Morcster Chef - Book 3 Chapter 2 (Patreon)

Ingredients:

2-3 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pinch of salt

1 cup of dry Chickpeas (or 1 15 oz can of the pre-soaked ones)

5-6 tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 teaspoon lime zest (optional)

Instructions:

1. If you are working with dry Chickpeas, fill a pot about ¾ of the way with water and put Chickpeas in. Cover and let soak overnight. Skip to step 2 if you are working with presoaked peas.

2. The following morning, drain and dry the peas as much as possible.

3. Combine all spices in a bowl and set it aside.

4. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add in the olive oil.

5. Put Chickpeas into the pan in small batches, frying and moving them around frequently until they are golden brown and crispy. This will take about 20 minutes.

6. Remove peas from the pan

7. Add spices to hot Chickpeas and toss to coat thoroughly, adding more spice if needed. Garnish with lime zest and enjoy warm.

Once the food was all gone, Arek rose and stretched his arms out with a groan. “Do you need any help to prepare dinner, Malissa?”

“I should be good,” Malissa replied. “I might need to borrow your wok, though. And some spices.”

“You’re welcome to use them as you will,” Arek said, picking the wok up and cleaning it out with some snow. How long do you need to make it?”

“Probably about an hour, just to account for any mistakes,” Malissa said.

“Don’t worry about mistakes,” Arek said. “Focusing on the ways you can make a mistake will only hold you back. Focus on doing it correctly instead.”

“Isn’t avoiding mistakes the same thing as doing it right?”

“It’s a difference in attitude,” Arek said, a smirk tugging at his lips. “I’m going to go get some exercise in. We slacked off in the Floating Cities, so there’s a lot of work to make up.”

“I’ll join you,” Belmont said, rising to his feet. “Keep an eye out, everyone. Who knows what sort of monsters could be lurking around us. I can’t set up adequate defenses for a campsite, so we have to be more careful than normal.”

“I don’t know if it’s possible to get more careful than normal for you,” Ming said. “I don’t want to run though, so I’ll sit here and keep an eye on any evil thingies that try to kill us.”

Belmont gave an approving nod and followed Arek as the orc broke into a light jog.

“Do you think Seaside will really be free of the Howlers?” Belmont asked, keeping pace with Arek.

“That’s a dangerous question,” Arek replied. “If I say yes, then you know Seaside will be filled to the brim with ‘em. If I say no, then we have to worry about dealing with them.”

“A dilemma,” Belmont agreed. “And one that doesn’t answer the question.”

“I think we’ll deal with what comes when it comes,” Arek said. “And we’ll do it on our terms this time.”

“What’s the difference?” Belmont asked. “We’re fighting them either way, aren’t we?”

“It’s the attitude,” Arek replied with a chuckle. He increased his pace, forcing Belmont to break into a sprint to keep up.

They ran for nearly an hour, occasionally slowing down to catch their breath. Once they made a large loop around the camp, they headed back toward it covered in sweat and exhausted. The snow had made the exercise significantly more difficult. Belmont scooped some snow from the ground and threw it into his face to cool off.

“You probably wouldn’t sweat as much if you took your armor off,” Arek pointed out.

“Not all of us can magically summon our armor in a second,” Belmont replied. “I need to be ready to fight at all times.”

“Your magic could easily lend itself to making armor,” Arek said. “It doesn’t even seem like it would be that different from what you can already do.”

“Then I wouldn’t be able to use it on someone else,” Belmont said. “Besides, my armor looks good.”

“Fair enough,” Arek said with a laugh. Belmont grabbed some more snow and threw it over himself. They reached the camp, their jog slowing to a walk.

“Did you lose a fight with a snowman?” Ming asked.

“You know, I could use my bubble to incase you in a ball of snow,” Belmont said. “I’d never use magic for something so frivolous, but I shall point it out nonetheless.”

“That’s no fair,” Ming complained. “All I can do is blow stuff up. Magus won’t teach me anything fun.”

“We’ll try to contact him once we get to Seaside,” Malissa said, standing beside the crackling campfire and pouring a stream of oil into Arek’s wok. “I’m sure he’ll be able to get you some more tutelage then.”

“He gave you a book, didn’t he?” Arek asked.

“Yeah, but reading is really boring,” Ming muttered. “And most of the spells in it also involve exploding things one way or another.”

“Just don’t blow us up on accident,” Belmont muttered, flopping down in the snow.

Arek approached Malissa and peered into the wok. An inch of oil bubbled at the bottom.

“How are your dinner preparations going?” Arek asked.

“I’m not sure,” Malissa admitted. “I’ve never made anything like this. It’s not really anything that fancy. I bought some of the tortillas that Uri used from the Floating Cities and filled them with chicken that I’ve been marinating in my bag of colding. Then I added in a bit of cheese and folded them up.”

She stepped to the side, revealing a blanket on the snow with a dozen stuffed triangles. A bit of the stuffing poked out of a few holes, but they looked good for the most part.

“How did you get them to stick together?” Arek asked, impressed. “The tortillas don’t look precooked.”

“Oh, a merchant taught me a trick,” Malissa said. “You can mix water and flour together to make a paste. It will apparently hold them together while they cook.”

“Fascinating,” Arek said. “I’m excited to try them, Malissa.”