Welcome back, fans and soon-to-be fans of Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues!
A couple of weeks back (maybe? I have no concept of time anymore), I posted a recipe for Darkstarr Smoked Duck based on this free MMORPG. Recent updates to the game feature a whole new host of recipes, including today’s dish: Papa Holly’s Savory Sandwich.
Click here to skip to the recipe for Papa Holly’s Savory Sandwich.
Forsaken Vittles
Shroud of the Avatar is the brainchild of creator of the Ultima series Richard Garriott, Director of Ultima Online Starr Long, and author of the Dragonlance series Tracy Hickman. In it, you play as one of the prophesized “Avatars” from Earth who will restore virtues to a shattered world. As I mentioned in my previous post, this game features a class-free system enabling gamers to tailor their experience to their own play-style.
Customization through crafting (and a free starter house to put all your pretty stuff in) in Shroud of the Avatar takes this game from MMORPG to a persistent world. In turn, SOA has probably the nicest community I’ve seen in an MMO. When you can develop your skills through mentoring newer players, benevolence pays off. Besides, how fun is that fancy mansion full of furniture if you have anyone to run through it with you?
The game also features a cooking mechanic — as evidenced by my previous recipe for Darkstarr Smoked Duck. However, an update released lately featuring recipes that utilize underused ingredients. Papa Holly’s Savory Sandwich is one of them.
Picnic with Papa Holly
The game breaks down the recipe for Papa Holly’s Savory Sandwich as follows: turkey meat, bacon, potato, pepper, a bottle of milk, and bread. There is no interactable game graphic for specific food consumables, so I’m left to extrapolate from the ingredients present.
I don’t really count potatoes as a sandwich ingredient unless it’s grated and fried up in a savory hash brown patty. We already include bacon, which always leaves an umami rich-puddle of rendered fat anyway. So it made sense to crisp our green bell pepper and hashbrowns in the drippings. I leave it up to you to use pre-grated hashbrowns or grate your own. A tip, though? Dry those shredded spuds in a salad spinner
Now keep in mind the recipe calls for fresh turkey meat you likely took off the carcass at the butchery station. So that means you’re not using deli meat here. We also have a milk bottle, so it seems Papa Holly wants us to braise it with some herbs and spices.
That said, I did take some liberties. Garlic, white wine, and cinnamon are other drops. I added them to my braising liquid with a bay leaf and forest herbs rosemary and thyme. After the turkey cooks, slather some sauce on your sandwich. Sure it looks curdled, but it’s a super flavorful touch that adds some moisture to the dish.
Speaking of moisture, milk-braised turkey is wickedly juicy. I used toasted sandwich bread for this dish. But if you want something sturdier, I recommend a hoagie or bolillo roll.
Sing for your Supper!
If you plan to cook the recipes off the site, keep scrolling. However, while access to recipes on the blog will always be free, I also have printable PDF recipe cards and thematic cook-along Spotify playlists as rewards for those who choose to support the blog.
The printable recipe card and playlist for Papa Holly’s Savory Sandwich will be available as a $2 donor reward on my Ko-Fi page until the next post goes up.
-OR-
You can instead join my Patreon community at the “Sing for your Supper” level ($1/month) for access to the playlists or the “It’s All in the Cards” level ($5/month) or higher for access to ALL of my blog recipe cards and playlists. Patrons of all reward tiers will even receive a welcome gift of my Lord of the Rings recipe cards and playlists from January 2019 to get you started.
Lump of coal optional…
Papa Holly's Savory Sandwich
Equipment: Oven, stovetop, large skillet, dutch oven with lid, grater, mixing bowl, kitchen twine, tongs, and paper towels. Optional: Food processor with a grater attachment, salad spinner.
Ingredients:
- 2-3 lb boneless turkey breast
- 1-2 russet potatoes
- 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
- 8 slices of bread, toasted
- 8 strips of bacon
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 3-4 sprigs of thyme
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 and 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 bay leaf
- olive oil
- kosher salt
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 300°F. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Tie the thyme, rosemary, and cinnamon stick into a bundle with kitchen twine.
- Set the dutch oven over medium-high heat for 3 minutes, then add 4 strips of bacon. Cook thoroughly, then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to cool and drain.
- Add a drizzle of olive oil to the pot. Liberally season both sides of the turkey breast with kosher salt, then brown in the bacon fat for 3 minutes on each side. Remove the turkey from the pot and set it aside.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then deglaze the pot with the wine. Scrape up the browned bits from the surface, then pour in the milk. Carefully lower the turkey into the liquid, add the bay leaf, herb bundle, and a few kosher salt pinches.
- Bring the pot to a simmer, then cover with the lid and transfer it to the oven for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, grate the potatoes with a box grater or food processor with a grating attachment. Transfer to a bowl or a salad spinner. Rise a few times with cold water to remove the excess starch, then dry completely using the spinner or paper towels.
- Preheat the skillet on medium-high heat for 3 minutes, then cook the remaining bacon. Transfer to the paper towel-lined plate and add a drizzle of olive oil to the pan.
- Toss the bell pepper into the potato mix, then spread in an even layer in the hot bacon fat. Season with kosher salt and cook undisturbed for 3-4 minutes. Cut 4 sections with your spatula and flip each section to cook for another 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
- Transfer the cooked turkey breast to a carving board to rest for 5 minutes before thinly slicing. Make the sandwiches with a layer of bread, followed by a hashbrown patty. Dip slices of turkey into the pan juices before setting them on the hashbrowns. Set two strips of bacon on top of the turkey and follow it with a slice of bread. Slice diagonally and serve.
