Hi Tashie!
Please ramble to me about Runicka's favourite meal to eat, and the best recipe she knows.
I'm hungry and need inspiration for what to make for dinner tonight! Your own personal suggestions very welcome! From, @mrbexwrites (in disguise!)
Hi! First of all thanks for trusting me with your secret identity lol
Throughout The Quiet Forest, you'll see Runnicka does like a variety of foods, but her go-to meal is a hearty soup/stew, something with poultry (quail and turkey are the usual for her), thick cut root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, radishes, etc., maybe a creamy or thick tomato broth.
She also gets to try dwarven foods later on in the book for the first time (hehehe I was just formatting and doing some work on that part last night ;) ) and learns she REALLY likes them. In the world, dwarves invented, perfected, and brought over a huge variety of foods to Avrin (the continent Runnicka's story takes place on) from their own various cultures as well as the other races they live with across the ocean, so Runnicka gets to try everything from deep fried pickles to curry.
My personal suggestion because I've got it on the brain and am making it tonight is chicken pot pie. I'm making a huge batch today to freeze and pull out for easy dinners later this month. :)
Now here's how I would make the soup/stew Runnicka likes, if you'd like a genuine recipe for tonight or another night (some portions may need to be adjusted as I'm bad at making smaller batches, and my heart always says "MOAR!!!!" when I'm cooking):
Hearty "Quail" soup:
Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts (or equivalent amount of other poultry meat)
- 1 TSP oil (butter, vegetable, or olive)
- Half a white or yellow onion
- 4-6 cloves of garlic
- 1 TSP oil (butter, vegetable, or olive) (not a typo, you'll just need it twice)
- 6 cups of chicken broth (veggie broth works too)
- 2-3 potatoes
- 2-3 carrots
- 4-5 radishes OR 2-3 stalks of celery (or other veggie of your choice)
- 1 TSP Rosemary
- 1 TSP Thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper to your desired levels
- Optional: 1 cup of heavy cream (can substitute with 1 cup of milk mixed with 1 TBSP corn starch)
- Optional: sourdough bread to serve and dip
Method:
- In a large pot, melt 1 TSP of oil and cook poultry meat on medium heat. Turn halfway through cooking time so both sides brown evenly. When internal temperature reaches 165 F (74 C) in the thickest part of the meat, remove from heat, cut into desired bite-sized pieces and set aside.
- Dice onion and garlic, add another 1 TSP of oil to the pot and set to medium heat. Add onions first, stir occasionally and cook until slightly translucent, then add garlic, stir and cook for another few minutes.
- Leave on medium heat and add the chicken broth.
- Peel and cut potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables into desired size (bite sized cubes of about 1/2 inch (1.5cm) thick work well)
- When the broth is at a boil, add vegetables, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Partially cover pot and boil until vegetables are soft enough for a fork to poke through all the way.
- Optional step: reduce heat to low and add cream or cream substitute and mix until fully incorporated
- Optional step: Serve alongside a slice or two of sourdough bread (I recommend spreading some butter on it before you dip)
