Bonus Recipe: Mulled Wine Fruit Tarts

This recipe isn't in A Feast of Ice and Fire, per se, but the recipe to make all of its ingredients are.  

With the leftover Medieval Pastry Dough from making Cheese and Onion pie* I made a tart filled with some of the leftover spiced fruit and nut mixture  from the Mulled Wine.

And so, Mulled Wine Fruit Tarts were born!

Delicious!

Were I to make these again, I might add a small amount of creamy cheese below the filling, and certainly a dash of salt on top. 

* Not yet posted

#9 Breakfast on the Wall

A few slices of 2 day-old black bread fried up perfectly for this.

Night Dawn gathers, and now my watch breakfast begins. 

It shall not end until I eat all of my prunes. 

I shall take no jelly, hold no juice, share with no children. 

I shall wear no lap napkins and spill no coffee. 

I shall wake and eat at my table. 

I am the fork in the darkness. 

I am the chef in the kitchen. 

I am the fire that burns against the cold, 

the light that brings the dawn, 

the oven timer that wakes the sleepers, 

the potholder that guards the hands of bakers. 

I pledge my knife and butter to the Night's Watch Breakfast, 

for this Sunday morning and every fourth Sunday morning of the months to come. 

And now my meal is done.

#8 Poached Pears

If you make only one recipe from A Feast of Ice and Fire, oh do let it be this one.  

 

Don't let the artsy ingredients shot fool you. 
I really used 3 Buck Chuck Cabernet Sauvignon for this one.

I was not able to get as many "during" shots while making this, as I was on the phone with my east-coast family for their holiday gathering while I made these.  

Where do I even begin?  I chose bosc pears just slightly under-ripe to allow some forgiveness with the poaching and simmering. I am glad I did. The syrup stained the pears a delightful color.  I poured additional syrup on the pears before serving with French Vanilla Ice Cream.

I didn't expect the reflection of the corks from the cork trivet to
show on the glass. Only pears in these glasses, nothing else.

I opted to serve the ice cream in a separate dish to allow my guests the choice of combining the flavors or keeping them separate if they wanted.  Delicious either way.

I ended up with a lot of syrup left over.  Again, I couldn't quite bring myself to toss it.  I have half an idea to use a bit of it and make a vinaigrette dressing.  I'll let you know how that works out...

#7 Roman Buttered Carrots

Because nothing says "Medieval cooking" like
Trader Joe's Cut and Peeled Baby Carrots.  Boo Yeah!

I have made carrots with butter before. I have even made glazed carrots before. But no carrot dish I have ever made has turned out as tasty as this. A hint of sweet, a hint of sour, a hint of spice.  Simply delightful!  

This one is a keeper, flexible enough to complement poultry, ham, even fish.  I am not sure I would serve this with beef, though. Then again I have not tried any of the beef recipes thus far, so I reserve the right to change my mind that.  

 
So now that I have  posted about both recipes that I made as side dishes to the spiral ham, I present to you the full meal:

My guests' looks of enjoyment while savoring this meal was the highest compliment.
My son, however, tried a bit of everything and then asked for a PB&J. 
(Which I was more than happy to provide!)
(Brat.)

#6 Beans with Bacon

Look!  It has Bacon!  BACON!

 One of the sides to the spiral ham at the holiday dinner was Beans with Bacon.  You know it's going to be good because of the with Bacon.  There ain't nothing bad with Bacon - no way, no where, no how... 


Have I ever mentioned what a fan I am of cast iron cookware?  For frying, it is extremely rare that I will use anything else.


My very first set was a gift from my (now ex-) mother-in-law.  Sage that i was, I proceeded to use lots of soap and scrubbed it a lot, rendering it a rusty, useless doorstop.  Thankfully, over the intervening years I managed to learn a thing or two about a thing or two, and now my cast iron cookware is properly cared for.

For this recipe I started with dried beans: cannelloni I think, or white navy.  Not sure. That's what I get for storing my beans in unmarked glassware. Whoopsie.

For an extra kick, I soaked and cooked the beans in the Turkey broth I made from my Thanksgiving turkey this year.*

It gave the beans a great flavor PLUS helped me reduce the copious amounts of frozen turkey stock I wound up with.

I think I had easily a gallon of stock plus a gallon and a half of turkey soup base (meaning there was a lot of meat left in, unlike the stock). I do that every year, followed shortly by wondering why the hell I do that every year.  It all gets used, though - no regrets!

When the beans were cooked I just added the rest of the ingredients per the recipe** and let the whole thing simmer until  dinner was served

Soul food. Also, bacon. Mmm, bacon.

* See? I'm not completely lost in the kitchen. I can boil water with things in it like a pro!
** I am not going to give away the recipes in this blog, just share my experiences in making them.  I wouldn't want to disrespect the authors of A Feast of Ice and Fire that way.

# 5 Mulled Wine

I was pretty ambitious with my Holiday cooking, taking on 4 recipes from A Feast of Ice and Fire at a single meal: The mulled wine, two sides to my spiral ham, and dessert. I have to say the flavors blended perfectly (possibly due to the common ingredient: Poudre Douce). I think this was easily one of the best holiday meals I have ever prepared.

So today, I'm going to talk about the mulled wine. You certainly can't go wrong with 3 buck Chuck. I chose a Cabernet Sauvignon for this. It was either that or Shiraz, and I enjoy drinking Shiraz more than I enjoy Cab Sav*, so I saved the Shiraz for later.

 

Just look at how the spices coat the glistening dried fruit and warm nuts of the mulling mixture.  Sweet mother of pearl, that's beautiful! It was hard not to munch on that as a medieval trail mix.

Heating the wine to a slow simmer and adding the spices, however, somewhat less appealing to the eye...

Sometimes you just have to protect your dinner guests from being put off by a dish prior to it being ready to serve:

"Yeah, it smells good but you do NOT want to look in there.  Just... just trust me, ok?"


After warm steeping the mixture for about 20 minutes, I strained the wine into a carafe for the dinner table. The result?  An intriguing decocted concoction. Not overly spicy and perfectly cockle-warming.  I've had some mulled wines that suffered from an abundance of clove and star anise, and the strength of the spice can be a turn off.  This was very pleasant by comparison. 

I couldn't bring myself to toss the leftover seasoned fruit/nut mixture, so I'm saving it.  I suspect it may prove a stellar hot topping to vanilla ice cream, or even chilled and served with Greek honey yogurt. Hooray, byproducts! 
 

Side note: my holiday dinner guests let me know on no uncertain terms that they would be there for me in my time of need, especially if I need people to be here when I'm cooking. Which naturally, I do!

Merry everything, everybody!

* Any Port in a storm, though. Any Pinot, Scotch, or Brandy for that matter.  Baby it's cold outside...

#4 Oatcakes

Pinon Oatcakes and Blackberry Oatcakes.  I added a little too much water to the berry oatcakes and so I added another 2-3 tbsp of flour.  These are chewy and filling.  The first of the recipes that my very picky eater son enjoyed:  for breakfast, covered with jelly or honey, plus fruit and/or yogurt.    Mmmm!  2 -3 sand-dollar sized cakes is all you need to fill up.  What's pictured here could easily serve 8-10 people. 

Trivia: The ornaments pictured here were handmade, most of them by me.  My late biological Grandma Statia taught me how to make these, using scraps of old fabric and over 200 straight pins.  These ornaments are a significant part of my holiday tradition.

Safe, Happy, and Peaceful Holidays, folks!

#3 Oatbread

 

Googly eyed brachiosaurus for scale.

Sometimes my adventure in the kitchen goes very smoothly.  Others times, somewhat less so.* Pull up a chair and let me tell you what happened with the Oatbread...

 

It started out great.  Bob's Red Mill premium oats, chopped dates and apples. I opted to leave out the orange rind, because I really dislike orange rind in recipes, or really any citrus zest for that matter. 

Kneading the dense mixture was a fun workout for the fingers.  A glutenous, sticky stress ball of nutritious goodness. Time to let the dough rise.  So I cover it with a clean dish towel, put the bowl in a warm spot, and I wait.

And wait. Then I wait some more.  

Double in size the recipe said.  About an hour it said. 4 hours later, I'm looking at a ball that's maybe 10-15% bigger. I punch it anyway.  Just once, because I felt like it.

Hmm, I thought.  Either this recipe LIES, or something has gone awry.  And, as usual when something goes awry, the fault is mine. But in my defense, I am not a clever man.*



Some many years ago, I tried my hand at mead-making.  There were some spectacular successes ("Blueberry Port Mead", "Sparkling Cherry Noir", "Wild Woman White Wine") and some equally spectacular failures ("Good God, Make it Stop", "Radioactive Waste Sloughage" and "Suitable only for Moltov Cocktails. Do not consume").

I used a champagne yeast most often when making mead or wine, Lavlin EC 1118**. In the supply shop (unsolicited plug for Victor's Grape Arbor) and when I stored it at home, the yeast was always refrigerated. Always.

So, naturally I refrigerated my bread yeast. Guess what I just learned? That's a big no-no.  Ok, live and learn. Don't refrigerate baking yeast. Got it. But now what I do with this batch of unleavened Oatbread? Well, BAKE IT of course.  I didn't promise to execute each recipe perfectly, just to try them all.  So, in the oven they go!   

Fun fact: unleavened oatbread with apples and dates makes a fine substitute for elven lembas bread.
In case, you know, you're into that sorta thing.  Which for the record, I am.

Turns out that unleavened oatbread with apples and dates bakes up to be quite tasty, though rather dense. So I was left with only one option: call them scones.  

Voila! Oatbread Breakfast Scones: hearty, a little sweet, packed with fiber and potassium.  So does this count as Oatbread?  You bet your sweet bippy, it does!

Still life with Oatbread oat scones and pears.

* Also, not a man.
** As a friend once said, you could probably ferment a brick with Lavlin EC 1118. I'm sure he meant it as a compliment to Lavlin, but then again, we were drinking.

#2 Tyroshi Pear Brandy

This one was super easy. 

Make a simple syrup, slice up some pears, add brandy, seal it and wait. 

I bought 4 Anjou pears but I ended up using about 2 1/2.   

By the way, pears and Oatbread* make a delicious breakfast.

So as you can see I have put together the Tyroshi Brandy, and it's in the bottom of my pantry.  I'll pull it out in about a month to filter it, store it again for another 1-3 months, and then we'll see how it all turns out.

* It's true.  I made the Oatbread and haven't posted it yet.  But I will!

Poudre Forte and Poudre Douce

I prepared the Poudre Douce and Poudre Forte spice mixtures today, and while I was at it I also ensured I've got everything I need to tackle Oatbread, Oatcakes, Tyroshi Pear Brandy, Poached Pears, and Pork Pie before the new year.

Back in the mid 90's, I used to have an herb, tea, and gift store in Staten Island, NY that went by the name Herb'N Trends.  It was great being a sole proprietor and having access to all the best spices and scents and flavors. You would think I had incorporated using herbs into my every day life.  Unfortunately, not so. Oh, there are a handful of things I make and use today, like a few medicinal tinctures and teas. Some bath salts. Not as much as you'd think, though.

Galangal.  Surprisingly
unrelated to the sandworm from Dune.

I mention this because I have spent the last week getting my pantry stocked with ingredients and spices for the A Feast of Ice and Fire project. I've been running to specialty stores around town (I'll be back a lot, Ta Lin!). What a blast this has been getting reacquainted with these wonderful flavors and smells! One of the spices on my list was Galangal.  An ingredient in Indian cooking, also a key ingredient in one of my favorite incenses, Kyphi.  One sniff of Galangal and I melt into happy memories.


If you ever do buy Galangal root, do yourself a favor and get the powdered version.  The dried root will likely break your chopper blades and it just laughs at a mortar and pestle. 

Did I mention my kitchen is small?

Anyway, I was able to stock up on common and uncommon ingredients* this week, increase my supply of flours, and plan which dishes to make in cooler weather vs. warmer weather. I have a lot of entrees to make between now and, oh, let's say Easter.  Or we can say Spring Equinox.  Or "Bobslobaday," which is a holiday I just invented celebrating the day it gets too damn hot to cook indoors. I believe rabbit or lamb is traditionally served on Bobslobaday.  I'll let you know when I figure it out.

 The point here is:  I am not turning on the oven in the summer in New Mexico.  Sorry.

Accompanying me in my tiny kitchen is an assortment of helpful mammals.

My son, Q** (4) tops the list of "favorite mammals with whom I live." If you squint at the above picture, you can actually see the list pinned up on the fridge.*** 

Here he is with his cat, Tolliver (8).  My other cat, Armageddon (22) is a sweet but camera shy girl, and is really old.  As am I (516 months on my next birthday, but I'm reading at the 524 month level.  Go me.). 

Anyway, I'm stocked up and ready to roll. I am also starting to play around with this whole cellphone food photography thing, and will try to make the photo chronicle as presentable and as palatable and as alliterative as possible. I would think anyone reading this might prefer the image at the top of this entry to this one:

Reality is never as pretty as the staged presentation.  But it smells just as sweet!

Cheers!

* You would not believe how difficult it was to find currants in Albuquerque. 
 ** Q is obviously not my son's real name.  It's his stage name.  His publicist makes me refrain from using his full name on public blogs. And by publicist, I mean me.
*** No. Not really.

#1 Black Bread

 

My first creation from A Feast of Ice and Fire - Black Bread. A hearty choice to kick off this journey through the culinary experiences of Westeros!  I sent this pic to the Inn at the Crossroads bloggers,authors Chelsea Monroe Cassel & Sariann Lehrer.  They posted this pic their site. I'm still smiling over that!  Sure, it's buried knee-deep in user submission pics and anecdotes, where no one goes except the users who submitted the pics and anecdotes.  But you know what?  Don't care. Me. Smiling. Ha.

 

For the beer ingredient I chose Session, a microbrew from Oregon.  Although light in color, it has the perfect robust flavor to lend to this bread.  Bonus: It's reasonable priced at about $12-$15/case of 12 here in NM.  Double Plus Good: "rock paper scissors" game under the caps!  KaChaw!*

 

The full batch of dough before rising.  Quarter is for for scale.  The recipe calls for a mix of flours, and I dove into this creation before stocking up my pantry.  I chose from my vast array of white flour, white flour, and white flour. Yeah.  I improvised (woohoo!) and substituted 1/2 cup of textured vegetable protein (TVP) thinking it would add some nutrition and texture.  Best. Decision. Ever.  TVP takes on the favors of the recipe it is in, plus adds texture similar to a soft backed sunflower seed or grain.  So good. I think I will add TVP as a standard ingredient the next time I make this bread... although next time will have more colorful flour choices.

 

Loaf 1, ready to go into the oven.  I'm not exactly a food photographer.  Or any kind of photographer.  I'm using my cell phone for these pictures, so forgive me if these snapshots don't compare to what professionals can do.  I'm just baking bread and making a big floury mess in the kitchen.

  

Loaf 2, rising before baking.  Quarter for scale. I may learn a thing or two about food photography as I go through this project.  For instance, my serendipitous choice of a holiday dish cloth for covering the rising bread was a nice contrast to the BLAH colors of the bread board, loaf, and drab white wall behind the butcher's block.  Except that's not really a bucher's block.  It's a cheap-o pressboard printer stand on wheels that I have repurposed to give me a little more counter space in my small kitchen.  It also provides a nice little food cave for my kitty's water bowl.  But "butcher's block" sounds nicer, doesn't it?

  

And here is the finished product!  Two loaves of black bread that were so wonderful, I wish I had made twice as many loaves.  They will be perfect for trenchers, when I move into stews and soups...

One recipe down.  70 to go.  Something like that.  Cheers!

*KaChaw!  I make noises as I cook. Try it.  A heartfelt "glug glug glug" as you pour the wet ingredients into the dry, or a victorious "KaChaw!" can really make the difference in your cooking.  Or, maybe not.  Don't judge me.

Somewhere along the line, I came to realize that my life contained in it a mix of very unusual elements and experiences and a broad spectrum of personality types among my friends and acquaintances.  Thus, Strange Pantheon.

I've been wanting a 365 project for a while, but never took the initiative. Now, I've found a project I simply can't resist, and one I've already started.  In this next year, I will attempt to make as many of the recipes as possible (preferably all) from A Feast of Ice and Fire - the official cookbook from the George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones series (HBO and books).

Thus begins an homage to the Inn at the Crossroads bloggers.

A few notes:

• If the cookbook includes a modern and a medival version of a recipe, I will make the medival version. 
• If I didn't take pictures and post about making it, it doesn't count.
• I have already made the Black Bread, and I will put the post up shortly

This will be a fun challenge for me, because I am not a cook.  I am familiar with my kitchen, but hardly a chef.  Also, I am a single mom with a full-time career in healthcare information management. I serve on the board of his daycare and on the board of a local healthcare industry professional association. I don't have a lot of free time during the week, so this is a weekend project for me.

Ok, just wanted to officially kick this site off, and if you stumble on this page and read it, well.. Thanks!

~ Marianne