Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Armada Scoundrel Fleets Kraken Recipe:

Armada Scoundrel Fleets Kraken Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Kraken, freshly killed (details follow)
Several barrels rum
Pound or two of oregano
As many limes as you can find
Plenty of pepper
large cauldron, or alternatively small metal ship that you don't care about that much, hollowed out
Whichever you choose the former should be filled with oil and heated (olive or whatever you could steal)
A bag or so of flour, just enough to make the mix stick.


Step 1: First find your air Kraken. Recommended method for bringing it down is a harpoon measuring at least 2 meters in width attached to a medium to heavy class warship, this should be heavy enough to prevent the Kraken from dragging you anywhere.

Step 2: After shooting the Kraken, ideally through the eye, tenderize it slightly by dragging it through seawater as you sail circles for a solid half hour or so.This will also add sea salt to the final product. While you wait have a crew start mixing the rum, oregano, flour, and pepper. If you are sailing near Steelhead, there is an excellent and poorly guarded garlic supply that can be added to spice things up a bit.

Step 3: By now the Kraken should be good and dead. Winch it up so it can dry for frying later. Take this time to pierce the Ink Sacs and drain the ink for later use. If you have an extra supply of limes, say 100 or so, this is a good time to soak the beast.

Step 4: Ok time to chop up the Kraken. First make sure you have a large cauldron of olive oil ready to fry it. If you don't have enough olive oil just take whatever the nearest port has handy.  Cut into rings with a large knife or reasonably sized saber. Coating them in the mixture before frying for 3-5 minutes apiece. Have a spear ready to remove the bits, this can get quite hot.

Step 5: After letting the cooked Kraken cool on the deck, Serve with any available veggies, and whatever rum is left after making the batter.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Slow And Steady Wins The (Soup) Pot!

And now it's time for our very first recipe! But first, a word of explanation.  In case you're wondering what makes Sea-Fare different than all those other recipe sites, allow me to explain by means of bullet points. Mostly because Armadans *love* bullets. And bombs. And knives. I suspect they use all of those in food preparation on a daily basis.
  • These are seafood recipes. The ingredients may come from the oceans you've heard of in that land of real-life, or perhaps we will harvest ingredients from Armada's own waters, or the Vernian Sea, or even the Blake Sea. 
  • These recipes may or may not be easily reproducable in your own kitchen. I'm sure you could find a lobster if needed - but Air Kraken may not be as plentiful in, oh, say, Nebraska.  Set your expectations accordingly.  
  • These are recipes gained by Adventure.  Each one will contain the story of how it came to be here.
And that's enough bullet points!  Let's leave a few rounds in the chamber in case a nice salmon swims by. And on with our first Adventure and Recipe!  Yesterday, Armada Breakaway took part in the annual "Europa Wulfenbach Games Day" events. Here is the official description, taken from the full schedule: 

5:30pm-6:30pm: Regatta in Armada Breakaway
This summer's regatta will be held at Armada Breakaway; and it the fine tradition of Armadans, the race will be done on turtle-shape boats! The boats will be provided at the start of the race. Come show us your navigating skill, or cheer on the participants!

Now, what that description failed to mention was that we laced the race course with giant swinging axes,  bombs, and big spiky pointy... things, that moved in and out of the racing lane. You know... like you do. Well, like you do if you're of a pirate mind and live in Armada Breakaway. A fine time was had by all. 

Well, all the but the turtles. As it turned out, those spiky pointy things proved to be the most terrifying obstacle in the race, and many turtles met their end on the tip of a metal point. Very sad for them, but a positive boon for Armada.  A floating city learns to never waste anything, as you never know when the next supply run will be possible.  We disabled the pointy things, and gathered up all that turtle meat. There was quite a bit!  A huge pot was set up near the Welcome Center, and by nightfall there was soup for everyone!  

Life is good in Armada Breakaway.

  
Après Race Turtle Soup
(A Real Recipe You Can Cook)

1-1/3 pounds turtle meat
4-1/2 cups water
2 medium onions
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
5 tablespoons butter, cubed
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons tomato puree
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
Chopped fresh parsley, optional

In a large heavy saucepan, bring the turtle meat and water to a boil. Skim off the foam.  Cut one onion into quarters and dump in the pot. Throw in the bay leaf, cayenne pepper and the salt. Cover, simmer for two hours or until the meat is nicely tender.  Remove the meat and dice into half inch cubes. Set the meat aside for now. Strain the broth, keeping just the liquid, and set it aside too.

Rinse out your saucepan and melt the butter in it. Chop up the other onion and throw in to cook in the butter until tender.  Stir in the flour, let it cook until it's just turning brown.  Put the broth that you saved back in and whisk briskly to blend all the elements.  Lower the heat, add the tomato puree and worcestershire sauce.  Simmer without a lid for ten minutes.

Add the chicken broth, eggs, lemon juice and the meat.  Simmer just five minutes to heat, and serve!  The parsley is for garnishing each bowl. This recipe should produce four to six bowls of soup.