Virgil's Root Beer

Virgil's Recipes

Virgil's Root Beer Apple Crumbs
Created by Suzi Lederer, student at The Culinary Institute of America.

12 oz. Virgil's Root Beer
4 each Granny Smith Apples, peeled & sliced
1 1/2 cups Quick Cooking Oats
1 cup All-purpose Flour
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 sticks Butter, chilled and cubed
1/2 cup Sliced Almonds
Confectioner's Sugar for garnish.

Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a small sauce pan, reduce the root beer until it has a light, syrupy consistency. Add the apples and heat through, approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, add oats, flour and brown sugar. With a fork, cut in the butter.

In an 11"*7" (or 9 1/2" round) baking dish, press half of the oatmeal mixture. Add almonds to the remaining oatmeal mixture and sprinkle over the apple mixture.
Bake 45-50 minutes until golden brown. Cool slightly and cut into triangles.

Garnish with confectioner's sugar.

Rootin' Tootin' Chocolate Torte
Created by Kristine Smith, student at The Culinary Institute of America

12 oz. Butter, unsalted
6 oz. Sugar
12 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate, chopped very fine
3 oz. Virgil's Root Beer
3 oz. Hot Coffee (strong!)
6 Eggs, lightly beaten with salt
1/4 Tsp. Salt

Place the butter and the sugar in the top of a double boiler. Melt the butter slowly, stirring frequently. When the mixture is very warm (115 F), add the chopped chocolate all at once. Keep stirring until the mixture is completely melted. Combine hot coffee with root beer and then add to the chocolate mixture, stirring so that it blends with the other ingredients.

Check the mixture's temperature. It should be around 100 F. If the temperature is too hot, reduce the heat until it is approximately 100 F.

Then add the eggs all at once, stirring constantly. Remove the mixture and pour it into an oiled, plastic wrapped, lined 10" cake pan. Leave excess plastic hanging out to facilitate removal.

Bake in a 350 F oven, approximately 20 minutes. The top should have seet but the cake should still jiggle. Remove it from the oven and cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Store it in the refrigerator overnight. To unmold, gently warm the bottom of the pan and invert.

When torte has loosened, tip it gently back in to the pan. To serve place on a platter and top with a dusting of powdered sugar or chocolate curls.

Virgil's Root Beer Pecan Pie
Daniel Mullins submitted this twist on traditional pecan pie

12 oz. Virgil's Root Beer (ice cold)
1 cup Light corn syrup
1/4 cup Dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp. Butter
3 Medium eggs
1 cup Chopped pecans
1 Egg white (beaten)
1 Ready Made Pie Crust
Pecans (halves) for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 F. Pour Virgil's Root Beer into a sauce pan and heat over a medium flame. Reduce the root beer until it has a light syrup-like consistency. Let cool slightly. Melt the butter in a separate pot.

Combine the reduced root beer with corn syrup, brown sugar, melted butter, flour and chopped pecans and mix with a wire whisk until thoroughly blended. In a searate bowl, lightly beat the eggs and stir well into a syrup mixture.

Prick the pie crust with a fork and then brush lightly with egg white. Pour the filling in to the shell, garnish the top with pecan halves and bake in the center of the oven for approximately 40 minutes. When a knife stuck in the center comes out clean, the pie is done.

Cool before serving.

Virgil's Prawn Tempura with Spicy Chinese Cabbage & Mandarin Dipping Sauce
Mark Ernst, first prize winner in Virgil's Cooking Contest, submitted this exotic blend of citrus fruits and root beer.

Prawn Tempura
12 oz. Shrimp 16-20 ct.
8 oz. Self-rising flour
2 oz. Corn starch
1 oz. Baking powder
3+ oz. Virgil's Root Beer (ice cold)

Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tail segment on. Dry and keep cold. Sift dry ingredients together. Heat 2 quart of vegetable oil to 375 F in a large, heavy gauge pot. Just before serving, place shrimp in bowl with dry ingredients. Add ice cold Virgil's quickly in small amounts. Mix well until an even coating consistency is achieved. Drop into hot oil by tail segment. Fry until puffy and golden. Remove from oil and drain on paper towel. Reserve in warm oven until needed in recipe.

Spicy Chinese Cabbage
1 head Chinese (Napa) cabbage
1/2 Dried Szechwan chili pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 Tbsp. Ginger, julienne cut.
1/2 Tbsp. Garlic, julienne cut.
2 Tbsp. Peanut Oil
1/2 Lime, juice
1/2 Tsp. Sesame Oil
1/2 Tsp. Soy Sauce
1 Tsp. Cilantro, chopped
T.T. Sugar
T.T. Salt

In a wok or medium skillet, heat peanut oil until smoking. Add chili, ginger and garlic. Fry until aroma develops. Add cabbage and toss. Cook until tender, but still firm. Add lime juice, sesame oil, soy sauce and cilantro. Season with sugar and salt.

Mandarin Dipping Sauce
16 oz. Virgil's Root Beer
4 Mandarin oranges
2 Tbsp. Sesame seeds, toasted.
1 Tbsp. Sugar

Peel the zest from Mandarins, julienne and blanch in boiling water for 10 seconds. Simmer root beer, blanched zest and juice of two oranges until reduced by half. Add 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds. Sauce should have a light syrupy consistency. Segment and reserve remaining two mandarins, and sesame seeds.
Assemble dish by mounding cabbage in center of warm plate. Spoon sauce around cabbage. Place three shrimp with tails up on bed of cabbage. Garnish with mandarins and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

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