Originally posted by Saffo7
Congratulations again on the lottery:f_drink::f_drink::f_drink:
Thank you! 
One step closer to being a "professional" blogger, I guess... 
Originally posted by Saffo7
It could be a complete story with a great start by overtaking the score without realizing that you have damaged and petrified aware that you have to repay the damage:f_biggrin:
Seriously, though, only one is correct - don't let Vorpal troll you. 
He trolls me because I'm winning.π€π
I came to congratulate otherwise I would have responded Friday morning or Thursday. You and primrose have a positive energy, reading is interesting as well as fun.
I try with the 3π€
Okay, time for my first entry. I'm going to tackle currywurst, or curry sausage, which is a very common and popular street food in Germany. It is even said to be one of the favorite dishes of former chancellor Gerhard SchrΓΆder, who was in office from 1998 to 2005.
You may remember that it was one of the items on the list for last year's Trollsmas Market challenge, one of the dishes we didn't get to.
As common as it is, I never really had it before, for the simple reason that I have a very strong aversion to ketchup - it's one of my few "don't even touch" ingredients, I normally refuse to eat any food that contains it, even if it is hardly noticeable. For this version, however, I found a recipe online for a sauce that does not contain any ketchup, it is made from canned tomatoes instead. Time for me to find out what all the hype is about! 
Today's Dish: Currywurst
Cuisine: German
Recipe: https://www.wunderweib.de/wie-aus-der-bude-nur-besser-currywurst-sauce-4451.html
The recipe link is in German, but don't worry, I'll walk you through it. We start with a finely diced onion, which we will lightly braise in a pot with one tablespoon of cooking oil.
We will then stir in a teaspoon of tomato paste, another teaspoon of spicy curry powder, and half a teaspoon of brown sugar.
We will add 100 ml of orange juice and a can of crushed tomatoes. The original recipe calls for a 425 ml can, I think mine had 400 ml.
Stir it, season it to your liking with salt and pepper, and then cover it and let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
...and that's where I probably messed up a little. As it turns out, "simmering" doesn't mean "boiling the life out of it". I had it on a little too high, I think, then had to rescue it when it was about to overcook (literally this time - Primrose and I love to joke about "overcooking" based on one of our favorite games on Steam), and probably then had it on a little too low. You'll see how it turned out later.
Meanwhile, we'll prepare some fries, for which I used my trusty air fryer, and fry us some sausages.
When they are done, we will simply slice those sausages into little bite-sized pieces.
The plate in the picture is made of porcelain, but it is made in the style of the single-use paper dishes that currywurst is commonly served in. In fact, since we have a decent amount to serve, let's get another similar dish in another common shape. We will also add the fries at that point.
Then, you would simply cover those sliced sausages in your sauce, add a generous amount of curry powder on top, and stick your little fork in or whatever you have. Not sure if those once common single-use plastic forks are still a thing, most food stands probably switched to wood by now. Mine are made of stainless steel and are dishwasher safe.
For maximum authenticity, I recommend opening your windows to let the cold in, have the most mainstream radio station you can receive play faintly in the background, and imagine that you are standing next to a middle-aged working class person who is complaining to the vendor about everything that is currently going on in the world.
But how did my version turn out? Okay, but not great, I'd say. The sauce was a little weak. Maybe it could have used some extra punch, but I also likely screwed up during the cooking process, just judging by the texture. The sauce is still lumpy, with a watery substance that sinks down to the plate.
It's not supposed to be like that, the consistency is normally more like ketchup, which I assume is what most stands are using - so if you are going to make this dish at home and you don't carry such a strong aversion to this condiment like I do, you may just want to use that and spice it up with curry powder. Also, I recommend adding some paprika on those fries, it's what most food stands are doing - I forgot about it, I just added salt and pepper, the way I usually prefer it.
It looked quite close to the real thing, at least. Can't say to much about the taste, because I'm not really familiar with it myself, but I do know the smell, and this wasn't quite it.
Still a fine entry to the series, as far as I am concerned.
Originally posted by Harrier88
As common as it is, I never really had it before, for the simple reason that I have a very strong aversion to ketchup - it's one of my few "don't even touch", ingredients I normally refuse to eat any food that contains it, even if it is hardly noticeable.
Actually, there is one exception of sorts. There was a little diner at a street corner in the town where I went to university, close to the lecture hall. They sold currywurst with a special gimmick, which was that their sauce was potentially extremely spicy, and it came in levels. The top level of spiciness was Level 5, labeled "Primal Scream - only for neanderthals and superhumans". From what I can tell, they were not kidding. I've been there a few times during my student days, when I felt the need for both a meal and a challenge, but I only ever had levels 3 and 4.
Based on my own experience and what I could piece together from conversations, Level 1 was pretty much just ketchup, Level 2 could be considered spicy ketchup, Level 3 was really hot sauce, Level 4 was so hot that no one in their right mind would eat it, and Level 5 may legit become a medical emergency.
That's what the store owner told me. One day, when I was feeling the need for a particular challenge, I boldly stepped through that door like a cowboy entering a saloon, ordered my currywurst with fries and said "Level 5" when I was asked about the sauce. The owner and his assistant looked up at me with a bit of a gasp. "Are you sure about that?", he asked. "This one will be very tough on your circulation. Do you have anything planned for today, any kind of physical exertion?". I was thinking. "Well... I still have a fair bit of walking to do, and I will have to take a train ride back home later on, which will take about an hour... Maybe I should go for Level 4 today after all?".
The store owner smiled and nodded. "I'll tell you what, come back to me one time on a day when you have nothing else to do, and I will gladly make you that Level 5". I kept that in the back of my head, but never managed to get to it, it was in my final years of studying anyway. Besides, that Level 4 I got was seriously spicy too, as I mentioned above. I remember one time when I was eating my paper napkin in a desperate attempt to mask the spiciness of the sauce. You quickly learn to order milk-based drinks on the side there, as water-based drinks only spread the spiciness around on your tongue.
I even remember a newspaper clipping on display in that diner that mentioned an eating contest where the participants went beyond Level 5, all the way into double digits - all under strict medical supervision.
So yeah, it is likely that the version I had there contained ketchup, but in this case, it was so spiced up that I just considered it hot sauce instead. It is probably the only exception I ever made.
under a starry sky:f_biggrin:
I was lost on the result, even if I'm out of shape I thought I'd create it just for fun
I hope you like it:f_drink:
Originally posted by Saffo7
I was lost on the result, even if I'm out of shape I thought I'd create it just for fun
I hope you like it:f_drink:
Whaaaat!!! I actually got one right β weird
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Whaaaat!!! I actually got one right β weird
Yes, it was the question with Harrier vs the women's national team.
Originally posted by Saffo7
under a starry sky:f_biggrin:
I was lost on the result, even if I'm out of shape I thought I'd create it just for fun
I hope you like it:f_drink:
Looks great. 
But why are the lines going down for each wrong answer?
Otherwise I would have had to make another type of graph by inserting two types of bars for each, right and wrong answers, but that point there would not have been the starry sky:f_biggrin:
Originally posted by Saffo7
Otherwise I would have had to make another type of graph by inserting two types of bars for each, right and wrong answers, but that point there would not have been the starry sky:f_biggrin:
Fair enough, I just thought of a simple line graph for correct answers.
If you have seen my blog, you know that I can be a bit of a graphs nut myself.
yes I read your blog, I saw the graphs:f_thumbsup:
This version is more correct:f_tongue:
I'm excited to announce the first Far Eastern stop for the Trolls on our culinary world tour.
I remember McDonald's once introducing a Korean-inspired burger as a promotional item during the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea. However, I never had that one nor could I find any information on it online, so I couldn't use it for reference even if I wanted to.
Instead, I based my version on Beef Bulgogi, which is a Korean barbecue dish that may eventually be featured on Recipe Raiders too.
This also makes this the first burger I had to prepare the previous day, because those patties were marinated. This is the marinade I made:
It contains 5 tablespoons of soy sauce (provided entirely from the little bottles of soy sauce we collected from our takeout sushi over the years), 4 tablespoons of chopped green onions, 2-2.5 tablespoons of sugar, a clove of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons each of sesame oil and sesame seeds, and some pepper.
Normally, you would marinate a pound of steak slices with it and grill them. We will instead use it on a couple of beef patties. They looked like this as I put them in the refrigerator last night.
That's all - after they spent half a day covered in the fridge, all we had to do was fry 'em.
Also, let me introduce another ingredient for today which you may not be familiar with yet. It is a Korean seasoning paste called gochujang, had to get it on eBay.
Oh, and the burger pictures always took a while to load, didn't they? I decided to edit them a little to reduce the resolution, I hope it works a little better for you now.
Let's get started - with some kimchi, of course.
...then the marinated beef patty...
...and finally some of that gochujang paste and a little more kimchi, just a bit more.
That's our Korean burger.
Primrose is skeptical... she wouldn't call them banhauser, but she is not sure if she would like to try those burgers. I don't know if it's the kimchi or the seasoning or whatever, but she isn't a fan.
I personally liked them very much. The first one, that is. With my second burger, I got a little careless with that kimchi juice or whatever it is called, and the bread got soggy. Not the best way to end it, but the first one was very good, so that one counts.
It ranks high up there... rivaling Greece, but not quite beating it. I say it's a 3rd place.
1st Switzerland
2nd Greece
3rd Korea
4th Spain
5th Germany
6th Italy
7th Texas
8th California
9th Mexico
10th England
11th France
12th Canada
13th Hungary
14th The Netherlands
I donΒ΄t know, my friend. I donΒ΄t know. Could be yummy but could be Banhauser too.
I think I have a potential banhauser burger recipe...
Give me a few days and I'll report back π₯Έ
Note: it will be low calorie!
Originally posted by UPAY4DINNER
I think I have a potential banhauser burger recipe...Give me a few days and I'll report back π₯Έ
Oh, you're getting me excited!
Originally posted by Harrier88
Originally posted by UPAY4DINNER
I think I have a potential banhauser burger recipe...Give me a few days and I'll report back π₯Έ
Oh, you're getting me excited!
This thread made me hungry for burgers so I've spent (far too) much time looking for low calorie burger options.
I've settled on one that has strange ingredients (at least to me!) will test making the sauce on Saturday after I get the required ingredients.
Originally posted by Harrier88
Troll Trivia of the WeekDuring a summer holiday in the early to mid 90's in Halkidiki, Greece, little Harrier loved to watch the games in the resort's video arcade in the evenings.
After being a spectator for many days, his parents finally gave him some drachmae to have a shot at a Tetris machine. Little Harrier...
1) Broke the high score
2) Damaged the cabinet
3) Froze up in panic
Solution:
3) Froze up in panic
Are video arcades even still a thing? Back then, they often were a feature in these resorts, and during that vacation, I don't think there was a single evening where I didn't stop by in that arcade, usually after dinner and before going to the balcony to chill and maybe play some cards.
It felt almost like an early version of Twitch. People came both to play and to watch, and if players were doing well, they would surely attract an audience of spectators gathering around them. The most entertaining game to watch there for me was probably Ms. Pac-Man, it was exciting to see how far people would get with their three lives (plus one bonus) - decent players would beat the two levels in the first pink maze, very good players would make it past the following three levels in the cyan maze, and lasting four more levels in the orange maze was so hard that I never saw anyone pull it off to unlock the third and final cutscene and the fourth maze, which I now know would have been dark blue - but whenever anyone got close, it was time to get hyped.
Other games I remember from that arcade were Pinball Action, some gambling themed game I couldn't find now that featured slots and poker, and what I think was the Tengen version of Tetris - I only know that this is the game I played. And after spending so many evenings watching sick runs as a spectator only - heck, I could spend hours just watching the attract modes of some games when no one was playing - I was quite nervous.
So nervous, in fact, that I practically froze up in place. I watched the pieces fall down, I knew that I should do something, I knew what it was that I was supposed to do... but I just couldn't bring myself to it. I was only 4 or 5, after all. The only audience I attracted was one kid perhaps slightly older than me, who wasn't impressed by my showing. And in typical "Harrier on a downswing" fashion, I broke down in tears right afterwards, ashamed of my failure. 
I gladly returned as a spectator again in the following evenings, but that was the last time I ever tried my paws at a real arcade cabinet. I would love to try it again nowadays if I had the chance. At least I had a good game of Tetris with the grindette last Friday, which even had us dancing around my living room.
Maybe those video arcades aren't the best place for a 4 or 5 year old kid to hang out at anyway. Rest assured that I was wise enough to spend my daytime at the beach and at the pool. Here's a picture of little Harrier in his swimmies - I'm not 100% sure if that one is from the same vacation as the one with the Tetris incident, because we went to that place more than once during the first half of the nineties, but I think it was.
Mind you, Primrose was a proficient swimmer at that age already...
Congratulations to Saffo!
I never played in a video game arcade.
When I was a teenager there was a pinball machine or two in the miners' lounge, which the teen club could use from 18:00 to 21:00 every night.
I had a few times on the high score list, but not many. These were real pinball machines with real balls and electromechanical flippers that made wonderful clunking sounds with occasional bells and whistles. Video games I played on a computer.
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I never played in a video game arcade.
When I was a teenager there was a pinball machine or two in the miners' lounge, which the teen club could use from 18:00 to 21:00 every night.
I had a few times on the high score list, but not many. These were real pinball machines with real balls and electromechanical flippers that made wonderful clunking sounds with occasional bells and whistles. Video games I played on a computer.
I saw one of those pinball machines once in the clubhouse of some soccer club where I had an away game as a kid. Once again, I only watched, but it looked quite impressive. Some of the more modern tables got even more sophisticated with the extras and special effects, I believe. It's like they are telling entire stories.
Pachinko looks quite fun too, in a similar way, but I have never encountered any of those machines in the wild. Some of them even come with little screens to display some videos that were specifically made for the Pachinko machine.
SΜΆUΜΆNΜΆDΜΆAΜΆYΜΆ FRIDAY HORSE race!!!
As mentioned in my blog, I will take Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays strictly off from poker, focussing not only on good poker, but also on good rest and recovery! But this does not mean that our Sunday HORSE race is cancelled, no way! It will be on FRIDAYS instead, starting from the 7th of April (until then I have tennis practice on Fridays). Our HORSEs will run on Fridays! ♠_biggrin:♠_thumbsup:
