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Do you like playing games? Do you enjoy cooking? Do you like to occasionally have more than just soda pop and potato chips as snacks for game night? In this Monday blog series, game industry personalities will be sharing some of their favorite recipes for game night munchies. Welcome to Gaming Gastronomy! This week our dynamic duo of dishes comes from Jeff Romo of InnRoads Ministries.

Jeff Romo (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Website) has been gaming off and on for 21 years. He cut his teeth on Shadowrun (Bag o’ d6 Edition) and never looked back. Through those years he’s gamed with the same group for all of them. He’s blessed to be married to a wonderful woman who helps him indulge his inner geek even though she doesn’t quite get it. He works with InnRoads Ministries, is a host of the Game Store Prophets podcast, hosts InnRoads RPG Jam Sessions on YouTube, and GMs numerous RPGs online for InnRoads Plays.

“I’m not certain when I decided chips & Mountain Dew wasn’t the end all be all of gaming foods. Or when a break in the RPG action signaled a run to the local Cotixan for carne asada. My best guess would be the first few years of marriage. After the 2nd or 3rd game night hosted at our apartment, my wife finally asked, “Would you mind if I cooked something for you boys?”

And so began an interesting tour of foods from around the world as my wonderful spouse enjoyed herself playing hostess to a group of grognards who couldn’t have been more thankful.

What I didn’t know at the time? My wife was equally thankful to have my group play guinea pigs to her culinary experimentations. And her skills, being so impressive, would have convinced us to collectively agree to Soylent Green so long as it had her special flair for spice and sauce combinations.

So through the years, there’s been two dishes that have stuck out for myself particularly and have been staples at the table to the point I’ve learned how to prepare them in the event my wife is not up for hosting.”

Corn and Poblano Lasagna

A dish that combines creamy goodness and…well, actual goodness when it comes to the use of vegetables.

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons, unsalted butter
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 cups fresh corn kernels (from the ear, it’s better)
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
  • Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
  • ½ cup thinly sliced white or red onions (depends upon your taste)
  • 4 poblano chiles (or Anaheim), charred, peeled, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1-inch strips
  • 1 large zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise
  • (12) 7-by-3 inch no-boil lasagna sheets (durability in the oven)
  • 2 cups shredded Oaxaca cheese, or mozzarella will do

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add two-thirds of the garlic and the corn and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in the cream. .Cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes for the favors to incorporate. Turn off the heat and let cool slightly. Transfer to a blender and season with the thyme and some salt and pepper, and puree until smooth.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining garlic and cook for 1 minute. Mix in the poblano strips and zucchini and cook for 5 minutes for the flavors to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat.

Spread about one-quarter of the corn mixture over the bottom of an 11-by-8 inch baking dish. Cover with a layer of 3 lasagna sheets. spread one-quarter of the palano mixture and one-quarter of the cheese over the pasta. Repeat the layering three more times. Cover with foil.

Bake until the poasat is cooked and tender, about 50 minutes. Remove the foil and turn up the oven temp to a broil. Broil until golden brown and bubble, 8 to 10 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

 

Tuna Kinilaw

This is a dish from the Philippines that’s akin to ceviche. It can be made with either fresh tuna or salmon (or any other hearty fleshed fish that can hold up to the cooking marinade). This is a refreshing dish served cold and can be combined with either a salad or even a crossover of tortilla chips if you’re so inclined.

Calamansi

Ingredients

  • 500 grams fresh yellow fin tuna fillet, cut into cubes
  • ⅓ cup spiced vinegar (*)
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1 white onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons minced ginger
  • 4 tablespoons calamansi (**), or lime juice
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • ¾ cup of vinegar (for washing)
  • 1 red onion, chopped (optional, for spice)
  • 3 pieces bird’s eye chili (optional, for spice – or preferred spice)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tomatoes, diced
  • ½ cup pork cracklings (chicharon), crushed (optional)

Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine cubed tuna and the regular vinegar (for cleaning the fish)
  2. Mix well and let stand for 2 minutes
  3. Drain the vinegar
  4. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well
  5. Cover and refrigerate for minimum 30 minutes
  6. Serve chilled

(*) Spiced vinegar comes in many shapes and sizes. In my household, we always have at least 2 options where we’ve taken an old salad dressing bottle and combined white vinegar and a host of items ranging from garlic cloves, chiles etc to create what’s termed as “spiced vinegar”.

(**) Calamansi is a pacific islander citrus that combines the marvelous qualities of tangerines, oranges and lemon into a small, supremely juicy bundle of holding.

In the coming weeks, check back here on Mondays for more delectable recipes from personalities around the game industry.

#GamingGastronomy – Mexican Lasagna & Kinilaw: A Tale of Two Dishes by Jeff Romo

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