Breath of the Wild #41: Copious Simmered Fruit

Ingredients: Any Four Different Fruit

Description: "The flavors of the various fruits in this simmered dish exist in perfect harmony."

Our four different fruits: pear, orange, blueberries and pineapple. I thought to add a little complexity but be different from the previous one, we'd add a touch of ginger, star anise and lemon juice. And then of course extra syrup, to taste.

Time to peel anything peelable, and remove as much of the orange pith as I can be bothered. Don't want it getting too bitter.

Shoving everything in my big cast iron pot, a couple tablespoons of extra water and let's just see what happens!

After about 15 mins its already looking transformed! Shout out to blueberries for adding a bit of colour. I think i'll just serve myself a little bowl of it for now, I want something savoury with dinner as well.

****

Harmonious! The simple bits of ginger, lemon and star anise add a noticeable complexity, while every fruit flavour stands out. It's surprisingly wine-like, it reminds me a lot of sangria, I think pears really trick me somehow into thinking there's an alcohol taste. Some of the textures are better stewed than others. The pineapple maintains a nice crunch, but the orange slices are fibrous and mushy. Great thing to try if you're bored of fresh fruit, or you have a lot of slightly blander/underripe fruits to use up.

Breath of the Wild #40: Simmered Fruit

Ingredients: Any Fruit

Description: "This sweet dish is made by heaping tasty fruits into a pan and simmering until tender."

For this we're just starting with ONE fruit, there's a 4-fruit version coming up. When I think "simmered" I think pears for some reason. So pears its gonna be! I picked some bold pairings with this bold flavour: white wine, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. And syrup for that extra sweetness.

Damn i see why people call pears "juicy". It's like peeling a wet bar of soap.

Next I chop them into quarters and get rid of all the hard bits, seeds and stems and that.

And in a pot they go with the white wine, cinnamon, nutmeg and a few cloves. It's gonna be festive! I also have a tiny sprig of purple sage to garnish.

****

Yep, the flavours were fun and worked really well. A nice idea for such a simple dish. One thing I don't like about pears though, is that weird mealy texture, and the ground spices kinda enhance that for an extra-fine grittyness. I guess now I see the point in buying whole spices to infuse for things like this. 

Breath of the Wild #39: Fruit and Mushroom Mix

Ingredients: Any Fruit, Any Mushroom

Description: "This dish contrasts the sweetness of fruit with the savoriness of mushrooms."

OK so last time I combined mushrooms with fruit (orange?) it was kinda gross, but im feeling good about this one. I have decided to stew some mushrooms and plums together.

First, let's rinse the mushrooms. They're going in whole.

So, I figured... maybe we can accessorise this dish with lots of savoury items to offset all the fruit. I'm chopping some shallots, and then ill add some beef stock, strong flavoured herbs, tomato puree, and some other stuff as I think of it.

I chose some plums that were a bit underripe, so theyll be a bit sour and less sweet. Nice colours though.

I'll just dry fry those for a bit and then add in the rest.

In goes the mushrooms, beef stock cube, chopped rosemary and thyme, a bay leaf, and a bit of hot water to make it a stew.

Hmm to lean into the plummyness, how about a tiny bit of wine, tomato puree and soy sauce?

It looks not bad, I suppose. Are we going to be ok? I think i'll get a bread roll to eat it with too.

**

First mouthful I was like wow! Ive created a really nice umami flavour. The plum, mushroom, wine and herbs really did contrast the flavours nicely. But after a while, the bitterness sunk in, and then i had to eat big wet mouthfuls of slimy mushroom and plum. It seems like it would make a really nice gravy to pour over something else. But gravy isn't a meal. Maybe i'll blend the leftovers and use it as a meat sauce base?

Breath of the Wild #38: Salmon Meuniere

 Ingredients: Hearty Salmon, Tabantha Wheat, Goat Butter

Description: "The crispy skin of this fried hearty salmon puts its texture in a class all its own."

This one's clear! Salmon it is. Same as last times with the flour and butter and the leftover butter-sauce mix, and rocket and tomato to garnish.

This one, i wonder if we can bend it into shape to make it look like the slice in the picture... maybe not... I know there's two fillets but im just going to have one I think. That big monkfish slice last time was overkill.

Speaking of last time, ive made sure the pan is nice and clean and ill try and cook it faster to avoid the butter and flour burning... its still a lot thicker than those hake fillets though.

Once its done, i turn the flame off and just quickly melt the butter sauce with the parsley and capers.

****

(i bent it in half to try and look more like the graphic, but... looks more like i broke it on accident) Obviously with the flavour of salmon, a fish that works quite well even on its own, it was bound to be better than the last one! But, i still struggled not to blacken the flour a bit... Overall I see why sole meuniere is the traditional choice, the thin white fish that cooks fast and absorbs lots of lemon juice is a clear winner. Oh also my raw tomato to everything else ratio was getting out of hand. 

Breath of the Wild #37: Porgy Meuniere

 Ingredients: Armored Porgy or Mighty Porgy, Tabantha Wheat, Goat Butter

Description: "Popular among residents of coastal regions, this juicy porgy is a delish dish."

I guess a porgy is a real fish, but... I thought it would be fun to go for something a bit more distinct from the regular whitefish fillets I used last time. I found a monkfish tail on sale! Then we have the leftover meuniere "sauce" from last time and more wheat flour and butter.

I've never cooked monkfish before, i think ive heard its texturally kinda different. Taking it out I realise it still has bones in! I can feel a massive great bone  in the middle. Well, we've had many a bone-in fish before its probably fine. Once its floured up like last time ill fry it in the pan with plenty of butter.

It feels so much thicker and denser, so im trying to cook it slower and lower... but I think im starting to burn the flour and butter and make gritty charred bits in the pan, ugh. 

Yeah it doesn't look as good as last time but i think its cooked all the way through. Also does it... not have smaller bones throughout it? It has just one big cartillage bone? Well thats something. Lastly we will quickly heat up some of that butter sauce and pour it over.

**

Wow yep that meat really is different. Maybe I just cooked it poorly, but its a little rubbery and more bland. Just doesn't go with the flavours as well. And it didn't crisp up as well, its too wet. I think my frugal attempts to upcycle the ingredients have backfired, it just isn't looking as fresh, is it? You get a lot of meat in a fillet I'll give it that. I think maybe some other recipes would use monkfish well, like i dunno..  green curry? battered nuggets? But this ain't it.

Breath of the Wild #36: Seafood Meuniere

 Ingredients: Any Seafood excluding Hearty Salmon and Porgy, Tabantha Wheat, Goat Butter

Description: "Rich butter flanks fresh seafood. The secret ingredient is lots and lots of love."

Another 3-tier recipe, so I'll start with a pretty cheap and typical white fish fillet. I had to look up a recipe because i'm not familliar with meuniere (i was even calling it meniuere for a while) seems like the wheat takes the form of flour for coating and then the butter is the sauce! Then I got lemon juice, fresh parsley and capers. And a tiny bit of salad stuff for garnish.

I'll get the chopping out of the way and then i can use the chopping board for a bit of "dredging"

There's actually 4 small fillets in this pack, wow value! I think i'll try and use 2 stuck together for some nice volume. I'll pat them dry with some paper towel first....

How's my dredging? Hakers gonna hake.

Now i'll just fry it in the pan with a bit of that butter until the fish is all cooked through, try not to destroy it... 

Once thats on the plate we make the sauce! I'm adding a bunch more butter, capers, and lemon juice. This is what they mean by flanking it with butter.

Once the butters browned a bit I take it off the heat and mix in the chopped parsley. I've tried to make a good amount so that I can save the rest and use it for the next 2 recipes... I might need to add more butter though by the looks of it.

*****

Delish! The simple but strong flavours of the lemon, parsley and capers go so well with the fish, which was juicy but with the light crispyness of the coating. Its quite quick to make as well, i'll definitely remember this, I feel like its a nice easy one to impress friends visiting for really cheap. I don't think the secret ingredient was lots of love though, I think its butter.

Breath of the Wild #35: Pepper Seafood

 Ingredients: Spicy Pepper, Any Seafood or Fish

Description: "The pepper seeds grilled with this seafood draw out its taste and pleasant aroma."

Yknow what im DONE with whole, unfilletted, ungutted fish. I got a nice big butterflied mackerel fillet. And i got some chillies that are not that hot so we can use plenty of them.

Added some veg oil, salt and plenty of mixed peppercorns, and a whole chilli's worth of sliced chillies with the seeds in. And I guess it says grilled, so we grillin'.

****

Nice toasty mackerel, and honestly... these chillies really are a bit mild. I can taste a bit of heat off them, but its actully not as hot and peppery as I expected. I keep overestimating chillies it seems. Its really just a plate of simple mildly seasoned fish. A proper sauce/dressing and some salad, grains or bread would do a lot.