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Memorial Lunchbox by Susu & Rosie A party was just the thing to celebrate the beginning of the end of the wars that engulfed the galaxy following the Emperor's death. But before the festive food could be laid out, a big man showed up during cocktails, and moved straight for Corran. The man told Corran that he had a message for him ... but he couldn't remember his own name. The Rogue recognized him immediately; it was none other than Urlor Sette, who protected Corran and helped him escape from the Lusankya, Ysanne Isard's prison ship. Corran greeted him with amazement, and the big man looked relieved as his name was pronounced. But then, blood started to gout from every orifice. Corran saying the prisoner's name triggered a bomb implanted within Sette that released a neurotoxin, evicerating him from the inside. This was the "message": Isard, who was believed to have been killed while escaping Thyferra, was alive! The festivities halted immediately while Sette's body was taken by Intel for analysis. But what happened to the untouched, unserved food? It had been made especially for the party, and many individuals had contributed specific and sentimental offerings. It was boxed up by the conscientious catering staff -- none other than the Mon Cal cooks from Home One -- who delivered them as takeaway "lunchbox" style meals during the small memorial service and meeting that was held soon after Sette had died. It was a somber event, but seeing the party food cheered many of them up -- they wouldn't be missing the fare after all! There was one or two of each of the delectable titbits in every box, making for a fine assortment of flavors. The Mon Cals had really done a nice job of presentation. Wedge Antilles stood and addressed the gathering, "How fortunate are we now, being able to eat party fare during a funeral mass, surrounded by family and friends? How fortunate are we, that we are in a position to save those who are prevented from doing something so simple, yet so indulgent?" He announced that they would go after the Lusankya prisoners and bring them home, at long last. "These lunchboxes, filled with rich party fare, represent many things -- imprisoned minds and bodies, encapsulated joy, the normalcy we hope to attain someday soon. Remember Urlor Sette, and every brave, abused, and sacrificed life. Never forget what we fight for, nor for whom we fight." Devils on Banthaback If you squint very hard, these roundish snacks could be banthas on the gallop, speared by a toothpick to goad them forward. If you are lucky, they are heading for your mouth! These are very popular, and you should feel free to replace the prunes with other small, bite-sized edibles, like oysters, scallops, apricots, waterchestnuts ... you get the idea! Don't overcook them -- they shouldn't burn. Everyone loves these and the smell drives people wild. Booster Terrik sometimes makes these and pumps the fragrance into the ventilation shafts, so that guests arriving on the Errant Venture would smell it and become ravenous. His people made sure to point them to the expensive restaurants on the ship!
Asparagus Rolls You MUST use canned asparagus for this recipe. Fresh or freshly poached will simply not do. The vegetable has to be infused with brine and vinegar enough so it practically mashes on the bread. And the bread must be white and crustless. The humans didn't think it sounded any good, but Khe-Jeen Slee, an Issori pilot with the Rogues, had guaranteed it was good. On his planet, every child was precious -- babies were conceived ceremonially, with the father sprinkling his "packet" over the egg, placed on a pedestal (all recorded with holos!) -- and spoiled, and this treat was universally demanded by the hatchlings. From a child's point of view, they are certainly appealing -- a piece of bread rolled around an asparagus spear, rather then the ubiquitous stacked sandwich. Those who tried it declared it delicious. Both kids and adults loved it!
Mini Turkey, Cranberry, Cream Cheese on Rye These are fun, with the flavor and feel of a hearty sandwich, but in 1/8th scale. Meaning you can likely eat eight times as many! The ingredients were supplied by the 'droid Emtrey, who is a superlative scavenger, as well as the quartermaster for Rogue Squadron. He's also a great "waste not, want not" type of trader and he found it a simple enough task to buy super-tart fruit and make a relish out of it for trading and use by the squadron, or super-enhanced, sometimes misshapen poultry that no normal family could ever want to eat, or spoiled milk to be made into cheese. He was also a cheapskate (and proud of it) and would slice bread for sandwiches so thinly that it was merely a suggestion of bread. Emtrey is the only being who could feed the whole squadron with just one loaf of bread. And yet they all enjoyed the results, and even came to prefer their sandwiches cut that way!
Home One Meatballs The New Republic flagship, Home One, is a Mon Calamari cruiser operated by Mon Cals. The humidity is very high and the air is warm, but in deference to the other beings on board, there are zones that visitors would find more comfortable. Equally considerate of alien and human diets, the cafeteria attempted to have a range of foods for all the many beings. But humans, the offering was always some sort of ground meat. It was eventually discovered that the Mon Cal had no clue how to make meatballs, so they just bought them in huge industrial-sized vats and boiled them up in buckets of sauce (per the instructions on the packages)! It sounds really scary, but it's actually rather good, and the human pilots like it a lot.
At a party, serve these in a crockpot to keep them warm and bubbly, or skewer with toothpicks and place on a platter. Make sure there are napkins! Biscuit Melts Corran actually created this meal starter from leftovers. Wedge and Qui Xux had flown to Yavin 4 to resupply the Jedi Academy; Qui was not used to space rations, so Wedge made sure to bring other food, but unfortunately, she didn't like those either. Thus, there was a case of leftover baking powder biscuits, bags of cheese, and lots of freeze-dried chicken-like substance. Corran snagged them -- he loved biscuits -- but serving them as is seemed kind of cheesy. Hmn ... cheesy ... And thus were born open-face sandwiches with melted cheese! (If you don't have biscuits on hand, English muffins or even regular bread will do.) It was a popular offering at any Rogue or Jedi party.
Spread mustard on each biscuit half, stack a tomato slice, a little pile of chopped chicken or tuna, then sprinkle with some scallions, then top with a slice of cheese. On a foil- or parchment paper-lined baking sheet, place the open-faced sandwiches. Place in the oven till the cheese is melted and a bit bubbly. Home One Ryshcate The Mon Cal cooks couldn't really understand how to prepare food for other species -- and who could blame them -- so relied on ready-made preparations and rations to feed the various beings on board, as mentioned before. One thing the Mon Cals really didn't understand was cake or baked goods in general. In the humidity they preferred, cake simply would not have survived. It would have fallen apart or gone moldy. One cake that didn't collapse was a sturdy ryshcate, densely populated with dried fruit that actually benefited from the humidity. The traditional Corellian offering was heavily doused with alcohol, preserving it further. Han Solo was the one who gave this recipe to the cooks; it was a very simple one he learned from Mala, the Wookiee who saved him when he was a young man. It keeps pretty well, with or without a healthy sprinkling of Whyrren's reserve!
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Level the top, making sure the thick batter gets into the corners. Bake for 90 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve hot or cooled to room temperature. If you wish, sprinkle whiskey or bourbon over the cake while it's still hot -- this will help prevent the cake from cracking. Makes about 20 servings. Sweet Potato & Pear Cheesecake Bars Growing up as she did, Inyri Forge had never had much in the way of dairy products till she started dating Zekka Thyne while still on Kessel. Though a prisoner, he was very well connected and could receive small luxury items. In general had a better time of it than other prisoners. Inyri got a few crumbs of a dairy pie that was sent to him on his birthday, and it haunted her. She started fantasizing about this thing called a cheesecake, about how it should taste, it's texture and color. After Thrawn's death, when the Rogues finally got some leave time, Inyri at last tried making some of her fantasy cheesecakes. Being so unfamiliar with dairy products, Inyri wasn't acquainted with some of the more common properties of cheese or cream, such as color or texture. In the poor light in the prison, she thought the cake was orange, so the fantasy cake she'd created in her mind was quite orange in color. And perhaps because of the dampness of the Kessel mines, she remembered the cake as somewhat earthy tasting, with a cake-like crust, rather than the crumbly crusts commonly found in cheesecake. In addition, there seemed to be a hint of orchard fruit -- it's possible Thyne's plate had been garnished with it, but Inyri wanted it IN her cheesecake, sandwiched between fluffy layers. After many attempts, she finally got it to match her dreams, and she made several large ones for the party. To her delight, the cake kept well, and was even better served sometime later in the lunchboxes.
Nut Pies Gavin Darklighter grew up on a small holding on Tatooine, one of many, many children. His father, Jula, had purchased the Lars farm, undercutting Huff Darklighter -- the father of Biggs, and Gavin's uncle. Still, the brothers were close in their way. Huff, a wealthy food merchant, grew fruit and nut trees on his enormous holding, in broad channels dug into the sand. He bought water at a cut rate from local farmers, using it for his extensive hydroponic gardens. Huff generously allowed Jula's family to forage and harvest a portion of the crop; he grew more than his family could consume or trade, and it pleased him to think that his brother's family depended on him. One of Gavin's fondest memories was his mother and her sister (who was also Huff's third wife) preserving nuts. They would usually dry the pods, but some were encased in a sugary gel and could be eaten as a sort of confit. But his favorite way to eat it was as a pie, with the gel and nut mixture simply dumped into a pie crust and baked. Gavin told his fiancée, Asyr Sei'lar, about the pies late one night, when they were sharing childhood memories. They had discussed adopting children, and were talking about their upbringings, so that they could understand one another's priorities and expectations. As a gesture to indicate she understood him, Asyr decided to make the nut pie for Gavin, but she misunderstood the size of the Darklighter clan -- the pies made by Gavin's mother were enormous, enough to feed the twenty or so people in the extended family. Because they were talking about children, Asyr interpreted the pies to be smaller, about palm-sized or smaller. She presented a tray of bite-sized pie-lets at the "post-Thrawn" party. Gavin was startled, and Asyr thought she had messed up. To prove she hadn't, he stole pies from every other lunchbox, and made a feast of them. He loved that in this way, he got more crunchy pastry to eat!
Heat the oven to 375°F/170°C. Combine the melted butter, egg, brown sugar and vanilla until the mixture is goopy and smooth. Spoon filling into each muffin cup, not quite full. Bake for about 20 miutes until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is puffy. Remove the pies from the hot tray and place on a wire rack to cool. Makes 16 pies. Disclaimer: All content is made up, and no profit or lucre is expected, solicited, advocated or paid. This is all just for fun. Any comments, please e-mail the author or WOOKIEEhut directly. Flames will be ignored. Characters and situations are based on those which are the property of LucasFilms Ltd., Bantam Publishing, Random House, and their respective original owners and developers. The rest is this story's author's own fault. This story may not be posted anywhere without the author's knowledge, consent, and permission. These recipes are provided "as is," and neither Wookieehut nor any person associated with the website is responsible for any success or failure of the recipes, nor any implied effects. If there are questions, please email the author. This page is presented by Wookieehut. |