Chapter 51 - Cooking Samples
Gail gave Brick the bread dough he had set aside this morning.
"Young Master, what is this?"
"This is the base for fluffy bread. For now, let's use this to make some bread."
If I remember correctly, as long as you keep adding fresh dough to this starter and letting it ferment, you won't need to keep making yeast from scratch using raisins.
“First, can you make the same amount of dough as this?”
Brick began kneading the flour to make bread dough with his practiced hands.
"When you are done, knead it together with this dough, put it in a bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rest for a while.''
Brick repeated the same steps Gail took to make bread in the forest.
Since we are going to bake it in the oven, let's make some bread rolls this time.
"Take some dough, roll it into a ball, make it into a long shape, flatten it with a rolling pin, and then roll it up like this. I’ll leave the baking time to you.”
-
-
-
He is a professional, after all. The bread rolls were baked perfectly.
“Misha, could you please call Mom here?”
“Are we going to eat here?”
“I still want to keep the new bread a secret, so we will eat in the kitchen. Brick, don’t tell anyone about this, okay?”
"If you tell others, Young Master will set your head on fire."
Dan said with a laugh.
Like I'd do that! You're the only exception, Dan.
Misha came back with Aina after a while.
“Did something happen?”
“Mom, we’re going to taste-test a new bread now.”
“Bread? Are we just going to eat bread?”
In this world, bread was normally eaten with soup. The idea of eating only bread was not common.
“Okay, Brick, serve the bread to everyone.”
Brick served the freshly baked bread to everyone.
"Is this the new bread? It's so soft and smells so good."
Aina took a bite of the bread and her eyes instantly went wide in amazement. She stared at the bread for a moment, then quickly ate the rest.
“What is this? It’s so delicious! We’re having this for dinner tonight, right? We are, aren’t we?!”
Aina grabbed Brick's shoulders with both hands and shook him back and forth.
Stop it, Brick's head is going to come off. Don't shake ordinary people with the strength of a former hero party member. Well, even if his head does come off, Aina might be able to reattach it with her healing magic.
"Y-Young Master, please help me."
"Mom, not tonight."
"Why!?"
"I want to use this to cheer Bent up and get him back to normal."
"Bent...."
“It’s been days since Bent stopped talking to us. Are you really okay with things staying like this?”
Hearing that, Aina made a sad face.
“Of course not. I and your father want him to go back to normal, too."
“I want this bread to be the trigger that lets Mom and Dad talk to Bent again. You were shocked when you tasted it for the first time, right?”
“Yes, I was really surprised.”
“So I thought maybe if Bent eats this, he’ll be so surprised and start talking to us again.”
“Gail....”
Aina hugged Gail tightly.
Give up! I Give up!
Gail desperately tapped on Aina.
"S-Sorry. I'm just so happy that you have been thinking about Bent all this time...."
"There's a possibility that things will stay like this forever if we don't do something soon. This is all I can do. I don’t think Bent really likes me, so let’s just say Brick made new bread under Mom and Dad’s order.”
"Young Master, that's not right. You are the one who came up with this bread...."
"It's something from the revelation. It's not like I came up with this bread myself."
"The revelation...?"
"Dan, explain it to Brick later. Make sure he will keep it a secret, too.
"Okay.... Brick, I'll explain it to you later, so just nod for now."
Brick nodded, even though he wasn’t sure what was going on.
"Brick, there's something else I want you to make besides bread, so I'll come back tomorrow after breakfast. Mom, let's serve the new bread and dish for dinner the day after tomorrow."
"I understand. The day after tomorrow, right?"
-
-
-
The next day after breakfast, Gail and the others went shopping together.
"Today we'll also get some chicken bones."
"Bones?"
“The soup made from boiled bones is really delicious.”
Misha said with a melting expression.
"Soup?"
"It's called chicken broth soup. You can also make it with pork or beef bones. Each has a different flavor."
“I can’t imagine it.”
Gail bought a whole chicken, like the one Dan had hunted the other day, and asked the seller if he could get some bones, too. The seller told Gail that they were trash and gave him four chickens worth of bones for free.
Next is vinegar, eggs, and oil.
Wine vinegar was the only vinegar available, so Gail bought the white one.
"What kind of cooking oil do they sell here?"
"Olive oil, sesame oil, and rapeseed oil. The rest are tallow-based oil."
"Let's buy rapeseed oil, a lot of it."
Oil in this world is quite expensive, but we can afford it.
"Next we need eggs that were just laid this morning."
We already have eggs in the kitchen, but I want to use the freshest eggs possible.
I guess that's everything....
-
-
-
In the kitchen, the chicken was filleted and the bones from a total of five chickens were boiled.
Since this is also for tomorrow's dinner, it's quite a lot.
The chicken broth was left to simmer over a small fire after all the scum was removed.
"Young Master, are you not going to put the vegetables in?"
Misha asked Gail.
"Normally, you just extract the chicken bone broth by boiling it like this, and add the vegetables later. Last time, I put the vegetables in together because we were short on time."
Next is making chicken meatballs.
"Brick, after you finely chop the chicken with a knife, mince it even further by pounding it."
"Like this?"
Brick asked Gail while making a pleasant chopping sound as he minced the chicken.
"Finely chop onions, mix it with the minced chicken, add salt, and knead it until it gets sticky."
"Misha, can you peel the potatoes? Dan, you grate those peeled potatoes."
Gail gave instructions while watching them work.
It's scary watching Misha peel potatoes. I can see why she cut her finger before.
"Young Master, I've finished kneading the chicken."
"Okay, just put it in the fridge and start making lunch like usual. We will continue after everyone's finished eating."
Gail asked Dan and Misha to continue working a little longer.
"Dan, I want you to wrap grated potatoes in a cloth and squeeze them in water.''
“Like this?”
"That's right. Just keep going until the water isn't cloudy anymore."
Dan is extracting potato starch. I need it to make karaage (fried chicken) for tomorrow's main dish. You can use wheat flour for softer fried chicken, but the wheat flour in this world is strong flour. If you use it for the coating, it'll be heavy. Besides, I prefer making it with potato starch.
"Young Master, should I keep going?"
Dan, who had been squeezing grated potatoes with all his might, asked Gail.
"You can stop if the water coming out of the grated potatoes is already clear."
"So, what should I do next?"
"Just leave it like that until all the cloudiness settles at the bottom. That's what we are going to use."
"I don’t know what it’s used for, but it’s important, right?”
“I need it to make tomorrow's dinner.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“I’m looking forward to it, too.”
After Brick delivered lunch to the dining room, he ate with Gail and the others in the kitchen.
-
-
-
Now then, let's get back to work. Next we will make mayonnaise that doesn't exist in this world yet.
"Brick, do you have a whisk?"
"What's a whisk?"
Whisks don't exist in this world, huh. If I have some metal ingot right now, I can just make it with magic. I guess something like bamboo whisk for tea ceremony will not work. Tomorrow, I'll go to Dwan's place and get some metal ingot. Mayonnaise will have to wait until then.
"I'll figure out the whisk tomorrow, so let's prepare the chicken for now."
Brick cut chicken thigh fillets into bite-sized pieces, sprinkled them with salt, and added a little garlic.
"Dan, has the cloudy potato water from earlier settled at the bottom?"
"It's separated into water and a white substance."
"Good. Just discard the water."
Dan carefully discarded the water. Gail then used magic to dry the potato starch gathered at the bottom.
"Oh, the potatoes have turned into something like flour!"
Misha exclaimed.
"Young Master, can we get flour from potatoes?"
Brick asked Gail.
"This is called potato starch, and it's different from wheat flour. It feels different to the touch, right?"
Brick nodded, noticing the different texture compared to wheat flour.
"Pour the rapeseed oil we just bought into the pot until it's half full and turn on the fire."
"You're using that much oil?"
"Yes, we're going to deep fry the chicken."
"""Deep fry?"""
The three people's voices overlapped.
"That's right.... Brick, coat the chicken that has been seasoned earlier with potato starch."
Brick, not understanding what he was being asked to do, still did as he was told.
"Lastly, put the chicken that has been coated in potato starch into the hot oil. Please be careful, Brick."
The chicken started to make a nice sizzling sound.
“Dan, separate enough chicken broth for three serving into another pot. Once it’s boiling, season it with salt, then use a spoon to scoop bite-sized pieces of the mashed chicken and drop them into the pot."
Since it’s just a sample, it’s a chicken-only meatball soup with no vegetables.
“Young Master, how long should I cook the chicken?”
When Gail went to check it, the chicken had become golden brown. Gail told Brick to take one piece out and then cut it with knife. The inside was nicely cooked, too.
"Okay, take them all out."
There are no oil-draining tray and a skimmer to remove the floating bits. Let's also make those tomorrow. The chicken meatball soup seems to be ready, too.
The chicken meatball soup was served in three bowls, while the fried chicken was served on one large plate.
"Okay, it's ready to eat. I'll make the sauce tomorrow, but let's try it first as a sample."
Everyone except Gail immediately went for the chicken meatball soup first.
"This is!?"
Brick was surprised.
"Bone broth is delicious, after all."
Misha said with a big smile on her face.
"This mashed chicken is also tasty."
"It's called chicken meatballs.... or tsumire in this case. If you round them properly, they're meatballs, but if you just scoop them into bite-sized pieces, they're tsumire."
Brick took a bite of the fried chicken and froze.
"Hot!"
Meanwhile, Dan, who bit into a hot fried chicken without blowing on it first, seemed to have burned his mouth.
"That's what happens when you act without thinking again."
"Young Master, this is absolutely delicious!"
Meat-loving Misha was happily munching on the fried chicken. Gail also tried both dishes and was quite satisfied with them.
“What have I been doing all this time...? Compared to this, the soup I made is like dirty rag water….”
Brick looked visibly dejected.
"Young master, no, Teacher! Please let me make this dish!"
"No, don't call me Teacher. I didn't come up with it myself. Besides, this is something you will be making for dinner starting tomorrow."
"I'll put my heart and soul into making it!"
Brick's eyes were sparkling, having recovered from his dejection.
"Don't forget about the bread. I'll be making sauce tomorrow. You will learn it, too."
Thus, the tasting event ended successfully.