Ryll

Real orcs eat quiche, especially with meat, mushrooms & hot peppers.

Ryll (also called rryll) is a breakfast favourite for the Balorians, but we see no reason why it shouldn't be eaten at any time of the day! It is the name for a meat-and-egg pie with mushrooms; what we might call a quiche lorraine. Any strips of meat cut thin are acceptable, and orcs have probably eaten them all, but for simplicity, and authenticity of spacers on campaign, I stuck with bacon.
It would be more typical for Balorians to use goat or yak milk, with soft white goat cheese for the interior and hard orange or yellow yak cheese for the exterior. However, we will be assuming cow's milk, and substituting brie and aged cheddar. Lactose free milk options, such as coconut milk, are not out of the ordinary in typical orcish cooking either, but cheese substitutes would be.
Typically the orcs would flavour this pie with their legendary (and much feared) Elathan Purple Peppers which we, of course, do not have access to, and probably couldn't eat without giving ourselves a chemical burn if we did. So for this purpose, I have substituted pickled hot peppers. This would be consistent with the fare of bivouacking troops, since pickled peppers are typically included among their rations. However, if you wanted to get as close as possible to orcish authenticity, I recommend habanero peppers or even that much-feared searing fruit, the ghost pepper. Don't say I didn't warn you.
The spicing added to the egg mixture is based on the Clan Bloodfist recipe, but feel free to adapt whatever hot spices and peppers you so choose! Each clan naturally has their own.
Orcs bake in clay ovens, or stoneware and iron Dutch ovens, but we'll be adapting our recipe for a modern oven.
This recipe makes two 9 inch ryll pies.

Preparation:

Ryll Slice by Diane Morrison

I will take this opportunity to remind you that wheat and barley do not grow well on Elatha. So if you want authenticity, it's best to start with gluten free pie shells. It's time-consuming to make gluten-free pastry, so I just bought some pre-made frozen pie shells. If you'd rather make your own, this recipe looks particularly tasty. If you can't use butter, shortening will work. I think the key to good pastry is to make sure your fat is semi-solid if possible when cutting it into the dough.
The key to making good ryll is in the layering of ingredients, and the quality of the crust. To keep it from turning into a soggy mess, blind bake your pie crusts for 10 minutes prior to working. Instead of using pie weights, I just used rice, separated from the dough with a sheet of parchment paper. There's no shortage of rice on the typical Balorian ship, so this, too, is a nod to being authentic. When finished, turn your oven down from 400°F (204°C) to 350°F (177°C).
Set your mushroom pieces (if canned) and your pickled peppers to drain in a strainer while you work on the next step, to eliminate excess water.
Chop your bacon into small pieces, and fry them to desired texture. I advise not going too crispy, or your ryll will fall apart when you try to eat it. Dice up your bell peppers while you're waiting for the bacon to fry.
Drain the bacon on parchment or newspaper, and lightly fry your bell peppers in the bacon grease.
In the meantime, you can start layering your pie. If you need to, dice your soft cheese. Start with mushrooms, then the pickled peppers, then bacon, cheese (if you're using it,) and bell peppers. It's expected that you'll lay these ingredients in thickly, but make sure they're level with the pan.
Whip your eggs, milk, and spices together. Pour the mixture into the pie until it's level with your pan. Ideally, the ingredients you've stuffed it with should be almost covered.
Now you're ready to put the ryll into the oven! Bake for 45 minutes at 350°F. If you're using hard cheese, take the ryll out at 40 minutes, grate the cheese over top, and bake for another 5 minutes.
Allow the ryll to cool completely. Serve in slices with your choice of hot sauce (I used a cajun pepper sauce, sriracha also recommended,) and enjoy!
You'll find that the baking takes some of the sting out of the peppers, if that's a concern for you. You can choose just not to add hot sauce if you prefer as well.
This was a big hit in my household and has become part of our regular rotation. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients:

• 2 pie crusts (gluten free)
• 5-6 slices of bacon, chopped (or any equivalent meat slices)
• 1 bell pepper (I like to split this up with half each of a yellow and red pepper), diced
• 1/2 can, or about half a dozen fresh, mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup (59 ml to 78 ml) hot pickled peppers, or habanero or ghost peppers, sliced
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup (59 ml to 78 ml) brie or soft goat cheese, diced* (optional)
• 4-6 eggs**
• 1/4 cup (59 ml) milk, goat milk, or coconut milk
• 1/4 cup (59 ml) hard sharp cheese (ie. aged cheddar), grated (optional)
• a pinch to a 1/3 tsp (5 ml) each paprika, chili powder, cayenne & black pepper
• hot pepper sauce to taste

Notes & Substitutions:

* Lactose-free people can substitute grated mozzarella soy "cheese" in equivalent amounts. It works pretty well. ** I have not tried any of the egg substitute products for this, so I can't vouch for them.

They recruited a few more goblins to carry carafes of Graf for them. With perfect timing, Shaundar saw Lana hauling out a large egg and meat pie and adding it to the buffet. She was smiling. “You should try the ryll,” he recommended. “I understand it packs a punch.”

— To Know Your Enemy by Diane Morrison