Hey there, Honeypot, how ya doing?

A few recipes in A Feast of Ice and Fire call for use of items I do not own.  Some of them may be unnecessary, but I'm starting to become more aware of items that could supplement my cooking efforts through this journey and beyond, such as 

* A Food Processor
* Honey Pot
* Immersion blender*
* Tart molds
* Mini cupcake pan

I've never owned a honeypot, but I think I might like one.  I especially like that the honey wand I found is made in Poland.  Cool!

I don't have a cupcake pan either, but these silicon baking cups serve me well. The only downside is that they don't work so well if I try to bake an open tart shell using them as a mold by flipping them upside down.   I may keep on the lookout for a muffin pan, but I often get turned off from teflon-coated bakeware. It one quirk of many.


* At the time this was written, I did not own an immersion blender.  I've since treated myself to one.

#41 Medieval Fish Tarts

Medieval fish tarts are flavored with figs and other ingredients to give these a very unique flavor.  I was sorely tempted to add cheese to these, but decided to remain true to the recipe.  Now that I have made both versions of these, I confess a preference for the Modern Fish Tarts.

Though I will say the combination of salmon and figs is righteous!

Bonus Recipe: Lemon Pepper Salmon

 

Salmon is probably my favorite food.  Having purchased some to make Fish Tarts, I decided to cook up the rest in my cast iron skillet.  Simple and delicious:  A little olive oil on the pan, place fillet skin side down.  Sprinkle with lemon pepper, cover with a loose aluminum foil "tent" (a little fold in the middle to make it an A frame - that's all), then cook on low heat until skin is crispy and center is cooked through.

 

#40 Modern Beans with Bacon

 

This recipe called for curly endive, but I substituted beet greens.

This dish received as many compliments as the Duck with Lemons!

A quick and easy side, unusual enough to leave an impression.

Plus, you know.  Bacon.

#39 Duck with Lemons

 

This was the first BIG entree from A Feast of Ice and Fire that I have tackled.  I found it to be a perfect excuse to invite a few friends over to share the bounty!

Duck typically comes with a packet of orange glaze.  This recipe blows away ANY factory manufactured orangish glazelike product that you will ever find wedged all up in a frozen duck, so you just throw that bad boy out and stuff that duck with lemons instead.*

Historically, I have found duck to be a very fatty bird.  The citrus of the lemon cut through that greasiness and left the meat tender and flavorful. 

Pictured with Modern Beans and Bacon, to be posted soon.

* There's a little more to in than that.  You should look up the recipe in A Feast of Ice and Fire or at the Inn of the Crossroads blog.

And now my fingers are stained with beet juice

 Yesterday's recipe was beet pancakes, which involved shredding raw beets.  Anyone who's cooked with beets know that if you look at a beet sideways for even a moment, your skin and clothes will have purple stains on them that are hard to remove.

 

If you find yourself with beet juice fingers (as opposed to salad fingers), all you need to do is 

Google How do I remove beet juice from my fingers?

Or just keep reading and I will tell you:  rub lemon juice on your fingers, including the place where you sliced yourself grating the the beets.  And then, rub salt on them!  Be sure to get plenty of salt in that little wound.  Freakin' ow. 

There you have it: Salt. Lemon. Tequila optional.

#38 Beet Pancakes

 

I am rather proud that I managed to make at least one pancake that looked like the picture in the book!  To be fair, the rest of the beet pancakes came out more like beet hashbrowns.  Still tasty, but not picturesque in the least.  Although pictured with a poached egg in the book, the poached egg is not an official part of the recipe. I think the egg added an important flavor, texture, and protein element that should not be omitted from this dish.

 

Beet poetry (a haiku):

Good luck getting these 

to retain a pancake-like 

cohesive structure.

#37 Modern Bean-and-Bacon Soup

 

 There are at least four recipes in A Feast of Ice and Fire that involve iterations of beans and bacon.  Two of the recipes are soups, two are sides.  I think that's a good thing, because beans are an inexpensive and healthy source of protein and fiber, and bacon is bacon.

I went with canned beans to avoid the need to soak/rehydrate my beans. Makes enough for four servings, and makes a great quick lunch coupled with white crusty bread,

Freeze Dried Locusts

Looking to buy Freeze Dried Locusts?   Let me Google That for You! 

Looking to eat Backpacker's Pantry Neopolitan Ice Cream?  Not anymore, thanks!

I ended up doing what the authors of A Feast of Ice and Fire claimed to do: I ordered Freeze Dried Crickets instead.

And now, we wait until I get up the nerve to make this. *shiver*

#1 Black Bread (Revisited)

 I finally stocked up my pantry enough to include a variety of flours in this bread, as intended by the authors of A Feast of Ice and Fire.  My conclusion, is that this bread will be excellent no matter what flour or grain I include, as long as I always add Session as the beer...

#36 Modern Applecakes

I do not have the words that describe the flavor that makes my eyebrows raise, my eye close slightly, my lips curl in bliss, and my breathing to pause for just a moment with each bite of these.

But if I had to pick just one word, it would probably be: butter. Holy kukumunga*, there is a lot of butter in this recipe... And it's delicious!

 

* Thank you, spellcheck, for suggesting that I maybe was trying to spell Kanchenjunga. I was previously unaware of the name of the third highest mountain in the world.

Bonus Recipe: Onion Noodle Soup

 

I made broth from the Honeyed Chickens, then added the green parts leftover from the Modern Leek Soup, plus a few straggler boiler onions from Onions in Gravy.  A little chicken, a few beans, some pasta, salt, pepper, crock pot... and Voila!

Oh, and there IS one secret ingredient.

#35 Flatbread

To prevent premature snacking, might I suggest incorporating the Dragon Guard?

I did not have poppy seeds, so I only made the sesame seed variant. I find it curious to note that the FLATbread uses twice as much yeast as any other bread I have yet made, not limited to A Feast of  Ice and Fire.

Also curious, it is left to rise for longer than any of the artisan breads.  It's just squished at the end. Which is pretty damn fun.

I made these a week in advance of making duck with lemons, and stored them in the  freezer.  I am curious as to how they will be defrosted as compared to day one.  Thankfully, my duck dinner guests will have no basis for comparison.

#34 Honeyed Chicken

Have you heard about the bird?

 TWO!  Two Honeyed Chickens!  Ah! Ah! Ah!

These birds came out so very crisp and juicy.  When making the sauce (or dressing) for these, I was nervous because it did not seem that the ingredients meshed very well.  After simmering for about 30 minutes, and finally poured over the cooked birds, it seems I had no cause to worry.  The flavors mingled perfectly.
 

The dressing is also good cold, with leftover chicken, used on a salad.

Happy Valentine's Day

God Speed!
oil on canvas c. 1900
Edmund Leighton (1853–1922) 

Be with someone who makes you happy.

LemonSwagger

I revisited Lemonsweet , in part because it was very tasty, and in part because I have a growing interest in juicing.  I've had my hardcore juicer for quite a while, but on the heels of watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead I am considering giving myself a rest one day a week with a juice fast.  

For now, I am simply juicing more and supplementing my diet with delicious veggie smoothies.  I made Lemonsweet, substituting 2 packets of Splenda for 3/4 of the sugar called for n the recipe, and I added an apple and a cucumber.

And I called it LemonSwagger, because I felt all cocky about myself after making this that I was strutting about with pride for no reason. So there.

I also took the opportunity to juice some carrots, which is always yummy.  I have not mixed it with the Lemonsweet, because I'm afraid it would result in LemonBlechy.

 

Anyway,  Drink ALL THE JUICES!

#33 Modern Oatcakes

 

 These oat cakes are definitely more cookie like than their medieval counterparts, and held the strawberry jelly filling wonderfully well

TIP O THE DAY: When baking, I find it generally to be a good idea to mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl, and all the wet ingredients in another.  Exception to this: Sugar I mix with liquids.



 At first I thought I made twice as many cookies as the recipe indicated, but then I realized each sandwich required two cookies.I brought these to a friend's birthday party, and he gave them a big thumbs up!

 

#32 Modern Leek Soup

 

Oh my goodness.  This leek soup is now in my top 10 favorites recipes from A Feast of Ice and Fire.  So easy to make, and such healthy ingredients. Velvety, rich and delicious... 

 I simmered this soup lid on for twice as long as was recommended in the book (no special reason, I just got distracted shiny objects in another room).  To thicken the soup I let it simmer about 5 minutes more, lid off.

YUM!

#2 Tyroshi Pear Brandy - Step 2

 

I let the Tyroshi Pear Brandy sit in the bottom of my pantry for a few weeks longer than the month proscribed by the recipe. I figured how could it hurt?

Soon after pouring off the infused liquid into another jar, I realized that the first bottle contained quite the treasure of brandied pears.  How to release them from their bottlenecked prison?

 

A little time and effort, and a sturdy skewer, helped set the fruit free! However, if looking to make the fruit presentable, I would recommend starting off with a more suitable container for collecting the fruit intact.  Using this approach,the slices are pretty well shredded now.

Painting: Shiva v1

Time for another installment of: things I like to do when I'm not in the kitchen! (*cue theme music*)

This is an 8x10 canvas board, my second attempt at painting.  I am using acrylics.

Cadmium Red canvas wash and Burnt Sienna circle.
I used a paper plate for the circle form.

Rough image of dancing figure in center,
softening the background color

Shiva begins to emerge, preliminary shading.
Still working on the underpainting

Cooling the background, warmth of underpainting peeks through.
Adding detail to the limbs closest to the viewer.

Continuing to work the detail now, working center out.
Palette is a happy mess.  In a good way.

Signed piece with reference photos.

Completed work. 

 Food again tomorrow.