Chapter 295 Flavors of Cooking
Aleshia looked at all the ingredients laid out on the table, imagining how she would cut and slice them. Her thoughts were interrupted when she took out the knives. The state of the knives was poor; they were dull and almost rusted. To restore them, Aleshia conjured a ball of water and enveloped the knives within it. She gradually increased the speed of the water, which increased its abrasiveness, scrubbing away the imperfections while sharpening the edges.
When Aleshia removed the knives from their water whetstone, they gleamed and shone, reflecting light like a polished bronze mirror. She tested one knife's sharpness on a vegetable she had brought out. With a clean slice, the cabbage was split in half. She experimented with several other ingredients she had out, and each slice was satisfying. Aleshia smiled at the knife's excellent condition and eagerly anticipated the quality of the other knives.
Before she got too carried away, she heated the fire pit in preparation for the food. She brought out the pans, and while they were warming, she added meat fats, mainly sourced from the skewers she had purchased the day before, to let them render and add flavor to the pans.
Returning to the leafy greens, she cut them into chunks, starting with the cabbage, then the mushrooms, and finally sliced the onions evenly. She went back to the pans, adding broth to cool the surface, creating a satisfying sizzling sound. After chopping up some more vegetables, she added them to the pans, letting them simmer and brown, stirring occasionally. Once everything had become soft and translucent, she tasted some and remarked, "This is undoubtedly going to be a good meal."
When she deemed it appropriate, she removed some of the contents from the pans and placed them into bowls to cool. Next, she added raw meats to the pans, allowing them to soak up the juices and residual oils. She flipped the meat occasionally while adding salt to enhance the flavor. Once the meats were a good color, she placed the leftover skewer meats in the pans. She then basted the meats with the remaining juices, allowing the seasoning to envelop and flavor the meats and leftover herbs in the pans.
Once the meats were evenly cooked and coated with sauce and spices, she removed them from the pan to let them rest. Then, she returned half of the vegetables she had set aside to cool back into the same pan, allowing them to soak in the juices and sauce.