After leaving the tree house, Calista went back outside to the kitchen to finish what she hadn't managed to finish because of the intrusion that had happened earlier.
When she entered the kitchen, the pot on the stove was boiling and the water was already half.
Calista simply removed the pot and placed the cauldron she had used before to boil her bathing water before she shifted her attention back to the fish, she left untouched earlier.
Calista began to bonk and bleed all the twelve fish she had caught earlier since she didn't have time to do it at the river.
When she was done, she began to remove the scales, followed by removing the innards after cutting the belly open.
All the innards were placed in a wooden bowl to be thrown away later. Calista meticulously rinses the fish's bellies cavity throughout, without leaving a single thing.
Calista had many ways of cooking and eating fish. However, she was planning on selling some of the fish in Silverbroke town. She was supposed to go either the next day or the other day. But now that she had a patient with her, the trip had to be delayed a bit until he was better.
So now, she could only cook for her own consumption.
So, she decided to deep fry six and make a stew with the other six.
With the decision made, Calista began to prepare the ingredients. As the village was backward, there weren't a lot of condiments that she could use, so she made use of what she had.
Her small garden only had some onions, tomatoes and red chillies. That was already a lot to be considered, living an extravagant life in her village.
Calista washed the onions, tomatoes, and chillies before she cut them into nice slices.
She took a medium-sized wok from the shelves and started laying the onions, tomatoes and chillies at the bottom of the wok. After she did that, she took the six fish, salted them a little on the body but added more in the heads and placed them flat on top of the onions and tomatoes.
After doing so, she fetched a cup of water and poured it gently on top of the fish, filling the wok with enough water to stew the fish.
Calista then removed the cauldron from the stove and placed it on the side before placing the wok over the fire.
She added a generous amount of cooking oil before closing the wok. Calista didn't forget to reduce the fire. The stew had to be cooked slowly, otherwise the stew would be done.
With the stew getting cooked, Calista turned her attention to the remaining fish.
There was still a lot of time till it was dark, so she had time to cook all the dishes she wanted before she was starving.
For the deep-fried fish, Calista started by mixing the spices with the crushed chillies. Her chillies weren't that extra hot but just tasted right.
Calista then used the mixed spice to marinate all parts of the fish. After doing so, she washed her hands and wiped them with a dry cloth.
Calista picked another wok from the shelf and poured enough oil to fill half of the wok before placing the wok on the other stove. The stove stand she used had three open stoves, and it was efficient, as the whole stove would use the fire for cooking.
With the other wok on the stove, Calista began to work on something else again.
She was healthy and needed to eat and fill her stomach. The same was true for the patient inside the house.
Instead of cooking porridge, Calista was planning on cooking pap as it was more filling than porridge. Besides, the man didn't seem so sick to the extent of feeding on porridge. Her medicine was heavenly, which was why she knew in mind that the man would be awake by morning.
However, anything can happen, so cooking a bit more wouldn't hurt. Just in case he indeed wakes up earlier, they both could eat together. But if he doesn't, then she will leave the food for the morning. She didn't mind eating leftovers.
Although she loved being extravagant, it wasn't to the extent of wasting food.
Since she was cooking pap, she needed to wait until the relish was done, but she had just started. So, she left the kitchen for a bit and went to the garden, where she plucked some rapeseed leaves, just enough for two people before returning to the kitchen.
When she returned, the oil had heated enough, and it was time to do magic.
One by one, Calista gently placed the fish inside the wok, watching smilingly as the oil boiled crazily. Fortunately, the oil levels weren't to the extent of overflowing from the wok to cause a huge fire.
If her friend, Susan was here, the other would be clutching her heart exaggeratedly lamenting about wasting oil and resources.
What was the use of saving when it was possible to wake up dead the next second?
With three fish frying inside the wok, Calista began to rinse the vegetables until she was certain that they were clean.
She flipped the fish so that the other side would roast pretty well before returning to her vegetables.
Using a knife was quite easy for her. With ease, Calista cut all the vegetables, making thin slices, since she loved them that way.
By the time she was done with the vegetables, the three fish were golden and looked crispy.
She fished them out of the wok and placed them in a food basket she had prepared earlier before adding the remaining fish into the wok once again.
She didn't forget to check the fish stew. Seeing the milky water boiling gently, a smile blossomed on her face.
It wouldn't be long till the stew would be done. She determined after checking the wok before closing it.
She might be lazy when doing other things, but cooking was her passion.
She was never lax when it comes to food.
Food was precious, after all.