#eorzeaneats

Hi everyone!! Nicki here, back again with another FFXIV recipe. This one was a user request that I just couldn’t say no to. The way Catsfoot Chews are described in the Vanu quests - “A soft, sticky confection made with ground catsfoot leaves to give it a bright emerald-green color” - reminded me of kusa mochi, a mochi flavored with yomogi/mugwort leaves. Mugwort is kind of difficult to find in the US, so I had to order yomogi powder off Amazon to make this tasty candy! Yomogi has a wonderful aroma and an herbal, almost licorice-like flavor that tastes amazing in mochi. Sweet rice flour (mochiko) can be found at most upscale grocery stores (Central Market, Whole Foods, etc.) 

I’ve made mochi a couple of times and it’s super easy, fast, and produces a deliciously chewy candy. All you need is a microwave-safe bowl or two and a whisk. It also helps to have a pastry or dough cutter on hand, as mochi is QUITE sticky, even sprinkled with rice flour powder! By the way, if you have a traditional steamer, you can use that instead of the microwave. 

A word to the wise: a little food coloring can go a long way in making attractive mochi. I remember making strawberry mochi without it.... and it turned out a pale pink, looking like raw chicken. :S The in-game icon isn’t the “bright emerald-green” it’s described to be, but you can achieve a very lovely deep green color with just a drop of green food coloring. 

Catsfoot Chews!

2 cups water

1.5 tbsp yomogi or mugwort powder (can use fresh leaves instead, if you have them!)

2 cups mochiko (sweet rice flour), plus more for sprinkling

1 cup sugar 

Oil or cooking spray to grease the bowl

1 drop green food coloring (optional) 

Mix the yomogi powder into two cups of warm water and stir to dissolve. The powder I ordered was very fine, so it dissolved just above room temperature, but you can microwave the mixture if the water isn’t warm enough to dissolve. Sift the mochiko and sugar together, then add the yomogi mixture and one drop of green food coloring. With a whisk, beat the mixture until it’s uniform and there are no lumps. Transfer mixture to a greased microwave-safe bowl and put it in the microwave. Mine took about 9-10 minutes on HIGH in my microwave to become smooth, thick, and gummy; depending on your microwave, it might be a little shorter or longer. If you taste a tiny bit (taste with great caution - it’s HOT) and it’s thick and chewy and no longer tastes grainy, it’s ready.

I realized, looking over my Recipes list, that I’ve made a lot of egg dishes. What can I say, I’m all about that Qiqirn life. 

But like, can you blame me? Eggs are so versatile and delicious, from custards to meringues to quiches to omelettes to good old scrambled eggs. 

The Culinarian Guild’s version of Scrambled Eggs is classed up a bit with cottage cheese and white truffles. (The truffles are here in the form of white truffle oil, because I definitely do not have the gil for whole white truffles!) I’d never used either of these ingredients in scrambled eggs before, but I really liked these additions and would definitely make this again. The cottage cheese adds protein and richness to the eggs. I think I’ll start eating this before workouts to get some extra protein in! (I would totally recommend adding spinach, tomatoes, and parmesan, too. I loooove loaded scrambled eggs.)

Scrambled Eggs! 

3 eggs 

2 tbsp butter 

3 tbsp cottage cheese 

A teaspoon or two of chopped fresh dill or chives (optional) 

White truffle oil for drizzling 

In a small bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk or fork until well blended. Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium-low heat, then add the eggs. When curds begin to form in the pan, add several big scoops of cottage cheese and stir gently with a spatula to combine. Cook, gently stirring to form whatever size curds you prefer, until the eggs are just about set. They should still be glistening a bit and wobble a little when you shake the pan. Remember: if eggs look done in the pan, they will be overdone when you eat them, since they continue cooking after you remove them from the heat!

As if on cue, as soon as 3.2 came out, the weather here in Austin got cold again (well, for a couple of days, at least.) I figured it was a sign that I should make some Spiced Cider. This recipe couldn’t be easier, and it’s very warm and comforting. I like that FFXIV put in vanilla and ginger, which taste delicious with apple cider!

If you drink alcohol, adding a half stick of butter to the pot and topping your cider cup with spiced rum to taste can turn this into an extra-warming cold weather drink. 

Spiced Cider!

4 cups apple juice or apple cider

1 inch section of fresh peeled ginger, cut into 5-6 slices

1 vanilla bean OR 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 tsp nutmeg 

1 cinnamon stick (mine was about 3 inches long)

6 whole cloves 

The recipe icon for this dish shows mushrooms swimming in melted butter, the star of the dish, and that seems about right for chanterelles. Chanterelles are pale gold, flower-like mushrooms that taste both earthy and a little fruity, a bit like a peach. Sautéed properly, they are sweet and delicate. 

I rarely get to eat chanterelles due to their price, but Central Texas, where I live, has a surprisingly diverse and long mushroom season. I’m occasionally able to find locally harvested mushrooms at farmer’s markets for decent prices, even “luxury” ingredients like morels and chanterelles. (Which is a good thing, because both of these are in many FFXIV recipes.) 

Lots of natural or upper-scale grocery stores will have chanterelles, whether fresh or dried. You can use dried mushrooms in mushroom sautés, too. Just rehydrate the mushrooms in room temperature water to cover for half an hour and gently rub off any grit or dirt under running water, then cook as normal. (Save the soaking liquid, by the way - it’s great in risotto or other broth dishes!) 

Chanterelle Saute! 

A quarter pound of golden chanterelle mushrooms 

About 1/4 cup white wine

2-3 tbsp butter 

1 clove of garlic

Salt and pepper 

Dhalmel Fricasse is a cooking. But since I couldn’t find any dhalmels I’m using chicken :I

Let’s knock out a quick and simple recipe today. “A salad made with the still-twitching leaves of a landtrap and garnished with a drizzle of fragrant olive oil...” I hate to disappoint you all, but this salad, unlike proper Landtrap Salad, does not twitch. It is a perfectly still lunch, dinner, or side that is nevertheless pretty fresh and tasty. I used to think I didn’t like salads at all, but I’ve discovered that I actually just don’t like iceberg lettuce. Turns out I like spinach, kale, dark red lettuce, arugula, brussels sprouts, mustard greens, and other flavorful greens. (I even like salad made of avocados.) Learning how to make homemade dressings also helped a lot, since I’m kind of picky about dressing flavors. I’m really fond of red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, and black pepper - very piquant, bright flavors.

Which is why I was a little dismayed that the FFXIV Landtrap Salad is so basic! Onions, tomatoes, and lettuce drizzled with olive oil, and that’s it. Not too much flavor there. Trying to stay faithful to my ingredient list and picture cues, I made a salad based on the FFXIV picture... but then as soon as the camera was put away, I immediately chopped the leaves up into bite-size pieces and added red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, dijon mustard, and crumbled goat cheese, because hey, that’s how I like my salad. I recommend adding a more exciting dressing or array of salad toppings, and I’ve provided my preferred dressing below. 

Landtrap Salad!

6-8 large leaves of red leaf lettuce 

1/4 of a small white or red onion

1 tomato 

Drizzling of olive oil 

As I’ve mentioned in other recipes, I live in a small apartment (on the top floor no less) -- I wish I owned a lovely charcoal grill, or a big outdoor meat smoker, but I don’t (yet.) I decided to invest in a heavy cast iron grill pan, which produces a similar sear to a grill, though it’s harder to get those gorgeous grill lines on a stovetop pan.

Any grill pan or frying pan will do for searing chicken, so long as it’s made out of a substance that can get good and ripping hot and keep its heat. Cast iron is the best. If you would prefer to make this on a real charcoal or gas grill, by all means go ahead! 

This is one of the simpler recipes in the cookbook, being mainly “cook the chicken until it’s done.” But hey, it’s tasty, quick, and it looks good! I poured the schmaltz from the grill pan into a frying pan and cooked some zucchini squash in it, then whipped up a quick honey mustard sauce to go with it (Dijon mustard, honey, mayonnaise, and a squeeze of lemon juice, stirred together, makes an amazing last-minute sauce for chicken.) Grilled Dodo turned out to be a great low-effort dinner. 

Grilled Dodo!

1 or more chicken breasts (size up as desired!)

Vegetable or canola oil

Garlic powder, salt, and pepper 

Half a lemon