D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

”Right ok” said Kat, her tail flicking in irritation. *Seriously why such an obscure thing. Does that mean dates only exist in my universe? That’s a strange thing to think about.* ”Anyway, assuming that works I believe that covers everything”

”Right right” said Freddy ”I’m glad to hear that, now would ye mind explainin how it’s made. I can think of several dishes I could make with similar ingredients fer people. Oh, and don’t worry about the timing too much, I can make sure that when we do this fer real the appliances are on ’rookie mode’”

Kat’s tail snapped to attention, mostly straight up but with a curve right at the end signalling her slight surprise and curiosity. ”What do you mean by rookie mode?” asked Kat

”Right well… once ye become a proper Gluttony chef and learn how to use the appliances, we use mostly unlabelled pre-sets with modifiers on them. It gives ye more fine control while also being more specific most of the time. Like… we say ye want ta cook a nice steak, we got a button fer that, but maybe it’s venison instead. That’s less common so you put some modifiers on the steak setting.

”Though that being said, of course, everyone likes their steak different so the modifiers come into play. Look, just don’t worry ye lovely head about it too much.” Said Freddy, clearly just being friendly, despite the word choice ”It’ll look like a normal oven, or stove or whatever you need.”

Kat nodded, her tail returning back to its swaying before she spoke. ”Right well, the first step is to find a deep pan. Gotta be… I want to say at least… this much” Kat put waved her splayed fingers which Freddy turned around to see ”you know the type I’m sure. Anyway, you pick that up throw in some oil, along with the onions… which I guess you should chop before hand. Actually, you can chop and prep all the ingredients beforehand if you want. Anyway, assuming the onions are done.

”Throw them into the pan, and keep frying them till they get soft. Then add the in ginger and meat, about a handful… er, a bit less then that. Like… just grab a bit, easily and add them slowly to the pan as you go. Make sure to fry everything on both sides properly, stir everything around then just let it cook. 

[ Step 1. 

Heat the oil in a large, deep pan. Add the onions, then gently fry until softened, about 5 mins. Stir in the ginger, add the meat in batches, then fry on all sides until lightly coloured. Return all the meat to the pan, stir in the spices and cinnamon sticks, then cook for 1 min.]

”After that’s done, you want to add in the tomato sauce, that’s all passata is really…” Freddy chocked hearing this and Kat paused. ”What?”

”You… ye really don’t know? Ye… are ye tastebuds dead or are you just… dumb?” asked Freddy

”Hey!” said Kamiko ”I know I’ve not been super involved with this, but I’ll back Kat up on this. I know the difference unlike her, but it’s not a major one really, and for something like Kat’s been describing I hardly think it matters.”

Freddy shook his head, facing forward so the two demons couldn’t see the tears in his eyes. ”This is a sad day. I didn’t know that Succubi had such poor tastebuds that they couldn’t distinguish between types of condiment. I wonder if it’s genetic… are you two related at all?”

”Nope” said Kamiko happily, ”We’re just good friends”

Freddy scoffed at that, ”I’m not sure I really consider either of ye that good now. Honestly not knowing the difference between passata and sauce. Next you’ll tell me that Penne and Mostaccioli are interchangeable”

Kat and Kamiko shared a glance. ”Kamiko you know what either of those two are?” asked Kat, slipping in closer to Kamiko to whisper

”I think… well I think Penne is a kind of pasta? Maybe? I’m not sure.” Replied Kamiko in a faux whisper that Freddy no doubt heard anyway.

This was confirmed not a second later when he said as much. ”I don’t know if this is the sadder answer or not” said Freddy with a long drawn out sigh. Kat could almost see him wilting before her. ”I cannot believe ye don’t know of them. Still… I suppose I am letting myself get distracted. What was the next step Kat? After the sacrilege?”

”Right…” said Kat ”So… passata, that thing you’re going to provide because I’ve not seen the difference” Freddy huffed but didn’t interrupt ”goes in the pan along with about the same amount of water, before bringing everything up to a boil before adding in the spices and letting the whole thing simmer for… like an hour and a half to two hours to let the meat tenders up.”

[ Step 2: 

Add the passata and 800ml water, then bring to the boil, stirring. Season well, then cover and simmer for 1½ hrs, until the lamb is tender.]

”That takes a while, and you can pretty much leave things while it’s cooking” said Kat ”It normally gave us time to work on anything we wanted on the side if we wanted. It didn’t normally come up though, so it was mostly used to cut and prepare meals for another time if I was helping Gramps out.”

Kat licked her lips, she wasn’t exactly getting hungry, in fact she felt no desire to eat the food she was describing at all, but she did feel the need to lick her lips and she was now starting to think about it. *No seriously why? Like… my lips don’t get dry anymore, and isn’t that a godsend. But yeah they don’t get dry, I’m not hungry… I’m just talking about food. Is that enough? It’s not like I’m salivating but… maybe it’s a habit I picked up?*

Ignoring the potential for an internal crisis Kat shook her head and continued on, knowing there wasn’t much left to the cooking. ”After you’ve got the meat nice and tender you chuck in your potatoes, hopefully in chunks from either the before you started cooking or in that two hours you were waiting, and then cook it for another twenty minutes.

”Once that’s done, you chuck in the dates, though you said you had a replacement for those, and stir everything well for about five minutes. You have to keep stirring, just lightly but continually for those five minutes. After that, if you want, you can taste it to see if it’s right for you. I didn’t do that much because it was just weird to me, but Gramps forced me to check when I first learnt.”

[Step 3

Add the sweet potatoes, stir well, cover again, then cook for 20 mins or until the potatoes are just tender. Stir in the dates and heat through for 5 mins. Taste and add more seasoning if necessary. To serve, spoon the tagine into a serving dish and scatter with the almonds and coriander.]

Freddy shook his head sighing again. ”See, this is why ye will never make a true chef.”

Kat rolled her eyes. ”Is it going to be a problem?” asked Kat genuinely curious as to the answer.

Freddy sighed once more, longing and more soul draining this time. ”Honestly. Honestly honestly? No. As much as it pains me te spick the words, most of em won’t care. It’s a new recipe, developed off hub by a unique chef from that same dimension. It’s… to my sadness, not really about the taste for most of them at the level we’ll have to be on, it’s more about the bragging rights and the uniqueness.”

”I see…” said Kat. *I don’t really want to say much more. I think it’s a bit pedantic to go as far as Freddy seems to want to go for just food… especially when it seems these demons order by the plate and just go to town rather then enjoying it. Freddy treats it more like art then anything else.

And I mean, I guess I understand a bit better having seen Elmony’s work the other day. Sure I knew before that people, some of them anyway, loved food, and others love to go all out and make the best food they can but…

It’s just not me. I don’t care. This was a nice simple dish all things consider that Gramps and I could put on in the afternoon and let cook for a while that the kids mostly enjoyed. Additionally, it scales real easily. Not quite sure I’d be confident to go up to a pot, but if they have a really big pan I can probably manage it well. 

Still, I… I feel almost bad for the guy. It does make me wonder though. Why is he the one grabbing us? He seems much more involved in the… chefery? Is that a word? Cheffing? He treats this all like a passion, and I just feel like it’s a bit weird two demons on punishment have ended up with him.*