Four New Recipes for January

 Hello. C J here. I've got four new recipes for everyone here. We have everything from Chinese chicken to homemade hot apple cider. Enjoy.

The Emperor’s Potatoes

Here we have the first food item I ever finished designing for Food of the World – Carthia. I tried three combinations of traditional Asian ingredients and pasta under the assumption that I was doing Italian-Chinese food for the book. I could not for the life of me get any of them to be exciting. They were fine. I don’t eat fine. I got bored of the pasta thing and then thought to myself, ‘what happens if I swap the pasta for another starch? What about a potato?’

It worked. Really well. It worked so well I named them The Emperor’s Potatoes. They’re mashed potatoes and I left the skins on because I like vitamins and then that got me thinking about the traditional medicinal food of Ancient China, ginger. Could I put ginger in a potato dish and have it work? Yes. I can. That surprised me. Be warned, these are almost dangerously full of vitamins. The ginger and the potato skins I’m sure have some wonderful medicinal properties that I find makes them even tastier.

Ingredients
Four Large Potatoes
One Tablespoon Ginger Powder
One Half Teaspoon Salt
One Half Cup Cream Cheese
One Cup Milk

For the Potatoes
Cube the potatoes into two to three centimetre cubes. Do not peel them. Boil a large pot of water. Boil the potatoes until they are tender and soft, about ten to fifteen minutes.

Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot. Add the ginger powder, salt, milk and cream cheese. Mash until smooth.

Easy Chicken Bites

This worked out better than I expected. I need an Asian fried chicken bite to make the many chicken recipes I know are traditional to Chinese food. For Food of the World – Carthia I was originally planning Italian food as the other player but I realized that traditional barbecue and North American flavours might be more interesting. It turns out I was right. These chicken bites are the easiest I’ve ever made, taste amazing and keep well for a day or two in the fridge. The butter is what my setting fries their meat in, not having ever invented cooking oil.

Ingredients
One Chicken Breast
One Half Teaspoon Salt
One Teaspoon Pepper
One Half Cup Flour
One Quarter Cup Butter

For the Chicken Bites
Cube the chicken into even two to three centimetre cubes.

Mix the flour, salt and pepper together in a bowl. Add the chicken and toss to combine.

Heat the butter in a chicken fryer. Using metal tongs fry the chicken on both sides for five minutes each side, flipping once. Check they are done using a knife and fork on a large piece. The chicken should be white and have a clear grain.

Remove from the pan and eat hot.

Pineapple Chicken Sauce

Lemon chicken is a staple of the Chinese food I ate to write my first cookbook. Lemon chicken is easy enough once someone knows how to use cornstarch but then when I started writing down the recipes and ingredients I want in Food of the World – Carthia I hit a problem. I don’t have room for lemons or most other fruit on the cards for the card game. I have to use pineapple instead. Pineapple chicken exists so I thought I’d try it. It worked. Problem solved.

Ingredients
One Cup Diced Pineapple
One Half Cup Water
One Quarter Cup Sugar
One Tablespoon Cornstarch
One Tablespoon Water

For the Pineapple Sauce
Heat the pineapple, sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is bubbling.

Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and pour into the sauce. Mix over medium heat until the sauce is smooth and thick. Serve over chicken with rice.

Spice Cider

This one was simple to design. I have a list of recipes I know I can do in a video game with minimal complexity and only simple, rustic ingredients. I’m currently proofreading my long list of recipes for compatibility with the video game line and the card game. I can’t have every ingredient in the world in either of them. I only have so much ability to fit things on cards and the decks have to be in a multiple of 20 ingredients to be printed on a home printer. I have four fruit, apple, peach, berry and pineapple. I can’t make lemonade or grape juice.

So I’m proofreading my fictitious recipes for use on cards and also seeing if I can make them in real life. If I can’t do them in real life then I’m not doing them in a story either. This one worked perfectly the first time. It’s just apple juice heated with cinnamon but I couldn’t tell the difference between it and actual apple cider in colour or taste. This should be warming on a cold day.

Ingredients
One Cup Apple Juice
One Pinch Cinnamon

For the Cider
Heat the juice and cinnamon in a small saucepan until simmering. Stir until the cinnamon is combined. Serve hot.

C J Mcpherson