The Biggest Stomach of Them All: The Mystery Drink & Marinated Mushrooms, The Lord of the Rings Online

_{One of my favorite quests in the annual Yule Festival from the Lord of the Rings Online is “The Biggest Stomach of Them All,” in which players must eat five items from a nearby feasting table before the timer runs out. In today’s feature we have remade the “Mystery Drink” (boozy, Homemade Eggnog) and Marinated Mushrooms for fans of the game. – Helana}

With the season of Yule officially upon us (and running through January 4, 2022!), it seems only appropriate that I share two recipes inspired by my favorite quest in Winterhome, “The Biggest Stomach of Them All”: Marinated Mushrooms and the “Mystery” Drink.

For players of the game, you must eat five items from the feasting table within about 1 minute (although the first table has a significantly longer timer). What you eat and in what order you eat it matters: Berries (-1% debuff); Mushrooms (-3% debuff); Eggs (-5% debuff); Pie (-10% debuff); Bread -15% debuff). The Mystery Drink has a chance to remove all of the debuffs listed above, or, give you the “Horribly Ill” side effect, which lasts about 20 seconds. To learn more about how to complete this quest chain (and all 5 tables!) in one go, hop on over to the LOTRO Wiki, here.

For today, I share with you two recipes (in the order of debuffs):

Marinated Mushrooms (-3% debuff)

Ingredients:

*1 pound white button mushrooms, stemmed and wiped clean

*4 Tbl. olive oil

*3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

*1 Tbl. fresh rosemary, finely chopped

*2 tsps. champagne vinegar

*Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Remove stems from mushrooms and wipe clean with a wet paper towel. Add to a large pot (a dutch oven works great) with 4 tablespoons of olive oil.
2. Peel and mince/press garlic and add to mushrooms. Finely chop rosemary. Add to mushrooms. Add champagne vinegar, salt, and pepper.
3. Cover mushrooms with a lid and warm over medium-high heat for 10 minutes.
4. Stir and continue cooking, checking occasionally. Mushrooms are done with they have gone from their natural white color to a dark brown and are tender to the touch.
5. Serve immediately. Makes 2-4 servings.

Mystery Drink (Homemade Eggnog, chance to remove debuffs!)

Ingredients:

*3 eggs, whites and yolks divided

*1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar, plus 2 Tbl. for egg whites

*1 cup whisky or bourbon

*pinch of salt

*1/2 cup cream

*1/2 cup milk

*cinnamon or nutmeg to taste

1. Separate eggs: put whites in a non-reactive bowl and yolks in a second non-reactive bowl.
2. Whisk confectioner’s sugar into egg yolks and add whisky. Whisk again. Refrigerate for one hour.
3. Meanwhile, add two tablespoons confectioner’s sugar and a pinch of salt to egg whites and beat until thick and frothy, but right before stiff peaks begin to form. Set aside.
4. When egg yolks are ready and an hour has passed, slowly whisk in 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup milk. Fold in egg whites, mixing gently so that the egg whites keep as much of their texture as possible.
5. Serve eggnog with a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg on top, to taste.
6. Makes 4 servings.

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