Animal Crossing – Brewster’s Pigeon Blend

Here at Gourmet Gaming we’re big fans of Loading’s 9-Bit Mega Coffee, and have been looking for the perfect recipe so showcase it for some time. While coffee does feature quite often in games, it’s never been more charming as in Animal Crossing. Visit The Roost, and once a day Brewster will serve you his perfect blend, sometimes with a splash of pigeon milk – if you’re lucky. For a mere 200 bells you can enjoy this sweet and smooth treat. Just don’t wait for it to cool! Are you insane?!

This recipe serves 1.

What you will need: A Moka Express/Espresso Maker/Cafetiere etc., a small mug and a small pan.

Ingredients:

75ml / 2.5 fl oz. Fresh Espresso/Strong Coffee

25ml / 0.85 fl oz. Vanilla Coffee Syrup

50ml / 1.7 fl oz. Almond Milk

100ml / 3.5 fl oz. Whole Milk

Optional Garnish:

Double/Heavy Cream

Feathers

Making Brewster’s Pigeon Blend:

1. In a small pan, warm the whole milk and almond milk together - don’t let it boil! Have your cup ready with the vanilla syrup filling the bottom.
2. Prepare your coffee. Once the almond milk and milk is near boiling point, pour it into the mug on top of the vanilla syrup.
3. Next add the shot of espresso on top, then swirl through with a little cream. Garnish with a few Brewster feathers.

Turning on my DS was a stressful affair, I tried to avoid looking at all those weeds… It’s just as well I had this cup of java to pick me up. Though Brewster would rather you took your coffee black, his legendary Pigeon Blend is a beautiful homage in gaming, but could you expect anything less?! For the record, I did research the idea of actually using ‘pigeon milk’ and soon discovered ‘crop milk’. Something you definitely don’t want in your morning coffee.

You can buy Loading’s 9-Bit Mega Coffee from Firebox.com.

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Request: EarthBound – Peanut Cheese Bar

I was pretty much oblivious to EarthBound until I was introduced to the curious character Ness in Super Smash Bros; having never owned a classic Nintendo console growing up I was subject to the gaming tastes of whoever owned the console I was playing (I was not beyond using a fellow classmate and neighbour to sate my need to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). When I decided I was going to make this recipe I tried to source EarthBound from a friend who has an extensive retro games collection, but the fact he didn’t have it just instilled it’s cult status even more for me. However, I’m not without my EarthBound knowledge; I’ve read about it enough times in articles titled ‘gaming urban myths’ and ‘ultimate screwed up games’. Everyone kept asking for these Peanut Cheese Bars - I’d see the requests in my inbox and all I could imagine was some peanuts with cheddar cheese on top - melting and a little greasy… Then I remembered that cheese can be sweet and delicious too, I think the Mr. Saturns are definitely onto something!

This recipe makes 8 - 10 Peanut Cheese Bars.

What you will need: An 8x8 inch square spring-form or lose-base cake tin, a whisk, two mixing bowls, greaseproof/baking paper, cling film/saran wrap and a rolling pin.

For the Cookie Base:

175g / 1 ¾ Cups Flour

½ Teaspoon Baking Soda

½ Teaspoon Salt

110g / ½ Cup Butter (Softened)

85g / ¾ Cup Caster Sugar/Superfine Sugar

85g / ¾ Cup Soft Brown Sugar

½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 Egg

For the Chocolate:

150g / 1 Cup Chocolate

55g / ¼ Cup Butter

40g / ¼ Cup Crushed Salted Peanuts

For the Peanut Cheese Topping:

225g / 1 Cup Cream Cheese

170g / 2/3 Cup Smooth Peanut Butter (Skippy)

100g / ¾ Cup Icing/Confectioners Sugar

120ml / ½ Cup Whipping Cream

Making the Cookie Base:

1. Prepare the tin by greasing it with a little butter and lining the base and sides with greaseproof paper/baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 190C/370F.
2. In a large bowl beat the butter, caster sugar and brown sugar together until creamy. Slowly add the egg and continue to mix.
3. Gradually sift in the flour, baking soda and salt and mix well until a dough forms. If it’s very soft pop it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
4. Place the dough between two large sheets of cling film/saran wrap and roll the dough out to roughly fit the base of your prepared tray. Transfer it to the tray and lightly press it in until the entire base is covered and even.
5. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Leave to cool while you prepare the chocolate layer.

Making the Chocolate Layer:

1. Over a bain-marie melt the chocolate with the butter until smooth and shiny. Allow the mixture to cool slightly.
2. Once cooled pour the chocolate over the cookie base and spread it out until even. Sprinkle over the crushed peanuts and with the back of a spoon, gently press them into the chocolate.
3. Place in the fridge to chill for around 30 minutes while you prepare the peanut cheese topping.

Making the Peanut Cheese Topping:

1. In a large bowl gently mix together the cream cheese, smooth peanut butter, sugar and cream. Once combined whisk it until pale and fluffy.
2. Spoon the peanut cheese mixture over the now chilled chocolate layer and smooth it out.
3. Sprinkle on top a few more crushed salted peanuts if you like, then place in the fridge for several hours until firm and chilled.
4. Once chilled remove the combination from the tin carefully and cut it into bars.

Pokémon – Poffins

Oh, Pokémon. How many times can you essentially release the exact same game over and over and how many times will I relive the experience, just to be bitterly disappointed by any new species that isn’t the original 150 (or 151 depending on who you ask). I mean, apart from Girafarig who is the best Pokémon of the new generations. Shut up. Anyway, Pokémon love Poffins. They can make them smarter, better, faster, stronger… As a combination of the words Pokémon and muffin I figured this had to be something soft and slightly sweet (just like the Pokémon themselves). I did a lot of research into cakes and breads and came across the delightful anpan from Japan - a type of sweet, milky bun. The classic anpan recipe was the perfect base to create the well known light and fluffy Poffin.

This recipe makes 6 Poffins.

What you will need: A large mixing bowl, a sieve, a baking tray and tin/aluminium foil.

Ingredients:

75ml / ⅓ Cup Milk

1 ½ Tablespoons Butter

2 Tablespoons Sugar

½ Teaspoon Salt

190g / 1 ½ Cups Strong White Bread Flour

1 Egg (Beaten)

½ Teaspoon Fast-Action Dried Yeast

Variety of Food Colourings (Optional)

For the Filling:

High Quality Berry Jam/Jelly

Use any variety of berry or berries you like; cherry, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry etc.

To Garnish:

Icing/Confectioners Sugar

Water

Sprinkles

Preparing the Poffins:

1. In a pot on a low heat warm the milk, butter, sugar and salt together until the butter melts.
2. Pour the liquid into a large bowl, sieve in half the flour and mix well. Sprinkle in the yeast and stir until well combined.
3. Add the remainder of the flour and ¾ of the egg, continue to mix with a spoon until the dough comes together then use your hands to form it into a ball. (At this point you can split the dough up if you’d like to add any colouring. Do this by adding a few drops and following the next step.)
4. On a lightly floured surface tip the dough out and knead for about 10 minutes. This will warm the dough and make it firmer and smoother.
5. Split the dough up into evenly shaped portions, these will become your Poffins. Place them in a large, clean bowl and cover with cling-film/saran-wrap to rise for about 50 minutes, they should double in size.

Filling the Poffins:

Feel free to leave your Poffins plain but if you’d like to add a filling follow these steps;

1. Take one ball of dough at a time and gently flatten it out a little. Spoon some jam/jelly into the middle.
2. ‘Pinch’ the dough around it, making sure it’s completely sealed. Turn it over and gently shape the dough into a Poffin shape, which is similar to an American football, and place on a baking tray.
3. Repeat this step for each of the potion of dough and feel free to fill each one with a different berry jam/jelly filling.

Making the Poffins:

1. Whether or not you’ve added a filling, leave the prepared Poffins somewhere warm to rest for about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Gently brush them with a little of the remainder of egg on top then place in the oven to bake for around 10-15 minutes. (If your Poffins are coloured, you might want to cover them in tin/aluminium foil to stop them from browning after a few minutes).
3. Once cooked remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely. Make some icing by mixing the icing/confectioners sugar with a little water, this will act as a glue.
4. Dip the sprinkles of your choosing in the prepared icing and carefully stick them to the Poffin for the finishing touch.

There’s no need to invite 4 of your friends over to help you stir these Poffins, I assure you. Feel free to create your own mini-game though. Maybe get your mom to shout “Left! Right! Slower!” at you while you make them, it’s totally up to you. These Poffins remind me of doughnuts but with all the pleasure of freshly baked bread; they’re certainly lighter and healthier. If Poffins can make a Pokémon more beautiful, I see no reason why this isn’t true for humans - I’m expecting to see Z-list celebrities selling these on shopping networks in the coming months. 

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Request: Kingdom Hearts II – Sea Salt Ice-cream

You’ll notice the addition of hearts on this post and they will be added to past posts too - it’s to give you an idea of the level of difficulty the recipe is so you can pick a recipe to suit your ability should you wish to make something. Anyway, I can’t tell you the amount of requests I’ve had for Sea Salt Ice-cream - Kingdom Hearts certainly has an incredible fan base! So I thought I’d treat you all with the first post of 2012 because I’m just that good to you. I’ve learned that this is (or was) actually available at Tokyo DisneySea and that Tetsuya Nomura’s love for the treat explains its appearance in Kingdom Hearts II. Kingdom Hearts has a lot of delicious looking ice-creams in it, I feel like I’ve missed out now by not playing it when it first came out which upon reflection seems crazy considering one of my favourite games is Mickey’s Castle of Illusion for the Sega Mega Drive and the Disney-Final Fantasy combination sounds right up my alley. Though I have no idea what it should taste like I was excited by the prospect of flavoured salts and creating a twist on the classic vanilla ice-cream.

This recipe serves 4.

What you will need: A pot, a large bowl and 2 small bowls, a sieve, a wooden spoon, a medium container, a whisk, ice-cream moulds and wooden ice-cream sticks.

Ingredients:

½ Vanilla Pod

2 Tablespoons High Quality Sea Salt Flakes

125ml / ½ Cup Milk

75g / ⅓ Cup Sugar

250ml / 1 Cup Whipping/Heavy Cream

3 Egg Yolks

Blue Food Colouring

Ice

Preparing the Sea Salt Ice-cream:

1. Add half of the vanilla seeds to the salt. Rub the vanilla into the salt until well mixed – seal and leave to infuse.
2. If you don’t have an ice-cream machine (like me) place the container you’ll chill the ice-cream in into the freezer.
3. Warm the milk, sugar and rest of the vanilla pod together in a pot on a medium heat. Cover, remove from the heat once warmed through and leave the vanilla to fragrance the milk for about 30 minutes.
4. While the milk cools set up an ‘ice bath’ – half fill a large bowl with water and ice and place a smaller bowl inside. Pour the cream into the smaller bowl and set aside.
5. In another bowl whisk the egg yolks. Rewarm the now cooled and infused milk, gradually add the milk to the egg yolks whisking constantly. Once combined return the milk and egg to the pot.
6. Heat the mixture over a low heat, stirring constantly until it thickens and forms a custard. Do NOT let it boil! If bubbles or foam appear remove it from the heat immanently.
7. Sieve the custard into the bowl of cream over the ice bath. Stir well until it begins to cool, add the blue food colouring until the desired colour is achieved then place the bowl into the fridge to chill for several hours or overnight.

Making the Sea Salt Ice-cream:

1. Pour the chilled ice-cream mixture into the prepared frozen tray then return it to the freezer or use your ice-cream maker.
2. After about 40 minutes add the vanilla salt to taste and vigorously stir or whisk the mixture as it begins to set. Check on it every 30 minutes after this, continuing to mix well. Repeat this for about 2 – 3 hours every 30 minutes.
3. Once solidified take it out and allow it to soften. Once soft spoon it into the ice-pop moulds, be wary of air bubbles forming – it’s a good idea to mix the ice-cream around in the mould to try and remove as many as possible. If it’s too soft, pop it into the freezer for a bit before sliding in the wooden sticks and placing in the freezer to set.
4. To remove the ice-cream from the mould sit it in a bath of warm water until the outside begins to melt then carefully slide them out.

Feel free to keep this ice-cream in a tub or for a more authentic look use the moulds and wooden ice-cream sticks. For any doubtful British fans this sweet yet salty mixture means the ice-cream tastes less like a full dairy, or cream laden Cornwall style and more like an ice-cream van ‘99’ taste. For Americans I’d imagine the equivalent is what you’d call ‘soft-serve’ (if America is devoid of the classic 99 cone with a Flake – I feel sorry for you). And I don’t know what it is, blue is apparently an appetite suppressant but for me bright blue foods simply means “more delicious”. Cute and quirky Sea Salt Ice-cream is a surprising balance with a wonderful texture. Also if you have any left over vanilla salt it apparently goes wonderfully with certain fish.

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Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door – Zess Frappe

There’s no denying how suspiciously like the Snow Cone from Paper Mario the Zess Frappe looks… But I got some stunning ice-cream bowls for Christmas by my favourite home-ware designers Alessi and I wanted an excuse to use them! With Christmas comes a lot of heavy, rich food and drink and Sambuca is often praised for its digestion benefits (at least in this household). I thought as a twist on the cocktail idea to serve one up as a frappe/granita inspired concoction for a light and refreshing distraction.

This recipe makes 1 drink.

Ingredients:

Ice-cubes

50g / ½ Cup Sugar

60ml / ¼ Cup Water

60ml / ¼ Cup Raspberry Sambuca

Raspberry Conserve / Jelly

Making the Zess Frappe:

1. Add the water and sugar to a pan and bring to the boil. Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
2. Uncover then add the raspberry sambuca and stir, place in a pouring container and allow to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge to chill.
3. When the syrup has chilled, using a blender with the appropriate setting, or a food processor, to grind up the ice until powdery. Scoop the ice into glasses, pour over the raspberry sambuca syrup, top with a little raspberry conserve and enjoy.

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Request: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Cheesecake

This is a special request from my good friend Geoff and it is in fact his 25th birthday present from me to him. Geoff spent quite a while deciding that this was what he wanted and I could hardly deny his request because frankly… it’s pretty awesome. I’m a big fan of Castlevania but after watching a play-through of the most recent instalment, Lords of Shadow, on the 360 I’ve yet to brave it myself (seriously one of the greatest endings to a game ever ). I had been tempted to do a Castlevania entry before, often distracted by the German-esque “bakery” levels filled with breads and treats that sometimes fly at your face. So I was glad that Geoff pointed out this delicious looking cheesecake. According to its description on the Castlevania Wiki it is “with chocolate chips” but one drunken conversation later we agreed that the strawberry topping angle was the way to go for maximum tastiness and Alucard would probably pick around the chocolate chips anyway.

This recipe serves 6-8.

What you will need:

A 20cm cake tin, baking/greaseproof paper, rolling pin, large mixing bowl, wooden spoons, whisk, small bowl, pan.

For the Base:

85ml Melted Butter

140g Digestive Biscuits

1 Tablespoon Golden Caster Sugar

For the Cheesecake:

600g Cream Cheese

170g Golden Caster Sugar

2 Tablespoons Plain Flour

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

2 Large eggs

1 Yolk 

150ml Sour Cream

For the Strawberry Glaze:

500g of Strawberries

150g of Caster Sugar

2 Tablespoons Ground Arrowroot

Making the Base:

1. Prepare the cake tin by buttering and lining the base and sides with baking/greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 160C.
2. Put the biscuits in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin (should your claymore be at the cleaners) to bash them into crumbs, then place in a bowl. 
3. Melt the butter in a pan on a medium heat and pour over the biscuit crumbs along with the tablespoon of sugar. 
4. Mix well until the butter has been absorbed and then press the biscuit mixture firmly and evenly to the base of the prepared cake tin. Place in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes, remove and set aside to cool - make sure it has cooled completely otherwise you will end up with a soggy base like I did.

Making the Cheesecake Filling:

1. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese gently until creamy and slowly add the sugar. Add the flour and a pinch of salt and stir in slowly making sure to clean the sides of the bowl. 
2. Whisk in the vanilla and lemon juice. Add the eggs and yolk one at a time and then the sour cream whisking gently, being careful not to over-mix. 
3. Pour the filling over the buttery biscuit base, gently tap or knock the tin to remove any air bubbles. 
4. Bake for 10 minutes at 160C, then reduce to 90C and cook for 20-40 minutes. I found just keeping an eye on the cake until the centre was a little wobbly but firm was best. 
5. Leave it out to cool, the top may crack but don’t worry as this will be covered. After an hour you can put it in the fridge to continue cooling.

Making the Strawberry Glaze:

1. Chop the 500g of strawberries, place in a pan, bring to the boil with about 6 tablespoons of water and the sugar.
2. In a small bowl mix 2 tablespoons of arrowroot with some water to create a runny paste.
3. Once the mixture has boiled in the pot, add the arrowroot water a teaspoon at a time until it begins to thicken then remove from the heat and leave to cool for several minutes.
4. Once cooled slightly pour/spread the strawberry glaze over the cheesecake and return to the fridge to chill for several hours.

I have never made cheesecake in my life. The making of was relatively easy but then the lengthy cooking and cooling process is something I wish I’d planned better and well in advance… because as I write this it’s later than I would like and I’m praying I can post this before the clock ticks onto midnight and ruin my Wednesday posting spree. It might be a little rough around the edges, but it’s still a cheesecake! And it’s one hell of a tasty one. Despite the upset tummy and ills I may incur I had to steal a little piece to taste. I will make this again most likely, only with 3 days before it’s actually needed so I wont have to cry into a pot of boiling strawberries (the tears make it taste sweeter). You see Geoff, you SEE the lengths I go to for you?! It was great to have a challenge for once though, not everything should run so smoothly all the time and the result did taste pretty excellent - it’s just one of those things you need to make a few times to perfect. The base ended up a bit softer than I would have liked, so I’ve edited the recipe accordingly - other than this it tasted perfect! I can’t seem to think of a Castlevania qu-whip without it sounding too cheesy… oh, oops. (Also sorry for the late posting - I’ve had the flu this week)

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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. 

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Animal Crossing: Wild World - Birthday Cake

Animal Crossing: Wild World holds a bit of a special place in my heart; it was the game I got with my Nintendo DS (after I traded in Metroid Prime: Echoes due to stupid frequency of respawning enemies - the only game I‘ve ever traded in to date) and I played it constantly for several months after I first moved to London while I was waiting for my Xbox to join me. I’d spend many nights lying awake in bed waiting for it to rain at a precise time so I could catch that missing bug or fish or charm my exotic neighbour for some rare item of furniture. Never seemed able to save enough Bells to reap to benefits of a bank account though; far too many tempting accessories. But a treat comes on you birthday, a reward for all your hard work almost - a wonderful birthday cake that gives you visible feelings of delight when you eat it! So since it’s my birthday on Friday, I thought I’d give myself an excuse to eat some pre-birthday cake and share it with you. But not really. It’s all mine. None for you.

This recipe serves 8-10.

What you will need:

2 mixing bowls, hand whisk, a sieve, three 8-inch cake tins, baking paper and an icing bag/pipe.

For the Cake:

4 Eggs (Separated and  at room temperature)

4 Teaspoons Baking Powder

400g Plain Flour

½ Teaspoon Salt

227g Butter (at room temperature)

450g Caster Sugar

2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

200ml Milk

¼ Teaspoon Cream of Tartar

For the Pink Coconut Icing:

500g Cream Cheese

200g Butter

50ml Natural Yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

270g Icing Sugar (approx.)

Few Drops Red Food Colouring

To Garnish:

6 Strawberries

2 Tablespoons of Coconut Flakes

4 Green Candles

Preparing the Cake:

1. Grease your 3 cake pans and line them with baking paper, preheat the oven to 175C.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat together the butter and 350g of the sugar until it is pale and fluffy.
3. Add the 4 egg yolks one at a time, then add the vanilla extract.
4. Slowly sift in the flour, baking powder and salt , mix, and then slowly add the milk.
5. In a separate bowl add the egg whites and whisk them until fluffy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to whisk until peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 100g of sugar until the peaks stiffen.
6. Gently fold the egg whites into the cake mixture.
7. Pour the mixture evenly among the 3 prepared cake tins then bake in the oven for around 25 minutes.
8. Once cooked, leave to cool and then store in the fridge while you prepare the frosting.

Making the Pink Icing:

1. Beat the butter in a bowl until light, then add the natural yoghurt and vanilla.
2. Gently stir in the cream cheese, being careful not to over mix as this will thin the frosting making it runny.
3. Gradually add the icing sugar bit by bit, adding more as you need it - to thicken or sweeten the icing.
4. Add the red food colouring, then put the icing in the fridge to chill.

Constructing the Cake:

1. If needed, even out your cake layers carefully so they’re as flat and smooth as possible.
2. Ice the bottom layer, being careful not to go over the edges, place the next layer on top and continue the process until you have a stack of 3 cake layers.
3. Set aside about 3 tablespoons of icing and cover the cake in the remaining icing - this does not have to be neat.
4. Imagining the top of the cake as a clock, place the strawberries (with their stalks trimmed), pointed end up at 12, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10.
5. Put the last bits of icing into an icing bag/pipe, using a large nozzle, pipe drops of icing between each of the strawberries around the cake.
6. Garnish with the green candles and a sprinkling of coconut.

Yum, yum, yum. What a glorious birthday treat for myself! My mom can’t bake and I can’t exactly pick cakes up in stores so having something to eat in celebration of my birthday is very rare! The sponge in this cake is heavenly. It’s sticky and sweet and moist but yet light and tastes of creamy vanilla - it’s like the ultimate birthday cake recipe. The icing however makes it a little heavy, I would probably swap it for something else next time, but I guess it’s normal for most people to only eat one piece of cake at a time, unlike my usual 2 or 3. I don’t know what gifts I’m getting this year though, so I guess I should take my golden slingshot outside and wait for a parcel on a balloon to float by…

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Request: Kirby’s Dream Land / Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Superspicy Curry

This request came direct from my resident taste tester as he’d been asking for a curry for a few weeks now. Superspicy Curry originally appeared in the classic Kirby’s Dream Land for the Game Boy and it gave Kirby the ability to spit fireballs. It’s never appeared in a Kirby game since (due to the invention of the ‘copy ability’ mechanic) but it does appear in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Although I played Dream Land many, many years ago, I’m more familiar with it as it appears in Super Smash Bros. (I suck at Super Smash Bros., I cannot explain why) so that’s where I’m taking inspiration from. 

This recipe serves 2-4.

What you will need:

Large pot and a hand blender.

Ingredients:

½ Red Apple

1 Large Onion

3 Cloves Garlic

1 Tablespoon Ginger

400ml Water

Spices 

• Medium Curry Powder
• Garam Masala
• Chinese Spice Mix
• Cayenne Chilli Pepper
• 2 Dried Birds Eye Chillies

Salt

200g Tinned Tomatoes

3 Teaspoons Olive Oil

125g White Rice

Feel free to use any vegetables, meats or fish that you like. I used:

1 Small Aubergine 

1 Yellow Pepper

300g Prawns

Making the Curry:

1. Roughly chop the onion, garlic, ginger and apple and place in a pot.
2. Pour the water over the ingredients, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
3. Once the water has reduced, add 1 teaspoon of each of the spices and crush the dried chillies.
4. Add the tinned tomatoes and salt to taste, then simmer for another 10 minutes.
5. Add the olive oil then blend with a hand blender.
6. Chop the vegetables and add them to the curry base, cover and simmer until they are cooked (you may need to add more water).
7. Serve over sticky white rice; fire optional.

I attempted this recipe on two nights. The first went fine, but it was a failure by my standards. My initial idea was to create a Japanese Katsu-style curry and I based my recipe on one provided by Cooking with Dog. However I lacked the essential Japanese ingredients, so although it was tasty and edible it just didn’t quite fit with the idea of Kirby’s Curry. So I decided to focus on making this traditional style curry and it worked out far better. I’ve made curries in the past but this is the ultimate base that I’ll be using in the the future. I think I got the balance of flavours just right here, it has a sweet initial taste that builds up into an incredible heat (which I was man enough to handle). So if breathing fireballs in the faces of your enemies is on your to-do list today, I can totally recommend Kirby’s Superspicy Curry.

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Request: Paper Mario - Koopasta

I got a request through to make some Koopasta and was rather envious that I hadn’t thought of this sooner - after all spaghetti is Mario and Luigi’s favourite food. Koopasta (I guess Koopaghetti didn‘t have the same ring to it) can be made by cooking a ‘Koopa Leaf’ with some ‘Dried Pasta’ in the original Paper Mario or with ‘Fresh Pasta’/’Spaghetti’ and a ‘Turtley Leaf’ in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. I had never played Paper Mario until I got Super Paper Mario for the Wii and I thought it was pretty damn awesome; though I think I became too obsessed with trying to collect things from some guy who, from what I can recall, would appear in some sewer system and try to sell me things that would only spawn on certain dates and times ultimately reminding me why this aspect of Japanese gaming is detrimental to my health. Anyway, there’s two versions of the dish that look rather different and since the requester never specified which Paper Mario I’ve gone with the one that looks slightly more iconic or at least more interesting to make. 

This recipe serves 2-4.

What you will need:

Large pot, frying pan, a bowl and a food blender or mortar and pestle.

Ingredients:

250g Fresh Spaghetti/Tagliatelle Verdi

1 Baby Gem Lettuce Leaf

1 Clove Garlic

60g Fresh Basil

20g Pine Nuts

5 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Parmesan Cheese

Salt

Pepper

Preparing the Pesto:

1. Lightly toast the pine nuts in a dry pan and set aside.
2. Put the garlic, basil and a pinch of salt into a food blender and pulse.
3. Add the pine nuts and blend again.
4. Pour the mixture into a bowl, add the parmesan and olive oil and stir.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add more parmesan if you want.

Making the Koopasta:

1. With the pesto prepared, boil some water in a deep pot then add the spaghetti verdi and cook as per the instructions on your pack.
2. Once cooked, strain the spaghetti, return it to the pot (not on the heat) and slowly add pesto to the spaghetti until there’s just enough to coat the spaghetti in the sauce.
3. Serve and garnish with a baby gem lettuce leaf.

I hate pesto. When I decided to make this my taste tester remarked “but we hate pesto, why would we eat this?”, then he realised that a few weeks ago he did eat a sandwich filled with turkey, jam and Cookie Crisp cereal so maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Whenever I think about pesto I just think of that episode of Seinfeld (The Busboy) where George says “Why do I get pesto? Why do I think I’ll like it? I keep trying to like it, like I have to like it. Everybody likes pesto. You walk into a restaurant, that’s all you hear - pesto, pesto, pesto.” But now I love pesto. As long as it’s my pesto and not some swamp juice from a jar.

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