Request: Fallout: New Vegas – Wasteland Omelet

Oh my, is it Wednesday already!? I’ve recently started a new job working full-time and I’ve been so busy I’ve not had a moment this week to even play Fallout: New Vegas which has been sitting on my shelf for several months now. So when I get in from work or you settle down after a long day roaming in, well, nothing, you want something quick and nutritious (plus you really have to use up those Deathclaw Eggs). I’m personally a big fan of Omelets (Omelettes? What an odd word) and I love that New Vegas has Hardcore survival style gameplay. It’s this mode which has attracted me to the game and I’m excited to see how well it’s been implemented – for games like Fallout it’s an aspect I really miss! So stoke your fire and follow this very simple but delicious recipe.

This recipe serves 1.

What you will need: A large non-stick frying pan, a bowl, a spatula and a whisk.

Ingredients:

1 Teaspoon Butter

40g / ¼ Cup Red Delicious Apple (Finely Diced)

3 Large Eggs

1 Tablespoon Milk

Salt & Pepper

30g / ¼ Cup Emmental Cheese (Grated)

2 Thick Ham Slices

Making the Wasteland Omelet:

1. In a bowl whisk together the eggs and milk, season to taste and set aside. Then heat the butter in a frying pan on a medium heat.
2. Add the apple to the frying pan and warm through, once the apple begins to soften remove it from the pan and set aside.
3. Pour the egg and milk mixture into the frying pan and allow it to cook. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn underneath and move the pan to help any liquid on top cook.
4. Once the top begins to look firm and cooked, sprinkle half the omelet with the apple, followed by the cheese and then the ham slices.
5. Add a little bit more cheese on top of the ham and carefully use the spatula to fold the omelet in half – the cheese should help it seal once folded.
6. Allow everything to melt and then serve!

The ingredients and inspiration behind the recipe are pretty self-explanatory; the combination of BlamCo Mac & Cheese, Crunchy Mutfruit, Deathclaw Eggs and Lakelurk Meat are simply the ham, cheese and apple which go so well together. Only with less radiation. Maybe. Before anyone mentions those bizarre claw/feet – I know. I tried sculpting some out of chicken, ham and even attempted fish but it just looked ridiculous. Lakelurks don’t even have a piece of anatomy that looks like that. If you’re really distressed I think the closest real-world representation would be a chicken foot. I bet you’re glad I kept it out now, huh?

If anyone would like to re-create this recipe and actually use chicken feet or create a convincing version of the claws – send it to me and you’ll get a special reblog. Because you’d be a braver person than I.

Like this? You might also enjoy the Fallout 3 - Yum Yum Deviled Eggs.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Sweet Roll

This Friday Skyrim will be hitting the shelves and it’s one of my most highly anticipated releases of this year! Since I’ll be spending the entire weekend glued to my TV and ignoring all signals from my body that it’s tired and wants to go to bed (my brain will be shouting “DRAGONS!” to keep me perky) I figured I’d need some suitable snacks. I read a pretty funny article last week called “Things I Ate In Skyrim” that obviously included the infamous Sweet Roll. Before you climb up on your high armoured horse and start saying “that doesn’t look like any Sweetroll I’ve ever seen” this is a Skyrim edition Sweet Roll (note: no longer “Sweetroll” as it used to be in Morrorwind and Oblivion) that we got a sneak peek at - it seems to have gotten a bit of a visual upgrade and some frosting! I’ve gone with a dense spiced cake recipe that I think compliments the rustic, fantasy setting.

This recipe makes 6 Sweet Rolls.

What you will need: Large deep muffin tray, greaseproof paper/baking parchment, sieve, 2 bowls, wooden spoon, a pot and a knife.

For the Sweet Rolls:

180g / 1 Cup Butter (Room Temperature)

175g / ¾ Cup White Caster Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup

2 Eggs (Room Temperature)

250g / 2 Cups Self-Raising Flour

2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

125ml / ½ Cup Milk

For the Frosting:

200g / 1 Cup Cream Cheese

55g / ¼ Cup Butter

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

125g / 1 Cup Icing/Confectioners Sugar

For the Cinnamon Syrup:

2 Tablespoons Butter

2 Tablespoons White Caster Sugar

2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

Preparing the Sweet Rolls:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. To prepare the muffin tray, cut small squares of greaseproof paper and stuff them into each muffin well – create folds and crinkles and then smooth them out to help create a rustic, uneven finish to the cakes.
2. In a large bowl cream the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and maple syrup together until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one and a time and mix well.
3. Sift in the self-raising flour and cinnamon then add the milk and stir gently until a smooth batter forms.
4. Fill the prepared muffin tray with the batter, filling each well nearly to the top and place in the pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown (a skewer inserted should come out clean when cooked thoroughly). Set aside and allow to cool completely while you prepare the syrup and frosting.

Making the Frosting:

1. Add the cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in a bowl and mix gently until combined.
2. Slowly sift in the icing/confectioners sugar and stir gently. Allow to chill in the fridge before using.

Making the Cinnamon Syrup:

1. In a pan on a medium-high heat melt the butter, sugar and cinnamon together until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside for use later.

Making the Sweet Rolls:

1. Unwrap the cakes from the paper and careful slice the puffy top off the cake. Turn the cake upside down so that the cut top is now the bottom.
2. Cut a small hole in the top of the cake that’s about 1cm deep and 1cm across. Pour a little of the cinnamon syrup into the hole.
3. Drizzle the frosting over the top of the cake and serve.

Now for the infamous question: While in town the baker gives you a Sweetroll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy only to be interecepted by a gang of three other kids your age. The leader demands the Sweetroll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it.

1. Act like you’re going to give him the Sweetroll, but at the last minute throw it into the air. Hoping that they’ll pay attention long enough for you to get a shot in on the leader.

2. Drop the Sweetroll and step on it, then get ready for the fight.

3. Give him the Sweetroll now without argument, knowing that later this afternoon you will have all your friends with you and can come and take whatever he owes you.

Protip: Don’t take your Sweet Rolls into any alleys.

Like this? You might also enjoy the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - S’Jirra’s Famous Potato Bread.

Gourmet Gaming Drinks Special

Well it was my birthday last weekend. I threw a party, invited some of my favourite people around, drank copious amounts and then everyone embarrassed themselves by playing Rockband, others gained new respects as the master of Dance Central and some became my enemies when they preformed a Fatality on me.

Unfortunately between sorting the party and being at the party I had no chance to make the gaming based cocktails I wanted to. The booze was there, wedrunkenlyhalf-heartedly attempted some creations (the act of shaking a shaker became very dangerous very quickly) and eventually we receded into simply serving drinks with glow sticks in them. How futuristic. 

These recipes make 1 drink each.

Nuka-Cola Quantum - Fallout 3:

1 Blue Glowstick

Soda Water

1m De Kuyper Blue Curacao

1m Spiced Rum

1m Amaretto

1m Cola-Bottle Infused Vodka

Infusing the Vodka:

1 Empty 250ml Bottle (with a cap)

250ml of Vodka

100g of Cola-Bottle Sweets

1. Fill the bottle with the vodka and add the cola-bottles.
2. Seal the bottle and leave to infuse for at least a day - the longer the better.
3. Strain, then refill the bottle with the cola vodka and seal.

Mix the spirits in a cocktail-shaker and shake, pour into the bottle, top up with soda water and garnish with the glowstick.

Lon-Lon Milk - Legend of Zelda:

2m Amaretto

1m Vodka

0.5m Hazelnut Coffee

1.5m Double Cream

1.5m Milk

Shake all the ingredients in a cocktail-shaker and serve over ice.

Adam and Eve - Bioshock:

1.5m Vodka

1.5m De Kuyper Blue Curacao

1m Lemonade

1m Tia Maria

Cranberry Juice

Drop of Red Food Colouring 

Mix the vodka, blue curacao and lemonade for an Adam and Tia Maria and cranberry for an Eve (I added a drop of red food colouring to give it a denser colour.)

Definitely worthy of the mid-week hang-over I’ll be suffering with tomorrow. Just don’t ingest any of that tempting florescent glow-stick juice. 

Like this? You might also enjoy the Diablo - Health Potion.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - “S’Jirra’s Famous Potato Bread” with a Nirnroot Salad

My only experience of RPGs until I played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion were games like Final Fantasy which all my friends played and I seriously struggled to get involved with. Each time one came out I’d go “maybe this time!” and pick it up and after about 10 hours would start to go insane with the start-stop action and repetitive stories… So when I was encouraged to play Oblivion I was sceptical. Then I spent over 200 hours of my life on it and I haven’t been the same person since! “S’Jirras Famous Potato Bread” is a rare food item you are rewarded with, obviously by S’Jirra, at Faregyl Inn for completing ‘The Potato Snatcher’ quest. 

But what would one eat with their potato bread while wandering the wilds of Cyrodiil? What possible vegetation could one gather?! Why that fauna so rare, the elusive and delicious Nirnroot of course! So instead of handing those precious Nirnroots over to Sinderion for an Elixir of Exploration, why not make a delightful salad?

This recipes serves 6-8.

What you will need:

Large baking tray, a pot, two large mixing bowls, a sieve and a little oil for greasing.

For the Potato Bread:

185ml Water

60ml Milk

2 Tablespoons Butter

1 ½ Teaspoons Salt

2 Tablespoons Sugar

225g Mashed Potatoes (approx. 2 medium potatoes)

400g Strong Bread Flour

1 ½ Teaspoons Fast Action Yeast

For the Nirnroot Salad:

Rocket

Baby Spinach

Watercress

Flat Parsley

½ A Fennel Bulb

For the Dressing:

50 ml Olive Oil

4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

Salt

Pepper

Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan) 

Making the Potato Bread:

1. Peel and boil approx. 2 medium potatoes that are suitable for mashing - I used Vivaldi baking potatoes. Once mashed, do not add anything to them!
2. In a pot, gently heat the water, milk and butter until the butter melts. 
3. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and add the salt, sugar and mashed potato. Mix thoroughly until the sugar has dissolved.
4. Sieve in half of the flour (200g) and mix well to form a kind of paste.
5. Once the mixture is lukewarm sprinkle in the yeast and mix thoroughly again.
6. Sieve the remaining 200g of flour in and mix until a ball of dough forms.
7. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and kneed for 10 minutes until it is soft, smooth and no longer sticky. This may take a while, and you will have to re-flour the surface several times but keep at it and it will come together.
8. Grease a large bowl with a little oil, place the ball of dough inside top surface down, then turn it over so that both sides are lightly coated in oil. 
9. Cover the bowl with a damp tea-towel, put a plate on top and set in a warm place to rise for about 40-45 minutes.
10. Once the dough has risen and doubled in size - grease a large baking tray.
11. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured surface. Punch back the dough to knock out any air. 
12. Form the dough into the desired shape, a kind of rustic bloomer, slice the top several times across to create the pattern and place on the prepared greased tray.
13. Leave in a warm place again for 40-45 minutes. 
14. Once doubled in size - pre-heat the oven to 190C.
15. Sprinkle a little flour over the dough and cook in the oven for 35-40 minutes until the loaf turns a golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Preparing the Dressing:

1. Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper together and stir well.

Preparing the Salad:

1. Wash and dry the Rocket, Baby Spinach, Watercress and Parsley.
2. Wash the Fennel and trim the base, then slice it in to fine strips and add to the salad.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well until all the leaves are coated.
4. Finely grate some parmigiano-reggiano over the salad.

I was really worried about making bread, I had tried once before in the past and failed miserably, it ended up like a rock, but this bread came out perfectly. I made it all by hand too so there’s seriously no need for a mixer or bread-maker. As a potato bread it did have a slightly different texture to most breads, it was incredibly light and moist but slightly dense, almost cake like. It went fabulously with the Nirnroot salad and array of vegetables and cheeses I served up and was super tasty with jam too - my friends thought I’d lied and bought it from the bakery around the corner it was that good! I’d say this bread was a complete success, it even looked just like S’Jirra’s, only I didn’t have to chase down any Ogres for the ingredients.

Like this? You might also enjoy the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Elsweyr Fondue, Black Briar Mead & Grilled Leeks.