing, especially since the subway/light rail system of DC covers a lot more than Atlanta ever will... (now if they'll ever connect Dulles airport to the subway system then I can say DC metro is lightyears better than Atlanta's, but for now, freaking Atlanta has that part right in connecting the major airport to the subway system... no, I consider National airport to be okay, but just not as large as Dulles so it's not in the same ballpark when you compare to Hartsfield).

I have to thank the Navy for my affection for grits. Their damn tasty... with pepper for christs sakes. I think once I figured out they were just liquid bread and not oatmeal I was able to start mixing them with everything greasy in reach.

Sweet tea (made by southerners) makes my teeth hurt. I've been informed this is the desired effect.

Around the world for dinner.

Entree is a pint of Czech Pilsner Urquell and a mix of freshly cut vegetables.

Main course is a British minute steak with Spanish chilli butter

250g butter, softened
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 shallots, finely sliced
5 small red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp seeded mustard
4 fillet steaks

Heat 50g of the butter in a pan, add the vinegar and shallots and cook gently until soft. Cool slightly. Fold into the remaining butter, along with the chillies and mustard. Refrigerate until ready to cook the steaks. Pan-fry the steaks for about 30 seconds each side (or until cooked as desired). Remove from the pan and rest. Add some chilli butter to the same pan, as little or as much as you like, and swirl it around until melted. Pour over the steak and garnish with watercress (optional). Serve with wild Indian rice and a glass of: Chilean Shiraz: Concha Y Toro Shiraz Casillero Del Diablo.


Dessert is New York cheesecake


Ingredients

FOR THE CRUST
85ml butter melted, plus extra for tin
140g digestive biscuits , made into fine crumbs
1 tbsp sugar , granulated or golden caster

FOR THE CHEESECAKE FILLING
3 x 300g pack full fat soft cheese (Philadelphia is good)
250g golden caster sugar
3 tbsp plain flour
vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 1 lemon (about 2 tsp)
lemon juice
3 large eggs , plus 1 yolk
284ml carton soured cream

FOR THE SOURED CREAM TOPPING
142ml carton soured cream
1 tbsp golden caster sugar
2 tsp lemon juice

Position an oven shelf in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to fan 160C/conventional 180C/gas 4. Line the base of a 23cm springform cake tin with parchment paper. For the crust, melt the butter in a medium pan. Stir in the biscuit crumbs and sugar so the mixture is evenly moistened. Press the
mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while preparing the filling.

For the filling, increase the oven temperature to fan 200C/conventional 240C/gas 9. In a table top mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the soft cheese at medium-low speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low, gradually add the sugar, then the flour and a pinch of salt, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the paddle twice.

Swap the paddle attachment for the whisk. Continue by adding the vanilla, lemon zest and juice. Whisk in the eggs and yolk, one at a time, scraping the bowl and whisk at st twice. Stir the 284ml carton of soured cream until smooth, then measure 200ml/7fl oz (just over 3â?„4 of the carton). Continue on low speed as you add the measured soured cream (reserve the rest). Whisk to blend, but don't over-beat. The batter should be smooth, light and somewhat airy.

Brush the sides of the springform tin with melted butter and put on a baking sheet. Pour in the filling - if there are any lumps, sink them using a knife - the top should be as smooth as possible. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to fan 90C/conventional 110C/gas 1â?„4 and bake for 25 minutes more. If you gently shake the tin, the filling should have a slight wobble. Turn off the oven and open the oven door for a cheesecake that's creamy in the centre. Let cool in the oven for 2 hours. The cheesecake may get a slight crack on top as it cools. Combine the reserved soured cream with the 142ml carton, the sugar and lemon juice for the topping. Spread over the
cheesecake right to the edges. Cover loosely with foil and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Run a round-bladed knife around the sides of the tin to loosen any stuck edges. Unlock the side, slide the cheesecake off the bottom of the tin onto a plate, then slide the parchment paper out from underneath. Serve with (Irish/Baileys) coffee.

Now see I have 20-25 bucks to work with a meal, so picking up 4 fillet steaks would go over my budget... so it really wouldn't be a meal. If I had 50-60 I would be busting out with the fancy three to four course meals. I mean most runners would be happy with pizza or some other form of cheap food, but most table top cook veterans know that a players stomach is large and sometimes even a pizza might not hold their hunger at bay during a 6 hour + session. I mainly go for great and plenty of it. If I wanted to go for perfect and plenty of it the price cost would either be beyond most of my runners price range, or the food would probably not be enough to completely fill them.

I just find being a Shadowrunner cook with limited funds, it becomes interesting to see what I can pull off with an o.k. budget for food. Currently I'm probably going to make like 100 + wantons (with a filling of shrimp, creme cheese, and some spices,) and egg-rolls for my next group session. The week after I'm probably going to do a vegetarian Mexican salad (avacado, corn, diced tomatoes, crispy tortilla strips, and a spicy yogurt sauce) with homemade tortilla chips is probably going to be on the menu. I'm probably going to throw in some grilled chicken on top of my salad just to suit my tastes and have a few extra pieces if anyone else wants some.

As for steak though either give me a rib-eye seared with high heat in the broiler for just a few minute and some garlic salt sprinkled over the top and bottom of it, or a high end cut of beef (like maybe a fat cut of New York steak.) Fast, easy, and is awesome with mashed potatoes.

We typically supplemented our normal Shadowruns with Costcoruns for cheap beef.

Although if Fortune is to be believed, the land of milk and honey that was cheap lamb and beef from Australia/New Zealand is no more.

Of course my natural genetic inclination is a serve rice with everything so that tends to help keep people full.

6 bucks? Damn, the "small" big mac meal costs 10 over here. I pay 6 bucks for a single big mac, no fries or drink.

It's been awhile since I've had to buy a big mac meal in anything besides yen. On reflection it's probably closer to 7-8 for a regular size meal.

The burgers are smaller in Japan. Go figure.

At least they seem that way, it's so odd to pay 5 bucks and get a normal amount of food. I'm afraid I'm actually getting used to it. The exception to this rule is those beef bowl things (what Yoshinoya is supposed to be serving, not that crappy ramen stuff the make.). Mmm... beeg bowl of happiness with egg and kimchi... mmm.

You can also do amazing things with salmon and bass. However it depends on the season. Fall means deer and moose, and from June to August crab. Other times it is mostly creativity.

What I find is best is that meals are light but there are many courses. I find that a meal can be as simple as home made rye and sour dough bread, hand churned butter, good cheeses, cutlets and a variety of fresh vegetables. You can then even have fluffy scrambled eggs with it if its breakfast.

I've lucked out, in that Vancouver somehow manages to support three restaurants per city block in commercial areas - no idea how, but as I have amazing Indian, Japanese, and Chinese within a fifteen minute walk, I'm not complaining.

If we're sharing recipes, here's the amazing enchiladas I mentioned It needs to be at least doubled, possibly tripled if your group is large and/or really puts food away. Has made 30-year-old men wide-eyed with joy and wonder when I said there was still some left.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas:


Now I'm tempted to stay in tomorrow afternoon to cook for game, instead of running errands downtown. I have no groceries right now, though XD

I basically do the cooking for most of the groups I play/run in. Tonght nis chicken soup using leftovers from sunday's Feng shui game where we had chicken.

In the general style of this thread here is my chilli recipe.

1/2 kilo/1lb beef minced, buy the good stuff it's worth it
about the same in root veg (usually a couple of carrots and half a celeriac)
2-3 Onions
2-6 cloves garlic
Pack of creamed tomatoes
1 tin Heinz Baked Beans
1 tin Kidney Beans
2 bottle lager (though any beer or cider will do)
4 teaspoons sweet smoked Paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
more spicy chilli powder/real chillies if desired.
2 good beef stock cubes (or real stock if you have it)
Worcester sauce (do not use as improvised embalming fluid)
Balsamic Vinegar (optional)

to serve Soured cream, and boiled long grain rice.

1 - chop veg, I usually slice 1 onion finely and the whizz all the rest of th onion and the root veg to a fine pulp in a blender.
2- fry slice onions in olive oil, then after about 5 mins add the rest of the veg. Cook for 10 mins or so.
3- Throw in the beef, stir in and cook till you can't see any red stuff.
4- add a good dash of the Worcester sauce and the balsamic. Throw in the stock cubes and the spices. Stir well.
5- Drain and rince the kidney beans as per pack instructions, add them and the baked beans and the tomatoes. Stir well.
6- Add one bottle of beer. Bring to boil pop a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat and drink the other beer while it all cooks for at least an hour. Stir every so often. I find a little burning to be base of the pan can add a pleasant BBQ flavour to the chilli.

this recipe serves 4-8 depending on how much veg I use, and the positions of the stars. usually I serve four people and have enough left over for 2. Sometimes I feed more people and have the same left overs...

Hashbrowns are also very good...

well butter, and pepper are also included there.. but when I make grits butter goes in on the stove... Otherwise you have concrete.

Quite possibly from the influences of all the chinese population from Hong Kong that are now living in Vancouver. In Hong Kong it's even higher amount of restaurants per city block (and I mean it when I say a lot), mainly because since living space is rather cramped there that one would instead of having guests over, they'd meet at a restaurant. That and since the food is rather inexpensive and good. When China was going to takeover Hong Kong back in the 90's, a lot of people from Hong Kong moved to Vancouver because they didn't know what to expect with the post handover (I have relatives that did that) and I can see them still keeping up with some of the traditions, such as eating out a lot (those chinese restaurants in Vancouver are pretty good from my visit).

yeah, there's always the issue of consistency that one has to make sure with grits. Not enough water and it's concrete, too much water and it's... ugh.

Just be careful that you don't steal any fabricows producing toxic stuff!

So does anyone know what the cost for cooking tools are?

Definately... I tend to come closer to concrete... which I compensate for with butter.. The end result is good thick grits with a bit of butter, chopped overeasy egg, and sausage flavorings... mmmm I think I know what i want for supper now.

That's a kinda broad question man

The biggest problem I have cooking for my Shadowrun group is that we have one vegetarian and 3-4 hardcore carnivores. Also, they are cheap bastards and won't throw in on cost so if I cook it is from the goodness of my heart and it makes my wallet bleed. The vegetarian has quit playing with us, which is fine, she was tolerated because she was one of the other guys girlfriends and we weren't sure if he would leave if we made her leave, but we took some humor too far a couple weeks ago and supposedly she is never playing with us again and he still is. We'll see. Anyway, a favorite of mine is a big plate of nachos. Honestly it is almost a Nacho Casserole

1 bag tortilla chips (or you can make your own, but my current kitchen is not up to the task)
Chicken cooked with cumin, chili powder, ground coriander, and cayenne pepper. I sometimes cook it in a skillet with other peppers.
1 large red onion
a double handful of mushrooms
About half a pepper of the red, yellow, and orange varieties.
A ton of extra sharp chedder and mozarella cheese

Saute the vegetables together in EVOO, garlic salt(or salt and then toss some minced garlic in which is what I do), and a dash of cumin. Cook chicken in skillet as above and shred it. I typically cut the chicken into bite size pieces before shredding and then let it cool while the vegetables cook because my stove only has one eye that gets to a decent temp. It also gets more seasoning into the same amount of chicken. Then I layer a glass baking dish with alternating layers of chips, vegetables, cheese, and chicken. I like to toss some raw black olives in there sometimes and I bake in the over for about 20-30 minutes on 200-250 to let the flavors all settle and melt together and heat everything through.

Chris

Oh, also, something that helps explain Fortune's tastes. The man drinks, literally, 30 cups of coffee a day. He can't have much in the way of taste buds left.

Chris

I dunno about that. I can still taste the coffee.

But do you roast your own?

I am the group roaster... too bad only 1/3rd of the group drinks coffee. The rest are missing out on a world of flavor!

Sometimes, but I'm just as happy with instant.

Normally, folks would jump in and say something negative about your tastes. I however would like to point out that instant coffee outsells bean coffee in the vast majority of coffee growing areas. So, it could be me who has the taste bud deficiency.

At least you have the good taste to drink coffee! Not Postum or the like.

Postum? The Un-Coffee?

Bah Rooibos and Honeybush sweetened with Stevia. With an occasional dab of Yerba Mate.

WMS

You ain't kidding Doc.

Go to your local mega-mart and you can probably get a couple pans, a skillet (or wok), baking sheet, knife, whisk, and a few odds and ends for $20-$30 US; maybe less if you go out to an outlet store or flea market. Its not much to look at, but it'll let you cook real, hot meals. Just make sure you know how to treat your tools right (be careful not to scratch non-stick surfaces, season your cast iron cookwave, etc.). If you have good ingredients, you can make a good meal. Or learn to, if you're a newbie cook.

Conversely, you can go to a specialty store and pay hundreds, or even thousands, for a deluxe professional chef setup. The sky is the limit. If you can think of an oddball/niche kitchen item, they probably make it.


Hmm. Or did you mean for a SR character? If so, I'd suggest using the costs for kits (for home use) and shops (for business or Luxury Lifestyle use). Cooking Facilities could be anything from a small factory to a large-scale professional kitchen.


BTW, you folks keep making me hungry.

(Except for the fabricows. Though, I admit that does sound like the plot hook for a humor-laden mission. "Evening folks, I'm Mr. Johnson. Before we get started, do any of you have any experience handling livestock?")

-paws

Honestly the best thing you can do for yourself is drop good money on a decent knife. I'll give you a hint, a decent knife is one that probably costs more than 60 dollars and doesn't have a serrated edge. Good steel, good weight, good length (not a goddamn paring knife). That'll get you started. Once you've learned the glory that is a great blade you can start drooling over cooking rags for hundred dollar knives.

You also need a decent cutting board (one of those plastic ones should work, don't get the glass ones), a sturdy 4 qt pot, a saucepan/frying pan (hopefully 10 inches or wider), and a small saute pan thing (should comfortably cook a couple of eggs). I personally like non-stick pans because I'm lazy and hate cleaning up stainless steal. If you're being vigilant you shouldn't need a non-stick pot but hey, it happens. Getting a little 1 qt pot for warming up soups and what not is handy too.

Uhm... Oh and buy a freaking garlic press (spend money on it too, no point buying some 5 dollar press that squirts more garlic back at you than into your pot), it's fast, it's easy, and you don't have to slice your damn fingers off dicking around with "dicing" garlic. If you don't like garlic you aren't a human being and should report to your nearest blade runner for immediate retirement.

I'm not a super cook or anything but i am a bit of a foodie and I've had to rebuy/restock my cooking supplies several times now so I feel I have a pretty good grasp on basic cooking supplies .