I’ve played quite a few RPGs in my time, but I’ve always liked Tales of games because of its couch co-op. I’ve played every Tales Of game with a group since Tales of Symphonia, but Tales of Zesteria has been trying my patience. The combat camera focuses on the first player’s target and there is no way around it. The first player has to wrestle with the difficult camera controls in combat in order to get all of the players in the shot at once. I am really surprised the camera controls took such a leap back when it was never a problem over the last few games. I’ll keep trying, but in the meantime let’s go back to Tales of Vesperia, a game with a fantastic couch co-op setup. The camera even showed everything going on in combat! That is, until Rita started spamming tidal wave…
With the weather starting to get a bit cooler I’ve decided to work on some new belly warmers (Not to be confused with Repede’s Belly Warmer). I really do love this time of year for food – soups and stews make me very happy. While looking through the list of food found in Tales of Vesperia, the cream stew caught my attention. I learned through a bit of research that this dish is very popular in the northern part of Japan. After looking into it, I understood why this recipe is so popular. The combination of the creamy broth and root vegetables makes this a very hearty meal. With winter coming around the corner, this stew is one I will be making several times throughout the season.
Required Equipment: deep pot, cutting board, knife, saucepan, whisk
Results: 4-8 bowls
Ingredients:
1 onion, cut into bite size pieces
3 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil
2 lbs chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
2 potatoes, cut into bite size pieces
2 carrots, cut into bite size pieces
1 daikon, cut into bite size pieces
1 broccoli
3 cups chicken stock
2 ½ cups milk
6 tbsp butter
1/3 cup flour
⅓ cup fontina cheese, shredded
Place your pot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, onion and garlic. Cook until the onion has become translucent. Add the chicken.
Cook until all the chicken has browned and then add the potatoes, carrots and daikon.
Pour in enough chicken stock to just barely cover everything. Bring the stock to a boil and then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
While the stock is simmering begin making the cream base. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Slowly whisk in the flour. Cook for a bit until it begins to smell like bread.
Slowly add the milk while continuously whisking. Add all the milk and whisk together until the mixture has warmed up.
Add the fontina cheese and turn off the heat. In the main pot, add the broccoli and turn up the heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
Once the broccoli has softened, pour in the cream mixture and mix everything together. Serve and enjoy!
