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In the Kitchen

Star Trek Themed Christmas Dinner

by Laura

An extraterrestrial four-course meal from Space: the Final Frontier

Star Trek themed Christmas Dinner image

These are the voyages of the starship Phoenix. Its eternal mission: to explore strange new foods and worlds. To seek out new cuisine, new life, and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!

Captain’s Log: Stardate December 9057. All of the recipes (except for the Homemade Cranberry Sauce) came from my Star Trek Cookbook by Ethan Phillips and William J. Birnes. Click here to see my review of this cookbook.


Oskoid

Oskoid image

“Deanna is fond of a Betazoid delicacy known as oskoid, a leafy plant similar to red or green romaine lettuce. If you want to impress the Betazoid in your life with an oskoid salad, combine sesame salad dressing or tahini with just a touch of soy sauce and rice vinegar and shake very well.

“Arrange leaves of green and red romaine lettuce around a sliced Bermuda onion and pour the dressing over them. No need to toss; just wrap the onion slices in the romaine lettuce leaves and eat it up. If you must, you can squeeze a lemon wedge over the plate to give it a bit more zing, but it tastes great either way.” – Ethan Phillips

Note: As I had plenty of spinach, I used that instead of the romaine lettuce and skipped the step of wrapping the onion slices.


Captain Kirk’s Plomeek Soup

Captain Kirk's Plomeek Soup image

“Spock’s passion for plomeek soup is legendary throughout Starfleet, mainly because he once hurled a bowl of it at Nurse Chapel. All Vulcans love plomeek soup. That’s why I learned to make it. This version is Captain Kirk’s, and it differs from mine in some significant ways. It’s a bit creamier and spicier. Whose recipe is more Vulcan, Kirk’s or mine? You be the judge. Serve them side by side in a blind taste test.” – Ethan Phillips

In a heavy 8 quart soup pot, saute the chopped onions very slowly in ½ cup butter. When onions are transparent, add the remaining ½ cup butter and the carrots. Let carrots brown on low heat for approximately 30 minutes. Once carrots have browned, add all of the celery and continue cooking on low for approximately 10 minutes to allow celery to soften. Next add the broth, pepper, and salt, and then stir through. Cover and let soup simmer for approximately 1 hour.

When ready, you can either add cream or serve as is. If you decide to serve the soup with cream, you can either add the ½ cup cream to the pot, stir, and let heat for another five minutes, or you can let your guests spoon the cream into their bowls individually. Serves eight.


James Doohan’s “Scotty’s Lemon Chicken”

James Doohan's Scotty's Lemon Chicken image

“Here’s one quick, light dish from the engineering deck of the Enterprise.” – Ethan Phillips

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and saute with onion over a medium/high flame in a large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven. After onions begin to turn transparent, squeeze the lemon juice into the mixture and continue to saute. Add salt and pepper to taste. When the chicken has browned, add white wine, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add fresh asparagus or broccoli pieces, cover and simmer for an additional 8 minutes or until the vegetables are just done. You don’t want them too soft. Thicken the sauce mixture by removing ½ cup of cooking liquid to a small bowl and add cornstarch. Stir constantly until fully blended. Then add the cornstarch mixture back to the pan a tablespoon at a time until thickened.

Serve over or alongside Alfarian hair pasta, angel-hair pasta, or rice for a quick lunch or dinner that serves 3.


Homemade Cranberry Sauce

(From The Pioneer Woman website) Homemade Cranberry Sauce image

Wash bag of cranberries under cool water, then dump into a medium saucepan.

Pour in 1 cup of cranberry juice (or whatever juice you choose).

Pour in 1 cup maple syrup.

Add orange or other citrus juice, or the zest.

Stir together and turn heat on high until it reaches a boil.

Once it comes to a rolling boil, turn the heat down to medium low and continue cooking over lower heat for about 10 minutes, or until the juice is thick. Turn off the heat.


Potatoes O’Brien

Potatoes O'Brien image

“Miles O’Brien didn’t invent potatoes O’Brien, they’ve been around as a way to push yesterday’s spuds on the kids long before Miles was ever born. There are plenty of different ways to make this dish; here’s the easiest one from the chief’s personal log.” – Ethan Phillips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop out and chop up the meat from leftover boiled or baked potatoes. Then, in a large mixing bowl combine the pepper, onions, and celery seed. Mix in the chopped potato. Add the flour, salt, and half the cheese, and stir through. Spoon this mixture into a greased, shallow baking dish. Pour the milk over the top, maybe add a pat or two of butter, and sprinkle on the rest of the cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for ½ hour.


Picard’s and Troi’s Earl Grey Chocolate Cake

“If you’ve developed a taste for the lightly spicy Earl Grey and you like chocolate under any conditions as Commander Troi certainly does, then you can have your cake and drink it, too, with this recipe for dessert and tea at the same time. It’s great by itself and, of course, is a perfect snack to accompany your Earl Grey tea.” – Ethan Phillips

No photo for this yet. The cake turned out fine. The icing however did not (even though I bought twice the amount of Ghirardelli chocolate that the recipe called for). There was not enough icing to cover the whole cake.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and line a large loaf pan.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat in thoroughly. Add the grated rind, flour, and tea, and fold in with a wooden spoon. Turn the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool. When cool, score the top lightly in preparation for the icing.

To prepare the icing, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Gently heat the orange juice and sugar together in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and boil 1 to 2 minutes. Pour over the cake. When it has soaked in, then you can remove the cake from the tin. In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate and pour over the top. You can make patterns with a fork. (A ½ teaspoon of infused Earl Grey tea can be added to the chocolate for an added punch.)

Notes: Be careful with melting the chocolate. Do it slowly or it will turn into crumbs. As I used a pie pan (a loaf pan was not available), I found that I needed a lot more than 2 ounces of the semisweet chocolate. That amount may work for a loaf pan – less top surface area to cover.