So, in case you missed it, I recently cooked TC a birthday meal. A meal of epic proportions. It was ridiculously over the top, and featured six courses in total.
And each course was themed around a game.
You may have noticed me Storying about it on Instagram (because I knew it was a social media platform TC wouldn’t see and spoiler for himself):
So behold, the series of Cooking Games begins (it’s a lot safer than the Hunger Games, promise). And we’re starting with the amuse bouche course.
Amuse Bouche
The amuse bouche is a course to tantalise the taste buds and get the appetite whetted for the rest of the meal. They’re supposed to be bite-size, but what I prepared was a little bigger.
TC has been playing Dishonoured pretty obsessively recently (when he can steal the Xbox away from me), and it seemed a shame to miss out the game… but what to cook for it?
It was during a phone call with my brother (also a big gamer and Dishonoured fan) that the answer came to me. I could just slice up some bacon thinly and call it Rats Tails, right?
But I gave “rats tails recipe” a cursory Google, and stumbled upon something that sounded way better…
Rats Tails: a Dishonoured Amuse Bouche
I used a whole tub of the light Philadelphia cream cheese and ended up with a ton left over, so the measurements for herbs and cream are approximate. On the plus side, the garlicky herby sauce will go great on pasta. Feel free to use the Garlic & Herbs Philly if you want to cheat.
I used smoked back bacon but I think streaky would have worked even better.
The original recipe said to grill rather than fry… but our grill is broken. I think frying worked though, who doesn’t love fried bacon?
Serves 2 as a light starter.
Ingredients
- Garlic (2 cloves)
- Fresh thyme (3 or 4 stalks)
- Cream cheese (140g)
- Salt and pepper
- Jalapeno peppers (4)
- Bacon (4 rashers)
- Oil
Recipe
- Finely chop the garlic (or use a garlic press).
- Remove the thyme from the stalks.
- Thoroughly stir the garlic and thyme into the cream cheese, and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut the jalapeno peppers in half lengthways, keeping the stems on.
- Remove the seeds – or leave them in if you like it spicy!
- Spoon the cream cheese into the middle of each pepper half.
- Press the two halves back together and wrap with a rasher of bacon.
- Heat some oil in a saucepan. When it’s hot, add the bacon wrapped peppers.
- Turn a few times to ensure the bacon is cooked all over. Some of the cheese may ooze out but that’s fine. Cook until the bacon is at your desired crispiness level.
- Serve stacked up and let your guests dig in.
These went down amazingly, and although they’re not the most obvious Dishonoured dish, they were damn tasty – and even without the seeds they were pretty spicy!
You can see the other recipes in this series here:
- Dishonoured Rats’ Tails
- Hidden Blade Salad
- Tropico Sorbet
- Conquerer’s Chateaubriand with Ye Olde Parchment Potatoes
- Nuclear Cookie
- Gold Filter Truffles
Are they Dishonoured enough? Will you dare to taste a rats tail?