Welcome back to another post inspired by Trinket Studios’ Battle Chef Brigade! For those just joining us, Battle Chef Brigade is a story-puzzle-platform game that is like a mash-up between Dungeons and Dragons and Iron Chef where you hunt monsters and cook them into rare delicacies in front of an arena audience. Today we’re revisiting the orcish family man with a sentient carving knife, Thrash, with a Lantern Fruit Rellenos recipe featuring ingredients from BCF’s treacherous caverns!
Click here to skip to the recipe for Thrash’s Lantern Fruit Rellenos.
Cavern Culinarium
This game takes place in Victusia, a magical land overrun by terrifying monsters. To stave off the destruction from both fauna and flora, the people of this world started an army of warrior-chefs called the Battle Chef Brigade. Joining the brigade requires skill, resourcefulness, speed, and patience — and that’s just the entry competition!
Admittedly this is not the first time I’ve recreated a Thrash recipe or a Lantern Fruit recipe, so let me go a little into the biome system from Battle Chef Brigade. Ingredient availability depends on the specific environmental biome you start the level on.
Dragons and Sunhat Tomatoes? Found in the Forest. Windfruit and Armarocks? Skylands for you. The Caverns contain a crazy diverse set of delicious flora and fauna dreamed up by Battle Chef’s Kickstarter backers.
Lantern Fruit, a bell pepper equivalent, hangs from the ceiling like spicy stalactites. But the dark tunnels also glow from candlegourds — perfect for finding quarry cap mushrooms. Watch out, though, for the giant claws of the Cragmor. While delicious, these crablike creatures are just as deadly as the other lava-dwelling and-expelling monsters in this biome.
Lantern Fruit Rellenos
Thrash describes his cooking style as “Orc Fusion,” which I’ve figured looks like a blend of Central/South American and Asian. On the other hand, Lantern Fruit Rellenos appear as entirely the former.
What do I see? Chopped vegetables stuffed in bell peppers on top of mole negro. A true Relleno involves coating and frying the whole lot with a fluffy egg white and flour batter. This version screams more weeknight family dinner, but that makes sense considering Thrash is the father of two adorable orc children. That’s why I figured a simple preparation involving a few premade ingredients is best for this dish.
So going into our Lantern Fruit, I first blended some precooked Cragmor (crabmeat) and wild rice. I then sauteed some Quarry Caps (button mushrooms) with diced Candlegourd (butternut squash). And then I served topped with queso fresco it all on some storebought mole negro. It’s simple, but the flavor is anything but.
Sing for your Supper!
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The printable recipe card and playlist for Thrash’s Lantern Fruit Rellenos inspired by Battle Chef Brigade will be available as a $2 donor reward on my Ko-Fi page until the next post goes up.
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Orcish Fusion Family Dinner
Thrash's Lantern Fruit Rellenos
Equipment: Oven, square microwave and oven-safe baking dish, plastic wrap, large skillet, microwave, and mixing bowl.
Ingredients:
- 4 red bell peppers
- 1/2 cup cooked wild rice
- 6 oz. can crab meat, drained
- 8 oz. mushrooms, diced
- 1 cup diced butternut squash
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup queso fresco, crumbled
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 cup prepared mole or salsa ranchers
- olive oil
- kosher salt
Instructions:
- Cut off the tops of the bell peppers and scoop out the ribs and seeds with a spoon. Discard. Rinse the peppers in cold water and place cavity-side-up in the baking dish.
- Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish and season the inside of the peppers with kosher salt. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and microwave on HIGH for 5 minutes. Drain the water from the dish and peppers and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and preheat the skillet over medium heat on the stovetop for 2 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until the juices release. Drizzle in some olive oil, then stir in the butternut squash, crab meat, and a pinch of kosher salt.
- Cook 4 minutes, then add the rice and a 1/4-cup of water. Saute for 2 minutes, then transfer everything to the mixing bowl.
- Stir in the sour cream, ground coriander, and cheese. Then distribute the mixture into the peppers. Bake for 45 minutes.
- Warm the mole or salsa ranchera and spread 1/4 cup on each plate. Top with a stuffed pepper and more queso fresco. Serve with tortillas and/or refried beans.
