Brony Chef Project #22: CMC Series #3: Applebloom

We have officially got to the leader and Founder of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It took awhile but, there is finnally an appitizer that fully describes not only her stong will to keep trying but also the determination to try something different. It may not be perfect but, I can truly say that this masterpeice can finnally put Applebloom in the lime light she deserves.

From "Call of The Cutie" Episode 12, Season 1: The Founding of the Cutie Mark Crusaders

From Left-to-right: Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle

 

Applebloom was first introduced in the very first episode as the little sister of Applejack and for awhile she was not really present most of the time. But her true debut as a side character really shined through in Bridle Gossip as somepony who was somewhat rebellious but still young enough to be innocent and carefree if she wanted to. Although, the one episode that really gave not only made Applebloom a character of a seperate major story line but made a group of characters to have a seperate story line without overshadowing the Mane 6 storyline is quite revolutionary. Although, I'm not writing exactly how The Cuitie Mark Crusaders is a miracle on itself....yet. This post is mainly focused on the founder of the group and how Applebloom can be a signifigent character on her own.

From "The Cutie Pox" Episode 6, Season 2: Appleblooms Apprenticeship with Zacora

 

Appleblooms character can be sumerized as a "comming-of-age" story. She starts off innocent in the begining, but then she starts to grow as a character who's will to change is stronger then anyone else. She is willing to push the boundries byond the small child stereotype and succeed in earning her cutie Mark that is the symbol of her maturity. Try her many attempts were unsuccessful. In fact, it has gotten her more into trouble then it has provided the solution to her problems. Yet at the end if the day, she redeems herself by providing the backbone moral of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

 

From "The Cutie Pox" Episode 6, Season 2: Applebloom tamming some lions while infected with the Cutie Pox.

 

The inspiration behind this particular dish was mostly based on Applebloom's determination and curious nature. I try to incorperate many different cultural influences to create something that really screams out "My name is Applebloom and I'm willing to get my Cutie Mark, no matter what!" I used many different kinds of spices and unique ingredients to make it stand outfrom the others. There was a lot of inspiration from the Applejack recipie and see if you can spot those influences in the ingredients below.

 

Appleblooms Ambitious Flatbread with Apple Spice Hummus

 

Serves 6

 

Caramelized Onions

 

1 White Onion, Sliced

 

1/4 cup of extra virgin Olive Oil

 

1 tsp of surgar

 

Hummus Mod

 

8-10 oz of Pre-made Hummus

 

1 jazz apple: Small Dice

 

4-5 Allspice Pods: Crushed or 3/4 tsp of Powered All-spice

 

2 tsp of smoked paprika

 

2 tsp of ground chipotle

 

1 tsp of granulated sugar

 

Flatbread + Toppings

 

1 Large or 2 Medium Slabs of Flatbread (such as Naan or Pita bread)

 

4-5 slices of prosciutto

 

1 Jazz Apple: Cut into bite size chunks

 

A small handful of Parmesan cheese

 

1.Heat a large sauté pan on medium high heat with the olive oil covering the bottom of the pan. Once the pan is heated up, add in your sliced onions to the pan and let them cook for 20-30 minutes until they are a dark Carmel color. Make sure to stir around the onions every few minutes to prevent burning. You can also add some sugar to help with the caramelization.

2. While the onions are cooking, combine all of the hummus ingredients in a large bowl and season to taste. Then place the hummus ,covered, in the fridge until ready to serve.

3. Once the onions are done cooking, remove the onions from the pan and set them on Side until you are ready to assemble. You can also store your caramelized onions in fridge for up to 3 days.

4. Prepare your flat bread using the instructions on the back of the bag in order for the bread to be fully cooked. If your bread is fully cooked, prepare your station for assembling as shown below.

 

5. Start Assembling by placing the prosciutto on the bottom of the bread. Then add the apple, the caramelized onion and some Parmesan cheese. You can also customize your flat bread with any other ingrediants you want.

6. Place your broiler on medium high and broil your bread on a sheet pan about 2/3 way up to the top or higher. Broil until the cheese on top is browned.

 

7. Cut up the flatbread into small pieces and serve them on a platter or on a paddle bread board with apple spice hummus on the side.

 

I really enjoyed makeing this Flatbread mostly because I put the most time really focusing on the "uniqueness" of Applebloom and it took me a couple months of brainstorming but I finally hit the nail on the head.

I want to thank everyone for sticking with me after a very long hiatus. I recently got a new job and it takes a lot out of me. But there will be more to come. Yet for now, I bid you all a-do.

 

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Brony Chef Project #13: Queen Chrysalis Caprese

We return to yet another villan whos apearence is not only serial but the story behind this particular character has a backstory that is quite a mystery. Her fannon story and peronality has not only created a folowing of fans, but she reapeared in many other mediums of the Brony Renaissance. She appeared in comic books, writen in many fanfiction stories, music was inspired by her, and so much more. Allow me to introduce Queen Chryslis (AKA The Changleing Queen).

Chrysalis only one time appearence (so far) in the show was "revealed" in the second half of the season 2 finale "A Canterlot Wedding." When I said "revealed" is because she was disguised as a princess to feed off the love of Shining Armor (Twilights Brother) and take control of Canterlot. She disguised herself as Princess Cadence Mi Amore, the bride and Twilights childhood freind, to bring an invation of an alian race (known as the Changlings) to take over all of Equestria. Although her plans were spoiled by the very treasure she desperatly speaks. by using the true love of the real Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, Queen Chrysalis was banished from the kingdom and never been heard from since. (Im know I might be spoiling a lot for Bronies who have not seen the episode, but this was the only way I can truly reveal the character.)
Although since then, the fandom has created a new following of My Little Pony Villains. She became a symbol of villany, darkness and seduction in many fanfiction and animation alike. Her personality was not really revealed in the episode but over the past year, the fandom gave her a "fannon" personality.
If your not familuar with the term "fannon", it is term for which a character is built based on the observations and perceptions of the fan base. Some examples might include background characters or some "one-time only" characters apearences of a show or movie. They would take the character and create back stories to build up an in-depth look into a character that was not noticeable before. It sounds a little unusual but it has been part of many fandoms, brony or before the whole trend got started.
As for the inspiration to create the dish, I got the idea from when I was in the grocery store. I found theses new tomatoes known "Kumotos" or special brown tomatoes.
Now at first, I was a little confused to what this new fruit came from and I thought it was some sort of sceam to sell rotten tomatoes to the public. But then, after some research, it turns out that these tomatoes were orginally grown in Mexico and the soil gave these tomatoes the unusual brown color while still retaining that pure tomato flavor. That gave me the idea to give the character, who is dark on the outside but still the same character no matter which form she is. With the alternating flavors of kumoto, white mozzorella, and green basil leaves, the bitterness of the garlic balsamic vinigerette still reaveal her dark and envious behavior. So now, I would like to present the one and only Queen Chrysalis Caprice.

Queen Chrysalis Caprese

 

Serves 2

 

Salad
3 "Kumato" brown tomatoes, sliced into rounds
3 Basil Leaves
5 Slices of Fresh Mozzarella, moist, cut into small rectangles

Dressing
1 Tsp or Spicy Brown Mustard
1/4 cup of garlic infused balsamic vinigir
1/4 cup of extra virgin oilive oil

1. To create the dressing, take a small bowl and combine the mustard and vinegar in the same bowl. (If you dont have any garlic infused balsamic vinegar, you can substitute it with regular balsamic vinegar and 1 clove of minced garlic.)
2. Add the oil to the bowl by pouring the oil slowly and wisking the mixture at the same time. Keep on whisking until the emultion is incorporated.
3. Start assembling the salad by folowing the pattern Tomato, mozzarella,tomato until you are done plating. Add the Basil leaves to garnish.
4. Take the dressing and dress the salad as you wish. Serve.
How to eat: You can take the tomato and mozzarella and wrap it around a basil leave to experience all the flavors at once. You can also take each piece and eat individual piece of the salad to experience each flavor one at a time.

This is more of a dinner part peice then a casual meet up dish. Although, you can make a giant party platter by simply multiplying the recipie and decorating the platter. Its the perfect dish to impress your brony or non-brony freinds and easy to make as a last minute appetizer. Feel free to tweet me a picture of the party platter @chefkyro or by #bronychefproject. I would really like to see the results.

The artwork provied for this post is by http://shiv3ry.deviantart.com/ . She is from Poland and she enjoys makeing beautiful art work such as this. So feel free to check out her gallery and give her kudos for the artwork.

I really enjoyed making this dish and finding more about this villianess of endless possibility. Not only can she change her own appearance but everyday. I found out more and more about her through the fans. I could go on and on about her, but I think the best way to explain her is to experience it yourself. Look up Queen Chrysalis and discover another world behind her dark yet mysterious world. I would like to finish off this post with the animated opera masterpiece of Chrysalis and Candance in "This Day Aria." Thanks for reading and Arrivederci.

 

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Brony Chef Project #10: Scootaloo- CMC Series #1

We start off the Cuiti Mark Crusaders (CMC) with one of the boldest member. Although before we start with Scootaloo, I want to give a little back story of how the CMC got started.

In episode 12 season 1 (Call of the Cutie), Applebloom (Applejacks younger sister) was alone in terms of not reciving her Cuitimark. For those who dont know, a Cuitimark is the symbol on a pony's flank that expresses his/her special talent. An example would be Applejack with her apples, because her special talent is harvesting apples. In many desperate attempts, Applebloom tries to earn her cuitimark before attending this class party for anyone who received his/her cutimark. Unfortunatly, she could not receive her Cutimark in time and was left humiliated in front of her tormentors. Suddenly, two ponys named Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came to the resucue and made a new freind to protect her diginity. From that day on: Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, became the Cutie Mark Crusaders in a misstion to help eachother recieve there Cutimark.
With that in mind, I decied to start with Scootaloo to start off since she is the passtion of the CMC purpose.

Scootaloo is what some considered (at least to me) as "The Element of Passtion". She is a peagusus who is realitivitly simular to Rainbow Dash in terms of personality. IN the Brony Fanbase, she is more of a symbol of passtion and determination.She nay not fly very well, but she is fast with her scooter on the ground and has the spunk to be as good as Rainbow Dash. Although she appears to be subconsciously want's to become the best. Although the best way to describe scootaloo's determination is through the song, that Mandopony and Acousticbrony created known as "I'll Fly Higher".

Scootaloo's Glazed Apricot Skewers

serves~10 Skewers

Glaze
1 cup of powdered sugar

1/2 pint of heavy cream

1 tsp of orange extract

1 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 of nutmeg


Skewers
10 Skewers

8 oz. of Dried Apricots



1. Make the Glaze by combining the heavy cream and sugar large bowl until incorporated. Then add the extract and spices to the glaze.
2. Take the skewers and stick 3-4 apricots on each skewer.
3. On a separate plate or straining rack, glaze the skewers with a spoon or pour right on top of the apricots. Make sure you shake off the excess glaze.
4. Place it on a platter with other hor derves or by itself and serve.

As for the rest of the CMC, I will be realeaseing them as a series and each one of them as an appetizers. I also want to give a big thank you out to http://dotoriii.deviantart.com/ for providing the art for this post. Feel free to check out her artwork at the link.
Again, Thank you to the readers for waiting for this post. With my new job, freelanceing and lots of other real worl situations. It can sometimes be very tiring to complete the recipes. Although, I do want to tell you that more recipies will be on the way and more will be on the way. For now, I bid all of you a-do.

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The Brony Chef Project #4: Rarity

She is truly a gem to many who watch My Little Pony: Freindship is Magic and somebody worth mentioning. She is the Queen of class and she is always the one with the "gemstone chic'" style. She is stlylish, sopisticated and the sametime generous with to the world and her friends around her. She is the one and only Rarity.

Rarity is an unicorn who is the most feminen but she is more mature one out of the Mane Six. She is the element of generosity and she alwayswilling to give who is less fortunate then her. She keeps her head high in Canterlot while she keeps her roots of friendship in Ponyville. You might say, she is has royal standards but she still gives you a chance to be in the same room with her. She is also high demanding when it comes to her work as a dress maker and avoids anything that is uncivilized and messy. Yet she always gives respect and understanding to those around her. She can be devine without excluding anyone.

This recipie is perfect for parties around the house or on some other potluck situation. You don't have to be a gourmet chef to make this and it is super easy to assemble. If your not familiar with hor' derves, a canapé is an appetizer that has a solid foundation (traditionally a cracker) with a topping or some other small food item that people can "pop" into there mouth as a quick snack. With this canapé, its somewhat of a reinvention of the traditional English cucumber tea sandwich (without the bread and gluten) that fits Rarity's sophisticated background. The cream represents her smoothed out attitude to other pony's but has a little bite from the salt to reflect her "appropriate anger" to those who wrong her or her friends. The seasonal fruit on top is more for decoration but it is the perfect season for blackberries and you can add any other seasonal berry or thin peice of fruit on top for a fresher flare.

Rarity's Royal Canapés

 

Serves ~20 Canapés

 

Canapé

1 Cucumber; sliced in rounds 16-20 slices

a few black berries for garnish or any other seasonal fruit, cut in half or thinly

Herbal Cream Base

4 oz of Cream Cheese

2 oz of sour cream

2 Tps of minced chives

2 1/2 Tps of Dill weed

a pinch of sea salt

1. In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese and sour cream to create the base. Add the herbs one at a time and mix into the base. Add the salt to taste and mix until incorporated. Place the mixture inside your refrigerator for later use.

2. Once ready to serve, place the cucumber slices on a platter and dollop the cream mixture on top of the cucumber slice or use a plastic bag with the left tip cut off to pipe the mixture on the slice. Place the peice of fruit on top for garnish and serve.

Fall/Winter

 

 

Summer

 

This appetizer has the sophistication of a high society garden party, while its easy enough to make for any party or get together. This recipe is also my formula for all cool, cream based appetizers. IN other words, you can use the cream base and customize it to creat your own canapé or some other creation involving a creamy topping.

A big thank you to http://bioniclegahlok.deviantart.com/ for providing the artwork for Rarity. He's been doing art work on Deviant Art for four years and he's really talented. With that in mind, I say "thank you" to bioniclegahlok.

I hope you enjoy the fourth installment of the Brony Chef Project. I have only about two more characters until I covered the Mane Six. Don't worry though, there will be more. Don't forget to comment below and on Facebook. There is also a reaction box below to see what you think of these points, so don't forget to click.

For now, I bid you a-do and treat yourself like a king/queen once in a while.

 

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