Culinary Treasures of Thedas Vol.2

With the massive success of my first collection of recipès and the absolute outcry for a second collection, I come to you, my avid readers, once again to spice up your food both literally and figuratively!

-To Life, To love, to lunch! Lady Savarin Ledoure

### The Surly Paragon

While on my culinary journey I couldn’t ignore the home of the dwarves in Ferelden, Orzammar. Although most dwarven “dishes” (if you can call them that) consist of a some combination of nug, deep mushroom and rock salt, they do have a certain way with alcohol.

After almost getting caught in the middle of yet another gang fight (or as the dwarves call it, a “political rally”), I made my way to the Tapsters Tavern. The next hurdle on my quest for dwarven liquor seemed to be to find a clean table, the three tables I sat down by all seemed to be tainted with stains that I’d like to imagine to be beer but that were more likely urine.

After resolving to stand, I asked the bartender what he’d reccomend to an orlesian such as I. He responded with “A good kick so that the stick up my ass might fall out”. After laughing for five straight minutes (I was afraid that he’d pass out from a lack of oxygen) he did relent and serve me up what he called “The Surly Paragon”

Ingredients

* 2 ounces deep mushroom whiskey
* 1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon-moss juice Editors note: (or just a lemon for us who live above the surface)
* 3/4 ounce simple lichen syrup Editors note: (maple works fine too)
* 1/5 egg white from a deepstalker egg Editors note: (For Andraste's sake please just use a chicken egg)
* Ice
* 1 bronto cheese ball

Directions

1. Build the cocktail. Place the whiskey, moss juice, syrup, and egg white in a cocktail shaker. Do not add ice yet.
2. Dry shake the cocktail. Seal the shaker and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. (This is referred to as a "dry shake." It's good for incorporating the egg white before adding ice to the shaker.)
3. Shake again with ice. Add ice, seal again, and shake for 7 to 10 seconds more to chill.
4. Strain the cocktail. Fit a Hawthorne strainer over the top of the shaker and pour the cocktail through a fine-mesh strainer into a coupe glass. This is referred to as a "double strain" and this method is used to catch any ice shards or pulp from the fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
5. Serve with the chese on the side

### Initiation Stew

Clouded in mystery, romance and legends. Everyone knows the grey wardens! Much mystery also surrounds their enigmatic  joining where people say that even battle hardened warriors sometimes don’t make it through.
Now dear readers, I do have a small piece of the puzzle that surrounds the joining! And that is… The Initiation Stew! A stew made on the eve of new recruits joining to be ready when the ceremony ends.

The grey wardens I talked with shared a certain reverence of the stew and I had to really pry to get the recipe from their darkspawn-fighting paws!

Ingredients

* 2 Tablespoons olive oil
* 2 pounds beef chuck, cut into chunks
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 onion, diced
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 4 oz tomato paste
* 12 oz Dark Conscription Ale
* 4 cups beef broth
* 2 Tablespoons of Amaranthine sauce
* 4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
* 2 turnips, peeled and diced
* 1 large potato, peeled and diced
* Minced fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Season beef with salt and pepper.
2. In a large Pot Oven, heat oil over medium high heat. Add half of the cubed beef to the pot. Brown beef on all sides (about 2-4 minutes) and remove to a plate. Repeat with remaining beef.
3. To the pot, add onions and garlic. Stir around a bit to scrape up the brown bits and soften them a bit. Add tomato paste and stir around a bit more. Allow the tomato paste to become golden in places.
4. Pour in the Conscription Ale, beef broth and Amaranthine sauce and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Return the beef to the pot, including any juices from the plate.
5. Bring stew to a boil and then cover the pot and reduce to a simmer. Allow beef to cook for 1 ½ - 2 hours.
6. After the 1 ½ - 2 hours, add the carrots, turnips and potatoes to the pot. Allow the stew to simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes more or until vegetables are tender. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
7. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

### Gatlok Chicken

The Qunari really aren’t a cheery bunch, my theory for this is that most of their cuisine consists of boiled meat and vegetables. Because of my original book apparantly had fans in high places, I had the honor of accompanying an orlesian political envoy to Par Vollen and I swear, I couldn’t find a single spice. Three weeks of the blandest food I’ve ever tasted! And I’ve tasted what they serve in dust town! It’s almost as if the chefs intentionally removed the flavour of the ingredients! Just when I thought I’d might go mad if I had to spend one more day there, I found something. A recipe in tucked away in one of the kitchens in an envelope. I asked one of the chefs there and he informed me in their colorful way of speaking that “It is reserved for when a qunoran vehl is declared” I had no idea what that meant but I assumed it was some kind of celebration. I wrote the recipe down in secret and made it when I got home. And let me tell you, after almost a month of eating nothing but everyday qunari food, this almost made me faint.

Recipe

* 1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1/3 cup cornstarch
* 2 eggs beaten
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1/3 cup hot sauce
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
* 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or more to taste
* 1/4 cup sliced green onions

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9"x13" pan with a thin layer of butter.
2. Place the chicken pieces on a plate and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the chicken and toss to coat evenly.
3. Dip each piece of chicken into the beaten eggs.
4. Heat the oil over high heat in a large pan. Place the chicken in a single layer and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. You may have to work in batches.
5. Place the chicken pieces in a single layer in the 9"x13" pan.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the buffalo sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar and red pepper flakes.
7. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Bake for 35 minutes, stirring once halfway through to coat the chicken with the sauce. Top with green onions and serve.