A Big Bowl of Comfort [Solo]
Posted: Thu Feb 29, 2024 10:25 pm
80 Ash, Year 123
[Closed - Solo]
Hilana was getting together the ingredients for dinner. It was promising to be hearty - with the season's end coming, the chill was in the air, even with the sun. There was nothing she liked better than a pot of stew or soup - it was like a nice warm hug, especially when it stuck to the ribs. On the kitchen counter, she had her ingredients lined up - a large hunk of lamb shoulder, her jug of oil, onion, carrots, celery, a sack of tiny, tender potatoes, a sunheart gourd, a handful of garlic cloves, the jar of tomato paste that she had processed earlier in the season. A pot of beef broth that had been cooking since that morning would be utilized, or at least part of it - she had other plans for the rest of it, but a third of it would go into tonight's dinner for the trio. The jars and bowls of seasonings, not to mention those that grew fresh in pots along the windows had been collected and set to the side as well - salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, rosemary sprigs, and bay leaves.
Knives, spoons, bowls, and cutting boards were at the ready, along with a basket to take her extra bits and odds and bobs down to Hayima'el for a snack when she got the stew cooking. While she wanted to tackle the shoulder first, she knew it would be better to get the vegetables going and then she could do the lamb - the order of operations when it came to preparing the stew was less strict than it might have been with baking, but if she got the vegetables prepared first, once she butchered the lamb, she could put her attention on it and focus rather than leaving it to brown in the pot while she attacked the other components of the stew, and she didn't have use multiple cutting boards if the meat was the last thing on the first one.
A knife deftly chopped off the end of the one of the onions, and that went into the bowl for Hayima'el. She could peel the papery skin off of it now, and that, too, went into the bowl. Hayima'el would eat it, and if he didn't, it would go into one of the composting bins that Vasilei kept at the greenhouse. She left the remaining end on while she cut the onion in half length-wise, and laid it flat-side down on the cutting board before beginning her dice on the onions. Nice, neat, equal slices down, and then a turn of the onion to begin chopping, and that kept it largely even before she got to the end, which went into the discard. The other half of the onion received the same treatment, and it was scooped into a large bowl and set down. Carrots were peeled painstakingly before the narrow tip was cut off - she left it a little longer, she knew her camel loved carrots, and three carrots were chopped into neat rounds, the leafy end put into the discards dish. The rounds went into the bowl with diced onions.
She pulled the celery over to her, and stripped the leaves off of the end before tossing them into another little side bowl. They had a lovely flavour to them, and they would go into the stew after. The tips were cut off of a few stalks, and so began the chopping, looking to maintain the same thickness as she had with her carrots. Hilana wasn't personally the biggest fan of celery - it made sense and body in a dish, but by itself? Ugh. Crunchy water with hair. She didn't know who the hell decided it was edible, but she didn't know if she should have been grateful for that or not. Lia liked it as a snack with tahini, bless her.
Hilana couldn't talk. She loved her roasted scorpions.
Celery ends went into the discards, and then she took a head of garlic, putting it under her cleaver, and smashed it into the board with the butt of her palm. That helped shake the cloves loose from their skins, which were swept away and she started the mincing while the strong scent of the vegetable filled the kitchen. The garlic would go into another small dish once she had thoroughly minced the cloves - she knew putting it in too soon would make it burn and give off a rancid flavour to her stew, and she wasn't about to allow that to happen. Next up were the little baby creamer potatoes, and Hilana began to cut and quarter those, which went into yet another dish by their lonesome. They wouldn't go in too soon, as they were less hard than an older, larger potato, and if they went in at the start, well, she might as well turn them into mush.
Now she could pull the lamb shoulder out of the refrigerator, and unwrapped it from the waxed cloth it had been kept in. After giving it a quick rinse in the sink, Hilana began to slice it off into slabs about the width of two fingers, and from those slabs, they could be cubed. The beef cubes went into another mixing bowl, and Hilana washed her hands before rinsing off the cutting board - it would get a thorough wash after, but it was better to sluice it off and wipe it down now so that none of the juices penetrated. She turned the heat on under the large stew pot, and uncorked her jug of olive oil to pour some in and let it start getting hot. With the heaping mound of lamb, though, it was going to have to go in in batches - it was important to not overcrowd the pot if she wanted to evenly brown the lamb cubes to achieve the best cook possible.
Once the lamb was cooked, she added the bowl of carrots, onion, and celery. It was time to sweat down the aromatics, and she cooked them over medium heat for about five minutes before she decided that they were soft enough. Hilana added generous pinches of salt and pepper for seasoning, before scooping in a few heaping tablespoons of tomato paste, the garlic, cumin, and paprika. This would take a few minutes, and she cooked it until the garlic was fragrant and the tomato paste had darkened. The lamb was added back into the pot, and she used a spatula to scrape the juices in as well. She ladled beef broth from the pot on the stove to the stew pot, gauging with her eyes the amount before uncorking some red Umbrian wine and adding a healthy splash to the pot. Her sprigs of rosemary and the bay leaves were added, and she gave it a good stir to get all of those flavours mixed and make sure that nothing was clumping near the bottom, lest it burn.
Hilana would let it go to a boil before reducing it to a simmer and adding more salt and a good couple cracks of pepper, and then she could set the timer and start doing some cleanup. She didn't have the biggest kitchen, and with all of that which was kept in there, it would behoove her to do some cleaning where she could. That way when she was letting the stew cook down, she could make her naans. As she did dishes, she would check on the stew pot, giving it a good stir here and there. When half an hour had gone by, she added the quartered potatoes, covered it up once more, and started measuring out the flour for the flat breads.
"Oh, that smells good," Lia complimented her as she came in, peeking around at the stove. "What are you making?"
"Lamb stew," she answered her older sister, smiling at her over her shoulder. There was a dash of flower on her cheek, and Lia came over to her to gently wipe it off with the washcloth. "Nothing like a big bowl of comfort with the chill in the air, is there?"
"And naans?" she eyed the dough that Hilana was shaping. She wasn't surprised to see the number of dishes that were drying on the rack - stew may have been a one pot dish, but getting all of the layers in properly meant all these different components were added separately.
"And naans," Hilana agreed. "Not bricks, soror, I promise," she had a laugh about that. "The first ones I ever made were so hard even the cattle and goats wouldn't eat them. And goats eat everything. She still didn't know how I did that..." The naans would rest, and Hilana would check the stew. If it went a while longer, it went on a little longer. Lia went off to get changed as Hilana covered the mounded breads to let them rise again, and when they were ready, they went into the oven.
A familiar set of arms wrapped around her, and Hilana was all too pleased to feel Raithen's lip on her neck, and she pressed back against him, her arms folding over his. "Hello, Lux. Are you ready for dinner?"
[Closed - Solo]
Hilana was getting together the ingredients for dinner. It was promising to be hearty - with the season's end coming, the chill was in the air, even with the sun. There was nothing she liked better than a pot of stew or soup - it was like a nice warm hug, especially when it stuck to the ribs. On the kitchen counter, she had her ingredients lined up - a large hunk of lamb shoulder, her jug of oil, onion, carrots, celery, a sack of tiny, tender potatoes, a sunheart gourd, a handful of garlic cloves, the jar of tomato paste that she had processed earlier in the season. A pot of beef broth that had been cooking since that morning would be utilized, or at least part of it - she had other plans for the rest of it, but a third of it would go into tonight's dinner for the trio. The jars and bowls of seasonings, not to mention those that grew fresh in pots along the windows had been collected and set to the side as well - salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, rosemary sprigs, and bay leaves.
Knives, spoons, bowls, and cutting boards were at the ready, along with a basket to take her extra bits and odds and bobs down to Hayima'el for a snack when she got the stew cooking. While she wanted to tackle the shoulder first, she knew it would be better to get the vegetables going and then she could do the lamb - the order of operations when it came to preparing the stew was less strict than it might have been with baking, but if she got the vegetables prepared first, once she butchered the lamb, she could put her attention on it and focus rather than leaving it to brown in the pot while she attacked the other components of the stew, and she didn't have use multiple cutting boards if the meat was the last thing on the first one.
A knife deftly chopped off the end of the one of the onions, and that went into the bowl for Hayima'el. She could peel the papery skin off of it now, and that, too, went into the bowl. Hayima'el would eat it, and if he didn't, it would go into one of the composting bins that Vasilei kept at the greenhouse. She left the remaining end on while she cut the onion in half length-wise, and laid it flat-side down on the cutting board before beginning her dice on the onions. Nice, neat, equal slices down, and then a turn of the onion to begin chopping, and that kept it largely even before she got to the end, which went into the discard. The other half of the onion received the same treatment, and it was scooped into a large bowl and set down. Carrots were peeled painstakingly before the narrow tip was cut off - she left it a little longer, she knew her camel loved carrots, and three carrots were chopped into neat rounds, the leafy end put into the discards dish. The rounds went into the bowl with diced onions.
She pulled the celery over to her, and stripped the leaves off of the end before tossing them into another little side bowl. They had a lovely flavour to them, and they would go into the stew after. The tips were cut off of a few stalks, and so began the chopping, looking to maintain the same thickness as she had with her carrots. Hilana wasn't personally the biggest fan of celery - it made sense and body in a dish, but by itself? Ugh. Crunchy water with hair. She didn't know who the hell decided it was edible, but she didn't know if she should have been grateful for that or not. Lia liked it as a snack with tahini, bless her.
Hilana couldn't talk. She loved her roasted scorpions.
Celery ends went into the discards, and then she took a head of garlic, putting it under her cleaver, and smashed it into the board with the butt of her palm. That helped shake the cloves loose from their skins, which were swept away and she started the mincing while the strong scent of the vegetable filled the kitchen. The garlic would go into another small dish once she had thoroughly minced the cloves - she knew putting it in too soon would make it burn and give off a rancid flavour to her stew, and she wasn't about to allow that to happen. Next up were the little baby creamer potatoes, and Hilana began to cut and quarter those, which went into yet another dish by their lonesome. They wouldn't go in too soon, as they were less hard than an older, larger potato, and if they went in at the start, well, she might as well turn them into mush.
Now she could pull the lamb shoulder out of the refrigerator, and unwrapped it from the waxed cloth it had been kept in. After giving it a quick rinse in the sink, Hilana began to slice it off into slabs about the width of two fingers, and from those slabs, they could be cubed. The beef cubes went into another mixing bowl, and Hilana washed her hands before rinsing off the cutting board - it would get a thorough wash after, but it was better to sluice it off and wipe it down now so that none of the juices penetrated. She turned the heat on under the large stew pot, and uncorked her jug of olive oil to pour some in and let it start getting hot. With the heaping mound of lamb, though, it was going to have to go in in batches - it was important to not overcrowd the pot if she wanted to evenly brown the lamb cubes to achieve the best cook possible.
Once the lamb was cooked, she added the bowl of carrots, onion, and celery. It was time to sweat down the aromatics, and she cooked them over medium heat for about five minutes before she decided that they were soft enough. Hilana added generous pinches of salt and pepper for seasoning, before scooping in a few heaping tablespoons of tomato paste, the garlic, cumin, and paprika. This would take a few minutes, and she cooked it until the garlic was fragrant and the tomato paste had darkened. The lamb was added back into the pot, and she used a spatula to scrape the juices in as well. She ladled beef broth from the pot on the stove to the stew pot, gauging with her eyes the amount before uncorking some red Umbrian wine and adding a healthy splash to the pot. Her sprigs of rosemary and the bay leaves were added, and she gave it a good stir to get all of those flavours mixed and make sure that nothing was clumping near the bottom, lest it burn.
Hilana would let it go to a boil before reducing it to a simmer and adding more salt and a good couple cracks of pepper, and then she could set the timer and start doing some cleanup. She didn't have the biggest kitchen, and with all of that which was kept in there, it would behoove her to do some cleaning where she could. That way when she was letting the stew cook down, she could make her naans. As she did dishes, she would check on the stew pot, giving it a good stir here and there. When half an hour had gone by, she added the quartered potatoes, covered it up once more, and started measuring out the flour for the flat breads.
"Oh, that smells good," Lia complimented her as she came in, peeking around at the stove. "What are you making?"
"Lamb stew," she answered her older sister, smiling at her over her shoulder. There was a dash of flower on her cheek, and Lia came over to her to gently wipe it off with the washcloth. "Nothing like a big bowl of comfort with the chill in the air, is there?"
"And naans?" she eyed the dough that Hilana was shaping. She wasn't surprised to see the number of dishes that were drying on the rack - stew may have been a one pot dish, but getting all of the layers in properly meant all these different components were added separately.
"And naans," Hilana agreed. "Not bricks, soror, I promise," she had a laugh about that. "The first ones I ever made were so hard even the cattle and goats wouldn't eat them. And goats eat everything. She still didn't know how I did that..." The naans would rest, and Hilana would check the stew. If it went a while longer, it went on a little longer. Lia went off to get changed as Hilana covered the mounded breads to let them rise again, and when they were ready, they went into the oven.
A familiar set of arms wrapped around her, and Hilana was all too pleased to feel Raithen's lip on her neck, and she pressed back against him, her arms folding over his. "Hello, Lux. Are you ready for dinner?"
