Kuartermasters Korner

BREAD & BUTTER

In my research of Klingon food, I found no references to bread and/or butter. However I did find reference to grain ("tlr") and milk ("nim"). Also, the Klingon palate prefers food that is pungent (" tlhorgh "). With pungent being a sharpness in taste. Based upon this information, I created a Klingon recipe for bread and a Klingon recipe for butter. The Klingon bread recipe is one of contrasting flavors and the Klingon butter recipe consists of one strong flavor which compliments the flavors of the bread. For the time being, I am just referring to them as Klingon bread and as Klingon butter since there is no word in Klingon for bread or butter. Research on this is still pending. I would like to thank the crew of the IKV NasToj (IKF) and two close Terran friends, Anita and Mary-Liz for their input on these recipes.

Captain Khieras zantai-Rustadzh
IKF High Council Member
IKF QuarterMaster

I used the following works in my research:
The Klingon Dictionary by Marc Okrand 1985
Star Trek Klingon for the Galactic Traveler by Marc Okrand 1997
The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisine's CHINA, GREECE, ROME by Jeff Smith 1990

KLINGON BUTTER

1/2 cup soft butter *
10 Garlic Cloves (roasted)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Soften the butter and set aside. Cut the tops off of the garlic cloves. Place Garlic Cloves in a shallow baking pan and cover with the olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until soft (usually 10 minutes). Squeeze the garlic out of the skin. Chop the garlic into small pieces or pulverize them. Whip the garlic into the butter and let sit for 24 hours. It is better to let it sit out in a dish. If it gets refrigerated, take it out several hours before serving or microwave it to soften it up. Flavored butters have a tendency to separate, if this happens just Re-mix it.

BUTTER NOTES * -Use real butter, margarine does not work

KLINGON BREAD

4 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
Extra flour
Bay Leaves
1/2 tbsp. dry yeast
1/2 cup melted and cooled liquid butter *
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground anise seed
1 tsp. ground cumin seed
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Butter Cooking Spray
2 cups 100 % Purple Grape Juice * *
Extra 100% Purple Grape Juice**
2 oz. Monterey Jack-Salsa flavored brick cheese***
3 oz. New York Sharp Cheddar cheese****
6 oz. Crumbled Feta cheeses with Mediterranean Herbs (Greek Spices)*****

Place flour, butter, all cheeses, all spices, and yeast in a large bowl, blending well. Add the grape juice and mix well until the juice is absorbed and evenly distributed. The dough will be damp and sticky, but should have no dry areas. If it does have dry areas, add a little more grape juice and continue mixing until the dry areas are gone. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle 1 to 2 tbsps. of flour over the dough and knead on a floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth, elastic, and only slightly sticky. Add more flour if needed. (I usually knead it for the full 10 minutes). Let the dough rest for 2 minutes. Knead the dough for 30 seconds more, return to the bowl, cover with a Towel and let rise at room temperature for 3 hours. Sprinkle top with flour, punch down and form into 2 or 3 loaves. Grease the baking pans with a cooking spray put bay leaves on each greased spot (I usually use 5 large bay leaves perloaf), and place a loaf of bread dough on the top of each greased spot on the baking pan(s). Cover with a towel and let rise for 1 hour. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or until the loaves are brown on top and make a hollow sound when tapped (usually 35 minutes). Remove from the pan, remove the bay leaves, and place upon a cooling rack(s). Brush the outside crust (top, sides, and bottom) with extra virgin olive oil. Let cool for about 10 minutes to serve warm (or cool completely before serving). The finished bread can either be sliced or have chunks torn off.

BREAD NOTES

* -Use real butter, not margarine, margarine will make the bread crumble easier.
**-Use 100 % real grape juice at room temperature. The grape juice helps the yeast with the rising.
***-If you can not find this cheese, do the following: Take 2 oz. of shredded Monterey Jack cheese mixed with 1/2 to 1tbsp. of mild salsa. Let it blend together for about 4 hours before mixing into the other dry ingredients (if possible, do ahead of time).
****-Can use either shredded brick or pre-shredded New York Sharp Cheddar.
*****-If you can not find this cheese, do the following: Take 6 oz. of Feta cheese (regular) mixed with the following Greek spices (Seasonings):
1/4-tsp. caraway seed
1/4 tsp. (ground) cloves
1/4 tsp. dillweed
1/4 tsp. oregano

Blend the spices into the Feta cheese and let it blend together for about 4 hours before mixing into the other dry ingredients (if possible, do ahead of time).

Enjoy!