Fandom High School

"Next week will be our final," Hannibal told them all when they arrived. "This week, therefore, we're making something more in keeping with the season. Buche de Noël." He brought out his own, which was a picture-perfect sight of tree trunk with mushrooms sprouting up around and through it, spots of moss and decay, and crumbed and airbrushed dirt below it. He carefully sliced off a portion for each of them. "This is a traditional dessert for the upcoming holiday. Enjoy mine, then make your own. You may look up ideas for decorations online, or create your own design. As usual, I will be around to answer any questions you may have."

Hannibal had had an interesting week or so. Not terrible, but frustrating in several ways. And while he wasn't going to take it out on his students...entirely...he wasn't above indulging in a bit of amusement.

At least he had, in exchange, made plenty of food?

"Tomorrow is a holiday in the United States," he began, "which is the country that Fandom is nominally a part of. Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated by eating a large meal, of which the centerpiece is a turkey - a large bird. Today you'll be cooking your own, in a manner that has recently become popular. Specifically, deep frying."

He beamed at them. "Use any recipe you like; I'm sure you can find any number online, and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. You may also want to look up some of the problems inherent in using this method of cooking. Whatever you cook, you may bring home with you, along with leftovers from our meal today."

Which would be a meal. "Once you've set up your turkey to cook, I hope you will join me for that."

Off to one side was an entire dining table, and Hannibal brought out roast turkey with black truffle butter and white wine gravy; apple, sage, and sausage stuffing; spicy sweet potato cakes, brussels sprouts with horseradish and pomegranate seeds, green bean and radish salad, brandied spiced cranberry sauce, cream biscuits, and a rum and dried fruit clafoutis for dessert, along with tea and coffee.

"Today we will be working on Korean food," Hannibal said as they filed in. "Specifically, dolsot bibimbap. It's a dish of meat, egg, vegetables, and rice. It involves several different steps, and you will need to use this room's properties to shorten the time for marinating the meat. Also, as some of you may be pleased to hear, one of the steps is making a specific type of hot sauce." Vette. "You will need to toast the rice without burning it, cook the eggs properly, get the steak to a specific temperature, and grill the vegetables."

He brought out his own, a little dish for each of them, perfectly presented, with a little gochujang sauce in an artful swirl on the top. Except for one dish, which had twice the sauce on it.

"Enjoy, then make your own."

"You've all had several weeks' respite," Hannibal told the class as they settled in, so today we'll be trying something a little more complicated. Pork soup dumplings." He brought out his own to share. "The proper way to eat these is to nibble a hole in it, slurp out the soup, then eat the rest. I have plenty of napkins should that prove a problem."

He nodded towards their setups. "You should all have all the ingredients you need. I look forward to seeing what you come up with."

"Today we have a recipe to cook that will involve quite a bit of work," Hannibal said. "It is fairly forgiving, but you will have to pay attention. Also we have, through the magic of this shop, managed to make ovens that will halve the baking time, otherwise we could never finish during class. So, be aware of that."

He brought out his own version of the food. "Huntsman pies. They use several kinds of pork, as well as chicken. Meat pies are common to many different cuisines; these are closest to something my husband would recognize. You are free to adjust the spices in some of these," he was looking at you, Vette, "but you must make at least some of them as the recipe specifies. For the rest, you will find some suggestions of variations in the second document on your tablets, or you may search for others."

He waved them toward their stations.

"Today," Hannibal announced, "we are switching gears. So far we've been doing savory foods; now we will be cooking sweets. Specifically," he uncovered his own, "chocolate-covered marshmallow cookies. You will be making the cookies, the marshmallows, and the chocolate dip. You will find all the ingredients at your stations, along with various colors of luster dust and a few sprinkles and such, should you wish."

He waved them toward his own versions. "Please, sample as you like, and then make your own."

Hannibal welcomed his students to the classroom today with a nod. "Welcome back. Today we will begin the class proper with a fairly simple recipe."

He uncovered the dish at the front, which contained steamed piggy buns. "Steamed buns. The presentation is the thing to watch for here. You will want to read up on how to proof yeast if you have never done it before, and make certain you understand the instructions for using the steamers. The rest should be straightforward, but please ask if you have any questions. Let's see if we can't at least improve upon yesterday's cooking class." He loved you, Karla, but really, pesto should not be a fire hazard!

He passed his steamed buns around so that they could taste what they were aiming for, then pointed them toward their stations. "You may begin."