The following brightening, Amelia mustered all of her good will and positive attitude as she prepared for her test. The memories of the pitiful excuse for a meal that she'd cooked had haunted her throughout the darkening - she'd made a point of learning how to cook no matter what. She had to prove to herself that she could do other things than dealing with dead people. That she still possessed the gift of life on her pale hands.
"You ready child? Today's topic is stewing," Nei said,
"stewing is a way of preparing meat or vegetables by simmering them in liquid. You generally dice the ingredients beforehand, and then put them on a stove top or in the oven for cooking. If you choose the stoves, you'll be using a pot, but the one you put in the oven is called a casserole."
Nei produced the tool called casserole. It was a lot like a frying pan, except for its rounded rectangular shape and the fact that it had small twin handles instead of the long appendix that frying pans usually had. The casserole also had a matching cover, and was made of good grade earthenware.
"Better than metal, it warms up more slowly but gets the flavors to blend better. Still, you'll never handle a hot casserole without kitchen gloves! Never ever unless you think blisters would look cute on you."
Amelia nodded slowly and listened as Nei explained how to cook by stewing.
"One of the main advantages of stewing is that it softens the harder - and cheaper - meat cuts. This is a cooking technique which is very popular with the lower classes, but the nobles don't despise it either. Well then, child, you're going to make beef stew tonight. I'm going to be pretty busy myself with Lady Christianne's favourite cream dessert, so I've left you a recipe for it. It's essential for you to learn how to cook from a recipe book - it's not as easy as it sounds."
The girl blinked twice, receiving the parchment from Nei's hands.
"Remember that the steps are not necessarily taken in that order. Try to look ahead and see if there are things you can do beforehand, because you'll always find yerself short on time later. Well, good luck then. Don't burn the place down!" And with that, she started busying herself with her other dishes, looking unwilling to answer any further questions.
Quote:
1. Cut the beef into chunks about 1" in diameter.
2. Coat the chunks of beef with flour.
3. Put oil into a wide casserole and heat it.
4. In several batches, brown the beef in the casserole pot with the oil.
5. Put beef, spices and concentrated broth in the casserole.
6. Cover the casserole, then simmer for at least an hour to soften the beef. Stir the stew every few minutes to prevent the beef from burning on the bottom.
7. Peel carrots, cut them into pieces about the same size as the beef, add them to the stew, and simmer a bit more. (stirring every few minutes)
8. Cut the other vegetables likewise, and simmer a bit more. (stirring every few minutes)
9. When all the vegetables are soft but not yet falling apart, it is time to serve the stew.
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When Amelia's eyes rose from the parchment, she really wanted to cry. What kind of retake was this? She had failed a much simpler recipe than this one, and with assistance from Nei! She looked at the Kemite's back for a long moment, but she knew that she wouldn't offer her any more help now.
Unbeknownst to the Outlaw, Nei was grinning to herself. She had pinned exactly what the problem was with Amelia - her lack of concentration tended to lead her towards half-hearted attempts if she let her attention slip.
Yes, Miss Lynsdaughter was the typical person who could only give her best under pressure, with no room for hiding or running away. Alone with herself and her enemy, that was when she had the opportunity to show her true worth.
"I can do this," she whispered under her breath to give herself strength, and then she was off to turn words into facts.