Hello RPG fans who love dining while dice-rolling!
Today I want to introduce you to a D&D fifth-edition campaign setting called Fat Magic. According to their Kickstarter campaign:
“Fat Magic is a 5e campaign set in a world saturated by delicious and dangerous food magic. It’s packed with more than 250 pages of terrible food puns, off-the-wall culinary adventure, and more kissable hotties than you can shake a carbonated beverage at.”
Seriously. Fund their Kickstarter (link will go to the main site after the deadline). While we all wait in salivation to play potato druids and spaghetti wizards, though, I made up two recipes from their first act. Who’s ready for some pies and ale?
Click here to skip to the recipes for Black Stout Gravy Pie and Dragon’s Blush Ale.
Hungry for some Fat Magic
I know I’m quote-packing this post. But Fat Magic‘s Kickstarter only has EIGHT MORE DAYS to plump up this tome full of foodie campaigns and one-shots, monstrous morsels, and culinary character classes. The more money they get, the fatter the book. So let me give you some more reasons to back this tasty snack of a campaign setting:
“Fat Magic will have delectable subclasses like the Pact of the Celebrity Chef Warlock, the Way of the Fermented Grain Monk, the Cold Brute Barista Barbarian, and an all-you-can-eat buffet of culinary spells for every spellcaster.”
“In lieu of fireballs and ice beams, the saucerers and gastromancers of the Bouillabaisse conjure spinning balls of exploding meat and rays of sweet frosting. “
“Once the book has been funded, we have a treasure trove of ideas to expand the FM universe with additional subclasses, spells, one-shots, and community-created content. The more folks pledge, the fatter your copy of Fat Magic grows. Every donor above the donation tier gets 100% of the written game no matter which tier they join.”
Hungry for more? They also have a free PDF Act 1 Quickstart guide on their Kickstarter page, where you can whet your appetite with a taste of this world. So get thee hence and get yourself on the guestlist for this banquet of a book!
Food is magic. And we also know what cooking up content takes time. So as we wait to raid the monstrous mess halls, let’s start with some pie and ale from Fat Magic‘s Act I: The Town of Salted Pork.
Beer & Bites
In Fat Magic‘s first act: Salted Pork, your players start in their hometown of the same name. Here “the working folk of Salted Pork spend their days toiling in the fields, pulling cold beers, and sweating over scorching grills.” And “at the heart of your town’s world-famous food scene is the booming pork industry, a squealing behemoth propped up by the sprawling Alexandre farmlands and a cathedral-like slaughterhouse on the edge of the town’s eastern border.”
There are two establishments with famous fare in Salted Pork: Sweet Mary’s Pie Shop and Hog Maw Brewery. Sweet Mary’s is known for her black stout gravy pie and “Mrs. Honeycrust’s famous sermons on how modern lute music is too sexual.” Hog Maw is “Home of the world-famous Dragon’s Blush smoked-paprika ale.”
Unable to decide on just one, I made both.
My beer cocktails usually involve mixing different types of ale with specially-made simple syrups. My Fat Magic-themed Dragon’s Blush Ale is no exception. This is a pork-loving town with candied apple orchards. So with that, I used apple juice for my base and steeped it with some smoky lapsang souchong tea and smoked paprika.
I then rounded it out with sugar and maple syrup before blending in golden ale. To date, this is my favorite beer cocktail.
When I think of black stout gravy, I think of something roundly bittersweet, enhanced with garlic and mushroom savory notes. Though not to get ahead of ourselves, a good dark stout is necessary. I used Left Hand’s Milk Stout in this recipe, though Guinness’s Extra Stout is a good, inexpensive alternative. You want something with some roasted notes to go along with that caramel-colored roux you’ll be making.
I also wanted to make something a little more interesting that would also complement the chunks of pork tenderloin in my pie. With that, I remembered the recipe for orcish pork skewers I did a while back and included cherries in this dish.
So we do actually see the pie in Fat Magic’s official artwork, and it’s clearly a pot pie. Living in Georgia, where summer and homemade pie crusts get along as well as a cat and a spray bottle, you have no idea how happy this made me. It also let me use my pretty new blue ramekins with a flaky puff pastry crust. Look how pretty they are!
So what are you waiting for? Go support Fat Magic‘s Kickstarter and let’s get cooking!
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 Fat Magic-inspired Black Stout Gravy Pie and Dragon’s Blush Ale 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.
Food is Magic
Dragon's Blush Ale
Equipment: Saucepan with lid, fine mesh tea-strainer, wire whisk, pint glasses for serving.
Ingredients:
- 1 and 1/2 cup apple juice
- 2 lapsang souchong tea bags
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 Tb maple syrup
- 1 Tb smoked paprika
- 6, 12 oz. bottles or cans of golden or blonde ale.
Instructions:
- Carefully add the smoked paprika to the tea strainer and shut it closed.
- Bring the apple juice to a boil in the saucepan over medium heat. Add the tea bags and strainer and cover with the lid. Turn off the heat and let steep for 4 minutes.
- Remove and discard the tea bags and smoked paprika.
- Turn the heat on low and pour the sugar and maple syrup into the saucepan. Whisk until the sugar dissolves.
- Turn off the heat and let cool completely. Transfer to a measuring cup or small pitcher for easy pouring.
- For each pint served, pour 2 oz. (1/4 cup) of syrup into the glass and carefully pour in a can of beer. Stir lightly with a chopstick or swizzle stick to blend, then serve.
Black Stout Gravy Pie
Equipment: Oven, stovetop, 4 ramekins, large saucepan, rolling pin, baking sheet, parchment paper, pastry brush, wooden spoon, and wire whisk.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups dark stout
- 18 oz. pork tenderloin, 1″ cubed
- 1 cup sweet canned cherries, drained
- 4 oz. button mushrooms, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 Tb minced garlic
- zest of one lemon
- 1 Tb brown sugar
- 2 Tb heavy cream
- 1 puff pastry sheet, thawed
- 1 egg, beaten
- kosher salt
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Cut a piece of parchment paper large enough to cover your baking sheet and place it on your work surface. Unfold the pastry sheet on the paper and roll to smooth the surface and widen it.
- Place the ramekins on top. There should be at least an inch between them and half an inch from the side of the pastry sheet. Cut the sheet into 4 squares. Then cut off the corners to create circles. Transfer the paper and pastry to the baking sheet and refrigerate until needed.
- Preheat the saucepan for 2 minutes over medium heat, then add the mushrooms. Stir-cook until most of the moisture releases, then transfer to a separate dish.
- Add the butter to the pan. Once melted and foaming, whisk in the flour. When smooth, stir with a wooden spoon until it takes a caramel color and smells nutty.
- Pour in the stout and whisk for another 2-3 minutes to thicken. Stir in the cream, brown sugar, lemon zest, and kosher salt to taste. Then add the pork, mushrooms, and carrots.
- Cook for 5 minutes before blending in the cherries. Remove the pan from heat and the baking sheet from the refrigerator. Place your pastry pieces on a clean surface and place the ramekins on the baking sheet.
- Ladle the filling into the ramekins, then brush the edges with beaten egg. Cover each ramekin with a pastry circle and pinch the sides to seal. Brush the top with beaten egg. Pinch the remaining dough triangles into leaves to garnish the top and brush with another coat of egg.
- Lightly sprinkle kosher salt over the top and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until golden. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
