Mitsu here, and yes, I'm sober again. Don't blame Elrayn, she was just... well... she's a valued part of my krewe! You don't choose your krewe, your krewe chooses you.
Well, this week I bring you pub grub from the Nornic lands, or were the the lands of Nornia? Well, its the Shiverpeaks nonetheless, and while pubs are mostly a human thing, the Norns know how to take a few things, cobble them together like a Skritt, and end up with the tastiest thing you'd never think you want to eat!
Now that Zhaitan is gone, Orr is more open and easier to harvest. Crocus seeds have made their way north, and we can now grow hydrolithoponic saffron far faster than we can collect it from Orr. The Norns have really taken advantage of this in their Saffron Stuffed Mushrooms (is the Norn palate even sophisticated enough to recognize the delicate flavour of saffron?).
Now what would be a good brew without some greasy fingerfood? I may not be a human, but that doesn't mean I wasn't trained under one... Onion rings are wonderful, the light crispy outside of my batter of choice, seasoned lightly, with a nice sauce on the side for dipping... My eyes, oh they are just watering thinking about them.
Saffron Stuffed Mushrooms
- Loaf of (Saffron) Bread- Saffron (in the bread) (very expensive in any meaningful quantity, use sparingly)
- Portobello Mushrooms (as many as needed)
- Shallots (my favourite onionoid)
- Cheese (optional)
- Elonian Wine (an Asura's gotta drink to keep up with Norn company somehow)
Set oven to 350 For bookahs.
In a pan, fry shallots in butter. Once translucent and starting to brown, add a liquid, I don't want to be sober so I used a bottled of fine Elonian Red (AN: I actually used a nice South African dry red wine, The Wolftrap, it makes a lovely butter based red wine sauce). A dry red will make better use of the natural sweetness of the butter, and play nicely on the shallots. Remember, this is totally optional, and saffron milk is definitely the better way to go!
Cube bread finely, add to pan, mix it up and have it absorb some, but not all of the sauce.
Grease a baking tray, and clean mushrooms, removing stems. Put spore side up, and gently pour sauce into cap. I like adding a small bit of white cheddar for appearance once baked. The really big portobellos? Norns love them for their size, fits perfectly into their hands.
Bake until cooked through, this will vary based on humidity, so don't be a bookah, know your oven! I baked for 9 minutes. Plate and serve.
Onion Rings
- Buttermilk- Flour
- Onion
- Egg (optional)
- Seasoning as you please (cheffing is about discovery!)
Heat oil to... Ugh... this varies so much... Test how your oil fries, you want it hot enough that a piece of dough will look effervescent and eventually rise to the surface, but not so hot that it smokes. Figure out that setting, and commit it to your golem's memory, and thank the Eternal Alchemy you can even do that.
You don't want your oil too hot though, so do that after prepping everything else.
Ok, so there are a few ways you can handle batter, I like a thin batter on my rings, Norns like a thick batter, we will never agree.
Slice onions into horizontal slices, separate into toroids.
For a thin batter, make an eggwash and put it in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl mix flour with seasonings to taste.
For a thicker batter, take your toroids and freeze them. Mix flour and spices as you please, separate and leave some for dredging, turning the rest into a semithick batter in your 5HK-IT golem.
Dredge frozen toroids into flour (freezing so it sticks), dip in batter, throw in fryer. And if the Dredge won't let you, dredge them through the oil instead.
Once the top side starts to brown, flip, continue frying for another half that amount of time. Remove, place on paper towel to dry, bowl, and serve. Ideally with a dip of your choice, I hear humans like ketchup, I don't.
