[...] the recipe featured below is widely thought to be the closest that one can come to the feeling of sitting atop the famed vallenwood tree tavern with one of his homebrewed dark ales in hand. - Heroes’ Feast, p. 20
Hashbrowns are one of my all-time favourite breakfast side dishes but usually have a large time component or an uninteresting flavour. After trying numerous recipes, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever find one that I would enjoy. Then came Otik's Skillet-Fried Spiced Potatoes! The first time making these for my house, we were all blown away by how great they were!
Seasoned to perfection with a kick of spice, these skillet fried potatoes have become a staple at our Saturday morning breakfast table. They’re amazing whether eaten the day-of or heated up later. Try the ultimate breakfast trio and eat them with the Yawning Portal Buttermilk Biscuits (p. 31) and the Feywild Eggs (p. 58).
Want to eat them but aren’t a morning person? No problem! These fried potatoes also make an amazing base for a fun lunch or dinner meal. Just add some sausage and chopped green pepper and voilà!
See below for my notes on the results and for some helpful tips and tricks when making this yourself! Get Heroes’ Feast here: https://dnd.wizards.com/heroes-feast
Prep Time: ~15 mins Cook Time: ~40 mins Overall: ~55 mins
For the ingredients:
2 tablespoons neutral-tasting oil
1 large yellow onion
1 tsp. kosher salt ( ½ tsp. for onions, ½ for spicing)
1.5 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed or peeled, cut into ¾-inch pieces
1 tbsp. salted butter
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tsp. sweet paprika
1 tsp. cayenne*
½ tsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. minced fresh chives
*See ingredients notes
I use the following conversions in my cooking:
1 lb. potatoes = 500 g
½ tsp. garlic powder = 1.5 g
1 tsp. cayenne pepper = 1.8 g
1 tsp. sweet paprika = 2 g
½ tsp. kosher salt = 3 g
Although they may seem inconsequential, I would consider the chives a necessity with this recipe. The fried potatoes are amazing on their own but pairing them with the chives really makes them shine.
I have made these fried potatoes both with and without the onion due to differing tastes in my house. I would suggest using a little more garlic powder than what’s called for if leaving out the onion.
TIP: To save yourself time in the morning, cut up the onion and the potatoes the night before. Keep fresh by submerging the cubed potatoes in cold water and covering the onions in cling wrap and storing them in the fridge.
NOTE: I would 100% recommend using a non-stick skillet for this recipe if you have access to one. I tried making these in a stainless steel pan with the recommended amount of oil: the skins stuck to the bottom instantly and the pan was a nightmare to clean.
NOTE: I would caution the amount of cayenne pepper called for in this recipe. Even for the spice junkies in my house, 1 tsp. was A LOT of cayenne pepper. I would recommend starting with a little bit less than ¼ tsp. (~0.4 g) and increase it from there each time you make them.
Above is what my onions looked like after I fried them up. I did my best to achieve the “browning with brown edges”.
Don’t skip the salt on this step, it helps the onions brown!
NOTE: With a properly heated pan, I’ve found that 4 minutes on medium-high and 4 minutes on medium were too generous for time. Once you’ve gotten the oil shimmering, they’ll need only 3 minutes on each.
Above are the potatoes after they were softened in the microwave.
Heroes’ Feast mentions this, but do make sure to drain any water the potatoes have released. Skipping this will mess with the development of the skins and cooking time.
TIP: To save time, put the potatoes in the microwave when you start cooking the onion.
Above is the progression of what the potatoes looked like as they were cooking.
Pic 1: Potatoes when just put into the pan
Pic 2: First flip after 6 minutes
Pic 3: Second flip after 6 minutes
Pic 4: Third flip after 4 minutes
Not shown: I flipped them once more after 4 minutes right before stirring in the spices and onion
Altogether, the potatoes were fried for 20 minutes.
TIP: If you don’t only have unsalted butter to combine with the oil, add a small pinch of kosher salt to the pan.
NOTE: Remember to never overcrowd the pan when cooking! However, if you find that you have, it’s fixable. Simply make sure that you’re always moving the potatoes on the outside edges in when you flip them and cook the potatoes for as long as it takes for the biggest pieces to have softened.
Above is what the potatoes looked like after stirring in the spices and the onion.
TIP: To keep the onions from cooking more when you return them to the pan, mix in the spices first then take the pan off the heat for ~30-45 seconds before adding them in. They’ll still cook a little, but there’s less risk of them burning.
Overall, I would give this recipe a 5/5. Like the Yawning Portal Buttermilk Biscuits, they’ve quickly become a weekend brunch staple in our house!
Additionally, these go great with a homemade (or store-bought!) hollandaise sauce or when eaten as a side for the Feywild Eggs. The richness and flavours combine to create an amazing taste that’s sure to liven up your morning!
For best freshness results, store in a sealed container in the fridge. Keeps for up to 4 days.
NOTE: Consensus in our house: Those who enjoy onion give them a 5/5 with onion and a 4/5 without. For those who don’t, they’re a 5/5 without onion. So, overall, you really can’t lose! Just remember to adjust the spices (especially the cayenne pepper!!) if you’re making a smaller side batch for someone who doesn’t like onions. Learned that the hard way...
Did you know? In MCC 22, the Yellow Yaks were nicknamed The Golden Girls and were MCC’s first all-female team!
Welcome to the stage, the Yellow Yaks themed dessert: Oat-Fudge bars!
I’ve had this idea knocking around in my head since last summer and now it’s done and I finally get to share it! This event is so much fun to watch and participate in as an audience member, so I really wanted to create something that everyone could enjoy!
Best of luck to the Yellow Yaks this MCC! Which team will you be rooting for?
And, of course, thank you Scott Smajor.
(Check out the recipe below and huge thanks to Garbange for fixing the lighting in the picture! Inspired by these.)
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the bravery of a girl who has to decide what is for dinner and then cook it and then wash dishes every day forever and ever.
I’ve spent a few days wondering whether or not I should reblog memorial posts for Technoblade on this blog. However, he and everything he did for his fans, friends, family, and the mcyt community is important to me - so here they shall go.
I’ve tried a couple times to write a proper farewell post of my own, but was never able to get it quite right. The reblogs I’ve chosen are the closest I could find to express how I feel about the news and his legacy. I may reblog more as time goes on.
Rest easy, Blood God. You will be missed but never forgotten.
If you can, please consider donating to the Sarcoma Foundation of America. He really believed in all of the work they do.
ALT
Ohoho, I am a Big Fan of this!
Source: x
“There’s nothing more comforting to a comfort-obsessed halfling than the warm intermingling scents of vanilla, maple, and walnuts filling their home.” - Heroes’ Feast, p. 120
French toast is a staple of Sunday Brunches everywhere, and it’s easy to see why. This fried breakfast bread is easily customized with whatever you want. Syrup? Eggs? Fruit? It’s all fair game to this tasty toast!
Taking a swing at its own version, Heroes’ Feast’s Stuffed Egg-Battered Toast looks to change it up by putting its toppings inside, rather than on top.
With each slice stuffed with mascarpone, walnuts, and a truly questionable amount of vanilla extract, your kitchen and taste buds are surely going to be treated to that homely vanilla smell that halflings crave so much.
Check out below for my notes on the results and for tips and tricks when making this yourself! Get Heroes’ Feast here: https://dnd.wizards.com/heroes-feast
Prep: 5 mins Cook: 25 mins Total: 30 mins
Ingredients:
4 ounces (½ cup, 120 g) mascarpone, at room temperature
¼ cup (25 g) walnuts, finely chopped
2 tsp. (10 ml) pure vanilla extract*
4 (1-inch-thick) slices of brioche or challah
2 eggs
½ cup (120 ml) whole milk
¼ tsp. (2 g) kosher salt
2 tbsp. (30 g) unsalted butter
½ cup (120 ml) maple syrup
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting**
* That uh… sure is an amount of vanilla for a ½ cup of mascarpone.
** I used chopped strawberries instead.
In a small bowl, stir together the mascarpone, walnuts and vanilla. (I forgot to take a picture of this each time I made it. L.)
Use a thin knife to cut a 2-inch-long slit through the side of each slice of brioche, creating a pocket.
Gently open the pocket and spoon 1 tbsp. of the mascarpone mixture into each slice.
TIP: As mentioned in the “cook’s notes” section, the bread is very delicate and tears easily- so take extra caution when opening and stuffing the pockets.
Alternatively, the notes mention that you could use ½-inch slices and spread the mixture between them like a sandwich. However, I worry about its structural integrity while dipping it in the egg mixture or flipping it in the frying pan.
But, since stuffing each slice is a pain, it might be worth going with the sandwich method.
NOTE: Only stuff the slices if they’re cut 1-inch-thick. ½-inch and even ¾-inch slices are way too thin and will tear.
In a pie dish or shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and salt.
BEFORE DIPPING the slices, melt 1 tbsp. butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
Dip two stuffed slices into the egg mixture, turning to soak both sides and letting any excess batter drip back into the bowl.
TIP: You only need to let each side soak for a few seconds. Any longer than 5 makes the bread mushy.
Place the sides in a skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Use a spatula to transfer the toasts to a warm plate.
Repeat to cook the remaining two stuffed slices.
Meanwhile, warm the maple syrup in a small saucepan over low heat for a few minutes.
TIP: The “cook’s notes” section mentions that warmed marmalade can be used to replace the maple syrup.
NOTE: I misread the instructions for this step and cooked all four slices at once. To fix the uneven browning, I flipped the lighter parts to the middle of the pan for about 20 seconds after cooking each side.
NOTE: To save on dishes, I chose to not warm my syrup.
Top the toast with strawberries (and/or confectioners’ sugar), drizzle with the maple syrup, and serve.
Overall, this recipe has one thing really working against it: the vanilla extract.
Personally, I found the filling to be inedible with 2 tsp. of vanilla extract in the mascarpone mixture. The alcohol in the extract doesn’t have enough time to cook out and leaves everything with a distinctly alcoholic taste.
This would be fine if other flavours used in the recipe complimented the taste of the alcohol or if the taste was expected (like an alcoholic french toast). Unfortunately, nothing here works with it and, being a breakfast food, it isn’t expected. So, it ends up overwhelming the toast and making it unappetizing.
My solution to this was to cut back the vanilla extract to ½ tsp. The taste was still a little strong, but there was an improvement. If you’re planning to make this at home, consider cutting the vanilla back even further, or try using vanilla bean instead to skip the alcohol entirely.
It’s also worth mentioning that the mascarpone makes these very rich. Interestingly, I found that the syrup and strawberries really helped cut the richness. You’re still only going to eat one though.
Finally, as mentioned in a previous step, although the structural integrity might be questionable with the sandwich method, it might be worth it just to skip spooning the mixture into the pockets. The mess it creates really makes you wonder if it’s worth it.
All in all, the unaltered recipe gets a 2.5/5, going up to 4/5 when the amount of vanilla extract is reduced. Still losing points for the remaining alcoholic taste and messy and needlessly difficult construction.
LAST DAY TO VOTE in the unofficial 2021 Heroes’ Feast Gingerbread Showcase ft. myself, @afinickyguide , Luboffin_ , and Samantha Nahra!!!
VOTE: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LHFG8PD
Winners will be announced the 24th at 3pm EST!
“A traditional treat served in the waning light of the month of Sunsebb in Greyhawk, this style of gingerbread man memorializes a legend about the ancient ruins of Castle Greyhawk.”- Heroes’ Feast, p. 43
Here’s my entry for the unofficial 2021 Heroes’ Feast Gingerbread Showcase that I’m participating in with:
@afinickyguide
Samantha Nahra
Luboffin_ (Luna)
Check out their gingerbread houses and use this Survey Monkey link to vote for your favourite! : https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LHFG8PD
As the chilly winds descend on Fearûn, there’s nothing more comforting to a halfling than cozying up in their house by the fireplace with their favourite book and a steaming cup of cocoa broth.
So, as we all settle in for the winter months ahead, bring some cozy warmth and joy to your holiday season and create your own halfling house!
Spiced without being overbearing, these cookies are a great dessert to serve with coffee or hot chocolate, or pack them in a cookie bundle with some Earl Grey cookies and Banana-Cranberry muffins!
Remember to vote for your favourite house using the Survey Monkey link!
Check out below for my process in creating the house and for some helpful tips and tricks when making this yourself! Get Heroes’ Feast here: https://dnd.wizards.com/heroes-feast
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Canadian Cooking Gremlin™ | Cooking through Heroes' Feast and other stuff | Sideblog of @Letuce369
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