basic_powers | Hungry people need to eat...

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Hungry people need to eat...

It took a little bit of bribing amid the waitrats and kitchen staff to arrange for four hours of uninterrupted time. Half an hour of that was spent checking over the entire kitchen for listening devices, scrying spells or astral anchors. Once that was done, everything was about getting all the bits and bobs for teaching someone cooking basics out and at the ready. Spices were arranged, the espresso machine was warmed and primed. Coffer of various types was set out in jars, ranging from the dreaded SANKA to Civet Cat to the special blend that the people on Security drank (It was always nice to have a coffee that doubled as a liquid to exorcise ghosts, spells and what not).

For what's he's worth, Beauford is standing calmly next to one of the polished steel prep tables of the kitchen, wearing a battered plain denim apron that may have a few char marks at the shoulder. At least that's how things appear to Quentin when the young man shows up at for lessons.

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"I can do that,"

He nods and heads into the freezer, its daunting but he's been in the pantries of big knowes. Some of the meats are weird but he comes back with everything asked for.

By the time Quentin gets back, he's going to find a quart container of four-cheese sauce standing next to the roux and pesto on the table. Beauford's working on that second sauce for the bacon cheeseburger shephard's pie. "Great...dice up an onion and we can get started on the filling..."

There may be a quick glance up towards the kitchen clock just then, because he did only get them 4 hours of uninterrupted time. "We've got two hours left...debating if we should use instant potatoes for the topping of the pie, or from scratch...."

"What's the difference in time?"

Chopping an onion is something he's actually pretty good at and he follows Beauford's gaze up to the clock.

"An hour of cooking time." Beauford replies, doing the math in his head. If they did it from scratch it would taste better..but it wouldn't be baked and finished.

Then again... Quentin could take it home, unbaked and save it for later this week. Cook it when needed.

"This is going to be your choice. We use instant mashed potatoes and bake the pie here, or we go the long route and make em from scratch and you bake it at home."

"Let's do from scratch. I want it to taste as good as it can and I can surprise everyone with it,"

Also he'll understand better how to make it.

"Right, you're going to need to get a hop on washing and scouring about..." There's another measuring glance towards the ground meat Quentin brought out. "I'd say two pounds of red potatoes should do nicely. Get one of the large pots of water going on the stove so it can get heated up while you scrub em'."

He's still got this cheese sauce to finish up. "You want to taste test the first sauce, just grab a spoon. Actually grab two."

"Two spoons and two pounds of potatoes,"

He grabs the spoons, looks for a big pot to fill with water. Following directions is something that he's good at and Beauford gives helpful ones.

Once Quentin has the large pot half-filled with water, Beauford is waving him to the stove to get it on the heat.

"Good, now come here quick and give the sauce for the pie a taste." And Quentin tries dipping into the sauce with his dirty spoon, there is going to be such a look and a thwap. Probably not going to happen, but sometimes one has to test students for their good sense.

Quentin has two spoons and he gives Beauford a considering look, "Is the second spoon for you?"

Quentin's question is answered with a very pleased grin. About time this boy started asking some questions!

"No it is no., It's for you. You don't want to contaminate something you're cooking with your saliva by double dipping it."

"Right, no double dipping," He can remember that.

"It's good hygiene practice... now.. I'd like to hear any other questions you might have."

"Um, how do all the parts come together and in what order? Also can you write this down for me?"

That way he can study it.

Quentin just got himself a pint of one of Beauford's homemade ice creams ear-marked to be sent home with him. GOLD STAR.

"For the mac and cheese, you're going to need to boil pasta.. if you're talking the Shephard's pie, we've just about finished the sauce for it, so I can walk you through the steps for that. I'll also write you up a copy of the recipe for study."

Step one: Dice your onion and cut your sliced bacon into 1/2 inch strips.

Step two: Fry bacon until crisp, take from pan and set onto paper towel. Make sure to leave the fried off fat in the pan!

Step three: Fry onions in bacon fat until transluscent.

Step four: Add in 1/2 pound ground beef, 1/2 lb ground lean pork, 1/2 lb ground lamb to pan and brown. Break up meats into small chunks as you cook them. Drain off fat when no pink remains in any of the meat.

(Optional: At this stage, you may add 1 tbsp worchestershire sauce and 1 tbsp ketchup to the meat for extra flavor)

Step five: Add the bacon back into the pan and stir throughly

Step six: Place meat and onion mixture into casserole dish and pour on your cheese sauce. Mix throughly until everything is coated in delicious sauce.

"Alright, we're getting to the point where it needs the mashed potatoes for a topping."

"What happens if you don't have the right mix of meats?" Since he could see having a time when he didn't have all of them.

"If you can't get the same mix of meats, two parts beef to one part pork will do. Or all beef if you're serving one of the lower kosher sets. Not the high traditionalists of some Judaism practices though." Beauford answers. "And if you can't find good bacon, just add a little less worchestershire sauce and ketchup to the meat as it cooks. By the way Oscar Meyer is NOT good enough bacon for this."

...There may be some spoon wagging going on at Quentin for that last line.

"Don't use all pork or all lamb for it. Those require different flavoring agents or sauces. If you wanted to though, I'll work up on writing you a nice recipe for a curry sauce if you wanted to do an all lamb version."

Take notes: Curry and Lamb go well together!

"Good bacon's important, that's already settled in our house. Curry sounds good," He's eaten a lot of it.

"How're those potatoes coming?"

Quentin eyes the pot and grabs a fork then gets a potato up against the side to stab it, "Tender."

"Get a colander over the sink and drain em. We'll leave the skins on for this venture." He's just going to be getting some kind of massive paddle from the rack above one of the work tables. "Careful not to scald your face when you do it, once they're drained, pop em back into the pot you cooked them in and we can mash them for the topping."

Cream and salted butter are getting set out for this step.

"Got it," Not burning himself makes sense and he's careful with the pot.

Boy howdy, the man wasn't kidding about the steam cloud the boils up as the potatoes drain into the sink. Once the dripping stops, Quentin is going to find Beauford helping him to pour them back into the pot for mashing.

"Alright, this step is pretty easy. Take paddle...you can probably find a few smaller home kitchen-sized ones at yard sales." In fact...Beauford's getting an idea forming in his head. He's going to be writing down some more notes. "Just thought of a book that might be handy for you. It's called Poorcraft, the library ought to have a copy, but if it doesn't let me know and I'll lend you my old one."

"I'll look for it, there are also a lot of good used bookstores and I have a friend who's really good at finding books online,"

Dean's a master of finding whatever you can imagine.

It takes a lot of arm work to get the butter and cream mixed into the mashing potatoes... and by now it smells like heaven just arrived.

Step ~~Seven~~ zero: Preheat oven to 375 degrees farenheight

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Step Seven: Spread Mashed potato mixture over meat and cheese sauce. Sprinkle on extra cheese or dried chives if desired.

Step Eight: Bake for 20-30 minutes or until top is lightly golden brown

Step Nine: Remove casserole dish from oven and SERVE. Feeds 8-10 people depending on the sizes involved.

"There we go. It's ready to throw in an oven. We've got a half hour to clean up now."

"Okay, what's going to be the hardest to clean or needs to soak?" He has some ideas but wants to do the right thing.

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