Celebrate May the Fourth With Braised Shaak Roast

 by Beth Keating

Lifestyle

DisneyBizJournal.com

May 4, 2024

 

Bright suns, friends!  Hope you are reveling in your Star Wars fandom today, or for those of you talking a walk on the Dark Side, enjoy your “Revenge of the Fifth” celebrations tomorrow.

Several years ago, my son gifted me the Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook for Christmas, and each year, we break it out for May the Fourth and choose a different recipe to try for Star Wars Day.  Some of the recipes are more involved than others, while some require more readily available ingredients and less skill to assemble.

If you aren’t familiar with the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook, it is a fun read. The book is told in the voice of Chef Strono Tuggs, known as “Cookie,” the head chef at Maz Kanata’s castle.  Cookie quotes in the book, “Food is art,” and the Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge cookbook is truly art.  Even if you have no intention of actually whipping up the recipes in the book, the photography and illustrations in the book are beautiful to flip through, even for non-cooks. The backstories Cookie shares in his discussion of each recipe contribute a whole lot of depth to the Star Wars universe, and hardcore fans will find a lot to enjoy just in the narration in Cookie’s manuscript.  (The book is brought to you, in the real world, by authors Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Marc Sumerak, who have a number of genre cookbooks to their credit, and photographer Ted Thomas.)

Now, on to the recipe we selected for this year’s feast and movie marathon.  Chef Cookie explains that this particular dish is from the planet Naboo, where herds of shaak roam the grasslands. He assures us that this recipe is so delicious that it is “sold out as soon as I open the pot.”

  
We agree. Not only was this a pretty easy dinner to whip up, but it was one of the meals we’ve enjoyed the most from the Galaxy’s Edge cookbook (which, admittedly, sometimes has some very strange recipes!)

If you want to join in the Star Wars fun this year, here's the recipe we used from the Black Spire cookbook.  (Side note: DisneyBizJournal does not receive any compensation from the sale of the book – we just like it!)

Ingredients:

 

2 or 3 pounds pot roast (beef round roast) 
1/4 cup soy sauce, or more to taste
3 cloves garlic 
Water as needed
8 ounces Cavatelli or Orecchiette pasta
6 Tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups whole pearl onions, peeled
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 heaping cup kale, torn into small pieces
½ cup rainbow carrots, peeled and shredded
1-2 Tablespoons seasoned panko bread crumbs
Salt & pepper

 
Directions:

 

1. Place the beef in a medium saucepan along with the soy sauce and garlic. Fill with just  enough water to cover the beef, then set over medium heat, cover and cook for about 2 hours, until the meat has started to soften and is cooked through.

 

2. Using a pair of forks, divide the beef into smaller pieces, and allow to cook about 1 hour more, until the beef is very tender. Remove to a separate plate and keep warm. 

 

3. Once the beef is cooked, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions, until soft, but still a little al dente. Drain the pasta and keep warm.  

4. In a medium sauté pan or skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the pearl onions and mushrooms for about 5 minutes, until soft, then add about 1/2 cup or so of the beef liquid, stirring until it has been absorbed. 

5. Remove from the heat, and stir in the kale until it is wilted. Add about 1/2 cup of the beef liquid to each serving bowl, then divide the pasta between them. Stir the mushroom, onion, and kale mix in with the cooked pasta and keep warm. 

6. Place the cooked beef on top of the pasta, then follow with the carrots and a pinch of the seasoned bread crumbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

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