Sometimes Link experiments with his cooking. Sometimes he gets inspiration from Gorons. Sometimes he mixes amber or opal in with the other ingredients. Sometimes it works out… who are we kidding… it never works out. Link ends up with rock hard food. Every. Time.
“A dish gone awry after adding the wrong ingredient. Chewing your way through this won't be fun, but it will fill you up when you're between a rock and a hard place."
Even though it doesn’t work out too well for Link, it can actually work out for you! To mimic the purple rocks on the plate in the picture, we will use purple potatoes and cut them into a gem or rock-like shape. Now, a plate of potatoes alone doesn’t make for much of a meal, so we are also going to mix in some lamb meatballs which will get a little Goron flavor from some Yunobo spice. As a final touch, we will add a side dipping sauce made from yogurt and feta cheese to enhance the potatoes and meatballs. This actually ended up being a big hit in my house. I guess we’ll be joining the Gorons in some rock eating a little more often!
Ingredients
2 lbs ground lamb
1 onion, quartered
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 tbsp ginger, grated
2 tbsp Yunobo Spice
1 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
20 purple potatoes, small to medium
Salt and pepper
Basil leaves, garnish
Feta Whip
6 oz plain Greek yogurt
6 oz crumbled feta cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh mint, minced
Using a sharp knife, we will first shape the purple potatoes into rocks. We are going to simultaneously peel the potato while shaping it into a rock. As a side note, you want potatoes roughly the same size so that they all cook evenly, so if you want that big and small rock look of the in-game picture, try not to have too large of a size differential in your potatoes.
To shape the potatoes, cut the top and bottom of the potato flat. From one of the flat sides, cut down along the side of the potato at an angle, turn and do this again six times. Create a hexagon pattern of angles from the flat side, kind of like a rupee shape. Repeat this on the other flat side. The image below shows a model of how the potato should look from the top or bottom view.
Now, cut flat segments across the center of the potato where there is still skin, removing the last of the potato skin. This will make roughly six or more more flat surfaces around the center. The image below shows another top down example of the potato after the center cuts. You have now peeled the potato and made a rock shape. Repeat this with each potato. Place the potatoes in a bowl and set aside.
To form the meatballs, scoop two tablespoons of meat into the palm of your hand, and use your hands to roll the meat into balls. Repeat this until all of the meatballs are made. You will have around 20-24 meatballs when you are finished.
Preheat an oven to 425 °F. Cover two baking sheets in nonstick foil and spray each with cooking spray. Arrange the meatballs on one of the trays, allowing a little space between the meatballs. Season the potatoes generously with salt and pepper and add one or two tablespoons of olive oil. Toss the potatoes by hand to coat each with the oil, salt and pepper. Place the potatoes on the other tray.
Place both trays in the oven. Place them side by side if possible. If you cannot, place the potatoes an the higher rack and the meatballs on the lower rack. Bake the meatballs for 25-30 minutes, flipping them over halfway through the baking time. Bake the potatoes for 45-50 minutes, but do not flip these to prevent browning on all sides and preserve more of the purple color. To ensure they both finish around the same time, place the meatballs into the oven about 20 minutes after the potatoes.
While the potatoes and meatballs are baking, make the feta dipping sauce. Add the yogurt, feta cheese, olive oil, and mint to a food processor and blend until smooth.
When the meatballs and potatoes are done, remove from the oven. Allow them to rest for a few minutes before plating. To plate them, stack the meatballs in a pile and then stack the potatoes in front and on top of the meatballs. Top the pile with a garnish of basil leaves. Serve the feta dip in a small bowl on the side. Enjoy!
Learn more about the Rock Hard Food dish from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at Zelda Dungeon.