Breath of the Wild #67: Meat-Stuffed Pumpkin

Ingredients: Fortified Pumpkin, Any Meat

Description: "This hollow, meat-filled pumpkin is a local specialty of Kakariko Village."

The bad news is, it's not pumpkin season yet... (well, when i made this, i have a bit of a backlog so idk) The good news is... WHO CARES?? I HAVE A PUMPKIN SHAPED CASSEROLE DISH

First I just throw the whole entire butternut squash in the oven, that'll provide the pumpkin for the filling (we weren't going to NOT have pumpkin in it!) And fry up the mince, starting with diced garlic and onion.

For the meat i've got a mixture of beef & pork mince, mince is a traditional "stuffing" meat and good for a bolognese flavour. I guess while i'm here why not throw in the fresh tomatoes, a bit of chilli paste, and season with salt & pepper.

I thought it might be fun to throw in some cardamom pods as well, just for a lil' something different.

The mince is nice and brown and mixed up.

As you can see, the baked squash is waaaay easier to chop up now. But we have much more than we need, i'll just use as much as I can fit in the dish with the mince...

Oh! And I was going to put in tinned tomato and red wine vinegar and basil as well... uh... i've done it again haven't I? Why can I never not overfill things? It's fine, ill save the rest of the tomato for some pasta or something.

...So, I was just going to bake it for like 30mins or something, but I got called to an emergency, so i turned the oven off and let it slow cook for about 2 hours. That'll be good for a dish like this.

*****

Oh.. it tastes like being a hero after helping someone in the neighbourhood having a medical emergency! Sweet, rich, and meaty. Sort of like a bolognese with pumpkin instead of pasta.

Breath of the Wild #65: Prime Meat Stew

Ingredients: Raw Prime Meat, Goat Butter, Fresh Milk, Tabantha Wheat

Description: "Letting the large portions of choice cuts of meat simmer brought out their savoriness."

We need a slightly better meat than last time... I've got diced beef instead of minced, and then this time I thought we could get a bit more bourguignon inspired and add a bit of wine, tomato and fresh thyme.

We can start with the beef, onions, and i've got some crushed garlic and grated ginger too.

Once thats about sealed, I'll add the carrots. A good amount of salt and pepper too.

Then we can add the water, a beef stock cube, the last of that umami paste and a nice big bay leaf.

And the red wine and some tomato concentrate too. I'll let that stew for like 45min.

Then I can make the bechdel sauce... erm... bechamel. It's a hot day so the butters nice and melty.

That and the stripped thyme leaves go in, looks really nice there!

****

I think it's a bit like the previous stew honestly. Well, I think its a better and stronger flavour broth. It's solid, but.. I guess it doesn't seem that original at this point. Maybe if it had more types of vegetables it'd be more exciting. Like some starchy potatoes or sweet peas.

Breath of the Wild #64: Meat Stew

Ingredients: Raw Meat, Goat Butter, Fresh Milk, Tabantha Wheat

Description: "This hearty meat in this mainstay dish leaves bellies satisfied all throughout Hyrule."

The simplest meat stew. I thought for a simple meat, we could do minced beef. That seems like it'd stew well. Got some carrots and onions to go with, and we'll be making that bechamel sauce just like in the veg. stews as the ingredients demand it!

Since the mince is... mince-y I thought we could cut the onions a bit smaller and fry them up for a nice flavour base.

Once they are brown I put in the mince, with some salt, pepper and paprika.

And once thats all brown too, the chopped carrots, and i'll make a bit of an instant stock with a beef stock cube and a couple open things in my fridge. I got umami paste and chopped chillies.

Time to make... a normal amount of the white sauce.

Yeah perfect. I don't really care to whisk all the lumps out. The stews already hot and lumpy!

In it all goes, it smells like a real meat stew

****

The flavours are simple and easy to like. It seems like a really good meal if you're feeling a bit delicate.

Breath of the Wild #56: Prime Meat Curry

Ingredients: Raw Prime Meat, Hylian Rice, Goron Spice

Description: "The high-quality meat in this curry has given it a deeper taste than most other curries."

We're on a MISSION...to make a better meat curry than the last one! For the in-between meat ive chosen a delectable beef shin. I've got a much more upmarket pre-made curry sauce, rogan josh style this time. And because the last sauce was so shamefully bland, ive also got some tandoori masala dry spices. And basmati rice, and the garnishes from last time plus a leaf of fresh coriander.

I chopped the meat up into nice big chunks and in goes the tandoori spice as i sear it with some vegetable oil. 

Once thats nicely browned we can put in the curry sauce, and because its a saturday I can actually let this simmer on a low hear for a good hour or so, really try to make that beef reasonably tender. We can add in a bit of water if it threatens to dry out.

That's looking good! Wow those spices have really turned it a rich red, it looks like a restaurant curry. 

*****

Wow! Big difference! The curry is much more flavourful. The beef could be more tender still, but the stewing has made a big difference. So has the tandoori spice, its done a huge amount for the depth of flavour and a pleasant tangy heat. This is probably the most british-indian takeout style curry ive ever made! 

Breath of the Wild #34: Pepper Steak

 Ingredients: Spicy Pepper, Any Meat

Description: "The meat has been cooked in crushed peppers to accent its natural taste."

It says pepper steak not pepper chicken, so I got some steak. Might as well cook em both, one for now and one for later. I actually did the next recipe (fish version) before so umm lets pretend.. ah, yes, so I got a bunch of these chillies. I was careful with them but they weren't actually super spicy.

I fry these in a good amount of butter, and i'll add salt, ground pepper mix and chopped chillies. 

Maybe i should crush the chillies like it says? Well... i squashed them around with a spatula as I cooked them. That counts...?

Well we have space on the plate... and in my stomach, so i'll serve it with a side of crisps! I got honey sriracha flavour, extra spicy.

*****

Very tasty! No I didn't eat the extra whole chilli. I probably could have, the chillies weren't super hot, but the buttery peppery mix flavour with the good quality steak was so nice. I wanted it to look nicely seared and it wasnt that thick so I ended up making it a bit well done, but I like all kinds of steaks tbh. 

Breath of the Wild #24: Gourmet Meat and Seafood Fry

 Ingredients: Raw Gourmet Meat or Raw Whole Bird, Any Seafood

Description: "A marriage of the choicest cuts of meat and seafood. As delicious as it is filling!"

Omg they're getting married!!! For the gourmet version of this dish I thought beef and tuna steak and some fancy steak sauce would be gourmet enough? So I bought some pre-made peppercorn sauce made with fresh beef jus and brandy and some other stuff.

We can fry them both in butter with a pinch of salt, and then while that's cooking I can heat up the sauce as well.

For some reason I bought shallotts as well, so i'll slice a couple of them thin and fry them up.

Once the shallots are brown and the meat is almost done, I throw in the sauce and just heat it up and mix it together.

The steaks already done, ill give the tuna just a touch more frying and sear the tomatoes as well.

With the sauce heated we can just assemble!

*****

It's so flavourful! And honestly a lot of meat.... an unnecessary amount. But yeah a nice combo of flavours, the thick sauce was sour and peppery and buttery, the tomatoes and rocket pair well with the rich meats, nothing clashed really. I guess this is gourmet!

Breath of the Wild #19: Prime Spiced Meat Skewer

Ingredients: Raw Prime Meat, Goron Spice

Description: "The simple preparation of this steak dish belies its complex taste profile.."

So, I was originally going to pick some sort of "intermediate" quality meat for this "prime" quality recipe and use steak for the "gourmet" quality... but then I noticed the description, it clearly says "this steak dish."! Fine, steak it is! I dunno what i'll do for next recipe, lamb i guess?

Last time the spice mix was a bit dry and earthy, so this time i'm tweaking it up for something fancier! I got some plain yogurt, lemon juice, curry powder, cayenne pepper, garam masala, black pepper & coriander seed, cumin seed, and salt.

Mix it all up and itll coat the meat nice and easily! It was looking a little pale so i added an extra pinch of turmeric too actually.

I picked a rump steak because I hoped it would be nice and tender but still meaty.

I think I will have just enough for 2 skewers. Not bad for that price actually!

Yep plenty on there, ready to go in and grill. Let's hope I don't overcook it for once, but at least its fresh beef!

*****

Have I finally done a perfect meat skewer!? after... how many recipes?? I managed to get the meat medium-well I think, keeping it properly grilled but still tender and juicy. The sour yogurt and lemon juice is just what the earthy curry spice needed to give it a more complex flavour. We've set the bar a bit high now, it might be downhill for the gourmet meat. Still, this is the one to do again. And maybe that satay one, that was pretty good.