They really drugged him.

Chapter 972 They really drugged him.

If this were in a restaurant kitchen, to ensure the quality control of the food, the amount of seasoning used would probably be precise to two decimal places, down to the smallest gram.

But this is Totsuki Academy, and even a strict teacher like Roland Chappell wouldn't stifle a student's imagination when it comes to seasoning.

This is why the word "appropriate amount" is written after the seasoning ingredients on the whiteboard, because everyone's seasoning methods are different, and even the seasonings used may be different.

Therefore, there is no precise, universally accepted answer regarding the amount of seasonings to use. If one had to say there is one, it would probably be whether the dish, once prepared, can make the person tasting it feel delicious.

"Uh, then leave the marinating and seasoning to me."

Of course, there is no universally accepted answer, but there are reference answers. Tadokoro Megumi has a relatively solid theoretical knowledge and knows the precise amount of seasonings to make qualified Burgundy beef stew.

While this method of making Burgundy beef stew might have a textbook feel, it's still better than messing around with innovations and ending up with substandard results.

The girl with the double braids quickly put down the knife, went to the spice cabinet at the back of the classroom to get the spices she needed, and then took out the kitchen scale to weigh and marinate the beef shoulder that had been deboned.

"Okay, the beef needs another hour to marinate properly. During this time, we also need to prepare some vegetables."

"It's already been brought."

No sooner had Tadokoro Megumi finished speaking than Broly responded to her.

The girl turned her head and saw that the vegetables needed for the Burgundy beef stew—yellow onions, carrots, shallots, white mushrooms, and garlic cloves—had already been placed on the stainless steel countertop next to her.

"How should we handle these issues?"

Chop the onion, dice the carrot, slice the shallots, and cut the white mushrooms in half or into slices. Slicing them will allow them to absorb more flavor, while cutting them in half will preserve some of their texture. Crush the garlic.

Because these vegetables were harvested at different times, they need to be packaged separately after being cut.

Also, the cut surface of white button mushrooms oxidizes when cut, so cut them only when you're ready to use them.

"Okay, I understand."

"Mr. Broly, give me the onion, I'll chop it—"

Chopping onions is pungent, and just before Tadokoro Megumi was about to volunteer for this pungent task and say this, the vegetables...

The knife was already flying rapidly in Broly's hand, swiftly and precisely cutting the vegetables on the counter.

Beside her, Tadokoro Megumi's eyes widened: "What kind of knife skills do you have?"

"I've practiced before, is it because you're not cutting well?"

Broly turned to look at her, but his hands didn't stop moving.

"No, it's cut very well."

The knife skills she displayed were so exceptional that she could cut irregularly shaped ingredients into uniform pieces in just a few breaths. Even the veteran chefs who taught them knife skills in the middle school couldn't match her.

"That's fine. By the way, are these enough ingredients?"

"It's definitely enough for this weight of meat."

"If we accidentally mess up this small amount, there definitely won't be enough time to fix it, right?"

"Mr. Broly, what do you mean?"

Why don't we process more beef to increase our margin for error?

If you accidentally ruin this ingredient, there are other backup ingredients to choose from.

By the way, these ingredients should be free, right?

"The ingredients provided by the academy in the cooking classes are indeed free, but of course, these are actually included in the not-so-cheap tuition fees of Totsuki Academy."

"Prepare more beef to increase the margin for error, Mr. Broly. You're right. I'll go get some beef right away."

Tadokoro Megumi agreed with Broly and turned to go to the freezer to select beef. The other students saw this scene, but they were too busy to notice that Broly and Tadokoro Megumi's group had already marinated the first piece of beef shoulder. They thought that the other group had ruined the meat while removing the tendons and membranes, and they chuckled to themselves before continuing to remove the tendons and membranes.

If it's semi-frozen meat, it's easy to debone, but the problem is that this beef is clearly fresh meat that has only been in the freezer for a short time, which makes it much more difficult to debone than semi-frozen meat. The meat needed for Burgundy red wine stewed beef needs to be whole and large pieces, so as to ensure that the dish has a tender and flavorful taste after stewing.

"I took some more."

"Let's prepare more. We can make several batches and then choose the best-tasting one to submit as our assignment."

"But we only have two stoves, so we can only cook two pots at most."

"Oh, that's such a shame."

Broly looked at the extra portion of beef and felt a little disappointed.

Tadokoro Megumi, on the other hand, was puzzled and didn't understand why Broly was sighing while looking at some young and handsome men.

Is it a lack of confidence?

Just as the girl was feeling uneasy and anxious, Broly pointed to the steps on the whiteboard on the podium and asked a question.

"You mentioned a step to add red wine; can I substitute other types of wine for it?"

"Uh, what kind of alcohol are you referring to?"

"In addition to grapes, other ingredients are added to create the wine."

Broly thought about Soma's method of mixing the divine wine and then answered Tadokoro Megumi's question.

"It's okay to substitute different flavors of red wine, as long as it's not a completely unrelated beverage."

Megumi Tadokoro had seen variations of this dish in textbooks, and many high-end restaurants would change the flavor of the dish by replacing the red wine used for stewing the meat.

"That's fine."

Although Broly didn't know what effect the Divine Wine would have on cooking, he saw that others would look like they'd been drugged after tasting it, so he thought it would have a miraculous effect.

Of course, the actual result depends on the taste of the dish, and the extra beef is prepared for this purpose.

The hour of marinating time passed quickly. They processed the meat very quickly, so they were the first to start cooking.

Before stewing the meat, the beef needs to be seared in Maillard, and the oil used is rendered from bacon, which provides a smoky flavor and a savory taste.

Megumi Tadokoro used kitchen paper to absorb the surface moisture of the beef, while Broly listened to her and started frying the bacon in the pan. He fryed the bacon until the surface was browned and then took it out.

"Retain the fat in the pan, then add butter and olive oil. Heat over high heat. Add the beef in batches, leaving enough space between the pieces. Sear each side until it is a deep brown color. Do not flip it frequently; high heat is necessary to caramelize and lock in the juices."

Megumi Tadokoro was originally going to do this step herself, but seeing that Broly did the steps she was told to do very well, she started to direct him from the side.

"Will this work?"

Bro used tongs to pick up a piece of beef that had been seared to a deep brown color on every side and asked.

"That's enough, set it aside."

Tadokoro Megumi answered and brought over an empty plate.

"Next, use the oil in the pan to sauté the base vegetables. First add the carrots, then the chopped onions, and stir-fry over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes."

"Eight minutes, or ten minutes?"

"Uh, the onion just needs to be soft and translucent."

Broly nodded and continued.

"That's about it. Now you need to add the crushed garlic and tomato sauce, stir-fry for two minutes to remove the raw taste."

"Then put the pan-fried beef and bacon back into the pan, sprinkle in flour and stir-fry, so that each piece of beef is thinly coated with flour. Stir-fry over low heat for two minutes to cook out the raw flour aroma."

During Broly's hands-on training, Tadokoro Megumi supervised from the side and also served as the material handler.

Soon, the beef was coated with the sauce and flour.

At this stage, the beef needs to be processed separately.

Pour one portion into the whole bottle of dry red wine and bring to a boil over high heat.

Pour a small bottle of the divine wine into water and boil it over high heat.

"Broly, what did you put in this beef? Some kind of flavoring? It smells so good."

Megumi Tadokoro was sniffling, and not only her, but everyone else in the cooking class was also sniffling.

The taste of the divine wine is unique and enticing.

"A wine from another region, which those who have tasted it say tastes excellent."

Broly replied, and as the fire boiled and the alcohol evaporated, the aroma in the air gradually became enticing.

Use a spatula to scrape up all the charred meat scraps from the bottom of the pot, add the beef bone broth that has been simmering for an hour while the meat was marinated, making sure the broth completely covers the meat, then add a bunch of thyme, bay leaves, a little salt and black pepper.

"Next, we'll cover it and simmer it over low heat."

"Can the fire be extinguished faster?"

Broly, smelling the aroma wafting in the air, swallowed hard and asked.

"No, high heat will cause the beef to tighten and harden, resulting in a poor texture."

"Okay, I was just asking. By the way, when are these button mushrooms and pearl onions coming out?"

"Add them in the last 30 minutes; adding them too early will just make them mushy."

Tadokoro Megumi stared at the pot, muttering to herself how many minutes had passed, still seemingly a little nervous.

"There's no need to keep track of time like this, isn't there a clock over there on the podium?"

"I'm sorry, I was just a little too nervous. After all, if I get another E grade, I'll face being expelled from the school."

"Okay, then I'll keep you on time."

"Oh, I can't accept this."

"It's okay, the two of us timing will be more accurate than you timing alone, and you don't need to be too nervous, because I'll also help you with the timing."

As Broly spoke, he walked over to Tadokoro Megumi's side and joined the girl in watching the stew pot.

"45 minutes left————"

The fact that the two of them were saying the time at the same time made the girl feel a little strange. She glanced cautiously at Broly next to her, and for some reason, the tension in her heart gradually dissipated.

[Tadokoro Megumi's happiness level is increasing.]

Broly simply kept the timer running, and the girl's happiness level kept increasing, which made him very gratified.

At the 31-minute mark, he went to process the white mushrooms.

Some of the white button mushrooms were cut in half, while others were sliced.

Melt butter in a pan, add pearl onions and a little sugar, and sauté until caramelized.

Change the pan and dry-fry the mushrooms over high heat until the moisture evaporates.

Then, add all of these to the stew pot.

Finally, to finish the seasoning, remove the bay leaves and thyme bunch, taste the sauce, and adjust the salt and black pepper to taste.

"The sauce is thick and glossy; it's ready to serve."

Megumi Tadokoro brought over plates, and servings of beef stew in Burgundy red wine were laid out.

Two pots of stew yielded six standard servings, and the top was sprinkled with chopped parsley, the aroma of which wafted straight into the nose.

"Next, we'll serve it to Professor Roland to taste—"

"No, we want to taste them first and see which one tastes the best before we bring it over."

"You can do that?"

"Isn't that why we make so much beef stew?"

Broly picked up a normal plate, then took out his knife and fork and began to cut and taste it.

The beef was tender and melted in your mouth like silk.

The sauce is thick and silky, with a rich and layered flavor profile, featuring the fruity and slightly acidic notes of red wine, the smoky and savory taste of bacon, and the vegetables...

The vegetables have a natural sweetness, the herbs have a fresh aroma, and the parsley has a refreshing taste.

Broly's face showed a satisfied expression, and his stomach rumbled as if his cravings had been aroused.

Looking at the expression on his face, Tadokoro Megumi swallowed hard and asked, "Is it good?"

"Delicious, you should try it if you don't believe me."

Broly replied, cut a piece for the girl, and fed it to her with a fork.

"Mmm, it's a little hot, but it tastes good."

Tadokoro Megumi slurped up the soft, tender pieces of meat, feeling confident that this time the deal was in the bag.

"Come on, try this beef stewed with other wines."

Seeing this, Broly cut him another portion of the Divine Wine version of beef, and this part of the stewed beef had a faint iridescent sheen on the surface.

He fed the meat chunks directly into Tadokoro Megumi's mouth. Tadokoro Megumi's reaction after eating them wasn't very strong; she just smiled foolishly, squinted her eyes, and mumbled that she had graduated.

"Hey, wake up, are you alright?"

Broly called the girl's name a few times, but she just kept grinning foolishly, so he had no choice but to grab her shoulders and shake her.

"Oh, wasn't I at my graduation ceremony?"

Perhaps because the divine wine was diluted, Tadokoro Megumi's intoxicated state was quickly interrupted. She opened her eyes and asked somewhat groggily.

"What graduation ceremony? Aren't we making beef stew in Burgundy?"

"?!"

"What did you just see?"

"Naruto, I graduated from Totsuki Academy, and my family back home was celebrating with me when suddenly an earthquake struck, and then—"

Tadokoro Megumi shrank her neck as she answered, her voice growing weaker and weaker as she spoke, her face growing increasingly red. She didn't know why she suddenly had such unrealistic fantasies, and why she had become so engrossed in them, treating them as reality. And this behavior, which was witnessed by her companions, was incredibly embarrassing.

"Hmm, it seems that the long stewing time did not cause the effects of the divine wine to disappear, but rather it was absorbed by the meat."

Broly stroked his chin, having reached a conclusion.

"Ah, you mean my delusions just now were because I ate the beef you laced with other liquids?"

"That's probably the case most likely."

"Mr. Broly, did you put some kind of addictive, hallucinogenic drug in your drink?"

Tadokoro Megumi became somewhat worried.

"As long as you're not an alcoholic, you shouldn't get addicted. As for whether there are any contraband items in it, to be honest, I don't know."

Broly answered honestly, then he also cut off a piece and tasted it.

Perhaps due to his strong mental fortitude, he did not experience hallucinations.

The flavor of beef stewed with casserole is more complex than that of regular Burgundy beef stew.

But one thing is certain: this stuff is at least several times more delicious than the former. Broly only took one bite before finishing the entire plate of beef in no time, not even leaving a drop of the broth.

"Mr. Broly, would you like me to try some more?"

Upon seeing this, Tadokoro Megumi recalled the fantasies that had surfaced in her mind when she ate the meat earlier, and couldn't help but say something.

"OK."

Broly nodded and cut meat again to feed Tadokoro Megumi. This time she was mentally prepared and no longer had any fantasies. She only felt the beef stewed with divine wine melting in her mouth, the mellow and sweet taste blooming between her taste buds, her breathing becoming heavy, her saliva secreting continuously, and it was as if all the pores of her body were opening up.

The two below were taking turns eating, while Roland Chappell on the podium twitched at the corner of his eye: "Damn it, are you two here to teach or to get extra help? Don't finish the food, leave a bite for your homework!"

The roar echoed through the classroom, stunning a group of students, while Broly and Tadokoro Megumi snapped out of their reverie over the delicious beef stew with divine sake.