Horensou no Ohitashi

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Spinach is an Autumn Crop both in Harvest Moon and in Rune Factory and Boiled Spinach is a fairly common Recipe in both series.

Here is a traditional Recipe for Boiled Spinach.

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh spinach, washed
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons dashi soup stock

Optional:
4 tablespoons katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)

Fill large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add salt. Place spinach in the boiling water from the stem side and boil for one minute. Drain the spinach, squeezing to remove excess water.

Cut spinach into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Arrange pieces in a bowl, mix dashi soup stock and soy sauce, then pour mixture on top of the Spinach. Garnish with katsuobushi if desired.

Photograph is courtesy of Setsuko Yoshizuka

Japanese Fried Potatoes

Japanese Fried Potatoes

Ingredients:

4 potatoes, cut into small pieces
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Vegetable oil

Wash and cut potatoes, then parboil for a few moments. You then can remove the skin if you wish.

Dry potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread flour over them. Beat egg with a whisk, then dip each potato piece into the egg and roll it in the bread crumbs. Heat oil in a deep pan and fry the potatoes for about a minute.

This may be the equivalent of Harvest Moon/Rune Factory 'French Fries'.

Vegetarian Japanese Curry Recipe

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Vegetarian Japanese Curry


Ingredients:

Oil
1 Japanese Eggplant/Aubergine (Autumn Crop in HM/RF) or 1 cup of Japanese Eggplant/Aubergine, peeled and cut
2 small Green/Bell Peppers or 1 cup of Green/Bell Peppers (another Autumn Crop in HM/RF games) cored and cut into small pieces
1 cup of sliced mushrooms (Shitake is the usual HM Mushroom, either grown or found in the wilds)
1 clove garlic, cut fine (can purchase this from Rita in RFF, or find it in Crates and Urns in Dungeons)
1 small onion or 1 cup onion, sliced thin (can be either a Spring or Summer Crop, depending on the game)
1 medium carrot or 1 cup carrot, peeled and cut small
4 cups water
1 small packet of Japanese curry Roux
salt and pepper to taste

A recipe for making your own Roux is included in another post on this site if you cannot find commercial Japanese curry roux at your local market.

Directions:
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and saute the Eggplant/Aubergine with the Green/Bell Peppers until tender. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then set aside.

Now heat oil in a large, deep pot over medium heat and saute the garlic and onion in it, until onion is translucent and tender. Add carrot and stir-fry with onion mixture for about a minute, until the carrot is fully flavoured with the onion and garlic. Add the water, stir well and simmer for a quarter of an hour or so, until the carrot is fully cooked. Dissolve the Japanese Curry Roux into the soup and stir. Add the fried Eggplant/Aubergine and Green/Bell Pepper. Serve over steamed rice.

Photograph courtesy of Setsuko Yoshizuka

Pumpkin Festival Sweeties

In the world of Harvest Moon, the Pumpkin Festival is an opportunity for children and all others who love sweets to consume them to excess. In FoMT/MFoMT, in fact, if you enter the house at any point in the afternoon on 30 Autumn, your spouse will waylay you and force you to join your family for a feast of sweets. Your character will be so overcome with the effects of his/her gluttony that he/she will be unable to return to work afterwards! When a good friend (and fellow Harvest Moon/Rune Factory player) sent me a very generous portion of Fudge with his own Recipe for my Birthday, I knew I had to feature the Recipe somewhere on my Harvest Moon Cooking Site.

Initially, I could not think of a Fudge Dish in any Harvest Moon game. Then I remembered the Pumpkin Festival! Mars-Frog's Fudge is a perfect offering for the traditional Pumpkin Festival celebrations. Rich, sweet and delectably smooth, any one who loves sweets is certain to enjoy it. It is not Chocolate Fudge, but rather Peanut Butter Fudge.

The photograph shows the magnificent Fudge guarded rather appropriately by a Chipsqueek from Rune Factory 2, as Chipsqueeks love anything that contains nuts. The wonderful Birthday card from Mars is included in the picture.

Here are the ingredients:

Peanut Butter
Marshmallow
Milk
White Sugar
Brown Sugar
Vanilla

Thank you, Mars!

Egg Custard or Chawan-Mushi

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To me, Egg Custard conjures a sweet Western dish baked in the oven, similar to 'rice pudding'. In Harvest Moon and Rune Factory, however, it is a savoury dish with mushrooms. Here is a Recipe for Chawan-mushi, the real world equivalent to Harvest Moon/Rune Factory Egg Custard:

Ingredients:

3 eggs
2 3/4 cups chicken stock, seasoned with sake and soy sauce
4 slices of shitake mushroom
4 cilantro leaves

4 cups

Beat the egg gently with a fork, then gradually add the stock, stirring constantly.

Place one slice of shitake mushroom in each cup, then pour the egg/stock mixture into the cups. Garnish each with one piece of cilantro.

Boil water in a steamer, then reduce the heat to medium.

Place the four cups into the steamer and steam for about 12 minutes. Do not overcook!

Note that many Recipes include pieces of chicken as well as Mushrooms but as meat usually is not an ingredient in Harvest Moon or Rune Factory, the purist will eschew it and use only Mushrooms, an Autumn ingredient in most HM and RF games.

In Rune Factory Frontier, the Recipe for Egg Custard (made in the Steamer) is as follows:
Egg Custard:
Ingredients: Egg, Shrimp, Spinach, Mushroom

Skill Level Requirement is Level 29 and Energy Values are: HP 45, RP 225, FX 120 sec. Knock-back, Seal Attack 100%

In Island of Happiness, the Recipe is obtained from the Diner with the offering of a Shitake Mushroom and is as follows:

Steamed Egg Custard: 110G
Basic Steamed Egg Custard: Egg, Shitake
+25 SR +10 FL
Best Steamed Egg Custard: Egg, Shitake, Small Fish, Medium Fish, Large Fish,
Grilled Fish
+49 SR +24 FL

Potato Croquettes or Korokke

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'Croquettes' or Korokke is another dish with a French name that is popular in Japan. Here is a wonderful recipe for Potato Curry Croquettes:

Ingredients:

Croquette mixture:
1/4 lb. ground beef
1 lb. potatoes, boiled and mashed
1/2 onion, chopped fine
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste
Optional: 1 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon oil or butter

Coating:
1/2 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
2 cups bread crumbs

Cooking:
Oil for deep frying

Garnish:
8 cabbage leaves, thinly sliced, soaked in cold water

Cut 1 lb. of potatoes, boil and mash, then set aside while you cook the meat mixture as follows:

Heat oil/butter, then saute the chopped onion until it is transparent. Add ground meat, brown the meat, then add the spices. Remove meat mixture and add it to the mashed potatoes.

Place the flour on a plate or clean surface and do the same with the bread crumbs. The beaten egg should be in a separate bowl.

Now make 8 croquettes by shaping or rolling the mixture in your hands, dredge each first in the flour, dip it in the egg, then roll it in the bread crumbs until it is covered thoroughly.

Heat oil and deep-fry each croquette in the oil for about 3 minutes on each side until golden-brown. Drain and remove any excess oil from the croquettes, then wrap in the cabbage leaves and serve. (If you do not like raw cabbage, you can cook the cabbage leaves slightly before placing them in the cold water.)

Not as healthy as Natto perhaps...

A very simple Korokke recipe is:

3 or 4 cups mashed potatoes
1 cup corn
1/2 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup Japanese bread crumbs (panko)

Oil for frying

Place the flour on a plate or clean surface and place the bread crumps on another plate or bowl, while keeping the beaten egg in a separate bowl.

Mix the mashed potatoes and egg together, then shape into patties. Dredge first in flour, then dip in the egg and finally coat with the bread crumbs.

Deep fry each croquette in oil until golden. Drain and remove any excess oil. Serve with tonkatsu or any other favourite sauce.

Natto

Some one left a comment on my site with a link to a YouTube video about Natto, reminding me that this was another Dish that appears in Harvest Moon with many variations but which may be unknown territory in real life for many players.

Natto, as players of Island of Happiness may have realised from the basic ingredient, basically consists of fermented soybeans. You can purchase plain natto from most Asian or Japanese markets, but if you are courageous and enjoy experiments in the kitchen, you can make it yourself.

Even when you make Natto yourself, you actually have to purchase the 'starter culture' in the form of commercial Natto somewhere. As with homemade yoghurt, you need the culture in the form of plain yoghurt in order to 'infect' your own ingredients. The ingredients needed to make homemade Natto therefore are soybeans, commercial Natto and water. A pressure cooker always is recommended for cooking soybeans.

Here is a link to a site that describes the entire process very well:

How to Make Natto

One of the reasons I used 'courageous' in my description of the cook who is willing to try to make Natto 'from scratch' is the disclaimer given by Kazuo Shiroki on this site as follows: 'Disclaimer: As making natto involves food processing, there is a chance of food poisoning. Even at the best care it might happen.'

Fermentation involves the creation of bacteria and is akin in a sense to allowing food or drink to spoil. Wines, ales, cheeses, yoghurt and Natto all only a few examples of fine foods and beverages created when an edible ingredient became fermented or transformed by bacteria.

Soybeans are a wonderful source of nutrients and a mainstay of many cuisines.

Whether you make your own Natto or buy it ready-made from a market, you then can experiment with different Natto dishes.

Kazuo Shiroki gives a list of easy Natto dishes that require the addition of only one or two ingredients each: Add vinegar. Add mayonnaise. Add sliced apples or applesauce. Add soy sauce. Add yoghurt. Add avocado and soy sauce. Add mustard, chopped green onions and soy sauce. Add tabasco sauce. Add soy sauce and various cheeses.

The smell of Natto and its 'sliminess' are the two aspects of plain Natto that deter many people from eating it. The additives given above reduce the odour and improve the texture.

Evidently, whether or not you make it yourself or buy it in a package, Natto needs to be stirred thoroughly or 'whipped' before you use it. According to one Japanese programme, you need to stir Natto 424 times before it will be ready to use!

Natto can be served with hot rice, spread on bread or used in any way that takes your fancy.

Here is a video from YouTube about Natto, suggested by a visitor to my Harvest Moon site:

Japanese Curry Rice

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As this is a Rune Factory/Harvest Moon Cooking Site, it would be lacking in versimilitude if I did not include Japanese Curry Rice Recipes. Sadly, most of the Recipes I discovered called for commercial 'Japanese Curry Roux' for seasoning without listing the ingredients. That rather begs the question, as I wished to know what the difference was between ordinary Indian Curry Powder and the Japanese version... Fortunately, I did find a Recipe for Curry Rice that did include a recipe for Japanese Curry Roux.

As various types of Curries are found in large quantities in Harvest Moon and Rune factory, I rather suspected that they were extremely popular in Japan. What is interesting is that they evidently are considered to be 'yoshoku' dishes derived from Western food rather than Indian Cuisine. In fact, the manner of cooking as well as the spices used would give the Japanese Curries a distinctive taste that would be very different from any Indian Curries.

A food writer declared that Japanese Curries are more like spicy stews than generic Indian/Pakistani Curry. Certainly there are ingredients included in some of the Japanese Curry recipes I have seen that I never encountered in traditional Indian curries, from yams to applesauce. Now I have more understanding of the Recipes for 'Finest Curry' and 'Ultimate Curry' in Harvest Moon! Obviously, unorthodox ingredients can be the key to a rare dish in Japan.

Japanese Curry Rice:

Garam masala:
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger or ginger powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon black pepper

All ingredients:

4 cups cooked rice
2 potatoes, in small pieces
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped fine
2 onions, sliced thin
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 cup water
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 tablespoons flour
3 cups water
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
1 teaspoon beef bouillon
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon grated fresh garlic
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
2 tablespoons butter
salt to taste

Cut potatoes, carrots, onion and any meat you wish to use into small pieces.

Saute meat in cooking oil until fully cooked. Add potatoes, carrots and 1 chopped onion and continue to saute until cooked. Add 1 cup of water, bring to a boil quickly, then lower temperature and simmer for 40 minutes.

In another pan, melt butter and saute 2 sliced onions for 20 minutes until brown. Add the grated garlic and ginger to the pan and saute well, then add the flour and curry powder.

In yet ANOTHER pan, add the 2 types of bouillon to 3 cups of water to create soup. Once the soup is made, pour it slowly into the pan containing the sliced onions, stirring quickly. Simmer until thickened and once thickened, add the garam masala that you made gradually. This is your 'curry roux'.

When the vegetables and meat have cooked for about 40 minutes, add the curry roux. Stir, then allow it to simmer for ten minutes. Sprinkle with salt.

Note from Freyashawk: Kind of a complicated way to make Curry compared to the single skillet variety I was taught to make! When I was taught, no one measured the ingredients either. They simply told me to watch them and they would proceed to take a handful of this and handful of that, knowing precisely how big of a handful was required for each ingredient! I will have to do more research, but it seems that Japanese 'curry roux' is kind of a basic curry sauce.

Basic Potato Vegetable Curry

Harvest Moon and Rune Factory Cookbooks display incredible enthusiasm for Curries. As a child, I lived in a country where I learned to make Curries. I therefore will include my own basic recipe for Curry here. As Harvest Moon and Rune Factory ordinarily do not include meat as an ingredient, this will be a simple vegetarian Curry from the far north, near Mount Everest.

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic (or more if desired)
Butter or Oil

Spices:
Cumin, Cardamon, Coriander, Mustard seeds/powder, Cinnamon, Clove and Curry Powder (masala)
Optional: dried red chilis

Vegetables
Potatoes, diced
Cauliflower, cut or broken into small florets
Optional: Carrots, Green Peas
Salt and pepper to taste

There are two ways to use the spices. One traditional method is to grind all the spices with the garlic using a mortar and pestle until you create a paste. The chilis often are included here. The other method is to simply add the spices to your oil/butter and onion while frying it. The basic spices are Cumin, Coriander and Mustard Powder as well as some form of Curry Powder (which usually contains these spices as well as Tumeric). Cinnamon, Cardamon and Cloves add a sweet flavour to the curry.

Fry the onion (and garlic) over medium heat in butter or oil until transparent. then add spices or curry paste. After a few moments, add the vegetables and fry these for about five minutes, until coated with the butter/oil and spices. If you use curry powder or tumeric as well, the vegetables will turn yellow. Add water, salt and pepper and reduce the heat, then simmer until the vegetables are tender.

Serve the Vegetable Curry with Boiled or Steamed Rice.

'Curry' is fairly generic and can vary wildly both in ingredients and flavour. I next will post a Japanese Recipe for Curry.

White Sauce for Japanese Doria without Seafood

As I waded through countless Recipes for 'Doria', I discovered that there were two different fundamental Dishes that were given the name in contemporary cooking. One is a Seafood Dish with a white sauce and the other is a dish with Cucumbers.

With a white sauce, it appears that one could make a dish without seafood and call it 'Doria', so here is a simple recipe for a White Sauce used in Doria.

In HM DS/Cute DS, the Basic Recipe for 'Doria' is as follows:
Onion, Butter, Milk, Riceballs, Flour

It contains no Cucumbers. I therefore am including a very simple White Sauce and Doria recipe here that would correspond as closely as possible with the original Harvest Moon Doria.

White Sauce or Bechamel Sauce


4 Tablespoons butter
6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/4 cup Gruyere cheese
Nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste

To make the white sauce, melt butter in a skillet and add flour very slowly, stirring constantly to create a smooth paste. Add milk slowly to the mixture, never allowing any lumps to form. When the sauce is thick, remove from heat and add 1/4 cup Gruyere cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Now you have the bechamel sauce for your Doria.

Other ingredients for Doria:

You need cooked rice, 1 to 2 cups
Fresh Parsley
1/2 cup Gruyere

1 onion, chopped fine
Optional: chopped garlic, chopped mushrooms
Meat, vegetables or seafood, sliced or diced

For the main element in the Doria, melt butter and then cook a chopped onion (and chopped garlic if desired) in it until golden and transparent. If you wish to add mushrooms to the dish, do so now and cook them in the butter. Now add your meat, brown a little on both sides and then add the wine. When the meat has cooked, remove from the heat.

Place the cooked rice in a baking dish and toss the meat mixture into it, combining nicely. Pour the bechamel (white sauce) over the mixture. Sprinkle lavishly with grated Gruyere cheese and bake in the oven for about a quarter of an hour, until the mixture bubbles. Garnish with fresh parsley.
1/2 pound shrimp - peeled, devained and cut in bit-size pieces
1/4 pound scallops - cut in bite-size pieces
1/2 - 2/3 cups white wine

1 Tablespoon butter

1/2 yellow or white onion, minced
1/2 cup chopped white mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (1 or 2 small cloves)
Pinch of white pepper
2 cups cooked white rice at room temperature (leftover rice is fine and dandy)
Topping

1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese (or other mild white cheese)
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Another Recipe for Doria (with Chicken)

It appears that some traditional Doria Recipes are made with cucumber. Here is one:

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
Flour for dredging
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup diced cucumber

Cut the chicken breasts in half, tenderise and dredge in flour, then saute in butter until golden on both sides. (Note that you must slice the meat rather thin if you wish to cook it fully in this manner.)

Remove chicken and saute the onion in the butter until transparent.

When the onion has cooked, add the wine and reduce the heat. When the liquid has boiled down, add the cream. When the liquid is reduced again, add the cucumbers, salt and pepper, then pour mixture over the Chicken breasts.

Pudding or Blancmange and Trifle

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Pudding is included in most Harvest Moon and Rune Factory games. In these games, the only required ingredients usually are Milk and Egg but there are a multitude of optional ingredients. 'Pudding' is one of the best Cooked Dishes to take on any exploration of the Mines in the early stages of a game. It has good Energy Recovery values.

Rather to my delight, one of my favourite 'puddings' in the form of Trifle has been added to the Recipes for Sweets in the new Harvest Moon game, Sunshine Islands. A traditional recipe for Trifle is included here as well.
This is the easiest, old-fashioned Pudding and probably is as close as possible to 'Pudding' in any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons Sugar
4 tablespoons Cornstarch
2 tablespoons Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 cups Milk
dash of salt

Using a little Milk, make a smooth paste of the cornstarch, sugar and salt, adding more milk gradually until all the milk has been added and the paste has completely dissolved without creating any lumps. Place the mixture in a saucepan and cook it over medium heat, stirring constantly. Do not allow it to come to a complete boil if possible. When the mixture thickens, remove it from the heat and add the butter and vanilla extract, stirring to melt the butter and mix it thoroughly into the Pudding. Place in individual glass dishes and allow to cool.

Less cornstarch can be used to create a custard sauce to be poured on top of cakes. More cornstarch will create a thicker pudding. If you like a richer pudding, you can add a beaten egg yolk to the milk mixture. This will make it slightly golden rather than white. The traditional English 'Bird's Custard' actually is a form of Blancmange.

Coconut Blancmange

One of my own favourite variations to plain Blancmange is Coconut Blancmange. Instead of using only Milk, I replace half of the Milk with Coconut Milk. I sometimes add a little cardamon to the pudding with the vanilla at the end. Other spices that are wonderful in this pudding are nutmeg and cinnamon.

Chocolate Pudding

You can add cocoa or melted semi-sweet chocolate to the milk mixture in order to make Chocolate Pudding.

Trifle

A traditional English Trifle often contains a layer of Pudding as well as custard sauce.

To make a simple Trifle, cut Pound Cake or any sponge cake into thin slices and create a layer at the bottom of a large glass bowl or dish. Cover this with a thin layer of jam or fruit puree. If you like an alcoholic Trifle, you can sprinkle or saturate the cake with Sherry, brandy, rum or any other liqueur before you add the Jam or Fruit.

Your next layer is Blancmange or any other kind of Vanilla Pudding. This layer should be reasonably thick.

Now add a layer of what is called 'jelly' in England and 'jello' in the States. Use a flavour that will go well with the fruits you are using. Some people mix cut fruit into the jelly/jello but others create a separate layer of fruit above it.

If you wish to keep the fruit separate, add a layer of fresh or tinned fruit now on top of the jelly/jello layer.

Now add a generous layer of whipped cream to the top of the dish, sprinkling sliced almonds on it.

Your Trifle, known as 'Zuppa Inglese' or 'English Soup' in Italian, is complete. Note that Trifle can contain any ingredients or as many layers of different sweet substances as you wish!

Risotto

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Risotto is a rice dish that differs significantly from ordinary steamed rice because it is cooked with a great deal of liquid in a manner that absorbs repeated 'dosings' of liquid slowly. Where steamed rice is cooked in a covered pot without ever opening the lid or stirring it, good Risotto depends upon frequent additions of stock as well as devoted stirring.

Here is a Recipe for simple Risotto:

Heat 6 cups of chicken stock to the point where it simmers. Add chopped herbs to taste. Some recommended herbs are Fresh Parsley, Thyme or Basil. Have at least 2 more cups of Chicken Stock on hand for use if necessary later.

Chop one onion and some fresh garlic. Fresh fennel can be chopped and added to your Risotto if you like the taste. Set aside 1 cup of grated Romano cheese and in a separate bowl, one 1 cup of cooked green peas.

Heat two tablespoons of Butter or Olive Oil in a heavy skillet, then add the onions and garlic. Saute until golden, then add 1 cup of Arborio Rice. Stir well, making certain that the rice is fully coated with the oil/butter. Add 1/4 cup of white wine and once the wine is 3/4 absorbed, add enough chicken stock to cover the rice completely. Add the fennel now if you have chopped some.

Reduce the heat now to a low level and simmer the rice until the liquid decreases to 1/3 the original amount. At this point, you will need to add more chicken stock. When this decreases, add more again, contining to do this for about 20 more minutes.
At the end of this period, add the cooked green peas.

The rice should be almost done now. When it is quite done, but still with a hint of texture, add two tablespoons of butter with the Romano Cheese and mix thoroughly.

The basic Risotto Recipe can be varied by adding meat, poultry, squash, mushrooms and any other ingredient that appeals to the cook. It is a very hearty dish that is perfect in cold weather. Although it originally was a country dish, it has been modified by some gourmet chefs to the point where it can be one of the most delicate, exquisite dishes in the world.

Pot-Au-Feu and Bianca

Pot-au-Feu is another dish that Bianca describes in Rune Factory Frontier. Like Bavarois, you will not be able to obtain any Recipe for Pot-au-Feu, although it actually is nothing more than a form of Stew.

A traditional Pot-au-Feu is a meat stew that cooks slowly for many hours. Usually, a cheaper cut of meat is used, and if bones and marrow are included, so much the better. The meat is cooked to the point where it falls off the bone and then creates a thick, almost gelatinous stock. Root vegetables then are added and the result is a 'Pot-au-Feu', which translates to 'Pot on the Fire'.

In one description of a traditional recipe for Pot-au-Feu, the writer suggests that the cook should:
'Flavour the pot with a bouquet garni (a bay leaf, parsley stems, and thyme tied together with leek), onions studded with whole cloves, and sometimes garlic.'

Pot-au-feu, despite the glamour of the name to English ears, is a hearty peasant dish.

Recipe for Bavarois

In Rune Factory Frontier, Bianca speaks longingly of 'Bavarois', asking you to bring her some if ever you should find it anywhere.

'Bavarois' is another name for Bavarian Cream, an old-fashioned sweet made with milk. It is not that different from Blancmange, a simple cornstarch pudding that I made often, except that the thickening agent for traditional Bavarois is gelatin rather than cornstarch.

Chef Tallyrand describes Bavarois as follows:

Bavarois is the French name for Bavarian cream, it is a delicate cream dessert with a crème Anglaise base made from either milk, cream or a fruit puree and then aerated with whipped cream and whipped egg whites before being set in the refrigerator with gelatine. It may be a straight vanilla or combined with additional flavourings; such as chocolate, coffee or liqueurs, served on its own as an individual dessert or as a filling for a variety of charlottes, tortes, cakes etc.

In fact, I have seen Recipes for Bavarois that use cornstarch and to a purist, should be classified as Blancmange rather than Bavarois. Nonetheless, a 'real' Bavaroise is made with gelatin.

Here is a very simple contemporary French Recipe for Bavarois that uses flavoured gelatin instead of the traditional unflavoured variety.

Ingredients for Lemon Bavarois :
100 g lemon gel (aka 'lemon jello' in the States)
150 g warm water
1/2 litre liquid cream (aka whipping cream or Heavy Cream in the States)
100 g sugar
Fruits in season

Making Lemon Bavarois:
Dilute the lemon gel in warm water using a whisk.
Beat the liquid cream into whipped cream.
Add the sugar to the whipped cream.
Mix 1/4 whipped cream to the lemon preparation using a whisk.
Gently add the rest using a rubber spatula.
Place mixture in a bowl or decorative mould. Place in the fridge to harden, one hour minimum.
When serving, unmould onto a serving dish and decorate the centre with seasonal fruits.

Rather ironically perhaps, the most traditional simple recipe for Bavarois that I could find was published on a site from Pakistan. It looks like it may be the best recipe of all:

Traditional (Vanilla) Bavarois

Ingredients:

- 500 ml Milk
- 400 ml liquid whip cream
- 1 vanilla pod, split, or few drops of vanilla essence.
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 6 egg yolks
- 125 gm sugar
- 20 ml (4 tsp) powder gelatine (plain gelatin powder)
- 300 ml whip cream

Fruit Puree
- 225 gm Strawberries
- 225 gm Cherries
- 75 gm Sugar

To Finish
- Selection of soft fruits such as strawberries, Kiwi, cherries, Banana



1. Lightly oil a 1.4 ltr ring mould. Put the milk and cream in a sauce pan with vanilla pod and cinnamon stick. Heat gently until almost boiling, then remove from the heat. Cover and leave to infuse for 30 minutes, and then strain.
2. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolk with sugar until thick and pale. Stir in the milk add vanilla essence if using. Return to the pan. Cook gently, stirring all the time, until thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon, this will take about 12 - 15 minutes. Do not boil. Cover the bowl with a damp grease proof paper and allow to cool. (Note from Freyashawk: You can use an inverted plate as well. This prevents a 'skin' from forming, I imagine.)
3. Put 4 tbs warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle over the gelatine. Leave to soak for 3-4 minutes until sponge-like in texture. Stand over a pan of simmering water until the gelatine is dissolved or microwave 15-20 seconds. Stir into the cooled custard set bowl in a roasting tin of iced water and stir until the custard thickens to resemble lightly whipped cream, about 15 minutes Remove from iced water.
4. Working quickly whip the cream until it is the same consistency as the custard then light fold in.
5. Pour the custard into the prepared mould and chill for at least 4 hours until set.
6. Meanwhile, to make the fruit puree, place the fruit in a sauce pan with sugar and 300 ml water. Heat gently until the sugar has devolved and then bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool, then puree in a blender or food processor sieve into a bowl.
7. To turn out the Bavarois, ease the edges away from the tin. Place a dampened plate over the tin, invert and shake gently to release the Bavarois. Spoon the fruit into the center of the Bavarois, moistening with a little fruit puree. Pour puree around the Bavarois and decorate with some fresh mint.

A very classical recipe for Bavarois:


3 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (from two 1/4-oz envelopes)
2 cups whole milk
5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup chilled heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

To the plain custard, one can add fruits, fruit purees or chocolate.

For Bavarois with Apricot Puree

Apricot purée:
1 3/4 lb firm-ripe apricots (9 large), chopped
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1 cup sugar


To make the custard:

Sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup milk in a cup and allow it to soften. Bring remaining 1 3/4 cups milk to a boil in a heavy saucepan, then remove
from heat. Use a whisk to combine yolks and sugar in a bowl, then add hot milk in a slow stream while continuing to stir briskly. Pour custard into heavy saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Caution: Bring ALMOST to boiling but DO NOT ALLOW MIXTURE TO BOIL!

Add softened gelatin to hot custard mixture now and whisk until dissolved. Still using a whisk, add the Apricot puree, then cool for about an hour to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Beat cream with salt in a bowl until it holds soft peaks. Gently fold cream and lemon juice into custard. Chill bavarois, covered with a large inverted plate, until set, at least 10 hours.

Note: Often Bavarois, like Blancmange or English Custard Sauce is combined with cake or sponges.

Recipe for Gratin

Recipe for Gratin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

1 1/2 lb. potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
3/4 lb. onions, sliced thin
1 cup or 4 oz. grated Gruyere cheese
8 tablespoons or 2 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup whipping or heavy cream

Combine sliced potatoes and onions in a large heavy saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes about 3 minutes until potatoes are almost fully cooked, then drain vegetabels.

Arrange half of all potatoes and onions in a baking dish, alternating each. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with 1/3 cup Gruyere cheese and 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese.

Now create another layer of vegetables, alternating potatoes and onion slices. Pour the cream over the entire mixture, season with salt and pepper again, and sprinkle the remaining grated Gruyere and Parmesan cheeses on top.

Bake uncovered in oven at 400 degrees until the cream thickens, which should occur in about 25 minutes. Remove from over.

Preheat the broiler and place baking dish in broiler for about 2 minutes until golden on top.

Recipe for Seafood Doria

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Fans of Harvest Moon and Rune Factory will be familiar with certain 'staple' dishes that appear again and again in their Cookbooks in game after game. Many of them have French names and in some cases resemble the original French dish, but in other cases are a Japanese version of the original.

'Doria' is a case in point. Doria, originally French, has become very popular in Japan in a revised version. It is fundamentally a rice dish with a topping of sauteed ingredients in a white sauce.

In fact, there is a name for Western dishes adopted, then modified into Japanese cuisine: 'yoshoku'. It is possible that many 'Western' dishes found in Harvest Moon and Rune Factory cookbooks actually are popular in Japan in a different form from those found in the West. I hope to discover more about this as I work on Recipes for this site.

'Seafood Doria' can be found in many Harvest Moon games. Here is a Japanese recipe for Shrimp Doria:

Shrimp Doria

White Sauce:

•2 Tbsp butter
•2 Tbsp flour
•1 cup milk
•1/2 tsp salt
•1/2 tsp consomme powder


•1/2 tbsp. butter
•1/2 small onion, sliced or chopped fine
•4 white mushrooms, sliced or chopped fine
•8 - 10 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Rice:

•2 cup steamed rice
•1/2 Tbsp butter

Garnish:

•2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:
On low heat, melt 2 tbsp. of butter in a sauce pan. Add 2 Tbsp. flour and mix them, stirring well. When the mixture bubbles, add milk, using a whisk to stir constantly and continue stirring until it thickens. Season with salt and pepper and optionally, the bouillon seasoning of your choice. Set aside.

Using low heat again, saute the chopped onion in 1/2 tbsp. butter until soft and transparent in a skillet. Add mushrooms and shrimp and stir-fry until cooked. Add the white sauce made previously and mix thoroughly.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Add 1/2 Tbsp melted butter to the steamed rice and stir lightly, then place the rice in a baking dish. Pour the cream sauce over the rice, sprinkling Parmesan Cheese on top. Bake in the oven for 10 -15 minutes until lightly browned.

Serves 2.