Delicious & Dragons

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To complete the trifecta of square bread creations.
Bread, cheddar, an amount of butter that would give a lich heartburn, and a hot pan, not too hot, until it all fuses into a cheesy, gooey and crunchy singularity. I think I need to take a nap now…

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Leaving Niflheim and the monotony of mining opened my eyes to how the world is such a dance of people coming and going, each person passing by being a deep well of stories waiting to be told.

One of my earlier exposures to that was when I was working as a dishwasher to get by, my skills as a bard still hopelessly underdeveloped. There came this woman, human, 50-ish years of age if I had to take a guess, and she began to tell stories from her home country far away. I only caught bits and pieces between the work, but she radiated life. Within minutes she commanded people’s attentions.

Where she was from, they’d call a tavern not “tavern” but a “bistro”, and she recounted how they’d sit leisurely in the sun and enjoy coffee and a snack in the company of good friends. One of those dishes being a so-called “Croque Madame”, which supposedly translates into “crunchy lady” or something…?

Ham and cheese between two slices of bread, a hint of mustard, a fried egg and some more cheese sauce on top. Not a mere sandwich, but a layered symphony of comforting tastes.

Here’s my try. I would hope to capture some of that “schwoa… schoi…” – dammit, my pronunciation sucks, but I think it’s spelled “joie de vivre”… – I’d hope to capture some of that sometime, in my cooking, or my music.

Structural issues aside, the bread still made for a good sandwich. I’ll take it.

It is actually amazing. We’re roaming around north of the middle of fucking nowhere and the food is better than at most inns. It’s surely not mum’s cooking level, but definitely at the top of what I had since leaving home. And it keeps getting crazier:

Somebody – I’m quite sure it was Harf – started with baking! Initially I wondered how that should work out. Seeing that we left civilization far behind us, we have no oven and ingredients are hard to come by. But after coming back from a round of foraging there it was: A full on DIY oven made from stone. I suspect that was a collaboration between Harf’s knowledge around stones, Nim’s engineering skills and Einarr’s strength, or flex or whatever it is that powers that guy, to put the stones in place… And that whole thing actually works too!

I’m not good at baking myself, but here is this one recipe for this delicious berry cheese cake my mum always made, that I know how to make. Okay, I only watched her make it, but it was often and I thought I’ll give it a try. The hard part was getting the ingredients though. Berries naturally are easy, but the remainder is mostly made from various dairy products which first go bad rather quickly – especially when you run around and your bag is getting crushed and what not all the time, and second you need animals to produce it. Well, let’s say that much, milking a fucking owlbear borders on suicide. But, in the end we succeeded. There will be scaring though. And not only the physical kind…

The final product didn’t turn out half bad, so I’m pleased. I did come up short of berries in the end, so I had to “liberate” some of Quiz’ goodberries. She only carries them around until they go bad anyways, so no harm in putting them to good use. Also, she seemed quite distracted by the catnip…

Fun fact: The goodberries loose some of their healing power when baked. They now only heal psychic damage taken from name puns. Sou far so good, but only harf as useful… *uses-bonus-action-to-hide*

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Dwarven bread should reflect the qualities inherent in dwarvenkind. Sturdy and square. No frills nor adornments should interfere with the basic structure and stability of a loaf of dwarven bread. In fact, if one were to swap out a keystone of a bridge with a well baked loaf, and you couldn’t tell the difference, I’d consider this good bread.

Glorifim Berlgranite, Baker

I’ve come across the writings of Glorifim and if you ask me, that guy is a bit nuts. But I can’t lie, the nostalgic comfort of a nice square loaf is something I can’t deny. I decided to take some inspiration from my travels and try for something softer and fluffier. Got something tasty, but I think I messed up my shaping and timing and ran into some, shall we say… structural problems. Grumph… this is trickier than I thought…

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Decided to go the other way around and take it low and slow. I honestly lost track of time, was it one and a harf hours? *Glug* Two and a harf? *Glug* But I felt like I was on the right track. Decided to not go for the mayo and went for a big dollop of miso butter instead, and whooo… I think I’m onto something. Now I’m getting ideas of brightening it up with some fresh lemon zest and juice and serving it on a flaky pie crust like a galette with some sugar snap peas… hmmm…

When I first met this bunch of crazy lads, it was down in some strange ruins, Sou Far handed me Catnip! it was the dried herbs but ohhhhh the smell!! I know that normal humans can not smell the herbal freshness heaven , that it is. But let me tell you No smell in the world makes you feel happier or saver. But it made me wonder if he ever traveled my homes Woodlands, because you don’t just come by some catnip everywhere.

My Ma made the best Mole Verde in our Hunt. She always added a lot of Catnip and Cicely and a lot of previously charred Pimentos and Salt Tomatos. Soooo yummy! If I ever come by some fresh catnip I will prepare it for Sou Far… he seems a little bit stranger lately.

Got a bit impatient with the heat, and it seems like if you don’t take your time it doesn’t get that right balance between sweet and toasty…
But – I played with some flavor combinations and interestingly enough the tanginess of mayo seems to go well with it. Now I’m getting ideas of roasting it until it’s really caramelized and soft and blending it into a roasted cauliflower mayo. Must investigate further.

As a dwarf, it’s hard not to be aware of the transformative powers of heat. In one of the mines I was working in, we had a room with four forges running day in day out. So hot, you’d start to sweat if you thought about the place while sitting in a tavern 10 miles away.
Only much later, once I left Niflheim and started to work in kitchens here and there, would I open my eyes to more unusual and pleasurable possibilities hidden within a fire (sorry Sou Far). Take a hearth, cozy and warm all night, a head of cauliflower and roast it long enough until it starts to brown and caramelize, turning creamy, toasty, sweet and nutty all at once. Layer the flavors with spices, sherry vinaigrette and parsley, serve on a crispy slice of whole wheat bread. Beats standing in front of a forge all day.