Request: The Sims - Goopy Carbonara

Despite my love of pasta/spaghetti, I’ve never made carbonara in my life. I’m mostly familiar with it coming in a powdered form in packets that you add milk to, with the result being more oddly acidic than creamy or delicious. I also understand that this is possibly the most bastardised recipe in Italian history, and in the effort of gaming authenticity I’ll be destroying carbonara once again by using cream and an onion, as is a mandatory inventory staple for any Sim.

Please make sure you have a smoke alarm installed before going any further, and don’t get distracted by a sudden urge to use the bathroom - the results could be disastrous! If a Sim can master this classic by Level 2, then so can anyone (or so you’d hope).

This recipe serves 2-3.

What you will need: A large pot, a large frying pan/skillet, a colander and a grater.

Ingredients:

250g / 9 oz Spaghetti/Bucatini

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Small White Onion (Diced)

140g / 1 Cup Smoked Pancetta (Cubed)

25ml / .85 fl oz. White Wine (Optional)

2 Large Eggs (Room Temperature)

5 Tablespoons Percorino Cheese (Finely Grated)

40ml / 1.35 fl oz. Double/Heavy Cream

Fresh Black Pepper

Fresh Parsley (Chopped)

Making the Goopy Carbonara:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook your spaghetti ‘al dente’.
2. Meanwhile, heat a the olive oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and fry it quickly until it’s lightly crisped. If you’re adding the wine, do so now and cook until evaporated.
3. By now your spaghetti should be done, strain it off but keep the water it cooked in to thin out the sauce later. Add the spaghetti to the pancetta and onion on a low heat and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, cream, grated cheese and pepper together. Take the frying pan off the heat and add the cream mixture, some chopped parsley and toss until the spaghetti is evenly coated.
5. Use the spaghetti water to thin out the sauce as desired, then ‘Call Household’ to the meal.

This Goopy Carbonara would be an incredible final meal for any Sim destined to enter a pool sometime later today, only to have the ladder mysteriously disappear… like I know so many of you are planning to do. For shame.

Like this? You might also enjoy The Sims - Key Lime Pie.

Legend of Grimrock – Blueberry Pie

Last weekend my significant other came to bed around 4AM, so I naturally asked where he’d been. Many suspicious girlfriends would think of the obvious; another woman or a secret shame, like eating flowers in the bathroom, but I knew better.

It turned out he’d discovered this amazing game called Legend of Grimrock; a seriously awesome old school dungeon crawler as a stunning modern incarnation. I fell in love with the game instantly; it was so mysterious and beautifully designed, and when I saw there was food I got pretty excited. I eventually discovered there’s a rather infamous blueberry pie hidden in the darkness. A kind of symbol of hope… delicious, delicious hope.

This recipe serves 6-8.

What you will need: A 9-inch loose base sandwich tin, a large baking tray, a sieve, a wooden spoon or hand mixer, a rolling pin and two large mixing bowls.

For the Pastry:

350g / 2⅓Cups Plain Flour

1 Teaspoon Salt

2 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar

225g / 1 Cup Unsalted Butter (Chilled)

60ml / ¼ Cup Cold Water

For the Filling:

100g / ½ Cup Butter (Room Temperature)

100g /⅔Cup Icing/Confectioners Sugar

100g / 1 Cup Ground Almonds

4 Teaspoons Cornflour/Cornstarch

1 Large Egg (Room Temperature)

1 Large Egg Yolk (Room Temperature)

1½ Teaspoons Pure Almond Extract

½ Teaspoon Lemon Zest

3 Tablespoons Blueberry Preserve

200g / 2 Cups Fresh Blueberries

Making the Shortcrust Pastry:

1. In a large mixing bowl, sieve the flour, salt and sugar. Next add the butter. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your finger tips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Add the water a tablespoon at a time, mixing in between until the dough comes together. Once the dough forms into a ball, wrap it in cling film/saran wrap and place in the fridge to chill for about an hour.
3. Sieve some icing/confectioners sugar onto a clean, dry surface and roll the dough out until it’s about a quarter of an inch thick. Lift the pastry into the sandwich tin and pat it in to fill the tin evenly.
4. Trim off any excess pastry then put the tin in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. Once chilled, preheat the oven to 220C/420F with a large baking tray inside.
5. Put the pie in the oven on top of the heated baking tray to blind-bake the crust. You may want to use some baking beans to help keep the pastry for shrinking while it cooks.
6. Cook the pastry for about 10-15 minutes until the edges appear slightly darker and are firm. Once baked, take out the pie and leave it to cool completely before adding any filling.

Making the Blueberry Pie:

1. In a large bowl, sieve in the sugar, almonds and cornstarch. Next add the butter, egg, yolk, lemon zest and almond extract. Mix well until thoroughly combined into a kind of thick batter. Leave the mixture in the fridge to chill for about an hour.
2. With your pastry cooled, spoon in the blueberry preserve and use the back of the spoon to smooth it out over the base to create a thin layer of jam.
3. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Once the almond mixture is chilled, pour it into the pastry and smooth it out until it’s even. Take your blueberries and pop them into the almond filling until the entire surface of the pie is covered.
4. Put the pie in the oven for 20-30 minutes. When the pie is firm, golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean – it’s ready! Take it out of the oven and leave to cool completely before serving.

Firstly, a huge thank you to Almost Human Games who replied to my email inquiring about Grimrock cuisine so promptly, and to Ben R for the beautiful comparison screenshots. It’s taken me about an hour to write this post, and in that time I’ve managed to eat about half the pie to myself. In making the pie, I didn’t want to overcook the frangipane filling, I wanted it to mix with the blueberries to create a creamy blueberry filling and it is… outstanding. I must have a seemingly bottomless pit for a stomach just like Mork, or even Grimrock it’s self.

You can download Legend of Grimrock from GOG, Steam and Grimrock.net.

Like this? You might also enjoy the Fable II – Amazing Apple Pie.

Minecraft – Mushroom Stew

Is it a stew? Is it a soup? Not even Notch seems to be sure. What we do know is that mushrooms are awesome. Why, you ask? Because mushrooms are the very foundation of the gaming industry. Without the iconic ‘1-UP’, perhaps gaming wouldn’t have become as popular as it is today. It’s a sobering thought, but from Mario to Minecraft, mushrooms have appeared in innumerable titles across the years. I’m also a personal fan of the fungi, as a vegetarian they feature a lot in my diet. They’re incredibly delicious, but mushroom soup is probably one of the most foul things you can ever taste, especially when it comes from a can. So change your mind, and follow in the footsteps of gaming heroes by enjoying some real, fresh mushroom stew. (No Mooshrooms were harmed in the making of this recipe).

This recipe serves 4.

What you will need: A large and deep frying pan/skillet, kitchen towel and a small pot.

For the Croutons:

Olive Oil

Salt

4 Slices White Bread

For the Mushroom Stew:

Olive Oil

Truffle Oil (Optional)

Salt & Pepper

300g / 4 Cups Mushrooms (Chopped)

• Portabello
• Pink Oyster
• Yellow Oyster
• Shimeji

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 Small White Onion (Chopped)

1 Clove Garlic

500ml Vegetable Stock (Or use 250ml Vegetable and 250ml Mooshroom/Beef stock)

1 Tablespoon Fresh Thyme (Chopped)

1 Tablespoon Fresh Parsley (Chopped)

110ml / ½ Cup Single Cream

Making the Croutons:

1. Using a sharp knife, cut out the shape of the pixelated mushroom. You can use this image as a template. Cut out some squares too and set aside.
2. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil and a dash of truffle oil in a large frying pan. Add a little salt once heated, then carefully lay the bread shapes into the pan.
3. Once they are golden on one side, flip them over. Remove the croutons from the pan when crisp and lay them on some absorbent kitchen towel to drain any excess oil. Set aside for garnishing later.

Making the Mushroom Stew:

1. Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan on a medium high heat. Once hot add the mushrooms and fry for one minute.
2. Next, add the butter, onion and garlic and stir. Season with a little salt and pepper, drop in the thyme and allow to cook.
3. Once the moisture in the pan has reduced and is almost gone, add the stock. Bring it to the boil, then allow the soup to simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Once simmered, pour the soup into a bowl and blend for a few minutes. You can blend it to be very smooth, or leave it a little chunky – whichever you prefer. Once blended, pour the soup into a clean pot and warm through.
5. Add the cream and some parsley and stir well. Serve the soup up, and garnish with the croutons, some thyme, parsley and a drizzle of truffle oil.

I was really pleased with how this turned out, and by some stroke of fate I managed to pick mushrooms at random in the store that just so happened to be perfect for soups! There’s a great depth of flavour that’s light and warming, and the croutons add a delightful contrast in texture and taste. I will make a warning though, this stew/soup certainly wont be for everybody. I think you’d probably have to love mushrooms to like this. And I mean really love mushrooms. You’d have to be, like, a spore away from being one yourself – or maybe just a fun guy or gal (that’s right, I went there). For those of you that do like it, however, just make sure not to gobble the bowl while you’re at it.

Like this? You might also enjoy the Minecraft - Cake.

April Fools’ Request: Castlevania - Wall Turkey

I was touched by all your emails wishing me well since last week – I’m happy to report that I’m over my cold! I think it has something to do with the love and sunshine you sent my way in all those positive vibes, so I’ve decided to return the favor by giving you a recipe for a dish many of you have been requesting for quite some time: That’s right, here’s how to prepare a faithful recreation of the prize turkey Simon Belmont unearths from many a castle wall. I know the season doesn’t quite call for a savoury feast, but you can squirrel this one way until the holidays at least.

This recipe feeds 3.

What you will need: Aluminum foil, one gutting knife, two sticks butter, three cups salt, a turkey baster, cinnamon-scented pine cones. No garlic. At least one turkey. Several bricks. 

Making the Wall Hole:

First thing’s first: This recipe is not for anyone faint of heart or weak of stomach. To really do this dish right, you will need to create a hole in your wall large enough to fit one of your healthier sized fowls. I enlisted my neighbor Mr. Crickens with the wobbly ankles to help with this part, and he used a standard sledgehammer you can find at any hardware store. A couple of glasses of lemonade later, viola! I had a gaping crevice where I once had wall. Perfect.

Now comes the easiest part of this dish, installing a tandoori oven directly into your wall, which is simple for any craftsman to do. Mr. Crickens and I lucked out with the third nice man we phoned, and he even offered to stick around to relay bricks on the wall for that walled-in look that Simon loves so much for his poultry dishes.

Before you make that hole, though, let me let you in on a little secret: You should select a section of wall that’s adjacent to your apartment or home’s radiator. This will assure that the dish doesn’t cool and it also is a poor man’s emulation of how Dracula likes to store his food: Slow-roasting for 400 years deep inside the castle walls.

We don’t have that long, so let’s start on the tough part: cooking the turkey. Ready?

Preparing the Wall Turkey:

1. Bring home a fresh bird from the market and wash it thoroughly in the sink with water. You may use dish soap or bleach if the bird has cursed spots or curses.

2. Preheat your oven to 215C/400F.

3. Crouch in front of the wall for three hours. Summon your strength.

4. Grease a pan and gingerly butter the bird as you would an infant’s neck with baby powder. Paprika is an acceptable addition, but use your own taste as judgment. Do make sure you cake the bird in salt, though, to emulate the taste the game’s turkey has – it’s been abandoned by the mermen who live downstairs, and they track saltwater everywhere!

5. Return to that spot on the wall and crouch for precisely 16 minutes. This time, make sure you’re holding a red crystal ball.

6. By now the oven should be preheated. Carefully shove the bird into the oven for six to eight hours, depending on the altitude of your location.

7. Six to eight hours later, retrieve that turkey from the oven and carefully shove it into the wall.  

Now you’re ready to go! Purists will enjoy this tip my neighbor with the wobbly ankles and I cooked up together… concoct a whip made of spices that dissolves on impact to really blast the bird with flavor. I used an old horsewhip that I found laying around in my carport. Mm!

Update: This Gourmet Gaming April Fool’s post was written by Dr. David Wolinsky, check out his Tumblr or follow him on Twitter.

Request: Saints Row – Lil’ Gyro

Now, I’ve never played Saints Row. It’s always been lauded to me as the “layman’s” Grand Theft Auto. Sometimes I imagine all the people who complain about the GTA series are actually confusing it with Saints Row, as I’m surprised Saints Row doesn’t draw as much controversy. Maybe people don’t want to mess with a game where you can beat people to death with giant sex toys. It would probably seriously destroy a lot of peoples deepest and darkest desires if Saints Row was removed from the shelves. Either way, for one reason or another, Saints Row is incredibly popular and I’ve heard some awesome things about the third instalment. Since I don’t live in America and Greek food isn’t so popular here, I had no idea what a Gyro was when requests for it started to appear, even with my impressive American-internet food knowledge. Oh, I have spent many a hour dribbling over MoonPies and peanut butter Oreos. I was, however, aware of them in their popular ‘British’ form of doner kebab and my preferred Middle Eastern version; the shawarma. With a little research and taking inspiration from what I’ve eaten that’s similar, I’ve created a recipe for the Lil’ Gyro.

This recipe serves 4-6.

What you will need: A griddle pan and tin/aluminium foil.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

½ Teaspoon:

• Cardamom Pods (Crushed)
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg

Salt and Pepper

300g / 10oz Lamb (Diced or Shredded)

1 Medium White Onion (Chopped)

1 Medium Green Bell Pepper (Chopped)

100g / 1 Cup Red Cabbage (Chopped)

4-6 Pita Breads

To Garnish:

Tomatoes

Lettuce

Tzatziki

Cucumber

Making the Lil’ Gyro:

1. Place the lamb into a bowl. Add the olive oil, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well and leave to marinate for about 20 minutes.
2. Heat the griddle pan on a medium-high heat. Once hot, toss the prepared onion, green bell pepper and red cabbage in a little bit of olive oil before adding to the pan.
3. Cook the vegetables until they’re soft, then remove from them from the pan and set aside for later.
4. While the pan is still warm, add the lamb and cook until tender. Remove the lamb and place it in a bowl while you warm the pita.
5. In a preheated oven, place the pita bread until it’s soft and warm. You have to work while the bread is hot, so make sure all your ingredients are near by.
6. If it helps, make some small vertical slices on the underside of the pita to help you roll it up. Fill it with the salad, tomatoes, lamb, vegetables and finally finish it off with some tzatziki and slices of cucumber. Roll up the pita, wrap it in tin/aluminium foil and enjoy!

For any vegetarians, like me, you can replace the lamb with aubergine and grill it up; super delicious! You could also add some red chillies to increase the spice. This is probably nothing like any Gyro you can get in America and I’m not sorry. Because it’s better. That’s right. Better. The Lil’ Gyro is surprisingly large; a fantastic medley of fresh flavours and spiced, warming lamb. This is one meat you can’t beat. I’m so sorry.

Like this? You might also enjoy the Team Fortress 2 - Edible Sandvich Device.

Catherine – Strawberry Tart (Katherine)

Katherine is Vincent’s long-term girlfriend who evidently has a bit of a sweet-tooth. She’s rarely seen without a dessert in front of her that somehow she’s been able to only take a small piece from. If I were dining at Chrono Rabbit I can assure you I’d be on my third slice of whatever strawberry covered treat was on offer. The source of Vincent’s current anxieties, Katherine takes some pretty interesting and disturbing forms in his nightmares. Even her fork is seen as a threat to him, well, she is usually the one doing the killing in her dreams. I can see why Vincent is so scared; her underlying dark streak and relationship pressures are enough to make me nervous! But as long as there’s desserts, everything’s okay.

This recipe serves 6-8.

What you will need: A 9 inch (23cm) fluted tart tin with a loose base, 2 large mixing bowls, a sieve, a rolling pin, ceramic baking beans, piping bag, a small pot, cling film/saran wrap and greaseproof paper/baking parchment.

For the Shortcrust Pastry:

225g / 1 ¾ Cups Plain Flour

100g / ½ Cup Butter (Chilled and Cubed)

½ Teaspoon Salt

Water

For the Filling:

300g / 1 ½ Cups Cream Cheese (Room Temperature)

100g / ½ Cup Fine Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 Large Eggs (Room Temperature)

120ml / ½ Cup Soured Cream

2 Tablespoons Fine Sugar

To Garnish:

175g / ½ Cup Strawberry Conserve

120ml / ½ Cup Double / Whipping Cream

2 Tablespoons Fine Sugar

16 Fresh Strawberries

18 Fresh Blueberries

Making the Shortcrust Pastry:

1. Sieve the flour into a large bowl and add the butter. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the salt and add water a tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes together as a dough.
2. Wrap the dough in cling film/saran wrap and chill in the fridge for an hour before use. Meanwhile, lightly grease the tart tin and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/355F. Once chilled, roll out the pastry to an even thickness and line the tin. Cover with greaseproof paper/baking parchment and fill the pastry with ceramic baking beans.
4. Place the pastry in the oven and cook for approximately 10-15 minutes. Watch the pastry to ensure it doesn’t dry out or get too brown. Once it’s golden and firm it’s ready to come out. Remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper and leave the pastry to cool while you prepare the filling.

Preparing the Filling:

1. Turn up the oven to 220C/450F. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well until smooth. Don’t worry if it seems very liquid, this is normal.
2. Pour the mixture into the cooled and prepared pastry, leaving a small gap at the top, and put in the oven for around 7-10 minutes or until the centre has set.
3. Take the tart from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes to cool. Meanwhile, mix the sour cream and 2 tablespoons of sugar together. Spoon just enough of the sour cream over the top of the tart to create a thin layer.
4. Turn the oven off and return the tart to the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the sour cream has solidified.
5. Take the tart out and leave it to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge for several hours or over night to chill.

Making the Strawberry Tart:

1. In a small pot, add the strawberry conserve. Warm through on a medium heat until the mixture becomes liquid. Allow it to cool for a minute before pouring a thin, even layer over the chilled tart. Place the tart back in the fridge until the strawberry conserve layer has set.
2. Meanwhile, whisk up the double cream with the sugar and spoon into the piping bag. Pipe cream around the entire edge of the tart.
3. Prepare your fruit for the top, check out this picture for how to arrange the blueberries and strawberries. Grab a milky coffee and enjoy the tart!

While I was trying to get a good look at the tart Katherine is eating during the game, I noticed that it actually changes a few times in one scene. It swaps between a sponge cake and the tart I’ve made above. I chose the tart as it was something a bit different to the previous recipes and it appears most frequently in the game. I went through 4 attempts at different varieties and combinations and then finally, I cracked it! A delicate cream-cheese layer, with caramelised sour cream topped with strawberries and blueberries is beautifully complimented by the smooth shortcrust pastry and whipped cream. Don’t waste your fork on your significant other, this treat is proof there are far better things to be forking.

Like this? You might also enjoy the Castlevania - Cheesecake.

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.

Dragon Age – Found Cake

When I had a read through Game Rant’s “Most Disappointing Games of 2011” I wasn’t surprised when I saw Dragon Age II among the expected movie tie-in games of the year. Although I know a lot of people loved it, it was a saddening shadow of the awesome that was Dragon Age and an even greater festering husk of Baldur’s Gate for me. I was so involved with Dragon Age and so attached to Alistair (I don’t even find blond men attractive) I once drunkenly reprimanded a guy with the same name at a party for sacrificing himself at the end of my tale. I’m not sure how he felt when I declared my love and explained the impending grief for both me and the people of Ferelden but thankfully I still had my trusty dog (Bucephalus) who once brought me this cake. Personally, I don’t know what the hell Tycho was complaining about – I’d eat a “found cake”. Cake is cake, after all.

This recipes serves 6.

What you will need: Two 8inch (20cm) round sandwich tins, sieve, 2 mixing bowls and a whisk.

Ingredients:

175g / ¾ Cup Butter (Room Temperature)

175g / ¾ Cup Caster/Fine Grain Sugar

3 Eggs (Room Temperature)

175g / ¾ Cup Self-Raising Flour

70g / ¼ Cup Cocoa Powder (High Quality)

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

To Garnish:

250ml / 1 Cup Whipping Cream

Icing/Confectioners Sugar (Optional)

2 Strawberries (Halved)

Dog Spittle (Optional)

Making the Found Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F. Grease the cake tin with a little butter, line it with greaseproof paper/baking parchment and set aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until pale and creamy. While continuing to mix, gradually add the eggs and whisk well until light and fluffy.
3. Sieve in half the flour, gently fold it in then sieve in the rest of the flour along with the cocoa powder and baking powder. Add the vanilla extract and stir.
4. Divide the cake mix between the prepared tins and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. The top of the cakes should spring back when softly pressed if ready. Once cooked, remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool.
5. Once cooled, remove the cakes from the tins. Whip the cream (with a little sugar if you wish), spread half the cream on top of one layer then turn the other layer upside down, place it on top and cover with the remainder of the cream. Place 3 of the strawberry halves on top to decorate.
6. Optional: Place the cake on your kitchen floor and get your dog to serve it for that final, authentic touch.

I’ve based the recipe for the Found Cake off the traditional Victoria sponge. This is a simple, fuss-free cake that wouldn’t be out of place in a Ferelden setting. It’s incredibly light and fluffy which means you can eat four slices for each slice of normal cake, ideal for any New Year dieters, because I’m pretty sure lack of cake is what turned Flemeth into that dragon.

Like this? You might also enjoy the Portal - Cake.

Christmas Special Drink & Nibbles: Skyrim – Black-Briar Mead, Grilled Leeks & Elsweyr Fondue

Everyone knows cold weather demands a warming drink and something to nibble on, preferably in front of a roaring fire. For the start of my Gourmet Gaming Christmas feast I thought taking a trek back to Skyrim might be worth while due to a lot of requests and let’s not forget its cold, snowy, Nordic landscape. Someone managed to source me some authentic Norfolk mead (thank you!) which I’ve used as my base for creating the infamous Black-Briar brew. I didn’t want it to be just a plain old mead; I felt that spices and fruits available around Skyrim could be added to create a more hearty drink. I’ve also been in enough bars in Skyrim to know that you can’t drink mead without some grilled leeks, why not dip them in a Kajiit’s favourite - Elsweyr Fondue?

This recipe serves 4-6.

Black-Briar Mead

What you will need: Large pot, a sieve and a serving jug/bottle.

Ingredients:

200ml / 1 Cup Mead

200ml / 1 Cup Dry Cider

200ml / 1 Cup Cloudy Apple Juice

2 Tablespoons Honey

3 Star Anise

1 Teaspoon Cloves

1 Cinnamon Stick

1. Add all the ingredients to a pot and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Sieve the mixture into a clean bowl or serving jug. Can be enjoyed warm or chilled.

Grilled Leeks

What you will need: A pot, a bowl, and a griddle pan.

Ingredients:

Leeks

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

1 Clove Garlic

1. Slice the leeks vertically in half and wash thoroughly in cool water. Pop the halved leeks in a large pot of water and bring to the boil. Cook for 4 minutes or until cooked about half way through, then drain and instantly submerge the leeks in a bowl of ice cold water to stop them from cooking any further.
2. Dry the leeks in some paper towels then season with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and garlic. Warm a griddle pan on a medium heat.
3. Lay a few leeks at a time, open side down on the pan. Try to keep them intact so they still have their shape. Turn them gently every few minutes to prevent from burning. Once cooked, lay on a plate or tray to serve.

Elsweyr Fondue

What you will need: A fondue pot/a heavy pot and a grater.

Ingredients:

200ml / 1 Cup Ale

110g / 1 Cup Mature Gruyère (Grated)

110g / 1 Cup Emmental (Grated)

1 Tablespoon Flour

¼ Teaspoon Nutmeg

1 Teaspoon Sugar

1. If you have a fondue pot with a heater than use that. If not – you can also use a heavy pot to melt your ingredients.
2. In the pot heat the Ale on a medium heat – do NOT allow it to boil.
3. Mix the grated cheeses with the flour until it is lightly coated. Add the cheese a little at a time to the ale, stirring gently. Reduce heat to low.
4. Once the cheese has melted, add the nutmeg and sugar and mix gently. Grate over a little more fresh nutmeg and serve.

The original recipe calls for black-market “Moon Sugar” which we know is used to make Skooma, so I had to do some research on what this could be. I instantly thought of nutmeg; it’s seasonal and is a traditional spice to serve with Swiss based fondues. It also has psychoactive and toxic effects if consumed in large amounts, causing sickness and hallucinations – not unlike the in-game drug. Skooma: Not Even Once, Elsweyr Fondue: Delicious. Try dipping in chunks of fresh bread or fruits and eating with savoury preserves or chutneys.

Like this? You might also enjoy the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Sweet Rolls.