A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook
Page 6
3 large turnips, peeled and cut into similar-size pieces
3½ cups milk
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Add the turnips, milk, and thyme to a large saucepan and simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, or until the turnips are tender enough to stick a fork through with little resistance.
Drain the turnips, reserving the cooking liquid. Discard the thyme sprigs. Puree the turnips using a potato masher, immersion blender, or regular blender. Melt in the butter, add the chopped garlic, and continue blending. Add 2 cups of the reserved cooking liquid and combine until a uniform consistency is achieved. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Beef and Bacon Pie
Part of him wanted nothing so much as to hear Bran laugh again, to sup on one of Gage’s beef-and-bacon pies, to listen to Old Nan tell her tales of the children of the forest and Florian the Fool. —A GAME OF THRONES
Medieval Beef and Bacon Pie
To make Pyes. Pyes of mutton or beif must be fyne mynced & seasoned with pepper and salte and a lytel saffron to colour it, suet or marrow a good quantitie, a lytell vynegre, pruynes, great reasons, and dates, take the fattest of the broath of powdred beefe. —A PROPRE NEW BOOKE OF COKERY, 1545
Serves 6 to 8 Prep: 15 minutes Baking: 40 minutes
Pairs well with Salad at Castle Black,
Roman Buttered Carrots, dark or hoppy beer
We followed the recipe from A Propre New Booke of Cokery, simply swapping some thick-cut bacon in for the original marrow and letting the rest of the recipe be. The sweetness of the pie comes from the fruit, which dissolves as it cooks, providing a satisfying counterpoint to the tart vinegar and salty bacon. Then the fruit flavor fades into the background, and what remains is a sweet, rich meat pie with an easy medley of flavors.
½ cup thick-cut bacon, diced or cut small
1½ pounds stew beef, cut into small pieces
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup red wine vinegar
⅓ cup prunes, sliced
⅓ cup raisins
⅓ cup dates, chopped
1 cup beef broth
2 to 3 tablespoons flour
1 batch Medieval Pastry Dough or dough for a double-crust 9-inch pie, unbaked, rolled into 2 rounds
1 egg, beaten
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Cook the diced bacon in a saucepan over medium heat until the fat runs from it, then drain off the fat. To the bacon pan, add the beef, spices, vinegar, and fruits. Add enough broth to thoroughly wet the mixture; the final consistency should be runny. Mix in the flour and cook on low heat until the juices form a gravy.
Let the meat mixture cool. Line a 9-inch pie pan with a round of pastry dough and fill it with the meat mixture. Add a pastry lid, turn the edges under, pinch them closed, and brush with beaten egg. Bake until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is cooked, about 40 minutes.
Modern Beef and Bacon Pie
Serves 8 Lattice: 15 minutes
Prep: 15 minutes Cooking: 1 to 1½ hours
Pairs well with Medieval Honey Biscuits,
Baked Apples, Mulled Wine
This recipe is rich and savory, much closer to what we imagined when we read about the beef and bacon pies of Winterfell. For all that this is a relatively dense dish, the flavors are fairly light. The beef, bacon, onions, and herbs are all distinguishable, but don’t linger overlong on the palate. The result is a lovely meat pie that can be served hot or cold.
12 strips bacon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, cut into small chunks
½ medium potato, cubed
1½ pounds chuck steak or stew meat, cut small
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup beef broth
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Large pinch dried rosemary, or other savory herbs
½ batch Medieval Pastry Dough, or enough dough For a single-crust 9-inch pie, unbaked
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Weave the bacon strips into a lattice, alternating each strip under and over the others. Make your lattice as wide as you can, reserving any extra strips of bacon. Place this woven bacon and any extra strips on a baking sheet with high edges to catch the bacon grease. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy. Set aside to cool, but leave the oven on to bake the pie.
Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and potato, and cook gently until the onion is soft and golden. Toss the beef with flour until each piece is covered. Add the beef to the vegetables and stir over low heat for 5 minutes, or until brown. Stir in any extra flour and cook for 1 minute longer.
Add the broth, salt, pepper, and rosemary; mix well, and simmer for 10 minutes, until a gravy has formed. Let the meat mixture cool.
Place your empty pie pan facedown on top of your lattice-work bacon. Using a sharp knife, cut around the pie pan until you have a circle of lattice. Crumble the leftover cooked bacon and add it to the filling.
Roll out the pastry dough and line your pie pan, allowing any extra dough to drape over the edge of the pan. Pour the filling mixture into the shell. Cover with the bacon lattice, pinching off any excess, then fold the extra dough over the top of the bacon. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden.
Aurochs Roasted with Leeks
Such food Bran had never seen; course after course after course, so much that he could not manage more than a bite or two of each dish. There were great joints of aurochs roasted with leeks, venison pies.…
—A CLASH OF KINGS
Serves 4 to 6 Prep: 15 minutes
Sauce: 15 minutes Cooking: 1 to 1½ hours
Pairs well with Baked Apples,
Onions in Gravy, Mulled Wine
This is a very tasty main course, fit for any feast. The roasted vegetables are delicious—a counterpoint to the tender meat. They almost steal the thunder from the roast beef, but the addition of the black pepper sauce really kicks the meat up a few notches.
Top round of bison or beef, about 3 pounds
6 leeks (white and light green parts only), well washed and cut into ¼-inch slices
4 carrots, cut into ¼-inch slices
1 head of garlic, broken into individual cloves and peeled
Small bunch of fresh thyme, rosemary, bay, sage, or a mixture
Olive oil
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
Broth or water, if needed for basting
1 recipe Medieval Black Pepper Sauce for serving
Preheat the oven to 400°F and take the beef out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven.
Place the vegetables, garlic, and herbs into a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to make sure everything is coated. Drizzle oil over the beef, then liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the meat directly on top of the vegetables.
Place the roasting tray in the preheated oven and cook for around 1 hour. Near the end of this time, check for doneness with a meat thermometer; 145°F should be about medium.
Check the vegetables halfway through the cooking process; if they look dry, baste them and the meat with juices from the tray. You can also add a splash of broth or water to keep them from scorching.
When the meat is cooked to your satisfaction, transfer it to a cutting board and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Slice it thinly and serve it, drizzled with the sauce, with the vegetables alongside.
Honeyed Chicken
“Hungry again?” he asked. There was still half a honeyed chicken in the center of the table. Jon reached out to tear off a leg, then had a better idea. He knifed the bird whole and let the carcass slide to the floor between his legs. Ghost ripped into it in savage silence.
—A GAM
E OF THRONES
Serves 3 to 4 Prep: 15 minutes
Sauce: 30 minutes Cooking: 1 to 1½ hours
Pairs well with Crusty White Bread,
Modern Turnips in Butter, mead
This dish has a Northern feel. The apples, vinegar, honey, and dried berries invoke the chill of frosty evenings spent in the warm feast hall of Winterfell. The sauce reduces down to a thick, syrupy consistency, which melts enticingly when drizzled over the hot chicken. The dried fruits soak up the sauce and are bursting with flavor by the time they grace your plate.
1 whole chicken for roasting, about 6 pounds
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Salt
1 cup apple cider vinegar
¾ cup honey
1 to 2 teaspoons mint, dried or fresh, chopped
½ cup currants, raisins, dried cherries, dried cranberries, etc.
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Pat the chicken dry, then rub it down with melted butter and sprinkle with salt. This will make the skin crispy and delicious. Cook for approximately 1 hour, or until the juices run clear when you pierce the thigh meat with a sharp knife and the breast meat is no longer pink.
While your chicken is roasting, combine all the remaining ingredients in a saucepan and allow the sauce to simmer until the dried fruit plumps and the sauce reduces to half its original volume, about 30 minutes. When the chicken is done, spread half the sauce and currants over the bird and reserve the other half to serve as gravy.
Baked Apples
[T]here were baked apples and berry tarts and pears poached in strong-wine. Wheels of white cheese were set at every table, above and below the salt, and flagons of hot spice wine and chilled autumn ale were passed up and down the tables. —A CLASH OF KINGS
17th-Century Baked Apples
Pommes au sucre. Pelez des pommes, fendez les en deux, ostez en le coeur, & le picquez par dessus. Emplissez en vostre plat a moitie, avec un peu d’eau, canella, beurre, & quantite de sucre. Faites les cuire a loisir avec un couvercle de four ou tourtiere. Estant cuites, seruez les sucrees.
—LE CUISINIER FRANCOIS, FRANCOIS PIERRE DE LA VARENNE, 1651
Serves 2 to 4 Prep: 5 minutes Baking: 1 hour
Pairs well with Modern Pork Pie,
Aurochs Roasted with Leeks, white goat cheese, dry cider
This dessert is characterized by a rustic simplicity that evokes the sweetness and light of a 17th-century French countryside. Butter, sugar, and cinnamon, combined with the soft baked apple, make this something like an apple pie without the pastry crust.
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 firm, tart red apples
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Mix together the cinnamon, sugar, and butter.
Slice the apples in half vertically through the core. Cut out the core and seeds (a melon baller or grapefruit spoon works well for this), then prick the inside of the apple all over with a sharp knife. Place the apples cut side up in a baking dish and pour in enough water to just cover the bottom of the dish. Divide the cinnamon filling among the apple halves, spreading it to coat the cut surface.
Cover and bake for 1 hour. Provide a fork and knife for your guests to eat the apples with, and enjoy!
Modern Baked Apples
Makes 8 baked apples Prep: 5 minutes Baking: 1 hour
Pairs well with Leek Soup,
Rack of Lamb, Mulled Wine
These apples are a complex experience. The walnuts and dried fruit provide a textural counterpart to the smooth, maple-flavored sauce, while the spices add a lovely seasonality.
8 Granny Smith apples
¾ cup dried cherries or cranberries
¾ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2½ tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup apple juice
½ cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Hollow out the apples by cutting out the core from the top, leaving 1 inch of fruit on the bottom. Combine the cherries, brown sugar, walnuts, and spice and divide the filling among the apples, pressing it into the hollows. Place apples in a baking dish, cover them with tinfoil, and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover, baste with juices from the pan, and bake for another 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the apple juice, maple syrup, and butter over medium heat until the mixture melts to form a smooth sauce.
Drizzle the apples with the sauce, and provide your guests with a fork and knife to eat with.
Black Bread
The lower tables were crowded with knights, archers, and sellsword captains, tearing apart loaves of black bread to soak in their fish stew.
—A CLASH OF KINGS
Makes 2 loaves Prep: 15 minutes
Dough rising: 2 to 3 hours Baking: 25 to 30 minutes
Pairs well with Sister’s Stew,
Mutton in Onion-Ale Broth, dark beer
This recipe is wildly easy, dense, and incredibly authentic-tasting. The flavor of the beer comes through in the finished loaf—a deep, earthy bitterness that is complemented by the small amount of honey. The inside of the loaf is soft, almost crumbly, while the crust bakes hard. It’s ideal for creating a bread bowl for a bit of Sister’s Stew.
Bread making and brewing have gone hand in hand practically since they both began, and it’s only fitting that they should come together in this delicious bread. This recipe has no historical basis, as we created it from scratch, but it is so straightforward and the ingredients so simple that it could be made easily in Westeros.
2¼ teaspoons dry yeast (1 packet)
One 12-ounce bottle dark beer such as stout or porter, warm
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 egg, beaten
4 to 5 cups mixed flour (we used 2 cups white flour, 2 cups rye, and ½ cup whole wheat), plus additional white flour for working
In a small bowl, add the yeast and honey to the beer and allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes until foamy. Add the beaten egg to the wet ingredients, then begin adding in the mixed flour, one cup at a time. The ideal consistency for the dough is when it forms one cohesive mass. At this point, flour your work surface and turn the dough out for kneading. Using firm motions, knead the dough for about 5 minutes, until it bounces back when poked. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise for at least 1 hour.
Punch down the dough, then replace the towel and let it rise again for at least 2 more hours, or refrigerate it overnight, which will give it just the slightest sourdough taste.
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Form the dough into two loaves, dust them lightly with flour, and lightly slash the tops in a decorative pattern.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned, then let it stand for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Leek Soup
The wedding feast began with a thin leek soup, followed by a salad of green beans, onions, and beets.… —A STORM OF SWORDS
Medieval Leek Soup
Take funges and pare hem clere and dyce hem. Take leke and shrede hym small and do hym to seeþ in gode broth. Colour it with safron and do þer inne powdour fort. —FORME OF CURY, 14TH CENTURY
Serves 2 to 3 Prep: 10 minutes Cooking: 5 minutes
Pairs well with White Beans and Bacon,
Medieval Cheese-and-Onion Pie, dry white wine or cider
This recipe is quick to prepare, and the resulting broth has a bit of kick from the pepper and ginger. It’s wonderfully fresh-tasting; paired with a chunk of sourdough bread, it’s perfect for a spring evening’s dinner.
2 cups beef or chicken broth
6 threads saffron, or a pinch of ground saffron
1 leek (white and light green parts only), well washed and thinly sliced
1½ cups mushroom
s, diced
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
Pinch of Poudre Forte
Place the broth in a medium saucepan. Add the saffron and bring the liquid to a boil. Add the leek, mushrooms, ginger, pepper, salt, and poudre forte to the broth, simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove from the heat and serve.
Modern Leek Soup
Serves 4 Prep: 5 minutes Cooking: 45 minutes
Pairs well with Crusty White Bread,
Almond Crusted Trout, Traditional-style Oatcakes
The addition of potatoes to this relatively modern recipe results in a creamy, rich texture that shows off the leeks to their best advantage. Thick and hearty, this soup is an ideal cold-weather comfort food.
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
2 leeks (white and light green parts only), well washed and chopped into thin rings
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 cups chicken broth
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped leeks and onion and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft but not brown.
Add the potatoes and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, then add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and allow to simmer for 35 minutes.
Using either a potato masher or an immersion blender, puree the soup until all the chunks of potato break down. Add the remaining butter. Season with salt and pepper, garnish with parsley, and serve.
Sister’s Stew
The beer was brown, the bread black, the stew a creamy white. She served it in a trencher hollowed out of a stale loaf. It was thick with leeks, carrots, barley, and turnips white and yellow, along with clams and chunks of cod and crabmeat, swimming in a stock of heavy cream and butter. It was the sort of stew that warmed a man right down to his bones, just the thing for a wet, cold night. —A DANCE WITH DRAGONS