Luna_Tuna
Farmer
That looks so yummy!
Stardew Valley Cookbook Achievement Pictures
- Thread starter KailaKai
- Start date
Umbra of Emberspike
Farmer
Stir Fry alongside a take-out order of steamed rice.
My mom used to work in a Chinese restaurant, so this brought back memories for her. We made a double batch due to how many people we were hosting. In this, there was lots of prep work, 15 ingredients (yes: 15) for the dish itself, but barely 10 minutes of cooking for each batch. Several of the ingredients include Tuscan kale, shiitake mushrooms, fresh ginger root which gave it most of the flavor, snow peas, carrots, onions, garlic, and a liquid frying mixture that prominently featured rice wine vinegar. That mixture went in after all the solid ingredients. All of it is topped with toasted sesame seeds.
We didn't have a wok and they're not readily available on local store shelves, so we had to use a large cast iron pan and a spatula. The most important part was to keep it all constantly moving, so we're glad the cooking went by so fast.
Umbra of Emberspike
Farmer
Took another stab at the Ginger Ale last weekend as part of an Easter Sunday luncheon.
Due to the number of people, we scaled up the amount made compared to last time. Strangely, while it still turned out good, this turn out not nearly as good as last time. Like maybe we miscalculated some of the ingredients. To recap, this uses a syrup made of fresh ginger root, sugar, honey, and lime zest. That is then mixed with seltzer water and served with lime wedges.
Maybe we'll try this again sometime with the base amount and see what's different. The ginger amount was based on length, but we didn't think about the width of the root. Come to think of it, it did taste like it had a little too much ginger and not enough lime flavor this time.
Draconifors
Farmer
I got a copy of the cookbook at our local Barnes & Noble (bookstore) last weekend, and definitely plan to try some of the recipes.
All the photos in this thread are inspirational.
All the photos in this thread are inspirational.
Draconifors
Farmer
Tried the Salmon Dinner recipe's salmon part, with a side of steamed green beans. Left out the garlic and capers because we both hate garlic and I cannot stand capers. Turned out great!
Umbra of Emberspike
Farmer
That looks absolutely delicious. I love the way you decorated the salmon with those fruit wedges. And your table settings look beautiful as well.
I'm a little jealous because not enough people in my family even like seafood, so that dish, along with a third of all the recipes, are usually out of the question in my circle. That said, I'm also glad to have helped inspire you with my photos into trying this out.
Umbra of Emberspike
Farmer
Stardew Cooking with Umbra returns with something I've set out to do for over a year, but had no luck with shipping until a few weeks ago: Fiddlehead Risotto!
It's finally ready! (Insert Syndrome meme here, lol)
To get IRL fiddleheads to stay true to the original recipe this time, I had to order them from one of the far northern corners of the States, and they weren't cheap. The other ingredients together cost less than the fiddleheads, but it was worth it to check it off my bucket list.
Taste-wise, they're definitely different from asparagus, which I used last year, but I liked the fiddleheads better, while my mom ended up preferring the asparagus.
Recap of other key ingredients: EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil), Arborio rice, vegetable stock (6 cups of it to be exact), pecorino cheese, parsley, lemon zest, shallot, and garlic. The longest part is cooking the rice. Most rice I'm familiar with has to be mixed with liquid and left as is for a while, but Arborio rice has to have the liquid slowly mixed in over a long time as it is quite slow to absorb it. We ended up using every drop of the stock.
This has taught me that regardless of what leafy green we put on top of the dish, the real champion is the rice.
It's cool seeing IRL fiddlehead ferns, I feel like it's one of those items that's easy to forget it actually exists.
Umbra of Emberspike
Farmer
The Google searches I've seen of fiddlehead ferns are proof of that. Every time I look them up, Stardew Valley takes top priority on the list. Seems fiddleheads are quite the unsung culinary delight IRL.
Terdin
Farmer
While all kinds of ferns and brackens have a fiddlehead stage, I'm not sure all of them are edible even in that early stage when they're just starting to develop toxins to keep from being eaten by bugs and animals.
Umbra of Emberspike
Farmer
Stardew Cooking with Umbra returns with the SV take on pizza.
This recipe listed 2 types of pizza and 2 possible crusts: plain or cauliflower. We used cauliflower crust for both pizzas since my mom is gluten-free.
One pizza is a spring greens and tomato sauce pizza with garlic, plum tomatoes, sugar snap peas, scallions, and fennel. The other is topped with asparagus, mushrooms, and a mixture of goat cheese with chives and heavy cream.
Both pizzas are topped with mozzarella and parmesean cheese.
They turned out great. This was my first time making homemade pizza ever. And the cauliflower crust was not nearly as dry as the ones I'm used to. The crust was made with steamed cauliflower, paemesean cheese, and extra virgin olive oil.
Suffice to say: that's amore.
Umbra of Emberspike
Farmer
That sounds like something that should be in Haunted Chocolatier, and in a hypothetical cookbook based on that game.
I would also like to see that in 1.7 too though.
And pictures would be great.
Umbra of Emberspike
Farmer
Your own rhubarb plant. That's living the true Stardew Valley home cook experience; if you have access to wild ingredients or can grow it yourself. And I love how the filling is oozing out at the seams. I've always been drawn to how many home cooks has this rustic charm to their baked goods; nothing too uniform or polished. I usually just stick to the recipes as strictly as possible because I'm very detail and direction-oriented.
Umbra of Emberspike
Farmer
Time for a new recipe: Chowder: A veggie and potatoes broth with littleneck clams. featuring fennel, leeks, red-skinned potatoes, celery, carrots, cooked in butter, dry white wine, mixed with milk and heavy cream.
Oh boy was this an adventure to make. First of all, these clams had to be bought, prepared, and later cooked... LIVE. That's right, live littleneck clams.
We needed 3 pounds of littleneck clams for a single batch, but the first place I went to, an upper-end supermarket, had them available, but not nearly enough. In fact, there was some confusion over whether I needed 3 pounds of meat, or 3 pounds including the shells. The workers were so flabbergasted, they eventually said I should try a different recipe as 3 pounds of clam meat would have meant a few hundred clams.
Next I tried a hole-in-the-wall seafood shop next to a river that gets everything fresh daily. They had whole bags of clams and helped clear up the confusion the last place left me. 3 pounds is roughly 30 clams, but the only bags they sold them in had about 8 pounds of clams altogether, so we scaled up the other ingredients for a double batch. The bag cost about 48 dollars. Seafood is not cheap!
The hardest part: we had to scrub the clams clean, boil, and shuck them ourselves. That took quite a while and was quite exhausting. There was also a step that involved letting the clams sit in cold water with flour and letting them eat it and spit it out along with any internal dirt. But later we found out the seafood seller already purged their insides. It looked like the book said it should take 2x 15-minute cycles, but the shop owner said it would take hours. That's filter-feeding bivalves for you.
Next: boiling the clams. After a set amount of time, the clams opened and we were finally ready to shuck the meat out. It was taking so long we had my dad help with this one. Even after all the scrubbing and boiling, the clams spent a lot of time basically sharting dirt and gunk out, so we doubled down on the cleaning all the while. We also did some extra rinsing of the meat after it was shucked.
We also had to chop a lot of veggies for the mixture, then cook them with the butter, dry white wine, leftover clam broth, milk, cream, and finally the shucked clam meat. The broth also had to be watched out for because some dirt settled on the bottom of the ingredient bowl. Nothing in the broth or on top thankfully, so it was safe to cook with.
At the end we topped the serving bowls with fennel fronds for garnish. Due to the amount of food we had, we had a medium-sized family gathering and everyone enjoyed it. Also had some toast to go with the chowder.
This one was unexpected because my mom usually dislikes seafood, and indeed, she had the chowder without the clams. I think next we'll move on to the Shrimp Cocktail. The seafood shop had some great selections and they appeared to include jumbo shrimp in their inventory.
For this, I decided to include a series of images that will require a second post, all of which chronicle the ride.
The 48 dollar bag of clams
Clam scrubbing
after the scrubbing before the flour soaking
We needed 2 big bowls for them
After the flour soaking
ready to boil the clams
after boiling, ready for shucking
This is all the clam meat from the 6 pounds of clams for the double batch; roughly a 36 dollar value
veggies and white wine
leftover clam broth added
to be continued...
Oh boy was this an adventure to make. First of all, these clams had to be bought, prepared, and later cooked... LIVE. That's right, live littleneck clams.
We needed 3 pounds of littleneck clams for a single batch, but the first place I went to, an upper-end supermarket, had them available, but not nearly enough. In fact, there was some confusion over whether I needed 3 pounds of meat, or 3 pounds including the shells. The workers were so flabbergasted, they eventually said I should try a different recipe as 3 pounds of clam meat would have meant a few hundred clams.
Next I tried a hole-in-the-wall seafood shop next to a river that gets everything fresh daily. They had whole bags of clams and helped clear up the confusion the last place left me. 3 pounds is roughly 30 clams, but the only bags they sold them in had about 8 pounds of clams altogether, so we scaled up the other ingredients for a double batch. The bag cost about 48 dollars. Seafood is not cheap!
The hardest part: we had to scrub the clams clean, boil, and shuck them ourselves. That took quite a while and was quite exhausting. There was also a step that involved letting the clams sit in cold water with flour and letting them eat it and spit it out along with any internal dirt. But later we found out the seafood seller already purged their insides. It looked like the book said it should take 2x 15-minute cycles, but the shop owner said it would take hours. That's filter-feeding bivalves for you.
Next: boiling the clams. After a set amount of time, the clams opened and we were finally ready to shuck the meat out. It was taking so long we had my dad help with this one. Even after all the scrubbing and boiling, the clams spent a lot of time basically sharting dirt and gunk out, so we doubled down on the cleaning all the while. We also did some extra rinsing of the meat after it was shucked.
We also had to chop a lot of veggies for the mixture, then cook them with the butter, dry white wine, leftover clam broth, milk, cream, and finally the shucked clam meat. The broth also had to be watched out for because some dirt settled on the bottom of the ingredient bowl. Nothing in the broth or on top thankfully, so it was safe to cook with.
At the end we topped the serving bowls with fennel fronds for garnish. Due to the amount of food we had, we had a medium-sized family gathering and everyone enjoyed it. Also had some toast to go with the chowder.
This one was unexpected because my mom usually dislikes seafood, and indeed, she had the chowder without the clams. I think next we'll move on to the Shrimp Cocktail. The seafood shop had some great selections and they appeared to include jumbo shrimp in their inventory.
For this, I decided to include a series of images that will require a second post, all of which chronicle the ride.
The 48 dollar bag of clams
Clam scrubbing
after the scrubbing before the flour soaking
We needed 2 big bowls for them
After the flour soaking
ready to boil the clams
after boiling, ready for shucking
This is all the clam meat from the 6 pounds of clams for the double batch; roughly a 36 dollar value
veggies and white wine
leftover clam broth added
to be continued...
Umbra of Emberspike
Farmer
milk and cream added to the mix
after clam meat is added, ready to eat
Chowder with fennel frond garnish
my bowl
