"Oh boy...what have I gotten myself into?" or Robin's cooking for LOTS of people.

[RobinStarwing]

So I am to bring a dish this weekend to my little brother's an his fiancee's wedding and potluck. What do I get asked to bring? Well here is the List of Ingredients and some of the directions for what I intend to cook up for this event...

3 lbs of 93/7 Lean Hamburger browned
3 lbs of Elbow Macaroni
6 cans of Campell's Tomato Soup (fill and rinse with water)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbsp Salt and Pepper (1/2 Tbsp of each mixed)
2 cups of finely chopped Celery
2 cups of finely chopped purple Onions
3 cans of Low Sodium V8
1/4 Tsp Season Salt
1/4 Tsp Garlic Pepper
1/2 Tsp Sugar
3 cans diced tomatoes

Fry the Hamburger and chopped veggies together with the Salt and Pepper than mix everything above but the elbow mac and V8 into a large pot (5 quarts or more) and simmer, stirring occasionally till hot. Another large pot of water for the Elbow Mac to cook it al dente than mix the contents of both pots together in either one pot or a very large bowl. Save and serve in cockpot the next day(using the V8 to re-add moisture) after eating some yourself the night you make it.

People, this is the 'Goulash' recipe of my Mother's family taken to feeding WHO KNOWS how many people coming to this potluck. :crying: I am going to be a very busy boy on the 5th of December.

[phil_]

Are you sure that's enough spices for six pounds of ground beef and pasta? Seems a bit wimpy and not vegetable-y except for the Worcestershire sauce, which seems like it would overpower everything else in this meat pasta.

Let us know how it goes, I guess. Or experiment some before the big day. Go beyond "not screwing up" to "nailed it."

[Flarecobra]

That looks like a lot of salt.

[RobinStarwing]

It's supposed to be a meaty dish and I missed a "b" in some of those measures. The sugar is there to take bite off the acids in the tomato products and the Worst is a required part of it and you would be surprised as it will not overpower it.

EDIT: Also, welcome to Minnesota. Salt is mandatory. Ketchup is spicy.

[RobinStarwing]

And update now that I've had a couple days of rest after the whole thing...

...the Goulash was a hit! It even fed the After Party though that's mainly cause we still had 5 quarts of the stuff after the Potluck. I think I seriously made too much.

[Grandmaster_Skweeb]

Next time you use a metric fuckton of salt give some Himilayan pink salt a spin. Haven't had normal salt in well over a year now and don't miss it a bit. It's a tad more expensive but the benefits outweighs the cost. That said, despite the slightly higher bump in cost it has a 'saltier' taste with a reduced sodium chloride percentage so you can use less and maintain flavor.


Element Ion Atomic # Concentration Method/Source
Hydrogen H 1 0.30 g/kg DIN
Lithium Li 3 0.40 g/kg AAS
Beryllium Be 4 <0.01 ppm AAS
Boron B 5 <0.001 ppm FSK
Carbon C 6 <0.001 ppm FSK
Nitrogen N 7 0.024 ppm ICG
Oxygen O 8 1.20 g/kg DIN
Flouride F- 9 <0.1 g/kg Potentiometer
Sodium Na+ 11 382.61 g/kg FSM
Magnesium Mg 12 0.16 g/kg AAS
Aluminum Al 13 0.661 ppm AAS
Silicon Si 14 <0.1 g/kg AAS
Phosphorus P 15 <0.10 ppm ICG
Sulfur S 16 12.4 g/kg TXRF
Chloride Cl- 17 590.93 g/kg Gravimetrie
Potassium K+ 19 3.5 g/kg FSM
Calcium Ca 20 4.05 g/kg Titration
Scandium Sc 21 <0.0001 ppm FSK
Titanium Ti 22 <0.001 ppm FSK
Vanadium V 23 0.06 ppm AAS
Chromium Cr 24 0.05 ppm AAS
Manganese Mn 25 0.27 ppm AAS
Iron Fe 26 38.9 ppm AAS
Cobalt Co 27 0.60 ppm AAS
Nickel Ni 28 0.13 ppm AAS
Copper Cu 29 0.56 ppm AAS
Zinc Zn 30 2.38 ppm AAS
Gallium Ga 31 <0.001 ppm FSK
Germanium Ge 32 <0.001 ppm FSK
Arsenic As 33 <0.01 ppm AAS
Selenium Se 34 0.05 ppm AAS
Bromine Br 35 2.1 ppm TXRF
Rubidium Rb 37 0.04 ppm AAS
Strontium Sr 38 0.014 g/kg AAS
Ytterbium Y 39 <0.001 ppm FSK
Zirconium Zr 40 <0.001 ppm FSK
Niobium Nb 41 <0.001 ppm FSK
Molybdenum Mo 42 0.01 ppm AAS
Technetium Tc 43 unstable artificial isotope
Ruthenium Ru 44 <0.001 ppm FSK
Rhodium Rh 45 <0.001 ppm FSK
Palladium Pd 46 <0.001 ppm FSK
Silver Ag 47 0.031 ppm AAS
Cadmium Cd 48 <0.01 ppm AAS
Indium In 49 <0.001 ppm FSK
Tin Sn 50 <0.01 ppm AAS
Antimony Sb 51 <0.01 ppm AAS
Tellurium Te 52 <0.001 ppm FSK
Iodine I 53 <0.1 g/kg potentiometrie
Cesium Cs 55 <0.001 ppm FSK
Barium Ba 56 1.96 ppm AAS/TXR
Lanthan La 57 <0.001 ppm FSK
Cerium Ce 58 <0.001 ppm FSK
Praseodynium Pr 59 <0.001 ppm FSK
Neodymium Nd 60 <0.001 ppm FSK
Promethium Pm 61 unstable artificial isotope N/A
Samarium Sm 62 <0.001 ppm FSK
Europium Eu 63 <3.0 ppm TXRF
Gadolinium Gd 64 <0.001 ppm FSK
Terbium Tb 65 <0.001 ppm FSK
Dysprosium Dy 66 <4.0 ppm TXRF
Holmium Ho 67 <0.001 ppm FSK
Erbium Er 68 <0.001 ppm FSK
Thulium Tm 69 <0.001 ppm FSK
Ytterbium Yb 70 <0.001 ppm FSK
Lutetium Lu 71 <0.001 ppm FSK
Hafnium Hf 72 <0.001 ppm FSK
Tantalum Ta 73 1.1 ppm TXRF
Wolfram W 74 <0.001 ppm FSK
Rhenium Re 75 <2.5 ppm TXRF
Osmium Os 76 <0.001 ppm FSK
Iridium Ir 77 <2.0 ppm TXRF
Platinum Pt 78 0.47 ppm TXRF
Gold Au 79 <1.0 ppm TXRF
Mercury Hg 80 <0.03 ppm AAS
Thallium Ti 81 0.06 ppm AAS
Lead Pb 82 0.10 ppm AAS
Bismuth Bi 83 <0.10 ppm AAS
Polonium Po 84 <0.001 ppm FSK
Astat At 85 <0.001 ppm FSK
Francium Fr 87 <1.0 ppm TXRF
Radium Ra 88 <0.001 ppm FSK
Actinium Ac 89 <0.001 ppm FSK
Thorium Th 90 <0.001 ppm FSK
Protactinium Pa 91 <0.001 ppm FSK
Uranium U 92 <0.001 ppm FSK
Neptunium Np 93 <0.001 ppm FSK
Plutonium Pu 94 <0.001 ppm FSK
~85% sodium chloride, 15% trace minerals (as opposed to common table salt's ~97.5% sodium chloride/2.5% additives)
Excellent source of Magnesium. Everybody needs more magnesium. Get you some.
promotes and maintains pH balance of cells
helps regulate blood sugar levels
excellent replacement for low salt diets due to cardiovascular issues

among others. But you get the point.

[Azisien]

Good salesmanship, Himalayan salt is definitely better than processed table salt, but it's still overpriced GreenMachine crap. Just switching to most any variety of sea salt is a vast improvement in flavor over processed. I think that trend just works for every type of food, though.

[rpgdemon]

Be warned: Sea salt does not contain iodine, which is an essential... Nutrient? Or something. You need it.

I have a thing of sea salt that I use for anywhere I will be tasting the salt directly (Popcorn, on chocolate chip cookies, et cetera), and a thing of normal iodized salt that I use for when I just need something to be salty.

Sea salt is good, but it's a finishing salt, to put on top of things, or in a way that leaves the salt pretty much intact and noticable. You don't want to spend extra money when it is just going to be thrown into a stew, you want to use it when you can really taste the difference.

[RobinStarwing]

Be warned: Sea salt does not contain iodine, which is an essential... Nutrient? Or something. You need it.

I have a thing of sea salt that I use for anywhere I will be tasting the salt directly (Popcorn, on chocolate chip cookies, et cetera), and a thing of normal iodized salt that I use for when I just need something to be salty.

Sea salt is good, but it's a finishing salt, to put on top of things, or in a way that leaves the salt pretty much intact and noticable. You don't want to spend extra money when it is just going to be thrown into a stew, you want to use it when you can really taste the difference.

There is Iodized Sea Salt on the market. I will buy that next time I need to buy salt.

Also, Skweeb's...this is Minnesota. Salt is mandatory. Ketchup is too spicy.